S I E N N A
"And the princess and the prince lived happily ever after." I slowly whispered, shutting the book and placing it on the nightstand.
"What happened to the wicked witch?" Layla asked, curiosity coating her tone. My fingers threaded through her hair before I tied it up into a messy bun.
The window was slightly open revealing the full moon shining in the dark sky. The air was chilly and frosty like it was about to rain but there was no sign of it in the clouds.
"Well, she was locked up faraway in the evil forest. Never to be heard from again." I said with a small smile as she got under the silky white comforters and stared up at me with her baby blue eyes. Her eyelids were droopy and a yawn escaped her lips.
"Mommy, do you think there's such a thing as forever just like in the story?" Layla murmured sleepily with another tired yawn.
I pulled the comforters over her body and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Yes, sweetheart. There is." I mumbled, biting the inside of my cheek. If I didn't believe in forever, I wouldn't be with Blade right now wanting to spend the rest of my life with him. "Now go to sleep. Goodnight baby."
Layla murmured something incoherent under her breath and hummed a little 'goodnight' back to me.
With my heart brimming with the utmost joy and content, I turned off the light, sparing a glance over my shoulder at my little principessa sleeping soundly, I walked out of the room and gently shut the door.
Being a mother is the best thing that could ever happen to me. Layla might not be my flesh and blood, but she's my daughter by heart. I loved her and I was gonna protect her at all cost.
I was tired and sleepy. All I wanted to do right now was to go to bed and cuddle up next to cuore mio.
A groan slipped out of my lips when I remembered that he wanted to tell me something very important in his office.
Abandoning my initial thought of taking off my clothes and sleeping on our bed butt naked, Don't judge me, I love teasing him, I descended down the massive staircase that took forever to get to the bottom step and sauntered over to Blade's office.
Just as I imagined before opening the door, Blade was seated by the table with a serious expression on his face. Franco and Nico sat across from him with the same expression.
I hoped this was a joke and they would suddenly burst out into fits of laughter and mock the panicked expression on my face. It didn't fucking happen.
Fuck.
"Nico found out the identities of Layla's parents- Oh I mean adopted parents." Blade gritted. His hands tightened on the file that I guessed must entail all the information we needed on Layla's past upbringing.
Blade was upset about it. They all were.
It took more than a minute for his words to gradually sink in as I made myself comfortable on his lap.
His hands immediately shoot up to my thighs. He pushed back the silky material of my shorts and breathed down heavily on my neck, releasing his pent up anger and frustration.
"What do you mean?" I asked in a small voice as his thumb drew soothing circles across my thigh.
Blade heard me but Franco and Nico had to strain their ears to hear my words.
"Layla's real parents died after she was born." Blade said, handing me the files as he brushed my hair away from my shoulders and buried his face in the crook of my neck.
I flipped through the pages with mixed emotions, my eyes skimming over the words.
It stated in the files that ever since Layla Murphy was born, she had been transferred to different foster homes that treated her badly. It never lasted up to a month.
At three years old, she was adopted by a young couple, Andrew Murphy and Elizabeth Murphy. Things went smoothly for Layla for about five months before they started to abuse her; physically, emotionally and mentally.
I guessed it was because of Child services that made Andrew and Elizabeth to pretend that they liked her. Those motherfucking ingrate.
My eyes burned holes into their pictures. It was in black and white. They seemed like the perfect couple and they looked completely harmless, but one could see the crazy look in their eyes. It was way off.
The urge to kill them rushed through my veins when I saw Layla's medical records attached to the files.
"What the hell!" I exclaimed in shock. The men mumbled something amongst themselves but I paid no attention to it.
My eyes were focused on the medical records. It indicated that Layla Murphy was admitted to the hospital six times based on different injuries that were life threatening.
Her health was in danger countless times. It was either she had a broken arm, a broken leg, a deep cut in her back or chest that needed immediate stitches and so many more.
My vision blurred with tears and my hands shook as I read further.
Layla had amnesia due to the damage of her brain or something like that. The amnesia was permanent and incurable that's why she didn't tell me about her life before the Murphys.
It's better she doesn't know about it.
When I got to the part about the time she was sold to the senator to use as his personal sex slave. I lost it.
I tossed the files to the other side of Blade's office not giving a damn if it made a huge mess on the floor or something important slipped out from it.
Before I could stand up from Blade's lap, I felt his arms wrapped around me, locking my body in place.
"Let me go, Blade. They deserve to die." I seethed. Tears rolled down my cheeks in waves. This was so heartbreaking. Nobody in this world deserved to go through that. "I'm going to kill them myself."
"Calm down, baby." Blade murmured soothingly. His arms were like a security blanket that eased the anger that continued to rage like a storm inside of me.
"How do you expect me to calm down? What they did to her was horrible and unforgivable. Fucking bastards." I thrashed around in his hold and kicked his legs to let me go but he didn't bulge.
Franco stood up to retrieve the scattered files on the floor and returned back to the chair.
Nico had a solemn look on his face. As usual, a cigarette was in between his lips. His blonde hair was messy and his eyes were bloodshot red. Clearly he hadn't slept because of the information he gathered on Layla's past life.
"Just calm down okay?" Blade whispered in a soft tone that had a deep edge to it. He was furious. Fucking livid. The murder look was in his eyes.
He wanted to kill someone; that happened to be Andrew and Elizabeth Murphy.
"They have to pay for everything they did to Layla. They can't just get away with it." I let out a loud sob and relaxed in his arms.
Layla is so little and innocent. She's a good kid. This life has been so unfair to her in so many ways. Her real parents are dead. She had been maltreated and abused in so many ways. They stripped her innocence away from her.
"Don't worry, baby. They would pay dearly with their lives for all the horrors they've put her through. I promise you that, vita mia. Tomorrow, they die." Blade said in a steely tone. He rested his forehead against mine and ran his fingers through my hair.
"I'm coming with you." I said.
"No you're not, vita mia. It's extremely dangerous." Blade shook his head and caressed my face with his hand.
I glared at him. "I don't care if it's dangerous, amore. Layla is our daughter. She's just as important to me as she is to you."
Blade sighed in defeat, sensing the unwavering determination in my tone.
"Alright, baby." He said. "But you do as I say. No irrational outburst okay?"
"I can't promise that, Blade. My fingers might just slip and pull the trigger, but my anger will be under control." I smiled sweetly at him.
He could see the rage behind that smile and he chuckled. He knew me too well. "Fair enough."
~•~
Short chapter. I know.
I have a lot of things planned for the next chapter. It's gonna be longer. I promise.
What do you guys think about this chapter? Hope you loved it?
Love you all <33