Loving a Killer | 18+

2.3 - Promise Me

| Norah |

In my head, I wondered if I was on cloud nine. Maddox's skin was so warm against mine and it felt as if simply laying on top of him with my legs intertwined with his was slowly molding us together. I deeply breathed in the smell of him and kept my eyes closed, focusing on the sensation of his skin on my skin and the way his fingertips traced up and down my spine.

"Why were you brought here as a kid?" I asked, laying on Maddox's chest. I could hear his heartbeat underneath my ear. He let out a soft sigh.

"Your mother and mine were best friends. When my parents were killed, your mother brought me here," Maddox answered simply. My breath caught. I lifted my head and rested my chin on his chest so I could look up to him.

"I'm so sorry, Maddox, I didn't know..." I apologized, feeling awkward for asking. He gave me that signature smile, the right corner of his lip barely curving upwards.

"It's okay. You had to know sometime," He replied and sighed, deciding to tell me what happened, "They were killed in a..." Maddox paused, seeming to try and find the right words to say. "They were killed in a staged accident. No one stepped up to take me in except Aurora. I've been here ever since," Maddox explained briefly. I could tell it was a sensitive topic by the way his tone changed.

I had suspected something had happened to his parents, but I didn't expect murder. Yet, how could I not have? Seemed like people in this life got killed off quite frequently.

My stomach churned at the thought. One day, that could be me. Orphaning my children due to an enemy mob hit...

Maddox could tell by how my expression changed that I was shocked.

"It's alright. I've come to terms with it and your family has been my family ever since," He smiled softly, a faint little tug at the lips.

"What happened?" I asked before thinking. I felt bad, but I had always been curious how Maddox was roped into my family business.

"My dad started working for your father and the Russians staged an accident to make it look like my parents were killed in a car wreck. This was before they got bold enough to own their hits. Back then, they still wanted to cover up their tracks so we wouldn't find out," Maddox answered. He was less rigid than before. I wondered if he just didn't talk about it much to anyone else.

"Is that how you got into being a mercenary?"

Maddox nodded. "When I was sixteen, your father told me he knew who had killed my parents and that I should be the one to... take care of it. I started training the next day and months later, I killed the man that killed my parents."

"How many people have you killed?" I let the words slip. I had wanted to know the answer badly for the longest time, but I didn't know how I would handle the answer. Now I was forced to see how I'd handle it.

"Ninety-one," Maddox told me flatly. My heart stammered against my chest. Maddox had killed in front of me. Although, he had also saved me each time he did.

A chill ran down my spine, acknowledging that I was in the arms of a man who had killed near one-hundred people. But deep down, these were the arms that I felt safest in. I trusted the man I had laid my head on. I trusted him with my life and now I let him call me his.