Twenty years ago; Trenton, New Jersey- Emmaline:
Emmaline felt relief coursing through her veins, the weight on her shoulders lifting slightly. She felt lighter, felt like she could finally breathe again. The tension starting to melt from her body, she found someone she could confide in, someone willing to help get her and Liam out, away from Constantine. She never felt such relief before in her life. She never thought she could find such a good friend amongst her husband’s men, never thought she’d find someone so willing to risk their own life to help her gain her own freedom.
Emmaline had thought briefly that she could find solace with one of the younger men, with him. It was too risky, she needed the friendship and support of a woman. Only a woman could know the fear she felt, know what it was to be trapped in this life. There were so few woman in the ‘family’ to begin with, finding one she could trust inexplicably was nearly impossible.
Her brown eyes were always filled with understanding, a softness she hadn’t seen since before she married Constantine. Emmaline found comfort, peace with her. She found her answer, her escape, she was so close to her freedom she could nearly taste it. She and Liam would be free from the shackles this life had them bound by. Liam would no longer be destined for one thing, he would have a world of options at his fingertips. She was so so close, just a few days more and they’d be free.
Emmaline didn’t realize until it was too late that she had trusted the wrong person. She had been fed a false sense of security, been betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust. All she wanted was to escape the life with her son, raise him away from this world. Emmaline paid the ultimate price, she managed to escape the life she wanted free from so badly—only she left her son behind. Had she known how badly things would turn out she would have gone with her first instinct and trusted the young man with the kind grey eyes, maybe then she and Liam would both have made it out alive.
Twenty years ago; Trenton, New Jersey- Constantine:
Constantine was furious, his body filled with a burning rage. He had underestimated Bastien’s loyalty to him. He would never make such a mistake again. He was sure he would be able to use him to get rid of his wife, cut them both from his crew like a festering wound. There had to be a way he could work with this, still make this work to his advantage. He would not allow Bastien to make him look like a fool, yet maybe that was exactly what he needed.
It would be easy to put a hit on Bastien, have him taken out, but perhaps letting him live would be a harsher punishment. Maybe Constantine could make him a pariah, make it so no one would ever come to his aid. Maybe with the right story and a long enough rope he could ensure that Bastien would hang himself.
Present day; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
The tall, broad shouldered figure concealed in the shadows, his eyes stalking her like a starved wolf stalking its prey. The lithe petite frame trailing behind her, far enough Liza nearly didn’t recognize that she was truly being followed. Two of them, were they both assailants? She had a split second to decide who to defend against first, she prayed she wouldn’t make the wrong choice based upon her brief assessment.
The concealed figure moved from the shadows, his greased back black hair, dark eyes looking at her with disgust, the sneer on his lips nearly made her want to recoil. Liza knew she had to fight back, she couldn’t give up easily, couldn’t allow him to think he’d won. She reached for the long thin blade she carried at the small of her back, internally cursing herself for leaving her gun home. She prayed she had all the defense she needed by her side.
The man stepped further out of the shadows, his sneer twisting into a cocky smirk as he unholstered his gun. Liza felt all air forced out of her lungs, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach, knowing this would be her end. Her heart started to soar as he aimed, she could tell by the way he held the gun he had no clue what he was doing. Her suspicions were confirmed as his aim was off. He squeezed the trigger two more times in quick succession, each shot going wide. He tossed the gun to the side in annoyance before retrieving a dagger instead.
Where did they find this guy? At least I have a chance now that we are equally armed. Liza stood tall, readying herself for his attack. Her eyes flicked to the right briefly taking in the figure that had been following her. Her lips turned up into a small smile when she saw the familiar red hair. Liv, we got this. Olivia gave her a quick nod, her own stiletto in her hand. Both women turned to face the figure racing for them.
Liza heard Olivia suppress a chuckle next to her as the man charged towards them, holding his knife like an icepick. She now knew unless he was way better with a blade than a gun he would be easy to stop. He stabbed down at her, Liza easily blocked the move, aiming her own blade upward feeling the knife gliding into the flesh, warm blood covering her hand. His forward momentum knocking her backwards.
Liza laid momentarily dazed on her back, his heavy body crushing hers, staring up into his cold dead eyes, she shoved his vile body off of her. She let out a sigh of relief, she made it, she survived. She glanced up to be met with frantic emerald green eyes.
“Liza!” Olivia shouted, her normally calm voice panicked as she dropped to her friends side.
Liza looked at Olivia with confusion, her eyes following Olivia’s until she saw it. His blade lodged into her abdomen. Well fuck! That’s not good. The words flitted in her head before everything faded to black.
Present day; Trenton, New Jersey:
“So what’s the word? Was the Vancoeur kid successful?” Liam asked as Drake entered the room.
“Uh. No he failed.” Drake answered, his face pale.
“Well then have him dealt with.” Liam replied flippantly turning back to his work.
“He’s already dead.”
“Well then what’s the problem then Drake?”
“We might have started a war.”
“What? How? We only attempted to take out his girl and failed, they took out one of our men!” Liam shouted as he jumped from his chair. “I was merely trying to even the score he started twenty years ago!” Liam’s jaw clenched, he was seething in anger as he thought of everything that had been taken from him. He refused to allow a war to erupt and that man to blame him.
“Well yes. But what’s worse than taking out the queen?”
“Well fuck! Do we know for sure?”
“No, we are trying to find out, but we need to be prepared just incase.”
Either way they both knew that Bastien would be coming after them for retribution.
