Fell In A Concrete Jungle (Nicholas Ruffilo/ Bad Omens)

23: Betrayed.

~Gemma's POV:~



Nicholas and I trained the rest of the day and led into the next. He received word to meet the group near The Grey around eight tonight, so we spent the rest of the day training between fighting techniques and weapons being used.
He showed me some new moves and I couldn't help but admit I felt more powerful in a sense, as if I was becoming less of this fragile girl everyone saw me as and more of a woman who could start handling herself well enough. "Good, I think this is enough for today" said Nicholas as he placed his gun back in his waistband, he had taught me basics on how to grab it quickly if needed.

I wanted to learn to disarm him, if I could disarm him I felt then maybe I had a chance against anyone. Chewing my lip, I reached grabbing his gun from his waistband earning a few words of protest as I held the warm metal in my hands. "Gemma, enough for today" he said in a firm tone, but I held my ground the way he taught me.
Before I could think though, he did some moves, and the gun was now back in his hand as he held me with the other. "You need to learn to defend yourself if you are planning on disarming someone" he whispered in my ear sending a shiver down my spine.

"Then teach me," he rose a brow in question. "Teach me, Nick—we still have time before we have to go meet the others" I protested back to him, "please" it was a beg I never thought I would use but the training kept my mind busy instead of remembering yesterday when his head was between my legs and the way I made him moan.

As if needed it himself, he nodded before we got into position, he showed me slowly as we repeated it over and over until he confirmed I had now gotten the hang of it. "You have been the fastest person I ever trained" he said watching as I once more disarmed him.

"I hear that a lot" he stuck his tongue out at me earning a laugh. Handing him his gun, I looked at the time on my phone. "We should get going, the others will be there soon" I said leading us out of the training ring.

The drive was smooth, the roads were damp as the colder weather meant more rain for us. We opted on taking his bike since he didn't feel like getting stuck in traffic too much at this time. Holding onto him as we drove the streets of the Jungle, it felt like nerves rising inside of me—would they sense what happened between us?

The Grey appeared in our vision as Nicholas pulled up, parking his bike beside a familiar car. Brow's furrowing, I stepped off the bike looking towards the car—not expecting the door to open and out come Aarron and his men.

Nicholas didn't hesitate to push me behind him. "What the fuck are you doing here, storm" he seethed looking at the group in front of us.

"Relax, Ruffilo" the way he said Nick's last name felt like spiders crawling on my skin—it was unsettling.

"Don't make me repeat myself" Nick said, hand inches away from his weapon he had.

"Stand down, Nick" our gazes turned to Noah as him and the others exited out of another car that had just pulled up. "I invited him, I wanted to speak to him" Noah said trotting up with the others close by-- he wore his black trench coat as his hair was slicked back from his face.

Nicholas seemed unhappy at the thought of Noah inviting them here. "Why did you invite them? You know they're just going to fuck everything up" he was annoyed, and it showed.

"Or fix whatever you broke and couldn't find, I mean you do have her daughter here and yet you never bothered to ask her?" Aarron said lighting a cigarette that sat between his lips.

Looking at him, I felt confused about it—ask me what, "leave her out of this!" barked Nicholas who stood firmly in front of me.

Aarron smirked, "you haven't told her. . ." he seemed to find amusement in whatever that meant as his eyes slid to me. "Have they ever spoken to you about their mission?" Aarron puffed out smoke from his lips as he drew another from his smoke.

"Tell me what?" I furrowed my brows, Nicholas turned his chin towards me, as if he was going to tell me to forget about it. My eyes slid to the others who stood in between me and Aarron, all of them seemed to have the same reaction as Nicholas did. My hands shook, "tell me what?" my voice was louder this time as I shook.

Knowing they weren't going to reply to me, I didn't think as I grabbed the gun from Nicholas's waistband where he kept it, stepping back five feet as I aimed the gun ahead of me. Everyone turned to look at me this time, Nicholas's eyes widened at the sight. "Gemma, put the gun down" he said.

"She won't use it" Aarron said smugly, taking a trying step towards me.

Aiming the gun away from me, and away from the others, I shot—the ring if the gun echoing in the silence as I aimed it forward again. Nicholas had his hands up, his eyes almost begging me to put it down—but I wouldn't not until I was told. I could see the grin on Aarron's face as he stubbed his smoke out. "What an interesting woman you are, you are full of surprises like your mother" that was the second time he said that to me.

Eyes darkening, I looked at him, keeping the others in my vision as my eyes locked with his. "That is the second time you've said that to me, so I want you to tell me what it means!" My body was threatening to shake, nerves wanting to spool out of me as I waited for him to speak.

"Don't you dare say a fucking word, Storm" Nicholas snarled in his direction.

"She wants to know, Ruffilo, so maybe it's time your group stops fucking her over and tells her how your little movement was created by dear old Luna" his words cleaved through me. I held straight even though my vision threatened to burn with the tears that wanted to spill—my mom? "Your mom created the Omens group, or should I say partook in it after she caught Noah and Nicholas failing a mission that would have had them killed. She formed their little band together and your mother worked with us as well, we used to all be one unit—"

"Enough!" Nicholas yelled out earning silence from everyone.

My heart hurt, my hands trembled slightly as I looked at Nicholas, his face nearly crumpling at the sight of mine. "You knew my mother?" I said, voice stern as I continued to fight the tears from the feeling of betrayal.

