Sold to the Gang Leader

Chapter 21

Levi's POV

"Kara, come in here for a second!", I shout out my office door.

Hearing her soft footsteps coming up the stairs, I return to the seat behind my desk and a few seconds later I hear the door creak open. She peaks her small head in the room, eyeing my face and slowly approaches the chair on the opposite side of me.

"Did you need something?" She says, sitting down on the chair. The chair making her appear smaller than she really is, but she still puts on a confident expression.

I lean forward on the desk, my arms covering the papers I was previously working on. "I wanted to talk to you." My eyes scan her face to see a slight change in her facial expression.

She clears her throat, "About what?"

"Iris." I take a deep breath before continuing on. "She's coming over in two hours and I wanted to make sure you were okay with everything before I proceed to talk to her."

"Well, that depends on what you're going to say to her." She crosses her arms over and slightly glaring at me.

I can't help but smirk at her response. Damn, do I love a woman with attitude.

"What are you going to say to her?" She asks.

I don't say anything for a while because I honestly don't know. She physically harmed a valued member of my gang. And yet, I still can't just throw her out of the gang. She would have no protection and would be a vulnerable target to all mine and her enemies. Not to mention she's been with me for  a long time and helped me through so much.

I take my eyes off Kara and focus on my folded hands. "I can't remove her from the gang, that's definite. She'd be an open target and that can't happen." I glance back up to her quickly to her eyes staring hard at me. "I also can't let her get away with hurting you."

She searches my face for a while until she finally speaks up. "To answer  your question, I forgive her,...but I'm not sure I could ever forget it."

A knock causes both our attention towards the door and Iris appears in the doorway.

"Iris." My mouth slightly opens in shock. "You're earlier than expected."

Taking a full look at her, she looks horrible. She has red circles under her eyes and her face is so pale. I don't think she has even slept in days.

"I couldn't wait any longer." She says.

Kara stands up and offers her chair to Iris. "Here, sit." Her hand gesturing to the seat.

"Thank you." She says quietly. Kara moves past her but Iris grabs her hand quickly. "I'm so sorry."

Kara nods her, giving a small smile and turns to me. "I'll leave you guys alone." She walks out the room, closing the door.

I look back to Iris to see her looking down at in her lap.

"Iris, look at me." I call to get her attention. She lifts her head up. "I'm not kicking you out of the gang. I can't do that to you. All of the dedication and work you put into this, it would be inconsiderate and wrong for me to do that. So you're not leaving the gang."

Iris releases a breath, "Thank you so much. You don't know how sorry and ashamed I a--"

"But you will be taking a break for a while." I can see her eyes beginning to water and that cause me to add on. "Not forever just a month or two. You will remain to have full protection, of course, throughout the whole time period of you being away."

A tear escapes her eyes and she looks deeply into mine. Her mouth still but her eyes look as if she has so much to say. As if right on cue, she speaks.

"Levi, do you know why I lost control that day?" She asks, raising her eyebrows.

I shrug my shoulders, "I'm assuming, something happened with your mother again."

"No." I hear her take a deep breath before speaking up again. "It's because I was jealous."

My eyebrows scrunch up. "Jealous of what?"

"Jealous of you and Kara. Jealous of you paying so much attention to her when she hasn't been a part of the gang for even 3 months." Another tear rolls down her cheeks and she wipes it away, fast. "Jealous of you're attraction towards her."

"What are you talking about?" My eyes scrunched up in confusion.

"It's so obvious that you two like each other. The way you look at her, the way you talk to her. You even forget about all the rules she's broken. On purpose, I think, cause you don't want to punish her."

"Iris, that's enou--"

"I'm in love with you, Levi." She cuts me off. "I have been for years."

My jaw flew open at those five words. I don't even know what to say. I felt like a horrible person for never seeing it. "...Iris,..I'm so sorry. I don--"

Her eyes a leaking like a water fountain now. Her face is just covered in tears. "It's okay. No need to apologize. I figured after a few months, that if you didnt notice it, you probably don't think of me like that and I knew I was right." She stood up from the chair, picked up her bag and walked to the doorway before turning back around. "Kara is one lucky girl." She smiled, sadly at me. "I'll see you later." Iris closed the door and I heard her fade away down the hallway.

A sigh rushed out of my throat when the door closed and I dropped my head on the desk. Iris has been in love with me for years and I've never known. Did everyone else know? I feel like such a huge asshole.

...

And how can Kara and I be so obvious when she doesnt even like me that way. I mean, at least I can admit to having an attraction towards her but I don't even think she'll ever see me as more than a gang leader.