18

As he passed by I turned and looked at him

"Hey."

He stopped on the staircase

"Make it quick, I have to get back to the office."

I pushed my bangs behind my ear

"I'm sorry if I hurt your arm... I-I haven't been able to trust anyone since..."

He cut me off

"Don't worry about it, let's just stick to not talking for now."

I frowned

"I want to show you something really quick."

He came back up the stairs

"What is it?"

I pulled up my sleeve and showed him a tattoo I got in remembrance of him. It said 'My love is stronger than death' with a heart. He looked at me

"When did you get that?"

I pulled down my shirt

"After I saw you at the end of the bed, everyone thought I was crazy."

He smiled

"I was there, I was there a lot talking to you while you sleep and showing up. You were on medicine after having the girls and I didn't think you'd realize I was there."

I looked down and frowned

"Were you there when I passed out?"

He nodded his head

"I was, I thought I was going to lose you that day."

I stood quietly with my arms crossed

"I should get going now, Bryanna is here to help with the girls if you need it."

He looked up

"Where are you going?"

I exhaled

"I have training."

He faked a laugh

"No you don't, I told Zack and Nathan to quit that."

I got angry

"Really? You may still be my husband but guess what? I don't have to do what you say anymore; I can handle myself now."

He faked another laugh

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to train, you think you can handle yourself. You haven't seen the worst so stop before you get yourself killed."

I smirked

"Who's fault is that? Should've just married Crystal huh? Maybe then you wouldn't have to try so hard to protect me. She would've been able to protect herself."

Before he could say anything I was already walking down the stairs; I walked up to Zack

"Ready?"

He looked at me

"Um... We can't train you anymore."

Connor came up behind and pulled the gun from the back of my pants, put it on its safety and slide it across the island to Joey

"You want to train? You won't be needing a gun to do it."

I turned to face him

"Why can't you just go back wherever you were staying."

He smirked as he chuckled

"You'd love that but everyone knows I'm alive. So it wouldn't be much a secret."

I rolled my eyes

"Whatever."

He started walking away toward the balcony

"That's fine, I'm sure you'll be just fine being a regular civilian and let us protect you."

He stopped just before walking out

"Leave the room, I want to talk to her alone."

Joey dropped the gun in Connor's hand as he walked out. Connor emptied the clip and threw the gun on the island

"I get you don't like me very much right now but you have no idea who's after you, you aren't safe anywhere."

I looked at the gun on the counter

"How many times do I have to hear that? I know what's going on around me, I'm not the same clueless girl I was when you met me."

He faked a laugh

"Sadly you are, a gun? Really Kayla?"

I scoffed

"Are you going to train me or not?"

He licked his lip

"You'll get this back when you learn to fight without it, otherwise you're just a target from behind."

I scoffed again

"Obviously you didn't catch on earlier when I had you in an arm lock."

He cleared his throat

"Correction, I let you put me in an arm lock. Still confident at least."

I laughed

"Shame you can't admit I had you though."

He smirked

"Déjà vu huh? Always trying to be better than the another."

I looked down

"That was different."

He smiled

"You're still funny."

I crossed my arms

"Don't even think about calling me princess."

He smirked

"We have three princesses why would I call you that?"

I looked away and stood quietly; he grabbed the empty clipped gun off the island and handed it to me

"We should get to training."

I could feel myself feeling angry and ready to burst

"How can you just leave us like that and completely act like you didn't do anything?"

He pulled the gun away to his side

"We can talk about that later."

I yelled

"No I want to talk about now? How could you walk away from me? Our daughters? Pretend to be dead for months!!!"

I threw my arm up to slap him but he grabbed my wrist

"Please don't do that, not now."

I pulled my hand back from him and started shoving him into the wall

"No we're doing this now! I sat there and cried over you for months; just to find out you were watching us this whole time?"

Lonnie and Joey ran in the kitchen

"Kayla!"

I quickly looked at them

"No! I am so sick of being made weak and stupid! I am the daughter of the strongest gang leader in this country and I'm being made a fucking joke! Girls can't be leaders? Watch me fight for MY spot!"

I kneed Connor in the stomach and punched him in his jaw; Joey grabbed me

"Chill the fuck out! Now!"

