Above is the song Diamond Heart by Alan Walker, It honestly got me through writing this chapter and it fits!
Happy Reading and thanks for all the support!! <3
Love, GrissyQuinn <3
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Skylars POV
"She doesn't want to talk, Skylar. It's been a week and Catalina hasn't said a word to anyone except you and my mother." Alexander ranted.
It was about 8:00am and he was pacing around his room in his boxers. Alexander had spent most of the night tossing, turning and grumbling, not really letting me sleep.
"Alexander, you have to give her time. What she went through, I can tell you from sad personal experience it's not something you get over quickly. It's also not something you really talk about freely." I answer still sitting on bed, sipping a cup of coffee one of the maids brought up for us.
"But I am her older brother! isn't she supposed to talk be able to talk to me or at least Cassian, they are twins."
I sighed. "What is she supposed to say to you? This bastard raped me?" at that I saw Alexander clench his fists. When he found out what happened he went on a furious rampage. Nearly marched into Armani's estate to his death. Thankfully he was thinking a little clearer now. Though we all made a vow to kill the bastard the first chance we got.
"You need to give Catalina the time she needs. She will open up eventually. The only reason she even opened up to me is because I'm the only person in this house that fully understands what she is going through. Armani took more from her than you think. He didn't only take her body, he took her peace of mind. It's going to take some time for her to get that back."
Alexander sighed in defeat. "I'm a fucking Failure." He said as punched the wall next to the window he was staring out of.
"Why would you say that?" I asked getting up and walking towards him.
"I was supposed to protect them! Eric almost died, and Angelo was fucking losing it because of it. Cassian got beat up badly too, Mom and Catalina went through a horrible thing and, where was I?! Too busy focusing on you!" he bit out angrily. I was so sudden he made me take a step back.
"Alexander I.."
"NO!" he interrupted me. "If I hadn't been so focused on you, I would have seen this coming and would have protected them like I promised my father I would!"
"Don't blame me for something that was out of your control Alexander! There was no way you could have foreseen what would have happened even if I was here or not! Eric was your spy at Armani's way before I even got here, Angelo was in love with him way before I got here, and Armani would have done the same fucking things whether I was here or not! I also did not ask to be here, you hired me and then decided I was maybe worth getting to fucking know!"
"Just get out, Skylar. Leave me alone" he said as he marched towards his bathroom.
Turning around in a rush I left the room slamming the door behind me. There in the hall was Lianna with a soft smile. Something told me she heard some of what went on, but I wasn't about to talk about it now. I rushed into my room as the tears quickly fell down my cheeks. I don't know what came over Alexander, but he was out of line. He made me feel like crap for something that I didn't do. If anything, I was more angry than sad. I did know something, I wasn't going to apologize to him for something I didn't do, I was done being a poor little victim. If he wanted to talk then I would talk but I wasn't going to make the first move.
I may not think of myself as just Nyx anymore, but she was still inside me, and neither Nyx nor Skylar Diamond bows down to a man. Not even Alexander Valentino.
***
Two more weeks passed, and Alexander and I still hadn't even seen other. I guess the house being big had its perks. It had many places to hide when you didn't want to be found. Alexander had all his meals taken to his office or room and only talked to the guys when needed. It was ridiculous how proud guys were.
It was about midnight when I was sitting outside in the garden. I couldn't sleep, and the night was silent. Fall was coming in, so the night had a cool breeze and the sky was a bit cloudy, but you could still see the stars and moon clearly. The grass was damp, so I brought a blanket to sit on the floor.
"Mind if I join you, darling?" A voice brought me out of my thought. It was Lianna, standing there in her silk robe with two cups of what smelled like hot chocolate.
"Mrs. Valentino. Sure, I don't mind. Can't sleep?" I asked her as she gently sat on the blanket next to me.
"I had gotten up to use the bathroom when I looked out my window and saw you sitting here all alone. Thought you could use the company and a cup of Hot chocolate" she hands me the mug with a soft smile.
"Thank you." I took the mug and sipped it. The warm liquid instantly warming my insides. "You didn't have to do this, Mrs. Valentino."
