“So, they recognized you?” A gasp leaves my mouth as I realize my mother made eye contact with my dad’s killers. A shiver travels up my spine.
“Yes, they recognized me because we know them.” Looking over at me, she grips my hands. “Diego. It was Diego and Rodrigo. They killed your father.”
Time stops. My world falls apart.
My mouth drops in horror.
I feel like my body is on fire, like someone is laughing at me while watching me burn down until there’s nothing left. My dad’s killers, the people who shot my dad with no remorse, were in my house. They ate dinner at the table he used to sit at. They drank out of the cups he used. Rodrigo touched my mother, knowing my dad’s scarlet blood was on his hands. They acted like they cared, like they had hearts.
The entire time, we were probably their entertaining television show. They sat there for months, twirling their thumbs together while watching us get fooled.
The man I looked up to every single day, I saw him as a king. I acted like he was my trophy. I mourned his life until I felt like I was mourning my own. I was healing, finally seeing the light, until I was slapped in the face.
I feel like I’ve finally reached the edge of a cliff. The heels of my feet are only left supporting me as I look down at the roaring ocean below me. I don’t hear or see anything around me. All I can think about is how stupid I really am.
I thought Leonidas not telling me his identity was extremely painful. But knowing that I’ve betrayed my dad is like someone is stabbing me ruthlessly in my chest multiple times. I can’t catch my breath as I come to terms with the fact that whenever I let someone in my life, they always betray me somehow.
My sobs echo in the quiet room as I let everything out. There’s no use in hiding how broken I feel. Tears stream down my face at a fast rate. I can feel Leonidas still standing beside me. Mom stays silent. She just stares in front of her without blinking. We’re absolutely broken. Mourning the person we hurt the most by not knowing.
“I need to say something,” I hear being whispered above me.
What now? How much can I take?
My blurry gaze sees Leonidas’s stiff posture.
Sitting down next to me, he faces me and Mom with a frown. “Trinity, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he starts off.
Why the hell is he making a love speech to me in front of Mom? And why now?
“The last thing that I want you to feel toward me is hate. Fear runs my life. It controls me until I’m left with nothing. I’m ashamed to say that it’s won again. I understand if you hate me, if you never want to look me in the eye, but just know how much I love you.”
He grips my hands in his own, tears rolling down his face. Biting his lip, he takes a shaky deep breath in. “Four years ago, when I signed the contract with the label, I was so excited that my siblings and I got a deal. As we were about to party, we got a call. My grandma was sick. She had dealt with the battle of cancer for many years. She wasn’t well that day. She was actually at her worst. So, we got on a plane to Canada and took care of her for a while. She lived in this small town that I hated. Only a couple hundred people lived there.
“One day, my siblings and I were bored. All the stores in the local town were all odd stores we had no interest in. A couple of towns away, we found this music store. We begged Mom to take us. She didn’t want to leave my grandma, so we walked.” His voice hitches as he glares down at the ground.
“We bought a new guitar that day. It was a treat from our mom for signing with the label. But as we were walking through the door to get out, a man was in front of us. He was carrying this beautiful wooden guitar. As I was walking past his car when he was placing the instrument in his trunk, that’s when I sawthem.I saw the gun being pointed in our direction. The only thing that I could think to do was jump out of the way. I watched as the man got shot in the chest, and the two shooters drove away immediately.”
My breath gets caught in my throat. My hands turn cold in his hold.
“I watched the man being carried away on a stretcher, dead.” His voice fails him as he lets out a broken cry.
His face is damp because of his tears, matching my own. Mom just stares at him in disbelief.
“I realized that the man died because of me. I figured out everything after the shooting. The two shooters had followed me because they thought shooting me in a small town was the perfect opportunity to gain their revenge on not getting the deal.”
“Rodrigo and Diego?” I interrupt, confused how they know Leonidas and why they would want revenge.
All he does is nod his head.
God, this must be a joke. Please wake me up from this nightmare.
“Diego is our age. He was the other qualifier for the spot on the label. Obviously, Elijah, Amelia, and I got it, but he wasn’t happy that his dream had been crushed. The only way he thought of getting what he wanted was by killing us off. He was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see his face, but I’d know those black eyes from anywhere.
“Their plan was thought out perfectly. They ditched their car, leaving no handprints anywhere. They then disappeared. I tried to tell the cops who they were. I described how they looked, but they never could find them. It’s like they were never there.
“But please don’t think I knew this all along. I never saw Diego and Rodrigo at your house. I only once saw a man on your front porch, but he was blurry because my eyesight sucks, but I swear I didn’t see him clearly. If I knew your dad’s killers were in your home, I would have told you and reported them. The only connection that I made until tonight was that I was the real target to your dad’s death. I just didn’t know how to tell you that. But I promise—” Leonidas’s voice cracks. “I promise I didn’t know it was them. I would never do that to you. I wouldn’t want you around killers and the people who tried to kill me.”
My heart feels like it’s being squeezed by a hand. My delicate-healing heart feels like it’s crumbling after each word he says.
