His Undoing

Chapter 12

"They say being falling in love is the greatest feeling alive. However, I find that falling for anyone can be one of the worst feelings known to mankind. You become weak, controlled by feelings for another person, and obsessed with the idea of possibilities that might never come true. You become infatuated with a false reality. But when you truly love someone, everything is real. Raw is the word that would come to mind, and that is something I have yet to see." 

-Anonymous 

Kia Brown 

SHE laid in her completely dark room and focused on the details at hand. At some point in her life, what happened would have to be discussed. Dylan had disappeared after three days of healing from his gunshot wound in her attic. This led her to calculate that it had been more than forty-eight hours and by now, Giovanni had been informed that she broke Dylan out of "prison." Giovanni had warned her of what would happen if she dared to defy him, and she had done so. Now she had to figure out her next plan, preferably something that involved law enforcement. Dealing with this all on her own had started to take a toll on her. Just as she thought she would cry again, her mama startled her.  

"Sorry for startling you, My Love. Is everything alright?" Her mother asked. After Kia had placed twenty-four hour security on the house, her mother got worried and started to call her. And calling Kia eventually led to this dreaded talk. "Listen, I know everything has been pretty depressing after filing that report against your father. But I promise, everything will be better now. I don't think the security was necessary. Really."

Kia's eyes widened. She had totally forgot about the disaster that was defined as her father. After all her mafia adventures, it had completely slipped her mind that her very much abusive father was still out there. While that was the least of her problems, she still needed to assure that her mother was safe or else she could never forgive herself.

However, when she looked at the distressed face of her mother, she could not bring herself to explain how she was housing a fugitive and enemy of the United States government. 

"I just wanted to be more safe than sorry," she lied, scratching her neck nervously. Closing her eyes, she sent a prayer up to God, asking for forgiveness for lying to her mama. As much as she valued honesty in all her relationships, she could not risk her mother knowing the truth until it was the right time. Knowing too much could jeopardize her safety. 

"Kia, I know you're lying to me. You have never been a good liar." She smiled. Even in the dark, when her mother couldn't see her, she still could tell when she was lying. 

"I can't tell you what's going on. You wouldn't understand and with that man out on the loose, I can't afford you worrying more than you need to," she admitted. It hurt her to refer to her father as that man but after all of his sins, she unfortunately could not express herself any other way. It certainly did not help knowing that her father was involved with Giovanni. That was another devastating detail she could not bare revealing to Dylan. Would he hate her, despise her even? Would it hurt to know that the father of the girl he kissed two days ago was partially responsible for his pain? 

The kiss. Kia couldn't stop reliving it. Remembering what it felt like to be in his arms kept her from going insane. His smell that seemed to linger in her mind for days could help her brave all the storms. But whenever she began to fanaticize about their romantic moment, she couldn't help but remember why the kiss happened in the first place. She was irresponsible, and now there was a sociopath after her. 

When she was a little girl, Kia promised herself that she would never fall in love. All the pain that her mother went through registered in her brain at a tender age. She couldn't imagine loving anyone, especially not someone who could treat her horribly in the future. Yet, she never thought she would be developing feelings for a man who was wanted by an entire country. That was a possibility that the smaller version of herself had never really thought out. 

"Kia, I'm here for you. Whatever it is, okay?" Her mama pleaded, and Kia smiled at her affectionately. 

She left the room, leaving Kia with her thoughts. 

Kia thought that after her long couple of days she could take a well deserved nap. However, as she turned to lay over and forget her troubles, her mother called her name. 

"There's a visitor asking for you. Come downstairs, honey!" Her mother's voice echoed around the house as Kia's curiosity sparked. A visitor? Kia had called her job, and took a week off. So, she was sure no one would be visiting from her job. Dylan would never introduce himself to her mother. It was too risky, and he knew that. So who could be visiting? Maybe it was Tasha. After the stress from this past week, Kia could use some best friend time with her girl. So, with great enthusiasm, she skipped down the stairs with a grin plastered to her face. 

But every ounce of joy was soaked out of her when she came face to face with her worst enemy. Giovanni. Her heart nearly dropped to her stomach as she realized exactly what this meant. Was he planning on killing her mother and then her? Or would he make her watch as he sent her mother into the most traumatic tortures known to mankind? She didn't know; she most certainly did not wish to find out. 

Her mother's voice brought her back to Earth. "Sweetheart, do you know this man?"

She wanted to scream bloody murder, tell her mother to run, and pull out her handgun she sometimes carried for her protection. However, it didn't take a genius to know that Giovanni came prepared. Most likely he had came with a gun, and if he had any intentions of killing them right away, they would already be dead. If she blew his cover and panicked in front of this man, he would have a definite reason to hurt them. She couldn't cause her mother to be harmed, or even worse, killed. 

"Oh, Mrs. Brown, I was just coming to talk to Kia. She has not showed up to work in the last couple of days, and I just wanted to make sure that everything was alright with her." 

"Oh, really? Kia, you should have told me he was dropping by. I would have kept an eye out for him," Mrs. Brown chuckled, frowning at her daughter for the unexpected visitor. 

Kia only felt more sick by the minute. "We should talk outside."

"Yes, indeed. Nice meeting you, Mrs. Brown," Giovanni smiled as big as the Cheshire cat. Kia felt a zoo erupt in her stomach.  All of a sudden, she noticed the knife lodged in the back of the criminal's pocket. She noticed that he walked slower than she ever saw him walk. It was almost as if he was contemplating just how much trouble it would be if he did kill her mother. Kia imagined that he loved the gore, the thrill, and the screams that went along with murder. Maybe he was meditating on just how exhilarating it would be to slit her mother's throat. And because she knew what he was probably thinking, everything about her current situation seemed much worse.  

She became dismayed at the past, present, and future.