"Please call me Lianna" she said, her thick Italian accent very noticeable. "and I know I didn't, but I wanted to. I never got the chance to thank you for all that you did to save Catalina and me. It must have been hard to go against your family like that."
"My family and I don't exactly see eye to eye, Lianna."
"May I ask why? I don't exactly know much about this world you and my son live in."
"You don't? But I thought your husband was the top Don before Alexander." I turned a bit more to the side to face her.
She gave me a soft smile. "Indeed, he was. But you see, Nelson always tried to keep me as far away as possible from this life. He always surprised me with random trips around the world. Just him and I, sometimes just myself and my two sisters. Then we had Alexander and I was more of the stay at home mother, raising my children while he ran this world in which we find ourselves in. He was a kind and loving husband."
I smiled a bit in return "I wish my father had been as kind as your husband was. I'm sure you know what D. Impero is then? Since you know my family is from there." she nodded in response. "Well D. Impero doesn't have the nicest way of training the people it recruits. For years my dad faked his death and my mom lied to me about it, I thought I was just a normal girl, until my dad decided it was time for me to join the family business. They tortured me, beat me, hurt me just like they hurt Catalina. They made me a weapon. This may sound harsh, but I won't rest until the day I kill my father for what he did to me and take down D. Impero for good."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, dear"
"Alexander was raised in this world but he was raised within a loving family, I wasn't."
She took my hand softly and smiled "You are a very strong girl. You went through unimaginable things and yet you are still here. You still have your humanity and strive to be free of your cursed demons. I can see why my son is so fond of you dear, to be frank I've never seen him so in love."
I couldn't help but scoff softly "All due respect Mrs. Valentino, it doesn't seem that way. He hasn't said a single word to me in two weeks. That doesn't exactly scream love to me."
"Come with me" she slowly got up and started walking towards inside the house. I followed her all the way to the family room. "Please sit" she said as she went to the bookshelf at the far side of the room.
She came back and sat next to me on the couch and opened what looked like a photo album. It was filled to the brim with pictures of Alexander, Catalina, Cassian, even Eric and Angelo were in it.
She took out a picture of Alexander next to her father. He had to be about 17 years old. He was smiling with one arm over his father's shoulders and holding a basketball on the other hand. He looked happy next to his father. I looked over at Nelson, he was smiling as well. Laugh lines decorated his face as he looked over at his son. He looked proud of Alexander. I couldn't take my eyes of Nelson, there was something about him that seemed oddly familiar.
"This was a good day." Lianna started speaking as I stared at the picture. "Alexander had just won a basketball game at his high school. His father was so proud. Alexander was about to turn 18 the next day. So, his father finally took him under his wing and started teaching him everything he would need to do when he took over the family. He told him that no matter what happened or what he was going through, he always had to take care of his family. He made Alexander promise he would always protect us. So, you see, that why Alexander has taken what happened so hard, he doesn't blame you sweetie, he blames himself, he just doesn't know how to really differentiate the two."
I stayed silent still staring at the picture, I swear I had seen Nelson before, but I couldn't place where.
"I hope that helped dear, you can keep the picture if you like." she gave me a small squeeze in my hand. "Goodnight." with that she left towards her room and I was left alone in the family room.
I kept staring at the picture as if it would talk to me and tell me the answer I was looking for. I decided to keep flipping through the photo album to see if another picture would help me recognize Nelson better. I found one where he was alone smiling at the camera. Maybe Lianna took this picture when he looked over to her. Nelson was a handsome man. He had the same dark brown eyes as Alexander and the same hair.
As I stared at the picture it finally hit me...
A few years earlier... Flash black
It had been three years since I've been at D. Impero. Three years of not even seeing the outside.
I didn't even know what time it was, but I had spent hours crammed in my tiny room and my stomach was growling. I didn't know when the last time was, I ate but I swore it had been more than a day.
"Nyx!" my father's right-hand man, Mendez came barging into the room. They were trying to drill and program the name Nyx inside my head. So, it was the only thing they called me. They were stripping the name Skylar Diamond from me and replacing it with Nyx. He gave me a tray of food "Get up, eat, put on your gear and let's go, your father wants to see you"
"Gear? I thought training was done for today." I answered weekly.
