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I nodded, indicating I heard him and locked the information into my memory for another day to prise open and examine.
I despised these pretentious parties we had to hold, just because we were legacy. It was expected that we were here to greet and welcome those within our circles like we held titles above them. In a sense we did. But I hated it. So did my parents, which is why mom often missed these events and dad fronted it for them both. Today she was here for more reasons than one. Being here killed two birds with one stone, it showed our faces and worked our angles discreetly.
Because we were the legendary Owls. The whispered hundred-year-old society that was believed to have died out with our ancestors. Our net was cast firmly over the East Bay state which was located an hour away from California, but we also worked outside the area.
Contingencies were in place, making sure we couldn’t all be wiped out and if we somehow were, who the mantle fell to. Traditions were upheld, and the society initiated you when you’d proven your undying loyalty with several tested and unexpected situations.
The Owls were the eyes of the night. We watched and worked from the shadowed corners, seeing beyond the illusions and deceit placed before us. We saw the truth and knowledge for what it was. Our work wasn’t always lawful, handling those types of people took special skills. Skills that, in our circle, our parliament had in spades. Trained in everything with specialist focussed lessons that matched our own individual strengths—weaponry to hacking, combat skills to infiltration.
Legal government agencies employed us to do the jobs they couldn’t, to wipe the prominent threats off the maps. The laws and rules didn’t apply to me—to us—within the Owls. We dealt with the less legal groups too, the motorcycle clubs, gangs, mafia. You name it, we had ongoing agreements with a selected number of them all mapped across different states.
One time, I was taken in for questioning to the local police station with evidence that showed me hammering my fists into a motherfucker that more than deserved it. Unfortunately it wasn’t wiped before the police got their beady little eyes on the footage. They cleared me within half an hour of sitting my ass in the cell when the good old police commissioner dragged himself down personally to release me. Decent enough bloke, he handed his promise and devotion to the badge, but his loyalty lay with the Owls.
You couldn’t play clean when dealing with the dirtiest bastards. You had to toe their line and take it to their playground while keeping your morals held tightly to your chest, protecting your own.
I no longer believed in the simplicity of good or bad people. We all had a duality, governed by the balance of light and darkness—sides to us which teetered on good or evil. As our own person we had to learn to balance that duality so we could survive it daily. Everybody had the capacity to embrace evil, as well as goodness. Those of us who blurred the ordinary and held up the dividing line proudly held the true power. That didn’t mean I didn’t do things that could be seen as evil, but the reasoning behind it eradicated that.
The way I spilt blood was a beautiful symphony performed by dedicated fingers. The beats to the tune reverberated through my mind with rhythm spurring me on, in time for my lethal blows. Nobody labelled me as normal, especially being Chris Penn’s offspring. I’d just come into my own. I’d happily slit throats; a dangerous beast took over me as I tore into those who deserved our wrath, with a dangerous smirk on my face.
This new version of Milla was a stranger to me. Unknown. I missed the person she used to be before it all went to shit. Mixing back up with her again would do me no good. I had commitments—important ones—which didn’t involve some innocent girl walking back into my life and flipping it on its axis.
Because that’s what she did to me. The world tilted when she was within my reach. I always knew the capability she had to sneak under my skin uninvited, which was why I avoided it like a death knell. I kept her within the friend zone; it was the safest option for everybody involved.
I was unable to claim her for me because she would have never been just mine. She was Hollis and Preston’s too, without even realising it. Naturally, she gravitated towards us out of all the other boys within the legacy. At that time, she was underage and a teenager. When I felt the change in how she acted towards us, warning beacons blared. She was just a kid, and I had just turned nineteen.
So, I did what I needed to do to shatter those innocent dreams of hers which couldn’t come into fruition. I drowned myself in easy women, making sure I put it on show and shoved it right in Milla’s face.
There wasn’t a female who didn’t brag about spending time under me, begging for another go before I used them up and tossed them to the side like the trash they were, ready for the next piece. No complications, just a dirty fuck with a girl who’d happily allow me to ruin her for other men. Any love I felt was wrapped up within my family, blood and chosen. Simple and easy. Feelings weren’t something I wanted to tangle myself in, it was too messy for my liking.
Why wouldn’t I choose convenience and easy access over complicated entanglements which had the potential to shift the normality within our circle? It couldn’t happen, so I made sure it was impossible.
Still it didn’t make her hate me though, which was a mistake on her part, since surely it would have hurt less. At the time Hollis agreed but didn’t go as far as me to make it obvious. He just put a solid wall up between them and blatantly ignored her existence. Preston was the only one who warned us we were making a huge mistake but sided with us and pushed her away too, claiming we’d all regret it in the future.Nope.
Luckily, that never came to pass due to her disappearing and making our life easier. And harder. Milla became a ghost, successfully managing to throw us out of her life, something which we hadn’t been able to do to her, and not for want of trying.
It was a ruthless move on her part, which, had it not dented my black heart, I would have been proud of. Hypocritical, definitely. I never claimed to be decent, I was just an asshole. Anyone expecting any different would be thoroughly disappointed.
“That’s a nasty habit,” Hollis commented, rounding the corner of the building and gesturing to the cigarette hanging from my mouth. I needed a break from the flakiness of the group of people in my parents’ house.
I inhaled deeply, letting the nicotine hit for a few seconds before blowing it out leisurely. “So you keep telling me.”
All the time. Hollis could be a nagging mother hen figure, and I’d already got one of those. I wasn’t a regular smoker. If I wanted one, I allowed myself to indulge.
“It’s a silent killer,” Hollis continued, like I was dumb enough not to know the downsides of nicotine consumption. I just didn’t care.
I smirked, “So am I.”
He rolled his eyes, the playful move looking strange on him.
“What are we gonna do about her?” he voiced.
It was rare that he asked for an opinion; he’d become a natural leader and always took the forefront of problems and came up with a solution. Usually orders were dished out instead, and we listened because he’d proven himself. Plus, it was easier to go along with him. He could be downright stubborn.
“I’ve got an idea.” A concept formed quickly in my mind.
He sighed. “Your disorderly and half assed ideas don’t always work out for the better. Remember that time—”
I cut him off. “Yeah, yeah.”
