Psychopath (EDITING)

27

Stephan is so close, our lips are almost grazing each other.

But just before, Stephan pulls away. His deep laugh fills the room, as I feel my face heat up like it's molten lava. 

"Sorry, love. I just love seeing your cute little face blush up like that. It's so damn adorable." Stephan teases, reversing back to his usual cocky self. This man is playing with my emotions, and I'm beginning to feel the whiplash. God, why am I even feeling this way? I should be glad that he didn't kiss me— that he pulled away. 

But something deep down, a little nagging feeling, actually feels disappointed.

Hiding my face with my hands, I try to walk back over to my chair, not saying anything back to him. Catching me beforehand, Stephan softly grabs my hands and places the book gently in them.

"Here. You can read it while I finish up with Trevor. It won't be too long, baby." Stephan said softly, letting go of the book and walking back over to where he was before. Trevor just glanced up to see him walk back over, but then he just went back to what he was doing the whole time. 

Clutching the book, I stagger back over to my chair, and plop down. My body is still in overdrive from earlier, but I try and forget it all by reading. This book was my only source of enjoyment growing up, as my parents were too busy doing whatever they wanted to do. They always told me that I wasn't an accident, but I couldn't help doubting that. Some people just shouldn't have kids, especially if you are just going to abandon them. 

Outside of my parents, I only knew of one other family member, and that was my grandma. She was my father's mom, and I can faintly remember her always smiling and angel-like. It was probably just my stupid child's imagination. But after she passed away, she left me this book. Well, my own copy of it... apparently there's only twelve copies in the world, as it is written in the author's note. How the hell did Stephan get a copy of it too? Out of everybody in the world, he had to have it? 

Flipping through, the memories of my childhood came back. Well, good memories. When I first read this, I didn't really understand it. There's a lot of Irish slang and wording, but I never knew that and I thought the author was purposely writing mumbles and stuff. After reading it a couple of times, I slowly started to understand what the author was saying. I have probably read this book close to a hundred times, but I never got tired of it. 

Getting lost in the book, time flew by. Each time I came across one of my favourite parts, I would try my best to stifle my laugh. I could feel his stare on me, but I just kept looking at the book and ignored him. I don't care how ridiculous I look, reading this book is finally making me feel a little saner. 

An hour passes and Stephan and Trevor finally finish up. I'm halfway through the book when Stephan calls out for me to come over. Folding the corner in to mark my page, I look over to see Stephan motioning me over with his arm. Hesitantly, I hold on to the book and walk over to the desk, on Trevor's side instead of Stephan's just to give us some space. I really don't want to be grabbed and dragged over to his side right now, and Trevor doesn't seem bothered by me standing by him. However, when I look at Stephan, he looks slightly defeated, like a little child, but he reverts back to his passive stance, and starts going through their plan.

"Cooper has expanded his area lengthwise, along our border and he is getting a little too close for comfort. I didn't even realize how much land he has power over until we mapped it out." Stephan mumbled, looking down. Looking at the map, I see that there are a lot of black x's over buildings and streets, for what I assume is what Cooper has. On the other side, a larger portion of the map is covered in a red marker, for what seems like a border of a sort. The whole corner is covered in this red marker. Curious, I whisper to Trevor, "What's the red marker for?".

Not getting my hint of discretion, Trevor loudly points out.

"That's our land. All of that is claimed by Black's mafia."

That's when everything really started to settle in. I knew that Stephan had a lot of power and land, but I didn't know that he had THAT much. Over half of this map is covered in red, and this map is half of the country. So— that means that he "rules" over a quarter of the country?? 

I stare at Stephan with wide eyes, but he just looks as composed as ever. He just glances up at me, straight-faced, and silent. I thought this guy was some cocky piece of shit, but I didn't realize how damn powerful he really is. 

Looking back at the map, I see that the black X's that mark Cooper's land is minuscule compared to Stephan. Hold up— the red part also covers my apartment and the nightclub. So, Cooper's men moved in on rival territory? This is so damn confusing.

"Even though his progress has been little to nothing, he is trying to cover some of our neutral ground, and even some of our own land, so he must be stopped. He can't just let him take what he wants." Trevor growls, surprising me by his rise in tone. Just talking about Cooper seems to bother him too. I wonder how long these guys have been rivals for.

"He won't" Stephan calmly announces. He's smiling down on the map, fiddling with a pair of scissors in his hands. 

"This guy is pissing me off. He needs to learn a lesson. The sooner, the better. Trevor, go let the caps know the plans and get them prepared and ready to go out on my command." Stephan commands, a steal reserve in his eyes, staring at the paper.

I feel so lost, but Trevor just nods and grabs a few of the loose papers from the desk. What the hell is going on?

"He won't ever get what is rightfully mine." Stephan growls out, and clenches the scissors. The tension in the room is suffocating me, and I feel planted in my spot. Stephan's hands are shaking, and without warning, he slams down the scissors directly down on the paper, straight into his desk below. My whole body jumped from the shock of the scissors into the wooden hard desk, and I feel my hands start to tremble. 

"Let's go, Sarah." Stephan calls out, the scissors still sticking out of his desk, as he starts walking out the door. Still planted in my spot, I stare at the scissors. It went in so deep, the desk splintering, a deep crack going across it. If I didn't know his strength before, I definitely know now. 

Shit, I'm so fucked.