Edited by Stilldreaming85 and Banshee69
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Anthony Cullen.
It had been funny how it all played out. I always knew Isabella had it in her. Secretly, I had been waiting for her to snap and she did not disappoint.
Watching Janina fall limp into my brother's arms, a pool of blood forming at their feet, it was highly amusing, made just that more entertaining because it had been this tiny little lamb, who had been the one to take out Janina.
"What have I done?" she mumbled.
"Good girl," I said, placing a kiss on her cheek. "How about you hand that over." I held my hand out for the weapon.
"Get her out of here!" my brother shouted.
"I'll take her," I said to Garrett.
The way he looked at Isabella did not go unnoticed. He had completely ignored me, waiting for her to consent.
My little lamb gave him a small nod. I took her hand in mine, guiding her towards the elevator.
"Is she dead?" She asked, as we stepped inside my brother's place.
"Oh yeah, she's dead." I laughed. "You surprised me little lamb, and that's a hard thing to do."
"Why are you laughing about this?" She asked. "How is this funny? I just killed someone. I took someone's life!" she yelled.
"Someone who deserved it. She had it coming to her."
"Is that suppose to make me feel better?"
"Let me ask you something," I said, getting right in front of her, right up in her personal space, taking her face in between my hands.
"Did it not feel good to pull that trigger?"
"I…"
"It felt good, didn't it, her life in your hands," I said, skimming my nose along the side of her face. "You loved it," I whispered in her ear. "Just let it go and embrace it, little lamb."
"I'm not you," she said, maneuvering away from me, out of my grasp, out of my touch. My hands felt cold at the lack of contact.
"Your first kill is always the hardest, it's the one that will always stay with you."
"First!?" she shouted. "Do you think I have any plans of taking another person's life?"
"You didn't plan to take Janina's, yet here we are. The spontaneous kills are always the most fun." I shrugged.
"Oh my God," she said. She closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand. Her body began to shake with silent sobs.
"Do you want something to drink?" I asked.
I could not be sympathetic to her over this. She hadn't done anything wrong, even if she didn't see it that way. In fact, she had done us a favor by taking Janina out.
I left her standing there in the middle of the living room as I headed down the hallway to the back room where my brother stored his liquor. I fixed her a shot of tequila.
When I returned, my brother and her were having a silent stare off. My brother stood on the other side of the room with his hands tucked into his pockets, his face an unreadable mask, he gave nothing away. This was when the monster came out.
"Here," I said, holding the shot glass out to her.
She took it from me, her hand still shaking. She downed the shot in one swig.
"Better?" I asked.
However, she offered no response. She was holding herself together better than I would have expected. I mean, she hadn't gone into shock, not yet at least.
"What the hell were you thinking?" My brother asked, although I didn't know which one of us he was speaking to.
"Come on, brother, it wasn't so bad. Isabella actually did you a favor," I said.
"A favor?" He chuckled, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "She hasn't done me any favors!" he shouted.
"Let's not be too dramatic."
"No, he's right," Isabella said.
"No, he's not. He's trying to make you feel guilty about doing something he didn't have the balls to do," I said.
I was right and my brother knew it. He had no other reason to keep that whore around. She should have been dealt with from the very beginning. She wasn't leading us to Leo as my brother had hoped, no, in fact, she was making us spin around in circles. Leo had used his daughter and now he had tossed her away, left her to fend for herself, and look where that got her.
"Right, you're right brother," he said. "However, I am not trying to guilt her into anything. No, what I should have done was let that boy call the police like he had planned. What do you think would have happened to you then, Isabella?" he asked.
"I don't know, you tell me," Isabella said. The way she spoke to my brother, it was as if she were a different person.
"I should have let him do it," my brother said, as he came towards us.
"Yes, you should have," she said.
"Maybe a night locked up would have done you some good."
"And they would have taken my prints and my DNA and then what would you have done, Edward?" She asked.
She had grown-up so much it was almost scary. Who would have thought three years with our aunt would have done her some good.
We could hear the sound of my brother grinding his teeth together. He snapped his neck from left to right. His eyes narrowed as he stared a hole through her.
"Dolcezza, don't jump into a game where you don't know the rules," he said.
"Fuck. You!" she spoke the words slowly. "Game over. I'm done."
My brother snapped, he had lost all sense and let the monster in him come out to play, only this time the monster's victim was his own wife.
He grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pulled her to him, wrapping his other hand in her hair tilting her head back.
"Hey, now, no need for that," I said, trying to pull my brother off of her, even though it was a useless task. He shoved me away, making me stumble into Garrett and Vito who had walked in.
"You fucking come after us Anthony, and you'll be in the headlines again tomorrow," he said.
We watched as my brother dragged Isabella out of the room and up the stairs. They disappeared out of our sight. The sound of a door slamming echoed down the stairs.
"Fuck!" Garrett said.
~MINY~
I had sent Garrett and Vito to check on the clean up downstairs and make sure all the security footage had been disposed of.
Edward and Isabella had been up there for hours now, I couldn't hear a sound. I didn't know whether to be relieved or scared.
I sat at the end of the hallway waiting for one of them to emerge. By midnight I was prepared to declare them both dead, that was until my brother emerged from the room, walking a few short steps across the hall into the adjacent room and shutting the door behind himself. He hadn't noticed me.
I waited for a few minutes to see if he would come back out. Finally satisfied that he wouldn't, I went into Isabella's room.
She was standing on the balcony. Her hair was wet and she was dressed only in a pair of pajama bottoms and t-shirt. Outside, the air had a bite to it. There was a possibility it would snow tonight and here she was standing in the freezing night with wet hair.
"Are you trying to catch pneumonia?" I asked, leaning against the frame.
She paid me no attention, in fact, I don't think she had heard me approach at all. I hadn't been quiet about it either.
I walked out onto the balcony beside her, wanting to see what held her attention. I followed her gaze to the building across the street. Was that it, the building?
Her eyes squinted together as if trying to get a better look as she leaned over the balustrade more.
"Which one are you?" She mumbled to herself.
"How about we get you inside before you freeze," I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. My action made her jump up in surprise. Her eyes wide as she looked upon me, realizing that I was here with her.
"Anthony, what are you doing in here?" She asked looking over my shoulder.
"I came to check that you were still alive," I said.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"What did he do to you?" I asked, looking her up and down for a sign of anything, a mark, a bruise. There was nothing on her.
"He didn't do anything to me," she said.
"Are you sure?"
"Why are you so concerned?" She asked, turning once more to the building across the road. "Would it bother you if your brother were to have hit me? Or would it bother you more that it was him abusing me and not you?"
"You really have grown an attitude, haven't you?"
"You never knew the real me."
"I liked you better when you were obedient," I said.
"Is that why you've come in here now, to teach me obedience?" She scolded.
"I came to make sure that you were okay."
"I don't need you checking up on me," she said. Little did she know that I had been checking up on her over the years. I knew everything she had done. I knew of the studio she had made back in Ragusa. I knew how those assholes looked at her. I knew every time my father and mother would leave to check in on her. I was also aware of the friend she had made, the same friend who was now coincidentally in New York.
"Get inside before you freeze to death."
"I'm not...It's really cold out here," she said.
We went back inside, I closed the balcony doors behind us. She had climbed into bed, concealing herself completely under the covers. I sat down next to her head, pulling the bedspread off enough to see her face.
"Why are you still here?" she mumbled.
"What are doing in bed?" I asked.
"What do people usually do when they get in bed?"
"Fuck."
She looked at me unimpressed. "Get out," she said, pulling the covers back over her head.
"No, seriously, what are you doing in bed?"
"Going to sleep, Anthony, it's late."
"Have you had anything to eat?"
"No!"
"Go dry your hair and change your clothes," I said.
"Anthony, no, I'm not going anywhere," she protested.
"There is nothing cooked in this place and I don't feel like making anything. You're hungry, I'm hungry. I know a great little diner that's open all night, they have the best burgers."
"No, I can't Anthony, I can't do that to Garrett, Edward will kill him for sure this time," she said, as she sat up.
"My brother won't do anything, in fact, I bet money he's taken a pill and he's snoring right now. And if Garrett wants, if it makes you feel better, he can come along," I said. One way or another I was going to gain her trust. "Edward won't even know we're gone. I bet you he'll still be asleep by the time we get back."
"I don't know…"
"Please," I said, lifting her chin up to look at me. "I promise I'll bring you back."
"Garrett can come?" She asked.
"Garrett can come."
She was debating with herself, it was written all over face. She was going to refuse me, it was clear, I couldn't have that, I couldn't lose.
"Trust me," I said.
"That's not an easy thing for me to do."
"Give me a chance, just one chance, Isabella."
