Page 33 of Captured Onyx

Chapter 16

Nate

I can't believe I just told her that! How stupid am I? She wasn't ready to hear this and the way she looks at me confirms that.

All the color drains from her face, and she stares at me in horror, her lower lip quivering as she processes my words.

"Is that...is that why you're teaching me how to shoot?" Her voice comes out as a small, helpless stutter. "Because you want me to kill people?"

Tears are shimmering in the corners of her black eyes, threatening to streak down her cheeks. She tries to fight them off, I can tell. She doesn't want me to see how frightened she really is, but it's too late for that.

The effect of this latest piece of information causes her entire body to deflate.

"Just great, Nathaniel. Great job."

I can hear my father's scathing voice as clearly as if he was standing right next to me, and see his raised eyebrows, shaking head, and disappointed frown. It was always the same when he was faced with yet another letdown courtesy of his only son. I never came close to living up to his expectations, and it didn't take long for him to adopt a condescending cynicism to cope with his constant disappointment. Every little mistake, every minor mishap, every wrong decision was met with the same criticism, "Well, that's just great, Nathaniel. Great job!" The memory of his tone will haunt me forever.

I can guarantee he'd say these very words in this moment.

"Just great, Nathaniel. Great job! Look how you scared that poor girl. Could have gone a little easier on her, considering what she's gone through, but no, you had to dump it on her like a truckload of crap, didn't you? Great job, Nathaniel."

"I'm sorry," I say hurriedly to her, resisting the urge I have to touch her, to place my hand on her shoulder or thigh in an attempt to comfort her. The gesture would come from the right place, but I doubt she would find it comforting.

"You're sorry?" she repeats my words, a frown forming on her face. "What exactly are you sorry about? For abducting me in the middle of the night? For forcing me to do whatever you say? For threatening me?"

She pauses, biting her lower lip before she continues. "Or are you sorry for finally telling me the truth, because that's the last thing you should be sorry for."

The onslaught of tears still threatens, but there's a strength behind those eyes that impresses me.

And a beauty that rattles me.

While her physical resemblance to Lailah was what first drew me to her, it's the differences that I find most appealing. As frightened and confused as she may be, there's something greater concealed inside this petite woman. Something that's been waiting to be released.

"I'm sorry for making you feel this way, for scaring you-"

"I'm not scared," she insists, and to confirm her statement, she straightens her back to sit taller.

"Yes, you are," I object. "And you should be. This is no easy task."

She scoffs. "It's impossible. You saw how I was with the gun today. It was my very first time even touching one. I can barely get myself to pull the trigger without flinching—and now you're telling me I have to shoot and kill an entire family?"

I shake my head so violently that it causes her to pause and lock her eyes on me, unspoken questions flickering in their depths.

"It's not quite like that. First, you won't have to shoot anyone, and second, you won't have to kill an entire family," I clarify. "Today's training was meant to be a precaution, just like I told you. Lailah's - your - mission is based on a soft kill."

"A soft kill?" she wrinkles her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Lailah is merely a way for us to infiltrate the Scivola family and kill them from the inside, without anything linking it to us. They have had a long standing in Rhode Island, but the family is weakened and no longer holds the kind of power they used to. They have lost too many family members already, are struggling financially, and no longer have the manpower nor the weapons to defend their territory. It would be entirely possible to eradicate them through brute force."

"You mean by just... attacking and killing everybody?"

I nod. "Yes. We could do that."

"Then why don't you?" she asks. "Why implement this complicated Lailah plan instead of just going in and killing them? I thought that's how criminals operated."

There's a disdainful tone in her voice that I don't care for. It may be done unconsciously, but she talks about us as if we're second class people. It shouldn't come as a surprise, considering she's nothing but a spoiled brat, but it still grinds my gears.

"You understand very little of this world, our world, little girl," I tell her, sounding equally condescending. "Going on a rampage like that would be effective, but also stupid and short-sighted. It would fail to take our future into consideration. If we barge in there and shoot and kill everybody, we will always only be known as the Scivola killers, nothing more. True, it could instill fear among the weak, but it will also draw unwanted attention to us and everybody working with us."

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