The light of the sun shone over my eyes which made me wake up from my beautiful dreams of Soldier and I running through a meadow. A smile played on my lips at the memory of last night's conversation and I sat up in bed with happiness running through my body.
I can finally be happy, I can finally walk the earth without constantly checking over my shoulder and using violence as my first reflex - I can be truly and utterly happy. And that, was my new motivation to get up in the morning. I can finally start my day without worry, but instead, with joy. And I don't plan on wasting it one bit.
I hopped out of bed and saw Soldier sleeping peacefully on his large bed and I shook him awake for breakfast.
"Hey my big aggressive baby, breakfast," I whispered. He lifted his head up to yawn and stretched out his muscles before we both slowly walked down the stairs for breakfast.
When we reached the dining room I was met with all three boys stuffing their faces and discussing something about the gang. I noticed Soldier's bowls already filled with food and water next to my chair and I gave the maid a thankful smile. She nodded and gave me a warm smile of her own before running off to the other room.
I sat down in my seat while Soldier sat in front of his food, awaiting a signal again. "Go," and he started munching on his dog food immediately at my cue.
"Wow, he really does listen to you," Liam said with his mouth full.
"Swallow your food first step bro I can't understand an idiot," I said while sipping on my orange juice even though I heard him. He rolled his eyes at me and continued to eat as did I.
"What are you guys gonna do about Jack?" I asked as I cut my pancakes.
"We're gonna get some answers out of him, figure out why he was trying to steal from us and why the Royal Aces decided to hijack our shipments," Kai explained as he chewed on a piece of bacon.
I tossed Soldier a piece of my egg, "You might want to talk to Ogus about it first," I suggested.
"Why do you say that?" He asked skeptically.
"If the Royal Aces actually wanted to steal your shipment they would've been more slick about it. It was too easy to get into those data servers and if it were Ogus, it wouldn't take just a couple of seconds," I pointed out as I shoved an egg into my mouth.
They all looked at each other questioningly before looking back at me, "How do you know that?"
"Austin told me they were one of the strongest gangs, so why wouldn't they be more careful about it?" I asked as if it was obvious.
They all looked at each other once again as if they were speaking with their minds and nodded their heads at a plan, "Ok, we'll invite them to dinner tonight, and it would be great if you joined. You in?" Kai asked smirking.
"Can't," his face dropped, "Fighting for Williams tonight," I finished.
"Okay, tomorrow night then, good?" He asked looking around the table for approvals. We all nodded our heads in agreement and finished our breakfasts.
"What are your plans for today?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know how to not be blunt about this, but we're killing your brother and questioning Jack," Blake said downing the rest of his juice.
"I'm coming with," I stated as I stood up from my chair.
"No you're not," Kai chuckled humorlessly.
"I want to see the life die from my brother's eyes. I'm coming with whether you like it or not," I said with my jaw clenched. He looked up to me to see if I were bluffing but nodded his head after I proved that I wasn't.
I walked back up to my room to get ready for the gym and clipped on Soldier's leash before heading out to my car. He jumped into the passengers seat and I rounded the car to drive.
I'll be back before they know it, just in time to go with them. I've just been waiting from this moment for so long, and I was finally going to get it. And the most important thing I was hoping for when I see him; an apology. I wanted him to apologize to me about everything he did to me, I want to hear him say it and I want to hear him say it with so much meaning before he dies. I just wanted my big brother back, but now I know that I will never get him back. I will never get back the Monopoly games and the days in the park or the hugs he gave me whenever I felt down. He knew as much as I did about him and that's what made us close, but now all I see is a stranger. And now all I'll see is his soul leave his body.
_______________________
After the gym with Soldier, who the manager gladly let in after I called Kai to threaten him, Blake sent me the address to the warehouse that Jack and Jewels were being held in and I couldn't be more happy, and nervous.
I eagerly sped through traffic to get to them and Soldier looked as if the speed didn't affect him, but I had him buckled in just in case. My hands started to get sweaty for the death that awaits my brother, and I just wanted to hear him say it once. I wanted to hear an apology through his teeth so I could know that just a little bit of my big brother was still in there. I needed to know that he still loved me just a little bit so I could finally feel the burden rise from my shoulders. And this is his last chance to do it, so I hope he uses his last moments wisely.
I pulled up next to Kai's Pista and let Soldier out of the car. I grabbed onto his leash as I made my way over to the men standing near the door.
"You ready precious?" Blake asked as he saw us approaching. I nodded my head and gripped onto Soldier's leash a little more to help calm my nervousness as they led me through the dirty warehouse.
