"My team. Are we ready?"
I ask through the ear piece. A series of different yeses echo through the ear piece as I ask everybody in my team to say "here" if they can hear me.
Everybody replied back. Thank god. Everything is going according to plan so far.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's kick some ass."
I whisper into my ear piece and hear a few mutter "fuck yeah" or just chuckle.
Hearing footsteps round the corner of the shipping container I'm hiding behind, I check to see if my gun is reloaded and the silencer is in place. The footsteps grow louder and louder as I wait patiently for my prey. The blood coursing through my veins is igniting my whole body in fire. I feel so energetic and ready. As if this is what I'm meant to be doing. 'Or maybe you're not meant to be a mafia princess and you only think this way because that's how you've been brought up to think,' a voice in my head projects. Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I try to focus on the mission. My prey rounds the corner just as my fist flies out, hitting her square on the jaw. Just as she's about to cry out in pain, I spin her around and crack her neck causing her to fall. I place my foot underneath her just before her body hits the floor so the noise won't be as loud and then run out and start looking for more of the King's. It's not going to be hard because this place is crawling with them. I'm not hiding in the shadows anymore. I'm going to go out there and leave their land tainted in their members' blood. Finding 4 guys smoking in the corner, I headshot the first one, resulting in the others looking around with saucer eyes. Their eyes connect with mine as I wink at them. They curse under their breath before reaching for their guns. In that time, I managed to shoot two more before winking directly at the last one left. Dad always makes me wear a mask to hide the lower part of my face so that nobody can recognise me. He says that he 'needs to take precautions' and that he 'can't lose me' as well. Also he wants me to live my teenage years without any trouble and live like a normal teenager would.
I notice that the guy is no younger than 16 and looks terrified as the gun trembles in his hand. Grabbing one of the knives that are decorating my thigh, I flick it right to his chest.
Bullseye.
I know that I should feel bad or that I should've let him go but quite frankly, that would be the stupid thing to do, not kind or humane. I shouldn't feel bad or have hesitated because if it had been somebody else, I wouldn't have done that. I've killed thousands of people and if I felt guilty for killing any of them then I would've been drowning in a billion "what if's" and a shit ton of misery. Besides, it's either I let them kill me or they kill me.
The familiar crunch of gravel resonates through my ears as I spin around to catch one of the King's with their backs turned to me and their gun drawn. She probably came because she heard my gun. Even though the silencer helps to diffuse the majority of the sound but not all of it. Drawing my gun, I shoot her in the back of the head quickly before running out of there to find more of these fuckers.
A short guy runs to me to try to punch me. Bitch please. Grabbing his first, I twist it behind his back and kick the back of his knee, resulting in him collapsing and crying out for help. Pushing my boot into his back and pulling his hand at the same time, I ended up dislocating his shoulder before hearing the familiar crack of bones but this time, it was continuous as his spine kept on cracking. He whimpered and cried before I pulled his hair to get him to stand on his knees and faced him so my knee bashed into his face. Releasing my grip from his hair, he lays limp on the ground, not moving an inch.
At this point, I can hear multiple footsteps around me.
"Who sent you?"
There are at least 10 people which I can see right now. The one in front of all of them is the one -who clearly seems like some leader- asks me.
"Who sent me?"
I spit the words back at her as a humourless laugh erupts from my mouth,
"Bitch please. Nobody sent me."
I looked around me to study everybody and behind them I could clearly see some of my team. There were exactly 2 more people that I could see. Three against 10. Unfair. That is so unfair for them.
"Darling, can you please send a message for me to Hudson King?"
The girl grinned at me.
"What will be the point of all of this? Even if I do get the message to Mr. King, what will be the point? It's not like you're getting out of here alive."
Oh this is going to be fun.
"Who said that, Marianne?"
I reply, watching some of the colour from her face fade and her grin vanish.
"Who the fuck are you and who sent you?"
This is boring me. We're going in circles. I slipped my hand in my pocket which caused all of them to raise their weapons. Geez. Paranoid much.
