After dinner with the Royal Aces, they had assured us of keeping in touch if my suspicions start to rise. They had thanked me for the warning and it had all seemed so surreal with how much talking I did. I haven't talked with so many people, with so many words, in a long, long time. I felt like a child who had just started school for the first time, still getting used to things and figuring out how to act normal. It all kind of felt new to me, which I really needed to work on.
My thoughts had suddenly evaporated at the words Kai had told me during dinner, "We're gonna have a little talk later..."
What could he possibly want from me? What did he want to know? Did he know I was lying about my knowledge of the base? I suddenly felt nervous about the many things Kai might want to discuss about. I felt like a child who had just been caught sneaking out in the middle of the night, but this one felt much worse.
I slowly pulled into the driveway and looked up at the house. Kai was waiting in the open doorway for me to enter with a blank but cold expression. I gulped at how intimidating he looked but got out of my car slowly.
I kept my head down, trying to avoid his stare and instead rounded the car for Soldier. He hopped out of the passengers seat and I unclipped his leash from his collar, letting him follow behind me as we walked up the stairs.
I stood in front of Kai with my head down, anxiety running through my body. I watched his feet as he had stepped to the side to let me in and I quickly rushed into the mansion. I sped walked through the foyer and through the kitchen to the back door to let Soldier out. I was planning to wait on the porch until I felt an arm grip on to my wrist.
I slowly turned around but kept my head down to avoid eye contact with him. I stood frozen in my spot and shuffled my feet on the marble floor underneath me, admiring my heels a little.
I watched as his hands reached for my waist and carry me up to the kitchen island as if I was weightless. Once he sat me down he placed each hand on either side of me, preventing me from any escape. From the corner of my eye I saw him tilt his head to the side and sigh as his eyes trailed down my body. I hung my head lower and started playing with my fingers, growing impatient of what he has to say.
"You look beautiful tonight princess," he said lowly. Oh, now I know he's gonna kill me. He's gonna try and butter me up so he could kill me when I least expect it and then he's gonna probably feed me to Soldier for dinner and- oh my God, do you think Soldier would actually eat me?
"No 'thank you'?" He taunted.
"Thank you," I said softly. I bit my lip and started drawing random patterns on my thigh to pass the time.
"Do you have something to say to me?" He asked innocently but with a hint of suspicion.
Why do I actually feel like a child being scolded by their parent? But anyways, I don't have to tell them anything about what I know. It's my choice to tell them or not and I don't like lying but I need to find out first about what my brother was doing creating a fucking gang. And the safest way to do that is to go there without anybody recognizing Kai. If they had seen me with him then they would grow suspicious of me and not share any of their information, he'd totally blow everything out of proportion.
I shake my head immediately and glance up to his eyes for a second to see him still staring at me.
"What's my only rule in this house princess?" He asked as he started tilting my head up to look at him. I bite my lip in nervousness and whispered quietly, "No lying."
"That's right princess," he wrapped his hand around my neck and put a small amount of pressure against it, "So why are you lying to me right now?" He spat.
"I'm not technically lying, I just have nothing to say to you," I reasoned with him.
He cocked an eyebrow at my answer and smirked, "So you are hiding something?"
"I never said that," I quickly responded. He chuckled lowly humorlessly and placed his hand on my waist, and tightened his grip, "So you aren't hiding something?" He pushed.
I knew what he was doing, he was testing me. He wanted to see if I was lying but I wouldn't give him a reaction. I wasn't going to give him any information before I knew what was going on myself, I wasn't going to let him kill my only source of explanation.
And at that moment, I was so fucking happy I bought Soldier. He walked into the kitchen and barked at Kai for his hand around my neck, but he didn't flinch. He was just searching my eyes for something but I just glared at him. He let go of me and watched me as I hopped off of the counter and led Soldier out of the kitchen to my bedroom.
I placed my heels back into my closet and threw my outfit into the hamper, slipping on a black bralette with pink pajama shorts. I tied my hair up into a bun and started washing the makeup off of my face.
I started forming a plan into my head for what I was going to do about the whole situation with the Shattered Jewels, and one started forming into my mind that might be a little risky but maybe worth it. I needed to be discreet and maybe lie a little, but Kai said not to lie in the house, not outside of it.
I stayed up reading the book for the English assignment until the clock striked midnight. I peeked outside of my door to see the hallway completely empty and dark, giving me the perfect chance to get going.
I changed into a pair of my black skinny jeans and a black sweater with my pair of black vans. That's right, I was sneaking out of this bitch.
I latched on Soldier's leash to his collar and grabbed my small back pack to place my phone, gun, and wallet in. We crept through the hallways, careful of not making any noise while we make our way down the flights of stairs.
We finally make our way to the front door and through the driveway where I placed Soldier in the passengers seat and got into the driver's side. Before I had left I had gotten into Kai's security system and played old footage from a couple of nights ago instead of actual live footage, so he wouldn't see me leave. I disabled his silent alarms until I got back which gives me enough time to get to the Shattered Jewel's base and back without any problems.
