Chapter 1

7:45 PM

Los Angeles, California

December

"Leon...please...Let me go for fuck's sake!", a man bleeding from his abdomen, crawls backwards, trying to back away from Leon. " I have a family for fuck's sake, I'll do anything to let me get out of this shit!", the man yelled in distress, Leon coldly narrowed his eyes. "And you smeared death in my family, you'll pay for all of the bullshit you've done...", Leon grips his gun tighter, he's about to kill him in any moment.

"She wasn't even yours, neither is that child of hers!", the man responded, hollering. Leon aims the gun at his forehead,"Don't talk shit about my daughter, dipshit!", Leon raised his voice in rage, the man scoffed without remorse. "You don't know what I'm capable of, Leon Cashmere!", the man grinned maliciously, he chuckled. "And you know what I'm capable of?", he asked, a shot rang out, the man collapsed on the floor since the bullet was implanted on his head, killing him instantly.

Clouds started to whine, pouring down their tears, causing rain to happen. Blood is swept away with the rain rowing down the sewer.

He heard footsteps from someone behind him, it was one of his men, Andrew. He was holding an umbrella to cover himself from the harsh rain. "Sir Cashmere, we have to go...", he pleaded, putting the umbrella over Leon from getting himself more soaked than he already was. He followed him to his car, Andrew opened the car door for him. "Get inside please...", he offered, he went inside and closed the vehicle. He opened the door on the other side, and closed the umbrella before getting in and closing the door. He looked over to his driver, Alvarez.

" I need a towel, Alvarez...", he declared, Alvarez gets a towel from the passenger seat and passes it to him. "Thank you...", he said, drying his hair. Leon looked out the window, all he could see was fog and water droplets roll down the window. He pulled out his cell phone to look at any missed messages or phone calls. He had a few missing messages from Michelle, her daughter's babysitter. " Sir Cashmere, Zoey has been crying nonstop for you, she's been saying that her father is gone...", he read, how casual it is for his daughter to cry when he's gone for more than a hour, it's been three hours since he left. " Tell her I'm on my way...", he replied, and sent the message before he checked his contacts.

As he checked his contacts, he realized he had a few missing calls and a text that read, "I got a surprise for you tommorow. See u then", Leon turned off his cell phone, he didn't bother to call him to see what he meant. As they drove through the streets, he thought of the upcoming holidays. He never celebrated Christmas, his family did but he didn't. He thought it was another day in life, not a place for family gatherings. But now, Zoey is a little girl, she would like to share wonderful memories with him. He was curious on what to do, he's planning on asking her what her plan is. Whether it's decorations or gifts, he'll do anything to see her smile brightly.

"We're here, Sir Cashmere", Alvarez blurted out, looking at him. He opened the door to open the door for him, Leon gets out the car, fixing his cuffs from the dripping, wet shirt he's wearing. Leon looks down his clothing to make there's no blood stains that can scare her daughter away.

"You're dimissed...Good night", Leon told Alvarez, he gestured a thumbs up as he's walking back to the vehicle.

He opened the entrance door to his yellow colored mansion, he took off his shoes, what loneliness he felt once entering the home. The presence felt as if no one ever lived in his home, despite his 20 servants and daughter being in the house. He holded his shoes, and walked to his room. As he walked over there, someone gasped behind him before telling him, " Are you alright?". He turned his head, it was one of his servants. "Sir Cashmere, do you need a towel or anything?", she asked, with a worried expression.

"I've got one already...", Leon showed the soaked towel in his hand. "That towel is full dripping in water, you can use this clean one while you're going to your room, Sir Cashmere...", she handed a clean, soft towel to him, getting the other one in exchange. "Enjoy your night!", she said, while Leon walked away. He turned to his shoulder and nodded in response, without a word, he continued walking. His eyes stared at his bedroom door, he reached the doorknob before turning it, he shut the door behind him before taking off his coat. His room was organized, his bed was made, the floor was sparkling clean, all he needed to do inside was to sleep and wake up the next day.

He sighed, he's tired of everything from what he'd done. "He deserved it...",he thought to himself, unbuttoning his shirt. He changed himself into a black long sleeve and grey sweatpants. Later, he walked out to go to the dinner room.

He checked his cell phone again, he had a notification on IG, he opened it to see a picture of his cousin, Nico smiling brightly with his boyfriend, Milo, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Goddamn...", he thought, in disbelief. He placed his phone back in his pocket, he could see one of the servants opening the door for him to enter, the other servant waved and gave a small smile. "Thank you, gentlemen...", he said, a small girl with curly, fluffy dark hair, light brown eyes, and wearing a pink night gown with polka dot pants started dashing through the door. "Dad!", she cried, her puffy red eyes gave Leon a sign she'd been crying for a while.

"Sweetie, why have you been crying? I'm here, ok? I'm not going anywhere...", he promised her, hugging her tightly, how cruel of him to let her heart ache like this.