I put one hand in front of me to pull out my nail file and started to file me nails.
"Are you seriously filing your nails?"
She asked, looking at me with an unbelievable look.
"Yeah because we keep going in circles. Are you going to send a message for me or no?"
I retorted, continuing to file my nails.
"What is it?"
Looking up from my nails, my face splits into a wide grin. Even though she can't see it behind my mask, I'm pretty sure she can see the crinkle of my eyes because I catch her clenching her hands.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Clearing my throat, I slip my file in my pocket before sliding a knife up my sleeve.
"Tell that bastard to keep his slimy hands off of our fucking shipment."
I utter with a stone, cold tone.
"Othonos."
She mumbles under her breath. Othonos is my father's last name. Since he's greek, that is usually what people associate us with but dad didn't want anybody finding out that I was a mafia princess so he decided to give me my mother's last name which is, Burrow. My real name is actually Hadley Othonos but after what happened to mama, he decided to give me her maiden name so people wouldn't come searching for me.
"SHOOT!"
Marianne shouts but I'm faster as I strike two of them with my knives. One on the head and the other right in the centre of the chest.
Shots are fired and I instantly move out of the way and climb one of the crates. Two of my members sneak up and start shooting at all the members of the King.
"SPARE MARIANNE."
I scream to them and they offer a curt nod in response.
Marianne goes running for shelter which is when I follow her.
A bunch of pussies.
Following Marianne in between crates, she finally climbed one which gave me the perfect chance to stand back and aim for her. As the shot goes off, she wails in pain as she starts crawling her way up but I grab her leg and drag her down. Getting on top of her, I start to beat her. Punch after punch after punch. I'm in too deep. I can't pull out of it. She fights and resists it but soon enough, I can feel her beginning to weaken.
"Fight back, bitch."
I growl into her face before starting to choke her.
Red.
Red is all I can see. My gaze becomes tinted red as her face turns blue. Anger. My anger is the force controlling my body.
I can hear somebody shouting my code name in the distance... I think.
In a matter of seconds, there are hands gripping my shoulders and pulling me away. I shake my head as the red tint fades away until I can see clearly.
It's Eden.
"What the fuck were you doing? We need her to send the message."
She seems mad but even more concerned.
"I- it was-"
I can't even get the words out. My breaths are coming out in an irregular pattern as I force myself to right myself. Getting up and smoothing the invisible wrinkles out of my clothes, I glare at Eden.
Shoulders back. Head held high. Keep that shit eating grin present on your face at all times.
Don't let her think you're vulnerable. Nothing happened. You were fine.
"Nothing. I'm fine. I just needed her to know who the boss was here."
I grin at her. Even though she can't see it, it makes me feel more in control of my emotions. You are in control.
Eden looks at me with an unconvinced look but I can't be bothered to give a shit at the moment.
Walking up to Marianne, I push her down with my foot as she tries to get up again.
"Do you remember the message I asked you to send forward?"
I ask, authority and control lacing my tone this time.
"Y- Yes."
She murmurs.
"What was it?"
She clears her throat and caresses it at the same time.
"Tell Mr. King to keep his hands off of the Othonos' shipment."
I tsk at her as I watch fear and misery cloud her features. Smacking her across the face, I slowly sound the words out for her.
"Tell that bastard to keep his slimy hands off of the Othonos' fucking shipment."
She only nods at this.
"Capiche?"
My tone is icy and cold causing a shiver to roll down her spine as she cowards away from me.
Good. You should be scared.
"Yes."
"Well done. Now make yourself useful and run along."
Scrambling off of the floor, she runs in the opposite direction.
"We have the shipment secured and everybody's ready."
Eden's voice announces from behind me.
Without sparing her a single glance, I walk away and mutter.
"Good."
Eden follows behind me as I lead. None of us bother to start a conversation or talk about what happened back there. I don't offer an explanation and she doesn't push for more information. I know she's curious. I saw it in the way she looked at me. She was pleading for some sort of explanation but didn't bother to voice her thoughts.
Returning back to our cars, where everybody else is waiting for Eden and I, they stare at me for the next move.
