Gangster's Girl (Complete)

Chapter 15 - Part 1

"How can you be sure?" I asked, not quite believing him. Everything had happened so fast my mind was still trying to piece everything together.

He was dressed in sweats and a shirt. It was disarming to see him like this, it made him look younger and more approachable. His hair was still wet.

"I'm sure."

"I don't trust you remember. Why would I believe you?" I crossed my arms and studied him resentfully.

He had lied about many things, was he above lying to me to stop myself from feeling responsible for the death of another, even if it had been accidental?

"Do you understand the severity of what you just tried to do?" The usual calm was gone, his voice was stern and angry. His eyes sparked with fury.

I bit my lip. "I do." I had gone there with the intention of ending the man's life. Even if he was telling the truth and my bullet hadn't killed him, I wasn't innocent. Not by a long shot.

Our eyes held. He pulled a hand through his hair. "I don't even know this side of you Kira."

Silence hung between us.

"It's the side of me that's tired of seeing the unfairness in the world where a good man died." I let out an emotional breath. "I knew exactly what I was doing Angel. This wasn't some hysterical moment I can brush off as a momentary lapse in judgement." I shrugged. "If you hadn't interrupted I would have shot him. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I wouldn't have regretted it. I remembered what he did to Bruno and that was enough for me." I held his intense gaze.

He studied me. I wouldn't allow my gaze to falter his. "That night wasn't easy for any of us. Don't think for a second that revenge isn't on our minds but we wanted the person who gave the order. Not just the person who carried it out."

I had never considered that.

I shook my head. "I wasn't going to let him get away with it." In my mind, he pulled the trigger, he was the one who had to repay the debt.

"He wasn't going to get away with it but now we have no way of figuring out who ordered it." He gave a frustrated sigh. "You should never have witnessed what happened to Bruno. I should have shielded you from that."

"You can't shield me from everything Angel." He just didn't seem to get that he couldn't protect me from everything.

His jaw twitched. "I can't seem to shield you from your own rash actions."

I frowned. "So if you deal with a problem you're considered ruthless but if I did the same I'm just some hysterical woman?"

"It's control that separates the two. Emotions control you Kira, cold hard facts control mine."

He was the most annoying man I had ever met. Would he ever see me as an equal, not something to protect but someone to standby?

"You keep a lot of things from me Angel and it makes me wonder what else you haven't told me?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"I was trying to protect you."

Like that gave him a pass to do whatever he liked. It wasn't okay, and he had to understand that.

"I knew how fond you were of him and how the events of that night affected you. Was it so wrong of me to try and keep that pain from you for a little while?"

"You lied to me Angel." I put my hand to my chest. "You wouldn't even tell me that my life was in danger before you sent me away. This can't go on. You can't keep doing this. Instead of protecting me, you're making things worse."