"Just do it, princess!" he seethed before he turned around and left.
I ate the so-called food as fast as I could and got dressed in my gear. I didn't know what my father wanted but I knew it couldn't be good. I knocked on the door and Mendez opened it from the outside and escorted me to my father's office.
"Nyx" My father said as I sat down in front of his desk. I held my tears back and put on a brave face. I promised myself I would never cry in front of him, never show him how much he had broken me. "You have been here three years now. You have shown promise in your training as Nyx. Now, we will continue to the next phase."
"Next phase?" I asked him.
"Yes, you will come with me and you will make your first kill." he smiled wickedly
"I don't feel I am ready for that yet. Maybe it can be a bit later after some more training" I tried to say as calmly as possible before I got slapped in the face hard.
"You will come with me and you will make your first kill, or do I need to call Johnson to tell you what that means." he repeated "are we clear, Nyx?"
I nodded, and he slapped me again. "I said are we clear?"
"Yes, sir"
"Good. Now let's go" we both exited the room.
The fact that I was going to have to kill someone filled me with Dred. I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to take an innocent life but the thought of going to Johnson was somehow worse.
I finally stepped outside for the first time in three years. The sky was clear, and the air was cold against my skin. I stood and thought of many ways I could run away but I knew I wouldn't get far.
"Here is what you will do, if you do anything else than what I say, you know what will happen" my father said while holding my arm tightly and dragged me to the car. "Your target is..."
"N-No! Please Ill kill him but please don't tell me the name. It's all I ask."
"Very well, I will grant you this one wish." He said as we got to the car. "Mendez will escort you to the target, you will infiltrate the targets house and you will kill him up close and personal. I want you to look at him and see the life leave him. I don't want any long-distance short cuts. Are we clear?"
I nodded "Yes sir" he continued to describe the target.
I don't know how much time passed before we got the place. I just knew we had to take a plan for several hours before driving to a safehouse. The next night, I spent the whole drive hoping something would happen, thinking maybe we would crash, and I would die. At least that way I wouldn't be suffering anymore. However, like everything in my life, it didn't go the way I wished, and we got the place.
"Weapons are in the trunk, you know what to do Princess." Mendez said. "and hurry it up, I don't plan to be here all night."
"Whatever" I answered as I headed over to the trunk and took out the bag of weapons. I climbed up a small hill near the huge house. It was dark, so I couldn't see much of it, but it was clear it was big. Whoever the target was, he was rich.
"I take out the sniper riffle and set it up just, so I could locate the target before heading in. My stomach was in knots and I wanted to throw up. The thought of having to kill someone was destroying me. Even more so knowing I had to do it up close.
Looking through the lens of the rifle I looked around the windows of the house. I saw a man or rather the silhouette of a man. He seemed to be talking to someone, the person next to him was almost as tall he was.
Was it his son? I thought as I kept looking. Am I killing an innocent father that provides for his family? I had to go in there, I had to take his life, he had to suffer in my hands. My hands were already trembling in fear.
It was bad enough the bastard was forcing me to kill someone, or he would send me to be tortured but he was forcing me to kill on his terms, his way. My hands gripped the trigger tightly as I pointed directly at the target.
If I had to kill someone, I was going to do it on my own terms. I took a deep breath and forgot about the consequences of my actions for a moment. I eyed the target but I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. I felt myself black out, dissoaciate from everything.
I didn't even noticed I had pulled the trigger until mayhem broke out inside the house. Lights turned on, screams ensued and I knew I had to get out of there.
With shaking legs, I ran to throw up in the near by bushes. I couldn't believe I had just killed someone. I wasn't even thinking of how my father would punish me for disobeying his orders.
I somehow got to back to the car and Mendez started driving back.
I had killed someone...
As soon as we got back to D. Impero I was punished and tortured for not following orders. It was the worst night of my life. I must have blocked it out of my mind after so much suffering.
***
Present day
The memory was fresh in my mind as I held on to the picture and made the worst realization ever.
I had killed Nelson Valentino. I killed Alexanders father...