Lucas’s POV
My heart caught on fire at watching Angelina break in my mom’s arms like that.
It was on fire not only because of the those deep, painful sobs she was releasing, but because I was the main reason for all that pain and anguish, and I hated myself immensely for being the cause for her suffering.
I will never be able to forget the way she was screaming, whimpering, and sobbing when I was tracing my fingers over the fabrics of her bra and underwear. I felt like a fucking animal.
The way she looked at me after I freed her from her binds was killing me.
But I felt just slightly better after she was convinced that I didn’t mean anything else other than convince Zade that I will not have mercy on her. That she will be safe with me from now on. There was still a little suspiciousness lingering in there but there was also a flicker of trust and hope.
“Oh honey. I’ve got you, you’re going to be okay, I promise” mom said emotionally as she ran her hands over Angelina’s back soothingly.
Angelina managed to calm down her sobbing and settled into frequent sniffles as she uncovered her face from mom’s chest and looked at her with vulnerability “I hated myself… so much for.. lying to you, I swear. But I was so scared you’d… ha.. hate me if you found out the truth. You were so kind to me in my darkest moments, if it weren’t for you Diana, I would’ve… died over mom’s loss. But it was you who helped me through, I was terrified of you hating me because….. I love you so much and it would have truly killed me if you gave up on me, not that I would have blamed you…”
“I told you before, nothing will ever make me change how I feel about you. Not even that secret you were hiding, you know why? Because you’re not his daughter. You never were his. That man and you have nothing in common, absolutely nothing. I know who you are inside and out even though we haven’t known each other for a long time. But sometimes, it only takes a few seconds to see the pureness in someone’s heart. And yours dear, is shining bright like a freaking sun” mom said fiercely.
It made Angelina break into sobs again and they went back to hugging each other tightly.
“I love you so much Angelina. You’re a part of my family and I will kill anyone who tries to harm you with my bare hands, I swear on my life” mom promised her sincerely.
After that, Angelina excused herself to go take a shower, while I took advantage of her absence and told everyone, including Alex over the phone, what Zade said.
“Why did you set it up in three days? Why not tomorrow?” asked David curiously.
“Because Alex said he was close to catching one of the big fishes. One of Zade’s inner circle. We need that bastard to tell us the names of every big fish that’s working for Zade so we can end this once and for all. It’s not going to stop with Zade’s death. They’ll come for us again to avenge their boss and we need to act before that happens and kill anyone with a retaliation potential” I said firmly.
David nodded his head in understanding.
“So what’s the plan in three days? How are you going to handle everything?” Alex asked via speaker.
“I’ll get back to you on that tonight. The plan is still brewing” I said determinedly.
“Alright, we're going to catch Gerard tomorrow probably. I’ll let you know what he says” Alex said carefully.
“Ok, you need to hang up. Angelina could come down any minute now” I said hurriedly.
“Wait, we’re going to hide the fact that Alex and Jenny are not really dead from her?” asked April in confusion.
“Yes” I said instantly.
“No” mom said at the same time.
We locked eyes with each other, neither of us backing down from out statements.
“After everything you just witnessed… how could you not trust her with this?” mom asked incredulously.
I said defensively “It has nothing to do with trust mom! We trust our town people, half of which are Snows, but we still hid the truth from them! I know she’s a good person, but she’s also…”
“Zade’s daughter?” Jenny’s cutting tone came from the speaker, interrupting me.
“If you were about to say that Lucas, I’m going to have David smack you in the back of the head for me. Not a long time ago, I was some other asshole’s daughter and I don’t think you had time to forget how much you were suspicious of me at the beginning. Diana was the only one who saw me for who I am back then. If she says she could be trusted, then she sure can” Jenny snapped at me.
I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
“You can tell her whatever you want but not a second before Zade is dead” I said determinedly and locked eyes with every person in the room, letting them know that that was an order, not a request.
I saved mom for last as my eyes landed on hers.
She was staring at me with stubbornness, until Alex spoke firmly “What Lucas said goes mom. This is too risky, we can’t afford any slip ups now. We’re too close to ending this. Just until Zade is dead, then you can tell her, I’m sure she’ll understand”
I heard a loud huff and retreating footsteps on the other end of the line. Looks like Jenny isn’t a fan of my brother too now. These two will have a hell of a fight after we hang up over this, I had a feeling. But I’m sure my brother will manage to make her forget all about it in record time.
“Alright, I’ll call later tonight” he said distractedly before he hung up the phone, probably already thinking of the million ways he could say or do to make up with her.
I got up, gathered my phone, and was about to head upstairs for my room to grab a shower myself before mom stopped me sternly “Lucas, I heard screaming earlier. What was that about?”
“Nothing, she was mad at me because I tied her up and lied to her about us believing her” I said casually, playing it cool.
She could have asked Angelina, but she preferred to force me to lie or tell the truth.
Well, doing what I did to Angel, I’d go with a lie every single time, it’s safer that way.
She held my gaze intensely for a few seconds, then nodded her head “From now on, no more tricks or biting comments from you. Especially calling her out on her lies, or mentioning her relation to that man. Understood?”
“Yes ma’am” I said with a small smile.
She always made me feel like a twelve year old boy and not a God damn grown ass man. Especially me, out of all my brothers.
It might have something to do with the countless, reckless, and dangerous games I’ve played over the years.
I turned around and headed upstairs.
I stopped in the middle of the hallway, between my room and Angelina’s.
She didn’t really say that she forgave me for what I did to her, even though I apologized. And she probably doesn’t know that, but I rarely apologize to anyone outside of my family. Because I didn’t care if I hurt anyone else.
But I find myself unable to deny any longer how much this girl; this angel, is affecting every single cell in my body and turning me into someone else.
Someone I’m not really sure if I like or not.