Connor sat against the wall with blood spilling from his mouth and clenching his stomach. Lonnie kneeled to check on him

"I'm fine man, just calm her down."

I threw Joey's hands off of me

"Don't touch me!"

Connor wiped the blood as he got up

"Let her go."

Lonnie and Zack blocked the door and calmly said

"We can't let you go Kayla, just calm down."

I was breathing heavy and tears of angry fell from my eyes

"Don't make me hurt you two too."

Amelia ran down the stairs

"What the hell is going on?"

I tried to calm down

"Just let me out of this house."

Connor walked in and yelled

"Just let her go! She's not one of us anymore! It's not our responsibility to keep the little princess safe."

I turned around to look at him

"Sad how everything you told me was a lie."

He looked at me with a bruise forming on his jaw line

"Funny how you aren't perfect yourself."

Amelia looked at me then him

"Quit it!! Why are you two turning on each other?"

Lily ran downstairs

"Mommy! Look at my nails auntie Amelia did!!

Her light brown hair was braided to the side, it all hit me like a punch. She was the reason Connor and I ended up together, without her we'd most likely be married to different people. I kneeled down to her

"Hey I need you to go back upstairs."

She gave me a smile

"Mommy can I do your hair?"

I brushed my hair behind my ear

"Yeah after I talk to daddy."

She ran back upstairs, I stood up

"Forget any of this happened, I'll leave."

I grabbed my shoes and headed for the door until Connor said

"Don't leave, would you guys let us talk?"

Everyone left the room, he started walking to the door and opened it

"Let's take a walk."

We walked out to the grass in front of the house without talking, he sat down on a lawn chair. He looked around the house at the security

"Don't apologize for hitting me, I deserved it."

I stayed standing quietly, he exhaled

"I abandoned you with three kids, it was selfish of me."

I sat down in the chair across from him

"You don't deserve being hit though, I don't even know what's wrong with me."

He leaned forward

"You're angry... I faked being dead and bam I'm back like it never happened, I'd be angry too."

I looked up

"She reminds me every day why I fell for you to begin with."

He smiled

"She has that charm on me too, if it wasn't for her, who knows who we would be married to."

I looked back down at the grass

"She's our good luck baby."

He chuckled

"They all are."

I sat quietly looking around; he made a joke

"I was hoping for a boy but girls are okay."

I looked at him but didn't say anything; he smiled

"I was joking."

I looked away again

"Weak doesn't look good on you."

He reached for my hand

"Why are you acting like this?"

I pulled my hand away and stood up

"You don't get it! I'm not the same person I was when you left or should I say when you died? You left me to fight for myself! You left your daughter believing her father was gone! I had to become this person because I knew it wasn't long before I was on my own! I'm sorry I hit you! But I don't trust you like I did before! So just leave me alone with my life!"

I accidentally knocked the plastic chair over as I walked away, he stood up and hollered

"So what? Is that your way of telling me you want to be divorced?"

I stopped and turned around

"I've already started the paperwork, we got married for the wrong reasons."

He faked a laugh

"No I married you because I love you! Seems like you were the one in it for the wrong reasons!"

I laughed

"Funny you think that. I was the one who was broken up drinking in bed for weeks over someone who lied about being dead to his family."

He shouted

"I did it to protect all of you!"

I couldn't fight with him anymore so I turned around and walked back inside; I walked into Zack

"Hey Kayla, it'll be okay."

I began to break

"Just all of you stay out of my way."

I ran up the stairs and gathered the girls stuff; Lily helped me pack up. I carried two duffle bags on my shoulders with the girls in my arms and Lily followed with her bag

"Mommy where are we going?"

I grabbed a pair of keys from the glass bowl next to the staircase. Connor was standing surrounded by Zack, Bryanna, Amelia, Ashley, Joey and Lonnie. Amelia came up and grabbed Ana

"You can stay with us at our house, you'll be safe."

I looked at Connor; he couldn't keep eye contact with me, he kept looking down or away but he was talking to the guys about something. Ashley grabbed Arabella

"It'll be okay; we can take the girls to say goodbye to him."

I shook my head

"I'm not staying here; I'm going home but that's fine."

