Page 55 of Darkness

I don’t care who I have to fight, or who I have to kill. This place will be mine.

“Rose.”The words whisper around me, pulling me out of the past.“Rose.”

Fucking hell, my head hasn’t been this bad in a long time. It feels like I have a million little people in there, all hitting my head with a hammer. The lights in the club have been making my eyes burn. The noise is too much for me today.

Standing at the back of the room I bang my head on the wall a few times, anything to ease the fucking pain I’m suffering at the moment. I hear the music hit my office when the door opens.

“Uncle David, what brings you here today?” I ask him, not even turning around to see who it is.

“I find it creepy that you know it’s me without me even saying a word.” Not replying to him, I lean my head on the wall for a few minutes. When you’re stuck in a room for so long, you learn to know how people sound when they walk, or smell. Uncle David always walks with heavy feet. “Black out blinds, hitting your head on the wall. Your head must be terrible today.”

“If I could rip it open, I would.” I turn around to face him, and I hate when he looks at me like that. The look of which always says one thing. ‘I wish I could have protected you, but I let you and my brother down.’ . Rubbing my eyes, I take two tablets. Uncle David takes the container to look inside, before he can say anything about there not being enough in there because I have taken one too many, I say, “Everything okay?” I sit down in the dark room, which is only lit up by the lamp in the corner of my office.

“Yes. You’ve been avoiding me since I came back from England.” I’ve been avoiding him because I know what the conversation will be when I see him. “So what’s her name?”

Today is not the day I want to have this conversation, and it’s only five in the evening. The club just opened, and all I want to do is hit something.

“Cain-”

“Her name is Autumn-Rose. She owns the flower shop by mom’s bakery. She is British, but lives here. Had a fucked up stalker in England, and to escape the man who became obsessed with her, she moved here with a new alias, only talks to her parents once a week for three minutes on a burner cell. She lives across the road from me. I do like her a lot, no she doesn’t know about The Pit, and I’ve told her I don’t want anyone to know about her. She is Poppy’s skating instructor, so mom has met her but doesn’t know about anything else.” I snap with a direct to thepoint answer. He knows I’m not in the mood, he knows anything would piss me off, but I also know the man well enough. The man might not realize it, but he

is more like grandad than he knows. Once they have something on their minds, they won’t stop until they get answers.

“I take it you’re already looking into this man?”

“I am,” I say, pressing my palms into my eyes hoping it will ease the pain, but I’m not that fucking lucky.

“Are you hiding her from your family or others?” God save me from all the questions.

Leaning back in my chair, I stare at Uncle David, because he already knows the answer to his question. “Others. If I think anyone is in danger, you know I will talk to you.”

“Good, you’re coming over for dinner with Autumn-Rose, yes your mother will be there, and no, I’m not taking no for an answer.” Not breaking eye contact with him, ad I shake my head slightly. Does he really think I’m in the mood to be around people? Especially my mother. I’m on a short fuse already. Being around her isn’t the best move. “We will all be there. I will talk to your mom, and it’s better Autumn-Rose knows who your family is. Cain, we are your family.”

“I know you’re my family, you know why-”

“Cain, until you talk to your mom about what’s going on in your head, she will not know how to fix it.” Uncle David leans forward and drinks the rest of the whiskey, knowing as soon as he leaves my office, I’ll refill it.

“I don’t think she wants to know what I have to say,” I tell him. I know I should talk to her, and it’s not because I don’t even want to let her know the truth, it’s more a conversation I can’t be bothered having.

“Be at the house by seven.” He gets up and walks towards the door, but stops and turns to face me. “Cain, if anyone deserves a woman next to them, it’s you.”

Fucking great, a family dinner which I didn’t even want, with a family Autumn-Rose knows nothing about. This is going to be very close to hell.

Autumn has changed six times. I’ve told her she looks amazing in everything. She has met my mom before, so I’m not sure what she is worried about.

“What about this?” She walks out of her bedroom in a pink floral summer dress. “Or do you think the blue one will be better?”

I walk over to her, placing my hands on her hips. “You listen to me. You are fucking beautiful. If you wear a brown paper bag, you are still the sexiest woman in the world. No one is going to hate you, fuck they will love you. But we should get going.” We are not making it for seven, and even if I message Uncle David to explain, he will still find a way to blame me for being late.

“Okay, let me get the flowers and the bottle of wine. Your aunt likes red wine?”

“Aunt Jane will be happy with everything you have for her.” I hold the smile spreading across my lips.

“You think it’s too much? I don’t want them to hate me.” She looks through her bag of things she has brought to take with us. “She’s not allergic to anything, is she? Or do you think…I’m nervous. Just this morning, I knew nothing about anyone in your family, and now I’m meeting your Uncle and Aunt, and found out Miles and Hayden are your cousins, which, if you askme, is the same as a brother, so I was right. Will your dad be there, too?” she asks as she continues to look through her bag.

I didn’t have enough time to tell her everything about my family. I picked her up from work and told her where we are going, and since then it’s been crazy with her getting things for my aunt. I told her a few bullet points about the family, but skipped anything about my dad.

I take her hand in mine so she listens to what I’m about to tell her. “Autumn-Rose, my dad was killed when I was eight. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Yes, I’m still angry about it, yes, I watched my father be killed. I’ve nothing else to say.” I see the water build in her eyes. Not letting her say anything, I lean down to give her a kiss. “To get the good mood back, you’ll meet all the cousins today. Not one of them is going to miss me bringing you over for dinner.”

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