My Beautiful Mistake

Chapter Twelve

My original impression of this woman was that she was strong, fearless, but after seeing her depressing state, I was reminded of my mother.

Who's the other man you were with?

My father screamed, his voice laced with hatred as my mother sat in a corner of the kitchen, cowering and covering her ears with her hands. 

I- I don't know what you're talking about.

He took a step towards her as if looking for any sign that she was lying. I didn't see any, but my father in his drunken state of mind must've imagined one for his anger only grew.

He grabbed a beer bottle off the table and smashed it, breaking off one end of it, making it a deadly weapon. 

I swear to God, Lily. I will f*****g make you wish you never met me.

"Darling, are you listening?" I jolted back to reality and realized Jessica had been talking to me.

I nodded quickly. After learning each other's names and making small talk, I had actually come to like her. She had a strong personality, but as it seemed, men like Aiden were her weakness.

"Well, as I was saying, Aiden isn't who you think he is." she paused for a moment, observing my reaction. When she saw none, she continued, "What exactly has he told you about himself?"

I had already known he wasn't who I thought he was. That much was obvious from the texts.

"He hasn't really told me anything, " I admitted sheepishly.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. She spoke with disgust, "That prick never tells anyone who he really is. Always leading us on, and then tossing us aside like trash when he feels like it."

She shook her head to regain her composure. "But since he's taken it upon himself to tell you everything about himself," she spoke sarcastically, "it leaves me up to the task. Well, the first thing you should know is that Aiden Reyes is one of the most feared names in the community."

It didn't surprise me. Aiden could be terrifying if he wanted to. But, with me, he was always charming and sweet.

"What community?" I finally asked after digesting what she had just told me.

"The gangs obviously," she spoke with a 'manner of fact' tone as if it was that blatantly obvious.

"Wait, Aiden...is in a gang?" it took me a moment to swallow that bit of information.

I had been expecting something along the lines of this, but being told that what I had thought was accurate was shocking.

She smiled at my look of disbelief. "I can tell you don't get out much, dear. The Reyes Cartel is one of the most ruthless gangs I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with."

The Reyes Cartel. That sounded like something out of a video game or movie. Wait, Reyes was Aiden's last name.

"Wait, so Aiden Reyes..." my voice trailed off as I put two and two together.

She nodded. "Named after Aiden's father. After the previous leader died taking care of some business, his father was ranked next, so he took over."

A sigh of relief left my lips. 

At least Aiden wasn't the current leader. 

"However, don't get me wrong dear. His father works behind the scenes, but Aiden, everyone knows he's the true leader. Everyone in the gang looks up to him and respects him more than his father."

So this was the man I had become romantically involved with. A gang leader. Fudge.

Wait, so how did she know all of this? Who was she exactly?

"How do you know all this?" 

She smiled, the most genuine one I had seen in my time in her company. "You're talking to the gang's best baiter."

A sense of superiority appeared on her face. "Aiden took a liking to me just as I got the position, and we moved on from there."

I hadn't known much about gangs, but everyone knows what a baiter is. A hooker without the hooking up. That explained her looks at least.

Surprisingly, nothing she said shocked me. It was as if I had expected him to have a secret life. However, the one thing that did hurt was the way she talked about him as if he was hers. And he was hers, for a little while anyway. It took everything in me not to let my jealousy rear its ugly face.

All of a sudden, the severity of what she had just said hit me. "Did Aiden...hurt anyone?"

She giggled as if that was the most ridiculous question I could have asked. "He didn't get his reputation from being kind, darling."

My heart fell. Aiden Reyes had hurt people. Innocent people. 

This was not what I had signed up for when I agreed to go on a date with him. He had hidden his profession from me despite the multiple attempts I made to inquire. How could he do this to me?

I watched helplessly, unable to do anything as my father kicked my mother over and over in the stomach. The sickening cracks caused bile to rise in my throat.

My mother had ceased pleading for him to stop his assault and just laid there taking blow after blow. She winced with pain as she struggled to roll onto her side to look at me.

She was unrecognizable. Her face looked as if it had been hit with a million shards of glass, all tattered and bloody. One of her eyes was closed and tinted purple all around. This was the same woman who had sung me lullabies when I had nightmares and held my hand as I quivered in fear at the thunderstorm outside. He had destroyed her.

A wet droplet on my hand made me aware of the fact that I was now crying. I felt betrayed. I felt the pain of knowing someone I loved was capable of something so evil. 

It was as if someone had ripped away my most precious belonging and crushed it in his palm. 

"Darling, are you okay?" I felt a soft hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her.

"I'm fine." I shoved her hand away and sprung up from my seat, wiping my tears away. 

"I'm gonna get going. Thanks for having me." with that, I left the apartment and walked back to the garage. 

On my way back to my car, my tears ran freely, clouding my vision faster than I could wipe them away. When I found my car, I pulled out my keys from my purse and was about to unlock it when a firm hand suddenly covered my mouth and pulled me away.

"Why, hello there Ms. Lyles."