I could feel my eyes fill up with tears, I tried to hold them back but I lost control. Connor looked at me as soon as they fell, I quickly wiped them before but he had already saw them. He looked at the guys

"Give me a second."

He grabbed Ana from Amelia, he held her and brushed her short hair as he talked to me

"I don't want to leave it like this."

Tears began to fill my eyes, I held them back; he pulled me in for a side hug

"Don't decide anything yet, give it time please?"

Lonnie waved at everyone to leave the room; Amelia grabbed Ana and whispered

"We'll be in the living room."

I pulled away from him, my mascara was running and his t-shirt was soaked from my tears. I wiped my face and pulled my bangs out of my face

"I am such a baby, oh my god."

I looked down embarrassed, he lifted my head and rubbed away the tears on my right cheek with his thumb

"Don't say that... You've been stronger than I have."

I looked down

"I'm going home; the girls can stay here if you feel it's not safe. I just need..."

He cut me off

"Let me go with you, I can protect you."

I wiped the tear from the corner of my eye

"I don't want to cause you anymore trouble."

He put his hands on my shoulders

"Hey! You and I have always been in this together even when I wasn't around! I was watching and standing guard just like I did everywhere else."

I began to cry

"I just want to be normal again, I want to be happy again. This life isn't doing it for me."

He studied my face

"Work by me and I promise it will end and we can be happy."

I shook my head

"How can you be so sure I can make you happy?"

He smiled

"Because the three years I've known you, you have always been the light to my bad days. I didn't just marry you for power and show. I married you because I love you enough that I'd jump in front of a bullet for you. Kayla... you have changed me to be better and gave me a reason to be alive. Remember I loved you even when we weren't supposed to be together; I broke all the rules to be with you."

I scoffed

"Funny how every time you hurt me, I end up saying it's okay but... not this time."

I paused for a few seconds then said

"You can't hurt me every time and expect me to say you are forgiven. We aren't 17 anymore, this will take time to forgive."

He bit his lip nervously

"You're right, we aren't."

I looked at him in shock, by now he'd be trying to manipulate me but that's all he said. I looked down

"We have to protect the girls and it's not with us Connor."

He looked up

"What are you talking about?"

I looked at him nervously

"I want them to have a normal life, we can't give it. They're lives are constantly in danger and it's just getting worse. They can't..."

He cut me off

"You want to get rid of our daughters because of how we live? I have protected them since they were all born Kayla! What makes you think I can't now?"

I yelled

"They aren't safe! You think I'd just give them away to some stranger? They need a normal life!"

He sighed and brushed his hair back

"You had a normal life, you had no idea what your dad or mom did for 15 years! You think I will bring them in to this?"

I faked a laugh

"It would've stayed that way if I hadn't met you!"

He nodded his head in anger and disbelief

"That's how you feel now? That if you never met me you'd still have a perfect life?"

He chuckled

"You are naïve by the time you were 16 I'm positive you would've been aware and being forced to marry Devon who by the way was only interested in you for money and power. He didn't love you! He would've never done anything I did to protect you! He would've let them kill you!"

I could feel my eyes start to water again, he hasn't treated me this way in a long time. I sniffled and struggled to say

"Says the one who faked he was dead and shattered me for good."

Tears fell, I walked to get Lily, Arabella and Ana; before he could say anything else we were in a SUV leaving. Joey and Lonnie walked up to Connor. Lonnie asked

"Bro? What are we going to do?"

Connor looked up

"I'll figure something out for now just take some time for yourselves. We may be fighting my own family tonight."

Joey looked at him with concern

"Bro they have more power than we do, are you nuts?"

Connor smirked

"That's where you are wrong, I have people inside my dad's place already."

Lonnie put his hand on Joey's shoulder

"Don't ever underestimate him bro, he does shit before anyone thinks to."

Joey pushed his hand off

"Get your hand off me bro!"

Connor snapped

"Hey! I need both of you in the game, my kids' lives are at risk."

Lonnie asked

"Boss how are you going to protect her? She doesn't want it."

Connor glimpsed at him

"I'll handle her, just protect my kids and get them somewhere safe, we leave in a few hours. Take that time to relax."