16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Ximena

I nervously creep out of the bedroom as Klaus puts his phone on the kitchen counter. He watches me as I slowly make my way in front of him. His beautiful golden flecks mix with the green of the pine trees darken with a sense of curiosity.

“Is everything okay?” I question hesitantly, my nerves cause my stomach to dip, it feels like the breeze from the outside found its way through my body as I practically shiver in fear.

“Who are you, Little Ember?” He says softly, he closes the small distance between us. His hands dance across my skin as he caresses my arms, tangling his fingers along my hair he tightens his hold. “Tell me Ximena. Do you know who I am?”

I’m not sure what he means. Of course, I knew who he was. He’s the head coach of the Wescott Wolves. I stare up at him completely and utterly confused on what is happening.

“Why are you involved with the company?” he questions, gripping me a little more as the realization dawns on me.

He knows.

My secret.

My truth.

He knows.

“I… I…” I don’t know what to say. I open my mouth once more, “I… I got involved with the company long before I found out about my father. I wanted to do good in the world without being involved. These people deserved their lives to end the way that they did. But I couldn’t make an exception for my father. I needed him gone. He couldn’t be saved. I… I wanted to tell you. I had hired someone from the company. I don’t know who. I never know who. I just…needed him gone.”

He watches me a little closer, the darkness clearing as seconds go by.

“It was me. I’ve been involved with the company before I became head coach. It’s the only life I’ve ever known. I plan on giving up, for you.”

I open my mouth once more, but no words come out. What can I even say? He killed my father. Granted I ordered the hit, but I didn’t know the man I love is a murderer. A killer. I need a moment to think. What does that mean for us? I’m barely involved with the company; I just provide money any chance I have to save lives and remove bad people from the world. Bad useless people. Like my father.

“I… I need a moment.” I whisper.

He tusks, “No, sweet Ember. You don’t get a moment. You don’t get a chance to question what we have. You don’t get to leave me. You’re mine, forever.” My body melts into his touch, as I learn further into him. Allowing him to lift my chin and kiss my lips. I lose myself in the sensation, in his scent, in his touch. But the words repeat in my head, “it was me.” Tears form in my eyes, the uncontrollable need to cry takes over because it’s then that I realize he lied. He had never been friends with my father. He came into my life, why? For me?

Am I next on his list? Could the men that worked with my father want me dead too? The question continues going through my head on repeat, the chanting of “you’re next” begins to form until I’m fully convinced, I’ll die by his hands before I get to tell him that I love him. Did I even mean anything to him?