Love Is Pain My Dear

Don't you ever leave me like that again...

The clinking of beer glasses along with the deep throaty laughs of dirty men touching up the women that worked in the Chequers inn was enough to make any married man scowl. Sweeney sat on the end of one table in the centre of the pub drinking down a large pint of ale. They normally ate here in the evenings, Arnold sometimes would even go off with one of the working whores to spend the night. The way Arnold treated his wife was disgusting, no wonder she found comfort in someone else bed.

The pub was yet again filled with people, it was loud and stunk of cheap perfume and cigarette smoke. All Sweeney wanted to do was eat his dinner and go to sleep. The quicker these days went by the quicker he would be with his family. If he thought about them too much he would go insane, he tried keeping focused on the next assassinations and only them.

Arnold, Pat and Tom were all bunched over the table discussing the next kill. Sweeney only half listened to their plan too busy drinking away to care. He didn't need a plan he just killed and didn't think twice about it.

"Sweeney....you listen?" Arnold hissed down the table at him only for him to nod keeping his eyes to the table not bothering to look in their direction. God how he loathed them. He wanted Nellie, missed her so much is was eating at his soul. He had never felt like this about a woman before, not even Lucy had this amount of a hold over his mind. He missed her laugh, the way she would frown when thinking hard about something. The thought of her temper brought a smile to his lips knowing whenever she got angry he always shut her up by kissing her.

Closing his eyes he imagined what it would be like to kiss her again. Her soft lips moving against his own, her delicate lace covered glove hands running around his neck. The very thought had a chill running down his spine. He was craving her, her body her... no he couldn't go down that root otherwise he was sure to loose it.

Pat noticed Sweeney far of gaze and couldn't help but feel somewhat sympathetic towards the man. Pat wasn't as cruel as the rest of them, he too used to have a family he loved.

"Tom come with me" Arnold stood suddenly his chair scraping back against the floor as he stood. As the men left for a moment Pat turned to look at Sweeney not that he noticed.

"I wanna help you" he whispered to Sweeney's surprise. His eyes shot up to look towards Pat and he frowned as the man looked over his shoulder to see no one was looking or listening for that matter.

"I want done with this too....I'm sick of being treated like shit everyday" the man spoke quietly striking a match to light up his cigarette.

Sweeney listened, his eyes dark and intrigued to find out what Pat had to tell him. He knew not to trust anyone yet Sweeney was desperate now to go home.

"You don't harm me I'll walk away and you never have to see me again..." Pat said quietly looking once again over his shoulder to check no one was around. "Arnold doesn't have any other links on the outside....he only had us, you kill him and Tom and no traces would be found as there is no organisation on the outside, it's all made up in order to keep him protected"

Sweeney's eyes dropped again trying to process this. If Arnold had no other connections then all he had to do was kill the bastard and be done with it. "You sure?" He muttered lowly towards Pat as the man nodded and smoked his cigarette.

"Positive...."

Thinking this through Sweeney stayed silent for a moment before looking back towards Pat. "If I find you're lying to me I'll kill you" he warned still unsure about this new information.

Smirking at the barbers comment Pat extended his hand to him "deal" he answered confidently.

Nodding Sweeney shook his hand.