Gang Base's are usually 24 hours, and at least one person of higher authority are doing work during the night so that gives me a great chance to introduce myself. I just have to say I'm Jewel's sister, get in, and get out, simple. I hope.
After thirty minutes of driving South, a large warehouse came into view and it looked like there was a lot of people in there. Expensive cars were parked around the warehouse and I parked farthest away from them, not risking Robin into getting scratched by any lousy drivers.
I let Soldier hop out of the front and do his business and I looked up at the large warehouse. It looked rusty from the exterior but I felt like the interior would look so much better. Then I realized I needed to make a story for my purpose of being here, and it had to be convincing.
I walked towards the front door with Soldier in hand, tears brimming my eyes as I got closer. I opened the warehouse doors and once one person looked at me, it was like a domino effect to the rest of the members. Tears started to uncontrollably trail down my face as the men walking around came to a stop to look at me, and a large man with jet black hair and striking blue eyes started to approach me.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked uncertain.
"W-who's the third in c-command here?" I stuttered helplessly. Suddenly, all guns were pointed at me at my knowledge of their gang, and I had known I came to the right place.
"Who's asking?" He bellowed.
I wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my sweater and sniffled as Soldier started scooting closer to me, "My name is Diamonds Illium," I said.
The men started looking at each other in confusion while the hookers that were half naked glared at me, "My b-brother and J-Jack..." I started, more tears falling down my cheeks, "They're gone," I whispered.
The big man then rushed over to me and stopped just a few inches away from me, "What did you just say?" He whispered in disbelief.
At his words the tears became unbearable, and there was no way to stop them, "They killed them," I whispered for only him to hear.
His eyes widened in bewilderment and stared at me looking for a bluff, but I was too good at hiding it. He turned back towards the group of men and shouted among them, "Get this place cleaned up! And everybody out!"
Everybody started moving quickly while the big man looked back down to me, "Follow me."
Soldier and I followed him up a flight of stairs and into a large room that appeared as an office. He walked over to a small table that held alcohol and started pouring a glass of whiskey once I sat down.
"You drink?" He asked without turning around.
"No," I said softly while pretending to sniffle.
He sat down in the cushiony seat behind the glass desk and sipped on his drink. After a few minutes, he spoke up, "What did you mean, they're gone?" He asked unsurely.
I cleared my throat and started petting Soldier, "Jewels and Jack, they left me at home so they could take care of something for the gang, but they never came home," I started as tears stung my eyes, "I went to go look for th-them but when I got there it was already t-too late," I said as I choked on my sobs.
He passed me a tissue box and I grabbed one gratefully. "How do you know them?" His voice was strong, but I knew he didn't feel like it.
"Jewels is my brother," his head shot up at my words, "he came home and told me that I was to join his gang, and I agreed. He told me everything about it, how cool it was to be in one, how we'd always look out for each other," I started sobbing a little more, "And he said he would always protect me."
I looked down at my lap and wiped my tears away with the tissue. "You're the one he said would save us," he whispered loud enough of me to hear.
I nodded my head and looked back up to him, "But I couldn't save him," I said quietly. He looked down at his papers as if the answers to his questions were going to pop up on them.
He then quickly got up from his desk and crouched down in front of me, "Hey, it's going to be okay. You couldn't save him but you could save us, and that's all he would ever want you to do," he cooed.
I hiccuped a couple of times before speaking, "R-really?" I asked with hope laced in my voice.
"Yeah. And he would want you to be strong, like he would always say; "Beauty is a skill..."
"... but strength is your superpower," I finished. He had always told me that when we were kids, it's one of the reasons why I use my strength more than my beauty. He would always tell me that whenever the kids called me Almonds at school and started bullying me about it. He was my number one fan and I was his in return.
I took deep breaths and steadied my breathing and he got up to go to the mini fridge in the corner of his office. He pulled out a water bottle and handed it to me, "Thank you," I mumbled. He gave me a soft smile and waited for me to control myself.
"What did Jewels tell you when he told you about the gang?" He asked as he leaned against his desk.
"He mentioned something about me taking care of it, but I wasn't so sure," I answered hesitantly.
"That's right, you and Jewels were supposed to lead the gang together. As siblings," he said in a sigh.
Jewels wanted us to be siblings again? He wanted to create a bond with me? He wanted us to be in this... together? I can't believe it, all along I thought my older brother was nowhere to be found inside his soulless body, but he's just been building me up so we could rule together. He wanted us to be siblings again, he wanted to be my brother.
But I killed him, I fucking killed my big brother. I watched him die in his chair when he was just going to try with me again. He just wanted to protect me, to help me get used to everything. And I... I killed him.
"Siblings..." I whispered. He nodded his head and I shot my head up to him, "He said he was going to change the gang name to Illium, to make your name world wide," he explained.
