Cece's POV
"Alec will be there and so will you. In fact we won't stay for the whole festival. We'll meet Jessa and talk, then we'll come straight home, si?" I said trying to convince her, batting my eyelashes like a high school girl flirting.

She huffed but in the end she nodded. I clapped my hands excitedly. "Fine. I'll tell Alec and tell him to bring Jessa." She said before stepping out of my room.

The festival of colours, it brought back so many memories. Jessa and Jenna loved it when they were little. Tears welled up in my eyes as a memory flashed in my mind.

Nineteen years ago.....
"And what colours are you putting on me?" Jenna asked her twin.

Jessa giggled before grabbing a few colours she'd made a day before out of corn starch. She walked towards her little sister by six minutes and began applying colours on her.

"Red for your cheeks, blue for your eyes and yellow for your forehead. There! You look so pretty!" Jessa said making her twin giggle.

"I wish I could see the colours Jess..." Jenna said making my heart tug with pain. Jenna had been born blind. The doctors said in order for her to see, she needed to undergo surgery.

I didn't have money to pay for the expensive procedure and the twins' dad had abandoned us before they were born.

I had no choice but to let Jenna grow up blind, the darkness being the only thing she could see. Jenna was a strong child, she didn't let her disability get the best of her.

But there were times when I could see her secretly crying in her room. She wanted to see..to be able to see what we saw and i hated myself everyday for not being good enough to make her one wish come true.

Moments like this made me weep. I was incompetent as her mother.
"Don't worry Jenny, I'm gonna study and become rich. Then I'll get the best doctors and they'll fix your eyes.

You'll see the colours one day, I promise." Jessa promised her twin. A tear rolled down my face as I watched my girls...my beautiful girls.

Present day...
"I called Alec. He said they'll be there. Aaliyah's coming too." Millie said as she walked back into the room bringing me back to the present.

"Thank you so much...for taking care of me and for bringing mi hija home." I told Millie.
{Mi hija = my daughter}

I was immensely grateful to the nurse standing in front of me. She blushed and nodded her head. I chuckled at her. She was never one for emotions and affection.

I didn't know what her story was but I knew something had made her this way...she seemed scared. She was afraid of something and I didn't know what it was. Young people these days had way too many issues. Things used to be much simpler back in my day.

Clearing her throat noisily she narrowed her eyes at me, "Okay, you got what you wanted but now it's time for bed. You'd better not give me a tough time about this or else I'll cancel tomorrow." She threatened.

She treated me like a kid sometimes. I could tell she was reminiscing the time I ran away to an ice cream shop halfway across town because i didn't want to sleep and I was craving it.

She called Alec and he called the police. I laughed slightly remembering the pissed off looks on their faces when they found me at the shop, peacefully eating my ice cream.

I raised my hands in mock surrender and she narrowed even more. "I'll leave now but I'll be back in an hour to turn off the lights." She said softly before leaving the room. She was too uptight for her own good.

She needed to relax and let loose.

Alec's POV
"Jessa! Jessa, get the fuck in here right now!" I yelled as I stood in the living room.

Where the fuck was she? I had an assignment. I didn't have time to waste. I run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Getting to the second floor of the house, I walked towards her room and barged in, not bothering to knock.

I found her sleeping on the bed. She looked so peaceful. I hated it. She didn't deserve any peace after what she'd done.

"Get the fuck up!" I yelled getting closer to the bed before grabbing the sheets and ripping it from her body. She jumped up, tripping on the sheets and landed in a heap on the brown carpet.

I winced at the sight. She lay in the floor, her arms and legs had been bandaged, she looked sickly thin and had huge bags under her eyes. Guilt hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd done this to her.

What was wrong with me? What was I doing? Had I really let the anger and hurt blind me so much that I'd hurt her like this?

Don't forget what she put you through my subconscious argued. My heart hardened at the thought, pushing the guilt away.

"Why the fuck are you still sleeping? Don't you have some cleaning to do?"I yelled. She scrambled to stand up. She wobbled a bit before finding her balance.

