Lila

When they reached his office, Dane headed straight to his seat behind his desk and sat looking out the window. Uncertain where he wanted her, Lila stayed standing next to it.

​​

"I'm sorry—" she began, but he cut her off.

"You really need to stop apologizing every time we talk."

"Sor—" she coughed. "Okay."

"What happened today wasn't your fault. I was…touched. It was very thoughtful of you to organize that. I guess I should have known you'd be proactive. I should have warned you. Birthdays aren't pleasant for me. So maybe in the future, you can keep that particular kindness to yourself?" He tried to smile. "If you want to birthday someone, Chris might appreciate it." His tone was very dry. She didn't know whether to laugh in case he was serious.

"Okay."

They both went quiet. Dane leaned forward, elbows on his knees, still staring out the window, different emotions chasing each other across his face. Like he didn't know how to feel.

Lila sighed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said in a small voice.

Dane sat up and turned to face her. "It's only fair that you know. I should have told you sooner. As soon as it came up since I knew you were going to end up involved one way or another. So I'm sorry. I just…I wish it weren't true so I try to avoid thinking about it."

"About what?"

There was a long pause while he looked for the words. But eventually he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then began to speak.

"My father is a dark man. Very dark." He met Lila's eyes briefly and she could see the shadows there. The same shadows that had haunted him earlier when he'd been so afraid.

"Tell me. I want to know," she said.

He sighed so heavily his shoulders sagged. "My father is a contract killer. He's a monster. A handsome, charismatic monster. He has no feelings for others. He kills people for money—or threatens to do so. And he raised me to follow in the family business."

Then he looked at her.

*****

Dane

Her eyes go wide, though he could tell she was trying not to react.

"T-the family business?" she asked quietly.

Dane nodded.

"So he's in organized crime," she said breathlessly, starting to pull the threads together. Dane nodded, pleased with her for following, but dreading where it was going to take them. "And he's running from the Police?"

Dane shook his head. "Remember what I told you about certain factions of organized crime?" She frowned, so he explained. "The government sometimes needs intelligent, capable people to do their dirty work. And so, people like my father become…legal. Of a sort. Kept out of sight and on a leash, but otherwise untouched. So their skills can be accessed when needed."

She blinked. "The government pays your father to kill people?"

"Among other things."

"And he taught you to do this, too?"

"He began my training early." He didn't explain further. "His business is called a consultancy. He has an entire staff, a building, contacts…much like this." He indicated the office and gave a humorless smile.

Lila was thinking it through. She'd get there. His heart thumped, waiting to see that look on her face. The disgust and fear.

Then she sucked in a breath. "You kill people? But you told me you don't harm people here—" she stood and began backing away.

Dane shook his head. "No, no. Not here, Lila. Please. That's not what I meant. I'm sorry. I was honest with you. We help people here. But, where do you think I became so skilled? How do you think I developed these systems so young? When I was twenty-two I determined that I would stop following my father, and I started building this. The black mirror to his success. I took all the things I'd learned from him, everything I knew he did to find and hurt people, and established the systems to thwart him—and people like him. I effectively stole all his ideas, and some of his technology. And he can't do anything about it, because even though they keep him safe, the government can't afford for the public to become aware of him, or people like him. So, he's on his own."

Lila smiled. "That's brilliant."

Dane gave a flat grin. "So, I stole everything from him and continue to become both famous and successful as a result. It drives him insane," he said quietly. "Because he knows he equipped me for this. He knows…he knows what I am."

Lila swallowed and stood straight, folding her arms. "Are you saying…Dane did you kill people?"

And there it was. It was a surprise to him that she managed to ask with such an even voice, but he could see the twitch in her hands.

"I'm saying my father is a cold-blooded murderer and I was raised by him. I was trained to destroy people. Destroy lives. I saw the error of those ways far too late, and he knows it. I was already…molded by that time. So I've tried to make up for the darkness of my past by using what he taught me to help people. But it doesn't leave you, Lila. When you live and breath evil…it stays with you. It's in me. So I take what I know now and I use it to fight the monsters."

The monsters like me, he didn't say.

Lila stared at him. "He hurt you." It wasn't a question.

Dane just stared at her.

"And he's still trying to hurt you," she said breathlessly. "Why?"

"He's evil."

She shook her head. "There has to be more. If he just wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Or at least he'd have tried. But he's trying to destroy you, right? He still wants to hurt you."

"He wants to hurt everyone."

"Is it just the business? Is he that petty?"

Dane snorted. "He's definitely that petty. Vindictive. Sinister. You name it. But that's not why he wants to ruin me. He wants my reputation ruined, my name in the dirt, he wants me sullied and rejected. He wants me alone and done. Then he wants to kill me."

***

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