Gears started to turn in my mind and I stood up slowly from my chair, "Where's his office?" I asked trying o sound strong.
"Down the hallway, why?" He asked.
"Because I'm going to be strong enough to run his gang, for the both of us," I stated strongly. "What's your name?"
"Jones, but everybody calls me Joe for short," he said sticking his hand out for me to shake. I gave him a soft smile and grabbed his hand for a shake, and he led me down the hallway towards his office, Soldier right beside me.
After we approached a large wooden door he pulled out a set of keys and pulled a golden one out. He turned until the 'click' of it opening echoed through the walls and revealed a larger office, my brother's office.
Once I stepped in I let Soldier sniff around and I examined the room myself. Many files of paperwork and books lined the shelves with a filing cabinet near the end. The glass desk had many papers scattered about with a large cushiony leather chair sitting behind it.
"Anything you want before I leave you to it Boss?" He asked putting emphasis on 'Boss.'
I giggled at his statement and turned around, "I want you to gather all the latest information you have on the supply we have and have yet to steal from the different gangs. I need his house address as well if you don't mind and I want you to gather another very, very reliable member of this gang and bring them to me immediately. We keep my leadership a secret, got it?" I ordered sternly.
Joe chuckled at my sudden change of demeanor, "You're perfect for this," he said and walked out of the room.
I immediately started going through the files in the filing cabinet and found Jones' file in it. I placed it on the desk to figure out his back story and also looked throughout the papers on the desk. All showing different businesses of different kinds and some held information of other gang's supply. Oh dear brother, the amount of dirt I have on you now.
I looked through the filing cabinet once again for Jack's profile just as Joe had knocked on my door, "Come in."
He opened the door with another man right behind him who had a cold expression on his face, "Turn that frown upside down and take a seat," I ordered as I walked back over with the file in my hands.
They both took a seat in the leather chairs in front of me and I sat down behind the desk, "Name," I demanded.
"Richard Willton ma'am," he said in a deep voice. Richard was a big man with a bald shiny head and green eyes, his body was buff and big and I honestly believed he was a giant.
"Now Joe, what makes him so special?" I asked as I leaned back into the chair, trying to appear as intimidating.
"Well, since Jack and Jewels have been gone, he's been helping me out with controlling the gang. And he's been a big help-"
"Nurses are a big help, firefighters are a big help. What can he do for this gang that none of the other members can?" I asked cutting him off.
"I've dealt with the stealing of supply," he said which made me sit up straight, "I've gotten many different recruits and assisted in running the businesses with Joe," he offered.
I eyed him up and down skeptically until I met his gaze once again. I nodded my head in approval and he let out a breath, "You're my new third in command, Joe you're my second." I said which made both the men look at each other in shock.
"Seriously?" Richard asked in disbelief.
"Stay in here any longer and I'll make you regret it," I said while looking through the papers.
He hurried out the door just as Joe started approaching me, "This is his address," he said placing a sticky note on my desk.
"Thank you Joe," I said giving him a thankful smile which he returned and walked out of my new office.
I snooped around in the Apple desktop computer Jewels had in his office and found almost the same things as I did on the papers. I decided to look through one more folder that was named 'DSI' and flinched back at what I saw on the screen.
It was CCTV footage of Jared's house; some in the living room, kitchen, dining room, but no bedroom. I looked around a little longer until my eyes widened at a footage of a room I was all too familiar with.
It was my old bedroom. And my mom was laying there sobbing her eyes out while holding a picture to her chest. She was curled into a ball while I watched her body shake of sadness and a feeling in my chest deepened down til it hit my heart.
I never liked seeing my mommy cry, it was the worst thing in the world for me. It was never what I had wanted for her to do, I just thought she would feel regret, that's all.
I pulled my phone out of my bag and dialed her number immediately. I watched on the screen as she grabbed her phone quickly and a smile etched across her face which made one tug on my lips.
She answered it quickly and put it to her ear, "Hello?" She said sniffling.
"Hi Mommy," I said cheerfully.
"Hi sweetie, I'm so sorry for everything honey I should've thought about-"
"It's okay mommy, I forgive you." I said with assurance in my voice. I watched as she closed her eyes and sobbed quietly into the phone.
"Thank you honey, when do you think you're going to come home?" She asked with hope laced in her voice.
"I'm not going to live there with you guys anymore," her smile dropped and she nodded her head in understanding, but didn't know I could see her, "But I'll be visiting soon if that's okay?"
Her face lit up once again and she nodded vigorously, "Of course! Yes, yes, just let me know when okay?" She said eagerly.
"Okay mommy, but I have to get some sleep okay?" I said gently.
"Okay sweetie," she said with tears of joy streaming down her face.
"I love you Mommy," I whispered.
"I love you too..."
I hung up the phone and relaxed into the chair a little bit. I looked over to Soldier who then looked back up at me, panting.
"You wouldn't eat me, would you?"