"I'm sorry...I - I was just taking a nap." She said timidly while looking down. It took a while for me to process what she said because she was deathly pale.

No! You can't keep doing this! She left you! . My subconscious yelled. That was enough to silence my doubts.

"Well you're supposed to be cleaning, not taking fucking naps! You can't even do shit properly. When I get back I want this house fucking spotless.

Oh and one more thing, Cece wants to see you tomorrow at the festival which means you put on some fucking decent clothes and fix your face, you look disgusting!" I yelled before storming out of the room.

That was a lie. Despite Jessa being bruised and battered like that...she was still the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. No one could compare to her...not in my eyes.

I was unleashing all my anger and pent up frustration on her. Last night .. everything changed. All the anger and hatred just..exploded. I had no control. And I let it out but...I'm still so fucking pissed.

I was so angry. I rushed out of the house. There was this sadistic desire to hurt her, to give her a taste of her own medicine, to make sure that she felt at least a fraction of what I felt in the worst way possible.

I wasn't sure if I loved her anymore..the anger was so blinding. I could barely think straight! I wanted ...no I needed to break something...I needed to destroy something.

I needed to do something violent. Her dad green eyes flashed in my mind as I got in the car and drove out of the mansion. I blocked them out. She didn't deserve any sympathy. She was a heartless person who deserved nothing.

But as I convinced myself of these things there was still a part of me that didn't agree. there was a part of me that wanted to go back there and tell her that I didn't mean what i said.

There was a part of me that wanted to take care of her, to hold her, to love her. I had to bury that part of me. If I didn't, I'd let her back in.

I groaned in frustration. She was taking up too much of my time. I spent too much time thinking about her. "Siri, call Damien!" I said.

It rang but he didn't answer. I rolled my eyes in frustration. What the fuck was wrong with him? We had a mission! I tried again and on the third ring he answered.

"What's up baby? Miss me?" He said. "I'm not one of your fucking one night stands! Now where the fuck are you?" I yelled. His loud laughter roared throughout the phone.

Damien was my best friend but his obnoxious happy-go-lucky attitude was annoying.  I mean we work for the mafia, we kill people for a living.
How can you be happy all year round?

"First off, you wish you were one of my one night stands. Secondly, chill out man! Ever since that chick came to town, you've been so worked out!" He said observantly.

"I can't help it. She's driving me nuts. At this point I miss feeling dead inside."

"No! I'm not saying whatever's happening to you is good, but it's not bad either. At least you're showing emotions now. I'd take angry you over heartless you any day."

"Look can we talk about this later. Right now we've got a mission to do." I said. " Yeah..so I'm at the park. Target's not here yet but I'm scoping out the palce for possible exits in case something goes wrong."

"I'll shoot from a building close by. How many men does he take?"

"Ten."

"And who's with him?"

"He's got a wife and three kids."

"Okay. We just have to make sure his family's safe..you know how I feel about that."

"Yeah, yeah! Once the action starts I'll get them to a safe place."

"Alright. See you in a few." I said, hanging up. I hated who I was, what I did. But I had no choice. The only person I hated more than myself was my boss. No one had been seen his face.

He always had a mask on. The man had my family in a secret location, he was using them as leverage. I hadn't seen them in years...I could barely remember what they looked like. But I had faith.

My contract was ending this year. By September I'd be out of the mafia for good and I'd have my family back: my parents and my sister. I'd missed them so much.

Sure I'd get them back but my boss, he'd get payback for all the time I spent without them. Nobody but Damien knew I was going to murder the boss. It was a daring and dangerous move but I was going to do it.

I'd been gathering information on him for years. Soon we'd have enough to actually figure out who he was and he'd pay. He'd really pay!

-----------------------------------------------------------
If you think Alec needs mental help raise your hand?😂😂😂💔. Jessa's making the guy go cuckoo.

I like Damien...this book's been so tense from the start...Damien can cool things down.... unless..he's got some heat too...

😂😂💔Get ready for the most unexpected couple in this book...a few more chapters to the big reveal.

-Daisy