21| Secrets

Chapter 21

Alessio

It took driving to two stores before I got everything Alice wanted and then some. A dotting husband Leo has called me and I do not at all mind. I curse under my breath. I saw we were running low on snacks and instead of picking some up on the way home.

I forgot.

Maybe Leo should take his insult hidden with kind words back.

I drive down the block, with the radio on low. The neighborhood is quieter than what I thought was possible in New York, but we managed to find it-a secluded area for our little family.

I love this place, albeit with a few nosy neighbors with too much time on their hands. It's a nice place, and I hope Aria comes out of her shell around kids her age and spends time with the neighborhood kids.

It's funny. Aria has no problems around trained assassins and adults. Still, the moment a twelve-year-old girl asks her about getting ice cream or having a sleepover, she's at a loss of words.

She looks at Alice and me with wide eyes, hoping we'll give her the correct answer.

It's cute how shy she is.

Never would I have imagined my life turning this way, but you know-I wouldn't change it for a thing.

I'm only a block away from the house before I see a silhouette of someone young running down the street. What the hell? I slow my car down and stare ahead.

In sweat pants and in a shirt that comes down to her mid-thigh is my daughter-Aria, whose running with tears coating her eyes down the street. Immediately, I stop the car.

"Alessio!" She shouts. I get out of the car, stumbling over my own feet to reach her. In a few short moments, I have her in my arms, engulfing her in a hug. Tears coat her eyes, "Alessio, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect her."

What is she talking about? And what the hell happened? Who couldn't she protect? "Aria? What is going on? What happened?"

"These men. They came to our house and Alice...she's still in the house. They had guns, and I- I didn't have time to get the gun you leave in the house to protect us."

A knot forms in my stomach, and I feel like I'm going to throw up. My wife and my child. They're targeting me. Why else? When I get there, I'm going to put a bullet in every single one of them.

"Aria, get into the car," I command. She looks up at me, nods her head, and gets into the car. I'm going to slaughter them. I rush to the car and open my glove compartment while pressing on the gas, willing us to go. Inside the glove compartment sits guns-four to be exact with extra ammo.

"How many did you see?" I ask, turning down the block.

"Four..."

Four people will meet death a lot sooner than they think.

Arriving at my home, I see an expensive truck-all black but so common that it wouldn't raise an eyebrow in this neighborhood. "Stay in the car," is the only thing I say to Aria before I rush to my front door.

I hear her, my Alice, crying her heart out. I kick open the door with my guns raised high. One person looks at me without hesitation-I shoot him in the head.

A scream pierces my eye drums when he hits the ground. Fucking bastards, I turn to the next guy, dead in a flash. Then the other-dead before he can even raise his rifle pointed towards my wife and child not so long ago.

Three out of the four who dare come to my home. Some so many people could have sent them, so many enemies Leo and I have made for ourselves. But to go to my house-death.

I see red, and the screaming only gets louder. I want to know the person behind this mask dead. But I cannot kill him-I need to kill the son of a bitch who sent him and to do that, he needs to live. But by how much is based on what he can take.

I stalk towards him, raising my gun. "Tell me who sent you." He says nothing as he inches closer and closer to try to turn off the safety. He didn't think to turn off the protection before he came in?

That's something he's going to regret. I'll make him beg that I shot him in the face like his little friends. "You better tell me," I say, shooting near his head, only missing by not even half an inch. He stumbles back, the gun now not even registering in his head in the face of death.

"Next time, I'm not going to miss," I taunt out. His eyes widen. Three seconds and his backup is dead. And from the way his eyes look, I can tell that that's all he brought.

He has failed to realize he needs an army if he stands to go against me.

"Who sent you?"

Silence, I shoot again. "Patrick Kinsman, he sent me and I-" And he's dead.

Patrick Kinsman, you are a dead man. The door opens, and I turn towards it with my gun held high. Aria, her eyes are red, with tear-stained cheeks to match. I lower my weapon almost immediately, "is it all clear?" Aria asks. With her gun, she probably swiped from the car in her hands.

I nod and look down at the carnage, then to Alice. She holds her body with her knees to her face, blocking out everything in her sight.

"Alice-"

"No! Don't- don't touch me!"

I bite my tongue. This is what I was afraid of. "Alice...let me explain."

"You're a murderer! You-you killed those guys without hesitation." There's no way to say it was a fluke. She's planted on the floor. Her eyes are glued to me, wide-eyed and tear-ridden.

Four men, in less than a minute-no simple man could do that. "Who are you?" She asks.

"Alice..."

"Because it doesn't make sense. You killed those men. Who did I marry." She looks at their dead body and shutters, immediately bringing her hand to her mouth. She retches onto the ground.

Fuck what am I going to say? "Alice. I- I don't know. Fuck I- I wanted to tell you for so long."I bite my lip and ease closer to her.

As I approach her, she extends her hands out. "Stop it! Don't take another step towards me...you-you murder!"

"Alice...I know what this seems like. But I can explain," I start. What is there to explain. I'm a murderer, but I can make her understand. She has to understand. She looks at my guns, the guns...she's afraid of them. I drop the guns and hold my hands up. I won't hurt her, I'll rather take a million bullets to the chest before I ever hurt her. "Alice, I will never hurt you. You can trust me."

"Trust you! I don't even know who you are. And who is this, Patrick? These men came to our home and Aria!" She holds her shock-ridden face. "Aria! Oh, God! My daughter!" She shouts.

I didn't notice when Aria came into my view, but she crouched next to Alice. "Alice, it's okay now." She smiles.

Alice looks at Aria with wide eyes, like she doesn't even recognize who she is. "You knew?"

