Page 68 of Killian De Luca

Malcom is giving me enough goddamn stress that I shouldn’t be dealing with so answering my dad was something that I wasn’t going to deal with as well.

Ever since Malcom asked me to hike with him, my stomach has been churning and my mind has been just going into an overthinking drive.

I all of a sudden just feel a wave of anxiety hit because something isn’t fucking right.

I usually trust my gut so that’s why I bring my matches and gun just in case anything happens.

I walk out the front door and see Malcom stretching. He’s wearing a muscle t-shirt and shorts.

I walk up to him, and Malcom turns his head to me. “Killian.”

“Malcom,” I say in a monotone.

“Let’s talk, yea?” Malcom says as he starts to walk towards the exit of his estate. I follow, walking at the same pace as him. “I’m curious, do you know why your dad and I don’t get along?” Malcom asks, looking at me with a questioning look.

We end up walking out of his estate and towards the trail he’s talking about.

“No. I don’t get involved in anyone’s business unless it concerns me.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you a story. Your dad and I used to be business associates; some would even call us friends.”

“What happened?” I ask, indulging.

“Well, a few weeks before the day I met you at the annual ball, your dad killed my brother.”

“Why? There must've been a reason. My dad only kills someone who is a threat to him.”

“Your dad told me it was because my brother talked badly about your mom.” Malcom looks at me for my reaction, but I don’t show one.

I just look back at him and say, “Then I have no sympathy for your brother. Anyone who talks bad about my mom to my face will die. I won’t even feel sorry for it.”

Malcom nods his head. “I understand that. But he was still my family.”

“So, this vendetta you have against me is because of my dad for that?” Malcom nods his head. “You shouldn’t have any sortof vendetta against me because I’m not the one who killed your brother. I was a kid when that happened and obviously didn’t know until now. Plus, I’m not my dad.”

“I’ve realized that now,” Malcom agrees. “But you also aren’t completely different from him. It's funny, you both have the same weapon of choice while your sister and mom have the same weapon of choice.”

“Mom daughter and dad son duo.” I shrug. ”Do you not like fire?”

“Fire killed my brother,” Malcom reveals. I stay quiet, not really knowing what to say. “My daughter likes you,” he states, making my heart rate start to speed up. “At first, I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the fact that my daughter would like a guy like you.”

“A guy like me?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“A villain. You aren’t a hero, Killian, and you don’t pretend to be. I always imagined my Reign, my sweet, beautiful princess would fall in love with a good guy. Someone like Jamie but then you come in and she made it her mission to make you open up and try new things. Ever since you came into her life, she’s been happier.”

Why the fuck does he have to tell me all this?

Doesn’t he know it makes shit ten times harder?

I can barely even fucking kill you because of that goddamn girl.

“Reign has always been happy.”

“She has. But since you came in the picture, she doesn’t have her nose stuck in a book or texting someone on the phone. She dedicates her time to you and enjoys spending time with you. Spending time with you makes her happy. Every time she comes home from being with you, she looks like she just finished riding cloud nine. Sure, my daughter smiles and is kind but since you, she changed. She's been glowing recently and Lia notices it.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did. You just didn’t realize it. I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t hate it at first. But after that trip to Paris, I started to look at things differently.”

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