The Story of Blood and Roses

"You handle yourself well," he complimented as he returned to me.

"I would\'ve asked you to tell her to keep her claws to herself, but I enjoy insulting her too much," I admitted. He raised a brow.

"Your requests only extended to you asking me to put those tailing you off your track?"

"What did you find out about me, anyway?" It was a simple question. One I was dying to know the answer to. There was no dangerous gleam in his eyes. He didn\'t discover much more than what I\'d already told him or wanted him to know.

"Simply, that you have a bad habit of speeding, don\'t wear your seatbelt as often as you should and that you are a compulsive insomniac."

"Compulsive insomniac, you say?"

"You don\'t want to sleep," he stated, simply. I shook my head in denial.

"I love my sleep. I just never get enough."

"So if I gave you a day off from everything, you\'d miraculously sleep for a few more hours?" I shrugged. "I would like to see how that works out." He moved closer. "You like to stay awake, don\'t you? You like the high. The power you have over your body. You hate your nightmares."

"Nightmares?" I asked.

"Us—the bad guys, we\'ve seen the worst of everything. You don\'t think I know what nightmares are? I used to get those when I was younger. I am where I am because of them. They made me stay awake, focus and build my empire from scratch."

"I don\'t have nightmares," I assured him. I could taste the bitterness in my mouth.

"I\'m curious, though. Was it you being who you are the reason why your mother killed herself?" His eyes hardened at that. I had hit a sore spot. I\'d tried to bite down on my tongue to not spew something venomous and failed. He was on a mission to unravel me. It was a dangerous game that he was playing. I wouldn\'t let him win.

"How did you know about that?" he growled. I shrugged.

"I did some research before I met you. I\'m not as reckless as you believe me to be." His lips tugged up in a sarcastic smile. "So, will you answer me or not?" His eyes twitched with anger, but he spoke anyways.

"She hated my father for letting me follow his footsteps. She didn\'t like watching her son put a bullet through some guy\'s head." His eyes bore into mine. I froze in the spot. "She hung herself just so she could punish us both."

"She was weak." His fists clenched in anger as I uttered the words.

"Pitifully weak," he conceded. "You wanted to be a cop. Why change your mind?"

"I\'ve already answered that before. The question remains, how did you find out about that?"

"To address the latter: I had done my homework, too, Mia." He stared at me intently. "Your lies I can see through, any day. Don\'t fucking lie to me. Your lies will only make me want you more." Awareness jolted through me at that. He gravitated towards me like a negatively charged atom, ready to take my electrons from me. Complete oxygen against hydrogen. Form water. I held back. I moved away. I wasn\'t giving up. I was going to be negative this time. I would take his electrons, protons, and neutrons.

"Do they, now? I don\'t lie."

"Lying just makes me want you more," he taunted. I loved it. "Tell me." His wish was my command.

"A cop was too small. They\'re honorable creatures if they intend on following the rules, but when they don\'t? They become the pawns of the bigger players. They are insignificant. I wanted to matter, to hold absolute power and being a cop would\'ve held me back."

He chuckled. I wondered if the truth made him want me any less. There wasn\'t much difference between those I considered scum and I. I was a bit more civilized in terms of my employment but dirtier when one considered the job description. I\'d do anything to get the job done; being a cop wouldn\'t give me that. That sort of control came with abusing power. I wanted to avenge my mother. I wanted to annihilate all those who threatened her—or me.

"When did you decide on becoming a mob lady?" When I found out that YOU killed my mom.

"I wouldn\'t want you to want me any less, by telling the truth." That appeased him. "You know too much about me." It scared me a bit.

"Not enough." He stared for too long. "There\'s news of a little healthy competition among the guys. Wanna join in?"

"What\'s the deal?"

"Bike race or some shit. They\'re meeting at the mansion in the early hours. The one who wins gets twenty grand." His smirk was contagious.

"Any bets?" He raised a brow.

"I\'m going to win, my kitten."

"We\'ll see."

He leaned in and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "I never lose."

\'This time, you will\'.

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