We walked up a set of concrete stairs that was stained with either blood or dirt and walked down a dark hallway with dimly lit lights and I held onto Blake's jacket as I couldn't see. I heard him chuckle and I smacked his shoulder which made him whisper yell a small 'ow'. Soldier whimpered beside me but I kissed his forehead to let him know he was safe and he responded by panting.
We kept walking until we stopped at a large copper door that had a large rusted handle that one of the guards used to open for us. He nodded his head in acknowledgement towards us and we entered a room with much better lighting.
In the middle I saw my brother with blood trailing down the side of his face, bruises decorated his skin and he looked so pale, he looked as if he had died already. Soldier whimpered again at Jewel's figure which made him slowly lift his head up to look at us. When his eyes met mine he gave me a sinister smile that sent shivers down my spine but I quickly regained my composure and stood at my full height, trying to appear as confident.
"Little sister, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked followed by a series of coughs. I took a water bottle from my bag and handed Kai the leash to Soldier before I stepped in front of my brother with a blank expression on my face.
I unscrewed the cap and held the bottle to his lips. He looked back up at me confusedly but I nodded at him to continue. He sipped on the water slowly before it turned into fully chugging the water down his throat until the bottle was empty. I tossed it to the side and stood a couple feet away from him.
I looked back to Kai and gave him a 'look' and he understood what I was trying to say. He dismissed the other men in the room and placed a chair behind me so I could sit. I crossed my leg over the other and looked at my brother in the eyes before breaking the silence, "Why did you do it?" I asked strongly.
He scoffed in my face and smirked, "That's how we're starting off? Why in such a rush?"
"Because I want to take advantage of your last moments and get an explanation out of you," I said narrowing my eyes onto him.
His face fell and he looked up to me sorrowfully, "My last moments?" He asked in a whisper. I nodded my head at him and his smirk covered his emotions once again, "Well I'll be damned," he said as he leaned back.
"Why did you hurt me?" I asked as my patience started to reduce at the amount of time he was taking up.
He looked up at me and a glint of mischief danced across his eyes before replying, "Alam mo kung bakit," he taunted. (Translation: You know why// Filipino)
I cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "Gawin ko ngayon?" (Translation: Do I now?)
He scoffed and sat up straighter, "Niet handelen dom, je hebt al langs bekend," He said narrowing his eyes at me. (Translation: Don't act stupid, you've known all along//Deutsch)
What was he trying to hide that he had to keep switching language to language? Is he afraid to tell me the truth?
"Nee doe ik niet. Enlighten me broer," I said uncrossing my legs and resting my elbows on my knees. What could he possibly be talking about? (Translation: No, I don't. Enlighten me brother)
"Là anh! Bạn luôn là con và ng! Má»i ngÆ°á»i Äá»u yêu bạn và ngưỡng má» bạn cho vẻ của bạn và tất cả má»i ngÆ°á»i bá» qua tôi! Bạn luôn rất hạnh phúc và tôi chá» muá»n nhìn thấy bạn Äau khá»! Bạn không xứng Äáng Äược bất kỳ tá»t trong cuá»c sá»ng của bạn và vì váºy tôi Äã là m cho bạn những ugliest bạn có thá» bao giá» Äược!" He shouted. My eyes widened at his words and I could feel the tears threatening to spill out, but I wouldn't let them. I would not cry for a man who caused my first heartbreak. I heard footsteps approach from behind me but I held my hand up for them to stop, and I listened as they retreated back to their original spot.
(Translation: It's you! You have always been the golden child! Everybody loved you and admired you for your looks and everybody ignored me! You were always so happy and I just wanted to see you suffer! You don't deserve any good in your life and so I made you the ugliest you could ever be!// Vietnamese)
I felt the lump in my throat start to grow but I quickly swallowed it down and took in a sharp breath, "Imali smo jedno drugo. Nije me briga za moj izgled ili koliko je oÄiju bilo na meni, brinuo sam za svog brata i mog najboljeg prijatelja. Bio si moj prvi prioritet kroz sve dragulji, i nije me bilo briga Å¡to ste vi stariji, samo mi je stalo da ste sreÄni. Kako si mogao da budeÅ¡ tako zavidan od mene kada sam bio tako zavidan od tebe," His eyes widened at my words and I continued, "želela sam da budem kao ti dragulji, ali onda si se okrenuo protiv mene i traumatizovao me sa proÅ¡loÅ¡Äu mislio sam da nikada neÄu da puzim od njega. Morala sam da uÄim kako da radim sve stvari, a Äak sam uspeo da se pobrinem za mamu usput. Voljela sam vas, dragulji. Ali ti si bila moja prva srÄana pauza i slomila moju duÅ¡u..."
