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The other men turned pale when they saw their dead friend, and one of the criminals tried to save himself from what was going to happen to him.
“Sir, boss, look. We didn’t know she was yours; otherwise, he wouldn’t have touched her. I didn’t even d-
This time, a bullet hit the head.
Kade was furious, and none of these men would get away with it tonight.
Four more shots rang out in the night before everything went quiet.
He called out “Isla” when he saw the little girl huddled against the wall with her eyes closed and her hands over her ears.
Kade put his gun in his pocket and walked towards the girl who was shaking. His footsteps echoed on the sidewalk.
Isla heard him coming and tripped over her own feet as she tried to get up. She couldn’t do it, so her chest shook with sobs of anger.
“Baby—”
“No!””Isla screamed.”
She moved closer to the wall and hugged her knees while her body shook.
Kade’s jaw tightened when she said no, but he respected her space and stopped moving. After a second, he started again, trying to get her to come closer.
“Isla, it’s me, Kade. Your Kade. I would never hurt you.
He sighed and ran his hand down his face in frustration when he heard nothing again.
“Just come here, baby, so I can make it better.”
Isla raised her head from between her knees, and Kade’s heart hurt in his chest when he saw her face, which was clearly full of tears.
“Where were you?”She said in a low voice.
There was betrayal written all over her face.
“I-I had a meeting.”
Kade started out shaky. He ran another hand through his hair to try to calm down, but the tears in his eyes told him he wasn’t doing a good job.
“I had a meeting, and it went over time. It went way over. A-and by the time I got your messages, my phone was dead—damn!”
He swore because he was so upset about what was going on. Isla’s scared scream made him regret what he had done right away, and he apologised a lot.
“Shit, baby, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to frighten you.
Isla sniffled and looked at him with tired eyes. It hurt his stomach to see her look at him like that like she didn’t know him at all.
“Why do you need a gun?”She finally said in a whisper.
“What’s going on?”Kade asked stupidly.
Isla said the same thing again, but she was getting a little angry now. “The gun Kade.” Why do you have it?”
“I…I have a permit…” he said weakly.
Isla’s blue eyes were now on fire when she heard what he said.
“Please don’t treat me like I’m dumb. I may be young Kade and not know much.”
The older man changed his mind now, not wanting to upset the girl who was already angry.
“No, you’re not stupid, Isla. That’s not what I meant.” I was—
“What did you mean then? You killed four people. I don’t think that’s what the permit says.
Kade didn’t like the way Isla sounded. She was so angry and upset, which was so unlike her sweet girl. He told himself he wouldn’t hurt her or ruin her, but he had done just that.
“Those men,” he said, pointing to the bodies that were still on the ground, “they deserved to die.”
“But who are you to say that?” she cried.
“I’m in charge of them!”
After he told the truth, Kade breathed heavily and let the wind’s strange whistle fill the quiet.
“I’m their boss,” he said again. “They worked for me, okay? So, I get to decide who lives and who dies, and they sure as shit deserved to get their f*****g heads blown off—I mean, who the f**k are they to pull that kind of shit, to touch what’s mine. Kade was seething at this point; not at her, but at the situation he had found himself in. He had sworn to himself that he would never let her find out about this side of him, and she had not only found out, but was also fully in it—not ankle-deep, but fully immersed in his mess and covered in the blood that stained his hands and the cobblestones of the alley-way floor.
Isla hiccupped and wiped her wet cheeks with her hands. What was she even hearing right now? Did she even know the man who was standing in front of her?
“My job is very, very risky.” Because of who I am, a lot of people have tried to kill me, and some of them have even gotten close. That’s why I own the gun.
Kade moved closer to Isla, hoping that she wouldn’t say anything now that he was really starting to tell the truth.
“I didn’t want to tell you this way. I-I know it’s a lot, and I didn’t want you to…
“To go? Isla took his place.
Kade didn’t say anything, so she stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans.
Kade frowned but didn’t say anything as he nodded. As they walked to the car, he lightly pressed his hand to the small of her back. His heart skipped a beat when she let him touch her.
He opened the door for her and let her slide in before rushing to the other side of the car. Before getting in, he called one of his fixers to take care of the bodies on the sidewalk.
Kade’s jaw was clenched in anger because the usual comfortable silence was now tense and uncomfortable.
He turned to look at Isla, who was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and looking out the window.
“Come with me somewhere.”
Isla sighed and shook her head, but Kade wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Please? It will help you forget about things. “Let me do this for you.”
The blonde looked at him and finally noticed how desperate he sounded. Even though she was angry with Kade, she still cared about him. It was hard to watch the man who was too sure of himself grovel.
“Fine,” she said in a whisper.
She kept a close eye on Kade as he moved his hand so that their fingers could touch.
Kade kissed each of Isla’s knuckles with such love that it made her eyes water.
“Thanks”
*************
“Stay here.”
Kade parked the car, got out, and opened Isla’s door on the other side.
She walked out slowly and looked back at him.
“Where are we going?”She asked.”
He smiled and said, “You’ll see.” Then he patted her on the bum to get her to start walking.
Isla heard waves crashing on the beach and saw the moon shining on the open water after about five minutes.
“Wow,” she said, taking a deep breath.
They walked down a few steps to the sandy beach, where Isla left Kade, and walked closer to the sparkling water.
She bent over and put her fingers in the cool water.
“Why did you bring me here?”Isla asked, still looking at the little waves.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“We did talk,” she said, squinting up at him from where she was sitting. The moonlight made it hard for her to see.