"Gemma. . . I can explain—" he began, hands raised as he took a step forward.

I repeated myself, "you knew my mother?"

"She was one of us" I stumbled, unable to process what they had all just told me—my sweet caring mother was one of them? She was in these groups?

Putting the safety back on the gun, I put it on the ground before backing away racking my hands through my hair trying to believe any of this—they knew my mom and they all hid it from me. "I think this meeting is cancelled" Noah's voice was a deadly calm as he glared at Aarron, "you're lucky Luna told us not to kill you from the start—if she hadn't, you'd be fucking dead" he said walking past the group towards the doors of The Grey, Jolly and Nick standing close by in case something did break out. Helen stood there, not knowing if she should follow her partner or stay. But the look on her face told me enough, she knew as well.

Nicholas grabbed his gun from the ground before stepping forward. "Gemma?"

"I want to go home" I said before I could even think of the words fully.

"Okay, we can go home—we will meet you guys at the compound."

"No" he looked at me confused, "I am going home to my apartment. I can't trust you. . . You hid this from me, you hid the fact you knew and worked with my mother" my body shook from the feeling of betrayal. "I trusted you, and you hid this from me after everything we been through, after. . ." he got the hint as I was meaning the intimacy we shared with one another. "You betrayed me."

He didn't say anything, not as I climbed onto the bike—not as we drove the streets to my apartment, where he followed me to my door. "Go to the desk and tell them I am requesting Graham as my watch, you may leave." Before he could enter though to argue, I slammed the door behind me locking it. The darkness of my apartment eating at me already knowing I was once again stuck here.
Sliding down the door, I felt my heart finally let go of the pain it was holding as tears slipped down my cheeks and a sob emitted through me.
I trusted them. I trusted him.



~Nicholas's POV: ~


The door slammed in my face and a moment later I could hear her faint sobs on the other side of it. Placing my hand on the door, I wanted to go in there and hold her while she cried, I wanted to help her through all of this, but the truth was out—she knew we worked with her mother.
My own heart ached knowing she was wanting someone else to watch over her, the way she looked at me tonight had me wanting to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness.
Walking to the front desk, the man reading his book looked up at me. "Miss Saunder's has requested Graham to watch over her for the night" I said before heading to my bike.

The ride to the compound was torture as soon as I walked in the door I could hear the yelling from the others as I stepped into the room. "Where is she?" Noah questioned, drink in hand as he looked at me.

"She requested she went home, she also requested Graham watch over her. . . I will be there in the morning" I said feeling myself slump down on the edge of the sofa, hands resting on my head.

"Fuck's sake!" Noah threw his glass at the wall, shattering echoed through the room.

Crossing her arms, Helen glared at all of us. "I have been telling you assholes since day one to tell her! I warned you all, repeatedly that the longer you waited the worse it was going to be, so well done you let it get too far and now look what happened" she glared, her words hitting me like daggers.

"We didn't have a choice Helen!" Jolly yelled displaying his arms to his side, "I love you like family but you have no clue what we have been through, it wasn't just something we could announce to her especially when we didn't know if she would go tell her father and put us all at risk!"

"He is right" Noah agreed.

Folio sat on the sofa, cleaning his gun. "I think we owe her one hell of an apology though—she trusted us and we broke it."

"No fucking shit" I said looking at them. "I will go see her in the morning, I'll try talking to her but we need to stay low—we don't know what's going to happen" I said before retreating to my room.

Closing the door behind me, I looked at the bed where Gemma used to sleep—her quilt her mother made her still laying there. Not even caring, I slid myself onto the bed engulfing myself in the remaining smell of her that lingered as I closed my eyes. The memory of her mother lulling me to sleep.

Luna watched as Noah and I tried to sneak through, and when we got caught by her I thought we were done for—she instead helped us and after that she would meet with us and give us small information about her husband. When we questioned why she wanted to help us, she told us "I want a better world for my daughter."

Sitting on the bench overlooking the river, the bridge had cars passing on it. Luna sitting beside me—the evening was dark, and no one dared come to this park when it was dark—this had been a meeting place for over a year now. "You miss them" she said as she sat beside me, her hands on her skirt.

"I do, it's been so long since I seen them" the memories of my family were all I had, and it was something I struggled with daily. Noah and the group may be my family but doesn't mean I didn't miss my parents.

Nodding her head, she held my hand. "I would miss my daughter too if she were taken from me. Her father has too much power as is, but one day I hope you get to meet her" she smiled, it was her daughter's birthday today—she just turned twenty and Luna was getting ready to go celebrate with her.

"I'm not really interested in meeting anyone" I admitted knowing Luna was trying to see who was right for her daughter, she always joked saying I would be perfect for Gemma, but I always shot it down since I didn't care about being with anyone but my group.

Her laugh warmed my heart as she stood from her seat. "If anything, you are just like her Nicholas" looking up at her, I couldn't help but smile seeing her—it still blew my mind that she was one of us, that she was helping us try to take down her husband. "Listen Nicholas, if one day anything ever happened, I want you to keep an eye out for Gemma. . . I don't want her going down the wrong path" she said, smiling fading from her face.

Standing up myself. I patted her on her shoulder, "good thing nothing is going to happen to you then is it" I said before heading towards my bike.
Oh how I was wrong.