"Why are you being nice to me, it's weird, it doesn't suit you," she said.
"That's something we can discuss over food."
~MINY~
The all night diner on Lexington Ave. had the best food in town. It had always been my go-to.
I watched Isabella stuff her face, literally stuff her face, with the burger. I have to admit it was refreshing to see a woman eat properly, none of that salad crap.
"What?" She asked. She had caught me staring.
"Hungry?"
"Yep. This is really good," she said, tucking into her food. "Stop staring at me while I eat, it's uncomfortable."
"Do you have any idea how refreshing it is to watch you eat. You're not worried about impressing anyone. You don't care if you get sauce everywhere. Who would have thought you'd be this fun, little lamb?"
"That's because I'm not trying to impress you, Anthony. I could care less what you think about me," she said, as she glanced back over her shoulder at Garrett and Vito a few booths away.
"What if I think you're beautiful?" I asked, guarding her reaction.
She was beautiful, she had always been. However, she had changed a lot these past few years and that only accentuated what natural beauty she had.
She turned her attention back to me, placing what was left of her food back on the plate, she pushed it away. Resting her elbows on the table.
"Why are you doing this, Anthony?" She asked.
"Doing what?"
"This, being nice, everything, even teaching me how to shoot. Why would you do that?" She rambled on.
"I'm a nice person," I defended.
"No, you're not, not to me at least."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
I'll admit, this had started out as a game. Three years ago, she was a pawn in a game that I had played well. However, I didn't win the game. I didn't get the girl.
"You abused me, Anthony," she said, my heart sinking at the memory of my hands on her. Her blood staining my fingers, every cry, every plea. I had turned soft. If there was ever something that I regretted about her, it wasn't that I involved her in any of this, it was that she had suffered at my hands and not my brothers.
"I don't know what to say, little lamb," I said.
"You had me locked me in a brothel. You were going to rape me, Anthony, and not just you, you were going to let those other men do it as well."
She closed her eyes. Letting out a deep sigh, she opened them again, staring right at me, looking straight through me.
"Even if you apologized…" she trailed off. "Nothing will ever make up for it."
"I'm not going to apologize because you and I both know I would be lying," I said. I have never had to apologize for anything and I was not going to make an exception for her. Regret and sympathy were different from feeling sorry, and I wasn't sorry, not one bit.
"This may sound stupid," she said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I preferred you better back then."
"You're right, that does sound stupid." I laughed.
"I didn't have to guess with you. Even though your mood was always jumping around, you were caring one minute and violent the next. However, it was never a surprise because I knew you were only leading me into a false sense of security, I knew what to expect, but now, this. I can't take anymore games, Anthony, whatever game you're playing at with your brother, please leave me out of it because I can't, I can't play anymore, please."
"Hey," I said, reaching over for her hand. "I'm not playing games. I know you may never trust me, but I hope you'll give me a chance to prove you wrong."
Even I couldn't understand myself right now, where was this sensitive side coming from? The plan that I had made was slowly backfiring on me.
She stared past me with her head cocked to one side, her eyes squinting as if trying to get a better look. I turned around to see what she was looking at, but all I saw was a group of people cross the road. None of them looked familiar, none of them suspicious.
"What do you keep on staring at?" I asked, waving my hand in front of her face.
"Nothing," she said, shaking herself off.
"Really?"
"I thought I saw someone I know, but I was wrong," she said.
Garrett, who had been facing us, jumped out of his seat and ran outside. He stood on the sidewalk looking in both directions for something, no, someone, possibly the same someone that Isabella had seen. Moments later, my watch vibrated against my wrist.
Michael was here.
I looked up at Isabella as she watched Garrett walk back into the diner. She chewed on her bottom lip, looking like a nervous mess.
I had tried to dig up information on Michael O'Laughlin, however, there was not a single thing to his name, no family I could trace, not even the supposed job he claimed to have. I could not even trace him to where he was staying in New York. The man was a ghost.
"Isabella," I said, gaining her attention.
"Yeah, I know, we have to go," she sighed.
"We need to talk about your little friend."
"I don't have any friends."
"I'm not going to play games with you, but you're not going to play them with me."
"I'm not playing anything, Anthony. I don't know what you're talking about," she said, getting out of the booth. She made it outside before I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against my chest.
"I know everything, little lamb," I whispered in her ear. "We can do this the easy way, or I can make it very hard for you, baby."