Damien drove back home feeling accomplished and finally free of the stress that was brought on by Liam and his fantasies.
However, when he pulled into the driveway of his house, his brows furrowed at the sight of an unknown car parked crookedly on the asphalt.
Immediately, his guard went up and a hand went to the passenger seat to grab his gun on top of his suit jacket.
"I swear to God, after this, I'm moving." He mumbled under his breath.
He closed the car door quietly after his exit, as to not alert whoever was inside. His thoughts flashed over to Mia and his heart froze in his chest. He forgot that he'd left her in there.
Quickening his steps, he unlocked the front door and cringed at the little squeak it made upon opening.
It's amazing how you don't realize how loud everything is until it's quiet.
Damien took soft steps around the lower floor of his house, his gun raised while he searched. Each closed door made his heart race until he opened it and found the room empty. When he confirmed that the lower levels of his house were clear, he was starting to feel a bit better.
Maybe Mia had went somewhere. It was just past 11am, so she could've gotten up and left the house.
Some of the steps creaked as Damien started walking up the stairs and he tried to keep his breathing even to minimize the noise. His head spun back and forth, constantly checking his rear end to make sure that no one was going to ambush him from behind.
Finally, he made it to the top of his stairs and although he was fairly calm before, he could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead- successfully sticking some of his brown strands to his skin.
His bedroom door was closed.
If Mia had left the house, surely it would be open?
With a clench of his jaw, he gingerly turned the knob with his free hand and pushed the door open.
He had to stumble back at the sight.
Brody stood over a sleeping Mia, with a gun hovering over her temple.
Damien's throat felt dry and his hands grew clammy as nerves set in. For the first time in his life, he wasn't able to hide his emotions. He didn't even think he could if he tried.
"What are you doing?" Damien asked calmly. At least that was what he was going for. If you listened really closely, you could hear the slight waver in his voice; it was an indication of unsureness, vulnerability—weakness.
"He told me to do it." Brody whispered harshly. Now that Damien was looking at him, his expression almost mirrored his own. He looked flustered and erratic- quite the opposite of stability. "H-he said if I don't do it then he'll kill my girlfriend a-and her daughter." He choked. Brody readjusted the gun in his hands and switched the safety off. "I'm sorry." He said, flickering his eyes to meet Damien's. "But I have to do it."
Damien took a step forward and Brody flinched, turning the gun towards him. Damien raised his hands up in surrender and emptied his ammunition on the carpeted floor.
"Listen to me." Damien started. "I killed him, Liam's dead. No one is going to hurt your family Brody, but they are going to lose you if you pull that trigger."
Brody's eyes widened and his armed hand shook but still, he refused to lower the weapon.
"H-how can you be sure that he doesn't have people ready to kill them the moment I put down this gun." He hissed. "I rather put my life on the line than theirs. Anytime."
Damien nodded, to seem empathetic towards his situation. All the while, he was shuffling closer and closer to him, ready to disarm him and blow a hole in his chest.
"I get that, trust me I do. What do you think I'm doing here?"
Brody clenched his jaw and shook his head.
"I can't risk it—I just can't." He said, turning the gun to point at Mia's head again.
But she wasn't there.
"What the fuck—"
His moment of confusion gave Damien the perfect opportunity to lunge at him and rip the gun from his grasp; he immediately emptied 3 bullets into his chest.
As he fell to the ground gasping and clutching at his bloody wounds, Damien rose the gun to his head.
"Tell Liam I said hi."
The final gun shot came with a scream and Damien's head spun to find Mia on the floor in his closet.
"Oh baby." He said sympathetically. He immediately dropping the gun to walk towards her.
Mia sobbed and stumbled towards him, before grabbing onto his arms, crushing her face in his chest. Her cries caused her breathing to become laboured, leading her to choke and cough from her distress.
"Mia, baby you need to breathe." He said softly.
Mia shook her head and squeezed her face into his torso, tears still falling down her cheeks in a steady rhythm.
She hiccupped as he ran his hand down her back.
"You left me." She whimpered finally.
Damien sighed and slid down to the floor, lifting Mia to straddle his lap.
"You know I had to sort things out to keep you safe." He whispered into her hair.
"But I wasn't safe!" She yelled, tears welling up in her eyes again. "You were supposed to stay here to keep me safe." She said hoarsely.
Damien's eyes widened at her outburst.
"I know you're upset baby, but things would've been a lot worse for me and for you if I didn't do what I did earlier today."
Mia sniffled and turned her head to the side, pressing her ear against his chest.
"Did you kill someone." She asked quietly.
Damien pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and nodded slightly.
"Yes."
Silence sounded between them for a moment before Mia spoke again.
"Okay." She sounded numb.
Damien sighed and kissed the top of her head.
"I didn't mean for you to see all of this." He told her remorsefully.
Mia didn't say anything. Instead, her eyes examined his face and she relaxed slightly when she saw no injuries. Although when her sight drifted to his side she gasped at the sight of fresh blood.
"Damien!" She exclaimed, causing him to stand up abruptly with her in his arms.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He sputtered, looking down her body and at their surroundings.
"You're bleeding." She whispered with wide eyes.
"What?" He questioned, before following her eyes to see blood on his side from where he was grazed earlier. "Oh" He said after discovering the wound.
Adrenaline was one son of a bitch.
Immediately, Mia scrambled out of his arms and unbuttoned his shirt to see the extent of his injury.
"Oh my God." She whimpered when she saw blood dripping down his side. "It looks deep Damien."
Damien took his first look at the wound and shook his head at the girl's dramatics.
"I was grazed and not that deep by the looks of it." He said, trying to calm her down. "Once I clean the blood off, it won't look so bad."
Mia let out a shaky breath and turned away from the injury, only to let out a yelp at the bloody body on the floor.
"Forgot that was there." Damien mumbled to himself. "Let's go to the guest bedroom." He said, gently pulling Mia away from the corpse.
Mia stumbled backwards, letting him pull her in the other direction.
~
"Are you sure that's it?" Damien asked.
"Sì, amico meo. My guys pulled out all of Liam's supporters and threatened the remaining group."
"Were there a lot?" He questioned curiously.
"Twenty. The rest were going along with him out of fear."
Damien hummed. It wasn't as much as he thought, considering he had over 250 people employed under him. Although he didn't think that that they were all a bunch of fucking pussies. That actually reminded him of the body that was in his room a few weeks ago.
"Thanks again for helping out with the mess in my room. My girl didn't want to step foot in the house until it was gone."
"Stai tranquillo"
No worries
"I owe you. And you know that coming from me is a big deal."
Matteo nodded and give Damien a firm pat on the back before walking out his office.
Damien had asked Matteo to come down and clear out everyone who had part in Liam's deluded plan because to be quite honest, he was tired. He still enjoyed the thrill and the adrenaline rush from his line of work, so he was going to keep doing it. But for now, he needed a fucking vacation.
Sighing, he got up and wiped a hand down his face before leaving- opening the double doors.
As soon as he was in the hallway, people froze and looked in the other direction, shame and fear evident on their faces. Rather than speak about what happened, Damien decided to let their minds wander. His silence was the only threat they needed.
People looked down and parted in the middle as he passed by and Damien couldn't help but smirk to himself. This is how it should've always been.