"You're ok?", Zoey asked, with a worried expression, she's the only miracle that Leon cherishes everyday, without her, he would have been lost in the darkest trails of sin. He picks her up and holds her with an arm, she smiled happily. He placed her in the chair with a plate of food, he turned his gaze to his servant, giving him a commanding look. "Yes, Sir Cashmere...", he walked out, he looked at the person sitting next to Zoey, Fionna, her second babysitter, she lives with him in the home. "How has she been lately?", he asked, pulling a chair next to her daughter and sitting down. "She's been worrying about you since last time you came in with a bloody arm...", she explained, Leon gazed at Zoey softly.

"Dad, what took you so long?", she asked, taking a bite out of what she decided to eat for dinner. Leon paused for a moment to think about what to say, he didn't want to her to know he'd just murdered someone. "I was talking to a friend...", he responded, he definitely was talking to a friend.

"Sir Cashmere, I need to talk to you about personal matters...", Fionna interrupted, she pulls out a folded note, it seems like a letter of some kind, she passes it forward to him. "About what?", he asked, he unfolded it, his eyes widened in shock, it's an anoynmous letter, showing coordinates of some kind. "Location...", she said, looking at him seriously. "Thanks...", he replied, waiting for his meal to arrive patiently. It didn't mention where the coordinates lead to, how strange.

Suddenly, the door opened, it was a servant holding a tray, he placed the plate of food with utensils in front of Leon. He also placed a glass of wine with the bottle. "Have a good dinner, Sir Cashmere", he complimented, walking away. "Спасибо (thank you)", he replied, he grabbed a fork and started eating peacefully.

"Zoey, what do you want for Christmas?", he asked, Zoey's eyes brightened, he knows where this is going. "I want my room painted magenta, coloring books, new crayons, a lot of shoes, and new dresses...", she continued with the list in her head for a long time, before she could finish, Leon drank the last bit of wine left from his glass. "And I want a huge Christmas tree they put in the living room!", she exclaimed, happily. "That's worth around 21,459 dollars of what you told me...", Leon calculated, he's really good with mathematics, he won awards for his intelligence. "That's not a lot though...", he continued, slightly smiling, resting his arms into the table. "That's a lot of money, it could pay for my bills, groceries, rent, cell phone bill, and car payment...", Fionna explained, Leon turned to her, he's a billionaire with a rich family, of course it's nothing to him.

"Only a middle class citizen would say that...", he responded sarcastically,as he pushes his plate forward. "Sir Cashmere! You should be grateful I take care of your daughter and teach her how to not spend so much money unlike her father...", Leon scoffed, him and Fionna have known each other for 5 years, so it's casual for them to actually get along like this. Zoey giggles with a shiny smile, Leon looks at her softly. "You're underestimating me, huh?", he questioned, grinning lightly. "I'm going to be better than you, dad!", she promised, how surprising. "You better be...", Fionna turns to Zoey, Leon laughs hysterically, he drops his head into the table, he wraps his hands around his head trying to cover his face. Zoey gasped, "He's laughing!", she rarely has seen his father laugh so much unlike now.

"Sir Cashmere...", Fionna chuckles delightly, she stands up while he placed her hands on Zoey chair. "Let's get you to bed now, Zoey", she politely said. Zoey pushed her empty plate foward, "Yes, ma'am...". She walked around towards her father, and hugged him. "Good night, my sweet little dove...", he kissed her forehead lightly. "You too...", she responded. She walked out the door with her babysitter, she waved a little goodbye before the door closed behind them. "I love her, she means a lot to me...", he thought, as he closed the door behind him.

He walked all the way to his bedroom, he took a shower, and changed into a new set of clothes. He fell into the bed, exhausted from all the shit he'd gone through. He kidnapped people he was paid to do, killed someone, and moved a transport of drugs to the other side of the US. "How tiring it is to be a villain", he thought, rubbing his left eye. " I should've stayed being a police officer, but I ruined my chances...", he turned himself to the side, he blankly stared into the door.

He remembered who he is, a villain, like everybody else around him. He killed people, that was his job, he's an assassin. "I did it all for her...She's gone...", he thought to himself, he was thinking about her, a girl whom he loved with all of his heart. He helped her bring herself back up after many open wounds she had, he took care of them. She hurt in every way, she never knew what real love felt. He fell to his knees every time they saw each other, she was like a statue of infinite beauty to him. She had a bright smile that would light up the room in a second, her brown, fragile eyes, her dark brown hair, she was a kind hearted person. He loved her for being herself, how loyal and truthful she was. They would spend time together in the garden, the one located in his backyard, telling each other secrets no one had to know, just between them.

The girl he's thinking about, she's not with him anymore. She's in a beautiful place, where she's allowed to spread her wings without fear. She died trying to protect him from a bullet, she couldn't survive from all the blood she lost. It was a terrifying expierence, she didn't deserve the worst ending to her life, it had to be him. The only thing he had from her, it's her daughter, Zoey. She had a child no one knew, not even himself. He remembered her last words, "Please love her as much as you loved me...", how cruel of him to let her die.

He wiped his tears falling from his face with his hand, he remembered the event vividly as it was yesterday. "Till death do us part...", he mumbled, in a shaky voice. He sob silently, where no one could hear him, until his mind drifted himself off to sleep.