(Translation: We had each other. I didn't care for my looks or for how many eyes were on me, I cared for my brother and my best friend. You were my first priority through everything Jewels, and I didn't care that you were older, I just cared that you were happy. How could you be so envious of me when I was so envious of you- I wanted to be just like you Jewels, but then you turned against me and traumatized me with a past I thought I'd never crawl out of. I had to learn how to do things all by myself and I even managed to take care of mom along the way. I loved you, Jewels. But you were my first heart break and you broke my soul...)
He looked at me bewildered at my words, he didn't believe I had that much love for my older brother, but I did. I adored the relationship I had with him and I wished that it would've never broken, but I'm kind of glad that it did. I would've never met Williams, mom wouldn't have met Jared, I would've never met Liam, Blake, and Kai. He gave me a life that I was now happy with and I couldn't have been more grateful for that. If he hadn't sold me to Williams, I would've never been strong. He gave me strength that I needed and he taught me to be careful with who I trust now, family or not.
Jewels sat staring at me in astonishment, looking for the words to say. "Diamonds..." He whispered.
This was it, I was going to get my apology, I was going to finally hear it. My whole life I've been waiting for this and it was worth the wait. I needed to hear him say it, just once.
"I..." He stuttered. My eyes gleamed with hope at his next words, "I'm sorry," he whispered.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and started breathing heavily. Tears still threatened to spill out but I held them back with all my strength, I couldn't believe he finally said it. I was so overfilled with joy while he just stared at the floor as if he was reflecting all of the memories we had together. I was thankful he finally realizes how much damage he did to me, I was thankful that he regrets it.
The handle of the copper door rung through my ears and I watched as two men emerged from behind me and stood on either side of Jewels. He looked at me with guilt shining in his eyes and I just held a thankful smile on my face.
"I forgive you..." I whispered. I watched as tears started to brim his eyes while looking at me sorrowfully. The man held a gun up to his head but that didn't make him take his eyes off of me.
Tears started to blur my vision as the man took the safety off. A small assuring smile played on his lips while his eyes held regret, and he mouthed a simple goodbye before the sound of the gunshot filled the silence in the air.
I watched as my brother's body fell limp in the chair he was sitting in. His head was held down so I couldn't see his face, but I knew that the smile he held was now wiped off and his eyes were lifeless. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the walls of the room and filled my ears as if it were a broken record; replaying over and over again.
The men untied his hands and carried his body somewhere else, probably to a morgue. I stood there frozen in my spot, too scared to move. I felt someone's presence behind me as the tears started to silently slide down my cheeks and past my jaw, and I didn't bother wiping away a single tear.
"Princess..." I heard him whisper behind me. I steadied my breathing before turning back to Kai who looked at me with remorse. His eyes trailed along my face before he slowly lifted his hand up to wipe my tears away. He walked closer to me until he was now hovering over me, making me crane my neck just to look into his eyes. I gave him a sly smile and laid my chin on his chest and closed my eyes, letting the tears silently fall from my eyes.
My chest started to constrict at the reminder that my brother was gone. He was finally gone and I got an apology out of it. It hurt my heart to know that the only way to get him to apologize was to kill him, but it was his time. He knew what he deserved and I was sad to know that it had to be death, but what's going to be more wretched is when I have to break the news to my mom.
I gained my composure and lifted myself off of Kai and wiped away my tears. I look back up to him and gave him a bigger smile, "I need to get ready for tonight," I said strongly.
He chuckled at me and lifted me off of my feet and supported my weight from my bottom as my arms and legs wrapped around his body. I rested my chin on his shoulder and smiled at the boys who were walking behind us, and they both gave me assuring smiles.
Once we reached outside I heard excessive barking and thrashing around as well as many men yelling, 'make it stop!'
I giggled as Kai set me down and I approached Soldier. I placed my hand on his head and he slowly started to relax at my touch, probably recognizing it was me. He sat down and panted heavily as I ran my fingers through his fur and grabbed his leash from the guard.
"Thank God, I thought it'd never end," he mumbled as he walked away. I rolled my eyes at his comment and led Soldier to the car.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to drive?" Blake asked worriedly.
"If I can reach the gas pedal I'll be fine," I chuckled. "I'll meet you guys at the house, yeah?" I said as I closed the passengers door.
"Yeah, get ready for your fight." Liam yelled over his shoulder as he made his way to his car.