"What are you staring at? Let's go celebrate."
Everybody cheers before slipping into the car and speeding out of there. I notice Eden staring at me the whole time, even when people start to talk about what they are going to wear tonight which is a conversation that Eden would've gladly joined in on. But no. She's still staring at me.
Slipping my mask off, I grin at her before flipping her off causing a small smile to split on her face.
"Now can you stop staring at me because you look like you want to fuck me."
I say, grinning at her.
"I want to fuck you."
A guy from beside Eden announces, putting his hand up.
We all start to laugh before somebody else shouts.
"If you want Mr. Othonos to castrate you then I suggest you shut up about that stuff."
Everybody starts to laugh as some of the color drains from the poor guy's face.
"Don't tell your dad please."
Grinning at him, I whisper.
"Too late. I'm already thinking of the different ways I can go running to my dad about how you harassed me."
Regret drips from his features as he shakes his head.
"I'm kidding. Geez."
The amount of relief that flooded into this guy's face is hilarious. It's as if somebody was holding his life in front of him and debating whether or not to chuck it away or give it back. In a sense, it sort of was like that but whatever.
"You nearly gave the poor kid a heart attack."
Eden murmurs from beside him and he actually clutches his chest.
****
Time flew by. Next thing I knew, I was boarding the flight back to New York and reminiscing about these few weeks. Even though the mission had ended in a day, dad still wanted to keep me around. We spent some time together and I did many more missions. Eden, Asher, Liam and I spent a lot of time together. I was kind of sad to be leaving but time on the plane went by fast. I napped most of the time and caught up with some of my missing school work that Sage has emailed me.
"Miss, we're here."
One of the flight attendants came up to me. She looked to be around forty and she had the most adorable smile ever. She's so comforting. Kind of reminds me of... momma.
Giving her a tight lipped smile in return, I grabbed my suitcase and headed towards the entrance.
Walking through the metal detector, my heart sinks as I hear the beep go off.
My gun.
I forgot to take it out. Shit.
"Miss, if you would kindly step aside for a search, that'd be great."
Shaking all of the worry out of my body, I step aside.
"Is there anything you need to tell me before we search you?"
Taking a deep breath, I make direct eye contact.
"I have a gun on me-"
I can see him reach for his gun.
"And before you threaten me with a gun, what do you think Mr. Othonos would say when one of his members was injured?"
He instantly halts. Eyebrows scrunched together, hands halted, thoughts running a hundred miles per hour before he removed his hand from his gun and gave me a stern nod.
Grinning at him, I walked away and entered a sweet shop.
Purchasing a whole bag of lollipops, I pull my phone out called for a taxi while strolling towards the exit.
I told Sage that I was going to be gone for another week so nobody knows I'm coming back.
Surprise bitch.
As I was daydreaming about surprising Sage, a man rolls his window down and screams at me.
"TAXI FOR HADLEY BURROW?"
He asks, irritated.
Looking around me, I see 3 other people. One of them is an elder man and the other is a homeless man sitting in the corner.
"Is there anybody else who could be Hadley Burrow here?"
He just shrugs his shoulders in return before telling me to get in.
A few minutes into the ride, the man asks me if I want to get food.
"Wait, can we actually?"
He just shrugs before muttering.
"If you don't want to get some then at least let me get some."
Bursting out laughing, I pat the man's shoulder.
"Sir, please kindly make your way to chick-fil-a before I hold you at gunpoint and forced you to do it."
Shrugging his shoulders, he mumbles.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Rounding into the chick-fil-a driveway, we both tell the worker our order.
"Can you pay for the food? I'll take that as the payment."
Huh? That's a first.
"Uhm sure."
There's no way I'm not paying him. He's probably the best taxi I've ever had.
Grabbing our food and sitting in the driveway, we start feasting on our meals.
"Tell me something about yourself, taxi guy."
I ask, speaking with a full mouth. He pulls a disgusted face causing me to roll my eyes and place my hand in front of my mouth.