Aria touches Alice's hand. Alice looks down at our child's hand then to the other, which holds a gun-not a toy most girls her age would have but a real one filled to the brim with bullets.

Alice lets out a low, piercing yell and pushes Aria's arm off of her like a pest that flies onto her hand. Aria stumbles back, dropping her gun. I can't make out Aria's face, but I know she's hurt that Alice would ever push her away.

Damnit! Fuck! Damnit!

The feeling of Alice pushing her away-us away is such a pain that I never wanted to experience. If I could keep this life a secret, then I would have.

I never wanted to show you this cruel mess.

You are too kind for this Alice.

"Alice," Aria starts. "Alessio isn't a bad guy. He's...he's cool, and if you let him...us explain things then."

Alice covers her ears, "no, no, no," she says pushing away Aria's words. "No!" Alice gets up with covered ears and rushes upstairs with a trail of bloody footsteps behind her. I look at her retreating body up the stairs.

"Alice! Alice!" I call out as I chase after her, leaving Aria downstairs.

I attempt to keep up but Alice is too quick. Our bedroom door slams before I can even reach her. I jiggle the handle to open the door, it's locked. "Leave me alone, Alessio!" I hear ruffling behind the door and Charlie's pants as well. "God...who did I marry," Alice says. I hear on the other side of the door, followed by more rattling.

"Alice, just let me explain. Please," I plead through the door. I want to knock the door down so I can explain everything to her, but I can't. It'll scare her more than what she witnessed downstairs. I hear Charlie panting and Alice's soft sobs. I can't bear this. "Alice...please."

"How long...how long have you been a murderer," she says on the other side of the door.

"Alice..."

"How long!"

"Since I was fourteen...indirectly...sixteen directly."

"Oh God, I'm going to be sick." I hear more rustling on the other side, followed by retching. Charlie whimpers for her can be heard through this door. I rest my head on the door, willing for it to open.

"I know what you're thinking, you're thinking I'm some sick and twisted kind of devil man, but I'm nothing like that. I am still the man you married. What I did...what I do is something I have to do, Alice. You don't understand how hard it was for me. I didn't grow up with a conscious mother and I have no idea if my mother even knew my father. There were days...too many days where I couldn't eat and this lifestyle was the only way. I didn't have anyone and...I needed to survive." I tell her.

I close my eyes, and the door opens. I take a step back, and no longer is she dressed in her blood-splattered clothes. She's wearing sweatpants, one of her oversized hoodies, and sneakers. But that's not the strange thing. It's the duffle bag. "Alice...what are you doing?" I ask almost immediately. She avoids my eyes and goes to Aria's room. "Where are you going?"

This time, I stick my foot out before she slams it. She clicks her tongue and goes for Aria's bookbag-dumping all the contents. "Alice! Please talk to me! Where are you going?" I question. She opens drawers, stuffing things one by one into the bag.

"Away!"

She can't leave me. No! I refuse it. I won't allow it. I love her and our family way too much for it to break like this.

"No," I grab the bag in her hand. "You're not leaving. We're talking this out!"

She pulls at the bag for me to let go, "No! There's nothing for us to discuss! Now let go. Aria and I are leaving."

I tighten my grasp on her bag, not even letting it budge from my grip. "No! You will not take my daughter, and you are not leaving! I understand I fucked up...God, I do but Alice you can't leave."

"No! I'm leaving. You are not going to corrupt my daughter so she can be a murderer like you! Now let the bag go!"

My lips go flat, "no."

Her nose scrunches, she curses under her breath, and lets go of the bag. "Fine. I'll buy her new stuff. Everything can be replaced." She walks past me with her own bag on her arm. "Charlie! Aria! We're going." I follow her down the steps. She grabs Aria's hand, which is still in the place I left her, with tears still streaming down her eyes.

"Alice!"

"Let's go, Aria." She pulls at Aria, to which Aria pulls away almost immediately.

"No! I don't want to go, Alice."

"Aria. We are leaving this isn't up for discussion. It isn't safe here. It isn't safe living here with him." Alice attempts to grab her hand again. This time Aria runs towards me, hiding behind me.

"Alice, please. I know you think Alessio is a bad person, but he's not."

"He kills people!" She shouts.

"Bad people!" Aria argues. "He killed the people trying to do some very bad stuff to me. He's one of the good ones."

"What?" She says, stumbling back. "What are you talking about?"

"I met Alessio before you. When I met him, he was clearing out a building, and he was there. I had a gun to his face, and instead of killing me, he let me go...and then took care of me. He's a good guy Alice."

Alice tightens her fist, so tight they go white.

She's not changing her mind.

"Aria, I will not repeat myself again. Let's go."

"No!" Aria tightens her grip on my shirt. "Alice, I don't want to leave. I don't want our family to be separated."

Alice looks at me, then at the small girl behind me. "I can't...I just can't," she cries. She turns away from me-us. "Aria, if you won't go...that's fine. I'll keep in contact the best that I can. Please know that I love you, and I'll call you every day, begging for you to come with me."

She touches the door handle, and I immediately rush to close it. "Alice," I whisper. "Please don't leave me."

She turns around, craning her head up at me. "If you truly love me the way you say you do. Please let go of the door. You already took my daughter from me. Let me go."

And I let go of the door, taking three long strides back. She's really leaving me. Alice truly wants to leave me. There's no convincing her, or putting any doubt in her mind. She's made her mind up. A single tear falls down my cheek as I watch her hold the door handle. She turns the knob and opens the door with Charlie in tow.

She stops in her tracks for one second, giving me a bit of hope. But what she does crushes it.

She slides her ring off, places it where her keys sit, and leaves the house with Charlie close behind.

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LMAOOO, I smell a divorce.

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