Cold-blooded killer

Cold-blooded killer
Raelynn's POV

The sky was growing darker by the minute, and my gut clenched with unease as I pulled into the parking lot of the old building that Kieran used to fight in.

Windows had been boarded up and a single flickering light near the edge of the lot created an eerie atmosphere.

My fingers gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles grew white. I had no idea what I was doing. I’d grabbed my father’s gun in an angry haze, but now that I was here… The metal felt colder… heavier as it sat against my hip.

I’d never used a gun before, but I couldn’t trust Ares… Not after seeing him follow his father so dutifully.

Emilio Decker was dangerous, and I was starting to believe that Ares wasn’t who I thought he was. Kieran warned me… He told me that I should stay away, and I should have listened.

Except you came alone to an abandoned warehouse with a gun you don’t even know how to use to meet him.

No one ever accused me of being smart.

Steeling my resolve, I climbed out of the driver’s seat, scanning my surroundings. The flickering light made it hard to focus, but as I neared the building, I heard the crunching of gravel.

Ares appeared looking like an angel of death in all black.

“I honestly didn’t expect you to show up,” he arched a brow. “And alone.”

“I’m not dragging anyone else into what’s clearly between you and I a conversation.”

Frustration bloomed in my chest at my inability to form a proper sentence.

He chuckled, “I was the one who asked you here, not the other way around.”

“Why?” I whispered, my fingers grazing the icy metal of the gun.

“That’s a very broad-spectrum question, Raelynn,” he stepped closer, eyes dipping to where my hand was poorly hiding the gun. “So you did bring back up,” Ares grinned.

“Why do you follow your father?” I slowed my speech, despite the fear that flooded my chest.

“Are we going to be honest with one another?” Ares stepped closer, and I whipped the gun from my waistband with shaking hands. I aimed it haphazardly, but once again, Ares chuckled, stepping even closer.

“I’ve never been with you dishonest,” I whispered, clenching my jaw.

“Because I like it,” he shrugged, now only a few feet away.

“You like following your father?” his comment brought me pause. How could one brother want nothing to do with their father and the other enjoy following in his footsteps?

“Did Kieran ever tell you what it was like growing up in the Decker household?”

“Not really.”

“Of course he didn’t,” Ares tilted his head. “My father bred us to be his successors, Raelynn. Kieran took his first life at just twelve years old. Did you know that?”

Took…. His first life….

“You didn’t know the man you’ve been shacking up with was a killer?” Ares tsked, taking another step towards me.

“You’re lying,” my voice cracked. That wasn’t possible. Not my Kieran.

“Love makes you blind, Bambi,” Ares was taunting me now, and a comment that Emilio made repeated in my head.

You know you shouldn’t play with your food.

“But it didn’t just stop with one,” he moved again, but this time, I took a step back, raising the gun again, but this only made Ares chuckle.

In a flash, he was in front of me, his hands gripping the barrel of the pistol. Slowly, he pressed the gun against his chest, “Now I really know he’s been incompetent when it comes to you,” Ares’ fingers slowly moved overtop of mine with the gun still pressed against his chest, “If you want to go for the kill, hold it like this.”

He moved my fingers, flicking the safety off in the process, “And never have your safety on when you’re aiming the gun. Every second could cost you.”

“Why did you want to bring me here?” my voice shook.

“Because we share a common interest,” he pressed his chest further into the gun, and we were nearly nose to nose. “My goal has always been to protect Kieran. My brother is everything to me, despite his weakness. You love him, right?”

I hadn’t admitted that out loud to anyone.

“I see the way you look at him. The way your face twisted in agony at the thought of the man you love being a cold-blooded killer,” Ares flashed a grin. “I like you, Rae. It’s almost sad that things turned out this way. Just for shits and giggles, is it a deal breaker?”

My brain was struggling to focus with the flood of new information, “Wh.. what?”

“Is him being a murderer a deal breaker?” the barrel of the gun pressed further into Ares chest, sliding down, but in a flash, he forced it back over his heart.

The truth was, I was in love with Kieran. All of Kieran. I understood early on that his past was unsavory, and his life growing up was… for lack of a better word; traumatic. He was abrasive most days, but the glimpses of who he was beneath the hardened exterior were what made me fall in love with him.

We were two broken souls trying to find something that we weren’t sure existed.

Peace.

“You continue to surprise me, Raelynn,” he stepped away from me for the first time in what felt like hours, though our conversation had been merely minutes.

“Were you ever my friend?” the words sounded so stupid once I heard them leave my lips.

“I simply wanted to learn why my brother was so, distracted by you,” Ares shrugged, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “But none of that matters anyway.”

“Why not?”

“If I told you that, it would spoil the fun,” he thrust his hands in his front pockets.

“I have another question.”

“Shoot,” he grinned, and the play on words didn’t go over my head.

“Are you the one leaving the bodies?”

His lips pulled into an even broader grin, “Have I done a good job capturing the vision of you?”

Ice flooded my veins as I began slowly backing away.

“And the cameras?”

“Guilty as charged,” Ares looked like a true maniac with the smile plastered on his face. The boyish features that I’d been clinging to disappeared, leaving behind the hardened shell of a devilish man.

The sound of his phone blaring had him sighing, “As much fun as this has been. I’ve got other places to be. If it’s any consolation, now that you know the truth, I have no need to leave any more gifts. Have a lovely evening, Raelynn.”

I ran as fast as my stupid leg would allow me, driving until I couldn’t any longer. Pulling along the side of the highway, I leaned out of the door, vomiting the contents of my stomach.

What do I do now?