"Uh my name is Jonathan. I have a wife and two kids."
Smiling at him, I scarf more of my spicy chicken sandwich down.
"Can I see a picture of them?"
Groaning, he places his sandwich back on the paper and pulls his wallet out.
Handing it to me, I run my fingers over it.
"They're adorable."
Jonathan is in the middle with his arm wrapped around his wife, the biggest grin evading his face. Two blonde kids stand in front of both of them, Jonathan has his hand on the blonde boy and his wife has her hand on the blonde girl. They look like the perfect family.
"They're absolutely stunning."
I mutter, amazed by the photo for some reason. Jonathan clears his throat and snatches the wallet back.
"That's enough."
He acts even weirder than before.
"Where are they now?"
I ask, suspiciously looking at him. Taking a deep breath, he stares at the photo for a good few minutes before clearing his throat and slipping it back in his pocket. He starts to drive and I realise that he's not answering.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overstep-"
"They all died in a car crash. The brakes stopped working and we drove off of a bridge and started sinking in the river. I saw them all drown."
I look at him through the rear view mirror and notice that his eyes are wet.
"I bet you that your kids had the best time ever. I would've if I had a dad like you too."
He looks up at me through the mirror too before giving me the smallest smile.
"Tell me something about them."
Taking a deep breath, he starts to smile as he talks about them.
"Dexter was the younger one out of the two but he always protected Delilah, no matter what. Whether it was against us when she got in trouble or in school. He always took the blame for her."
I could see him smiling to himself as he spoke.
"And Delilah? She was the naughty one. But the sweetest girl ever. She would always leave little sweets in the car or around the house for us to find. Every time I would go to drop them off for school and look back at the passenger seats, there would always be a little sweet waiting for me. Whether it was a mint or liquorice or a lollipop."
I watched him wipe a tear off as he continued.
"But their mother? She was the sweetest woman to ever walk on this planet. She was the best mother and wife one could have. Always kind to others. Never a reason to be mad at her. She always used to say this one quote, 'be kinder than you need to be.'"
"They sound wonderful. I bet you're proud to call them your family."
Nodding, he focused on the road as his smile stayed on his face the whole time. I heard him whisper a reply which wasn't meant to be heard. I think he was just saying it to himself but I somehow heard it.
"So proud."
We spend the rest of the ride in comfortable silence until we reach my apartment building.
"Damn kid. How rich are you?"
He asks, looking up at the building through the windshield.
"Actually my dad bought it for me. I help him with his business."
He nods at me before looking back at me.
"Well we're here."
Extending two hundred dollar bills towards him, he stares at my hand as if it's on fire.
"Kid, that's two hundred dollar bills. I said I wasn't accepting money from you and even if I was, your total is only 70 dollars."
"Take it."
I mumble back.
He stares at me before shaking his head.
"So what? You feel pity for me about my dead family. Is that why you feel obligated to give me more money? I know I'm a taxi driver and I don't live in a grand apartment like you but-"
"Can you shut the fuck up and take the money? I don't feel pity for you. I sympathise for you. I know what it's like to lose somebody that close. I'm giving you more money because you made me feel welcomed."
He still doesn't take the fucking money.
"Who did you lose?"
He asks, concern lacing his features.
Smiling at him, I place the money on the front seat next to the driver's one.
"Have a nice day Jonathan."
I murmur before slipping out and dragging my suitcase along with me.
"You too, kid."
He shouts back before showing me a proper smile.
He still waits there, even as I'm walking towards the entrance, just staring at me.
He finally leaves after I get inside the building safely.
HEY YALL. PLEASE DO REMEMBER TO VOTE AS IT DOES HELP. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE STORY THEN PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO TO IMPROVE IT AND IF YOU DO LIKE IT, TELL ME WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT IT. IT WILL REALLY MOTIVATE ME TO WRITE MORE AD I GENUINELY HOPE THAT YOU GUYS WILL ENJOY IT. AND INCASE I DON'T SEE YA. GOOD AFTERNOON, GOOD EVENING AND GOODNIGHT;)