Little Dark One

9 - fury

Tommy 

"So you kidnap me, hold a gun to my head, TWICE, and then drive me to suicide?" She slams her small hands on the table to make a point. 

I can see the fury engulfing her, but I can't help but admire her in this moment, the stark contrast between last night and this morning brings a small smile to my lips. 

"And now you're fucking smiling about it. Great." She huffs and throws herself back into her chair, crossing her arms over her luscious chest and staring looking away from me. 

I didn't mean to let a smile escape, I couldn't help it. This small woman trying to intimidate me was just straight funny. 

"I did what I had to do." I said, reigning back my humor and plastering my standard emotionless expression back on my face. 

"Whatever. I guess I should've expected it from a psychotic killer." She mumbled, still gluing her eyes to anything but me. 

I couldn't help but laugh at her vaguely true comment, which deepened her scowl. I didn't know how to talk to her, what to say. She was angry, scared, and alone. I've never in my entire existence been the type to care, about anyone. But for some unimaginable reason, today I did. 

I took a frustrated breath and tried to approach my next words with a slight amount of warmth. 

"You are free to go wherever you want. Blaze will take care of you." I got up from my seat, I needed to leave this girl before she pulled another smile out of me, or worse. 

"I can leave?" she stared at me with her beautiful mouth hanging open. 

"This room. Not the property." I clarified. 

"So i'm still a prisoner." she fell back again, tightening her arms around her chest like a child. 

I crossed the balcony and stood directly in front of her, lowering my hands to grip each arm of her chair. I leaned into her so close I could feel her warmth penetrating my cold soul. 

"You asked for this. You wanted my protection? Now you've got it." I whispered menacingly. 

She shivered at my words and I could tell I was making her incredibly nervous, but I liked getting a reaction out of her, anything but the hopeless despair I caused previously.

"Not like this..." she whispered shakily. 

"I can't let you go, and you can't survive out on your own. We play by my rules around here, you'd be wise to remember that." I pushed off her chair and she let out a breath she was undoubtedly holding in. 

I left her speechless on the balcony and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind me. This girl was so fucking frustrating, I needed someone or something to take it out on. 

Blaze was waiting outside my room, as I instructed. "Boss." he greeted. 

"I'm going to the basement. Send Siren down." I snapped. 

"And the girl?" he asked. 

"Let her do what she wants. But stay with her if she leaves my room. She doesn't leave the compound under any circumstances." 

"Got it. I'll call Siren." He nods a goodbye to me and returns to guard the door of my bedroom. Blaze and the housekeeper are the only people who have access to my top floor. 

I push through the doors of my decked out home gym, settled in the center of the basement. I slam my fists into the punching bag repeatedly until there is a dent and my bare knuckles swell. I can't get the images of Keira out of my head. The way she curled up against me last night, the fire in her blood this morning, and the part that tore at me the most, the way she poured what was left of her soul into me on the floor of her cell. 

I wasn't used to the feeling of guilt, the way it ate at me and broke into my consciousness at random times of the day and night. I spent all night and morning trying to battle the feeling with no avail. It was stuck with me. Because of her. 

A knock at the door interrupted the assault on my mind and punching bag. 

A petite dark haired woman pushed through the glass doors, her brows raised and arms crossed. 

"What the fuck is up with you?" she called across the gym, eyeing the destroyed bag hanging from chains in front of me. 

"Nothing." I snapped. 

"Then why are you destroying a heavy bag instead of faces, and calling me down to witness it?" she challenged with a sassy smirk plastered across her fierce make-up covered face. 

"I have a job for you. I need you to get some girly shit." I waved the concept away dismissively. 

Siren laughed at my request, "Girly shit? What the fuck are you on about." 

I sent daggers her way, "We have a guest, and I need you to go shopping for her."

Her chuckle morphed into a sly smirk, "Ah a girl. That's what got you all in a twist?"

"I'm not in a fucking twist." I growled.

"Yeah, sure you're not. What's her name, I wanna get my design ready for you new tattoo." She bent over with laughter, clearly enjoying her own joke more than I was. Siren was the resident tattoo artist, and basically the only female on the property. 

"You'll get a bullet through your head in a second." I warned. That sobered her up quickly. I wasn't big on empty threats, and my people knew it. 

"Any requests?" She asked, barely holding in her laughter. She was enjoying this way too much and it was pissing me off. 

"Just get everything she might need, Blaze will let you onto the top floor to get a room ready." 

"You're putting a lot of thought into this girl, who is she?" Siren flips her short raven hair over her shoulder, eyeing me curiously. 

"Someone who's seen too much." That was all I needed to say, she understood. The Revenants knew I rarely introduced myself to anyone, or allowed visitors onto the property. 

"I'll take care of it." Siren left the room without another word. Hopefully she knew better than to spread gossip. 

This compound was basically the Revenant headquarters, only the most trusted members of my organization came and went knowing my identity. It's how I've managed to stay so low key for years, unlike my father. I learned from his mistakes. 

I let my name inspire fear, whether it was really me behind it or not, all my men needed to do was introduce themselves as Knox and our enemies dropped to their knees. I managed to keep my hands relatively blood free, but my conscience most definitely was not.