Love In The Shadows Of Madness

"What are you even talking about?" I asked, my voice shaking as I sobbed uncontrollably. I refused to believe Ryan's words. Wu's love and care for me were genuine, not some paid arrangement. The thought was too much to bear.

"Get out!" I yelled at Ryan, throwing a pillow at him in a desperate attempt to shut him up. He blocked the pillow with his hand, his expression unchanging.

I curled up on the bed, consumed by grief and anger, and continued to cry profusely. But my tears were abruptly halted when I felt a strong pair of hands grab my chin, forcing me to look up at Ryan's angry face.

"I thought I told you to behave," he spat at me, his eyes blazing with fury. "I don't have half the patience Gabriel does, and it would do you a lot of good to shut the fuck up and be submissive. You have no idea what you're dealing with yet."

He threw me back onto the bed, and I instinctively touched my chin, wincing at the stinging sensation where he had grabbed me.

"Now sit up straight and let me explain," Ryan commanded, his voice cold and detached. I hesitated for a moment, still reeling from the shock of his words and actions, but something about his demeanor made me comply. I sat up straight, trying to compose myself, and waited for him to continue.

"I don't exactly know when it started, but believe me, if I could, I would go back and make sure he never crossed paths with you," Ryan said, his expression unreadable. I assumed that Gabriel must have met me when I was young, but I had no memory of it.

"I'm not going to go into details; I'll leave that for Gabriel to tell you himself," Ryan continued. "But you should know that he's your lifesaver. Without him, you would probably be under the care of a drug lord somewhere, as his plaything. He's only done what he thought was best for you."

Ryan paused, studying my reaction. "I don't know exactly where he met you, but he said it was your smile that drew him to you. He found himself wanting to be in your company. I guess I have you to thank; Gabriel had been depressed for a while before he took you in, and you brought back the life in him."

Ryan's tone was laced with a mix of disdain and curiosity. "He started caring for you in his own way. He ordered his men to give money to your parents when he discovered that your living conditions were poor, but they wasted it on their frivolities. He stopped you from starving yourself to sleep multiple times by sending people to give you food as you begged for money on the streets. And didn't you find it strange that this particular restaurant always had good leftovers neatly wrapped up in their trash? It's almost comical how these things didn't seem strange to you."

I remained silent, listening intently as Ryan continued. "You never attended school, and then suddenly, you wrote your GED, passed, and a top-notch college close to home offered you a scholarship? Seems a bit suspicious, if you ask me."

Ryan cleared his throat before proceeding. "He continued looking over you from afar until that fateful day your parents almost beat you to death. He sent people over to beat them up and threaten them not to approach you again."

I remembered that day vividly. It was my sixteenth birthday, and I had decided to treat myself to a movie and a new outfit instead of giving my parents the money I had made from pickpocketing. They had beaten me severely, leaving me with a bruised lip, a broken leg, and several injuries. I had been bleeding profusely, and they had thrown me out of the house, leaving me to die in the cold, harsh snow.

But then, Wu had taken me in, patched me up, and convinced me to take my GED. I had passed, and the scholarship to my school had been a dream I'd never dared to have but it became a reality. It was all starting to make sense now, but I was still reeling from the revelation.

"Are you trying to justify why Wu was killed?" I asked, my voice laced with a mix of sadness and anger. While I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that Wu was hired help, he had still cared for me and had been my family for two years.

Ryan shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, that. Wu was supposed to protect you, and he still let you get kidnapped. Gabriel was furious, and...well, let's just say Wu's failure had consequences."

I was taken aback by Ryan's cavalier attitude towards Wu's death. It was as if he didn't care that a life had been lost. I, on the other hand, was struggling to reconcile the fact that Gabriel, my supposed savior, was also a murderer.

"What gives him the right to determine if someone is worth living or not?" I asked, my head bent as I stared at my fingers.

Ryan's expression turned cold. "You really don't know anything, do you? If you know what's good for you, keep your head down and don't have any outbursts. I'm here because Gabriel cares about you, and he's been down the past few days because of you. Gabriel is like a brother to me and I don't want to see him sad over someone like you so cheer up and make him happy. You owe him your life, after all."

With that, Ryan stood up and began walking away. But as he reached the door, he paused and turned back to me. I raised my head, feeling tired and dead inside. Ryan smiled, and his eyes seemed to gleam with amusement.

"By the way, do you know Leonard Iglesias?" he asked, his voice dripping with innocence.

Of course, I did. He was a notorious mafia boss, and his name was whispered in fear by the drug dealers, bar owners, and brothel owners I had encountered on the streets.

Iglesias...Gabriel Iglesias...The connection clicked into place, and my eyes widened as I stared at Ryan. He smiled, seeming to enjoy my moment of realization.

"Seems you finally get it," he said, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "Gabriel is his son, so I'm telling you again: watch yourself. See you in school."

With that, Ryan exited the room, leaving me reeling from the weight of his words.