Atonement

•25•

•Harrison's Pov•
I wait impatiently for Orion to get me any information at all. I feel sick over that text that was sent to my girl.. she needs a break from all of this shit. At least until some things are sorted out.
Tom walks into my office as I slam the file closed in frustration, finding no more information than I had an hour ago.
"Everything okay?" He asks.
"No it's not fucking okay." I groan, standing up. "What do you need?"
"I need to talk to you about Aurie.." he starts. "I um, I was on the phone with Harry last night and super drunk.. I said some things that I shouldn't have said. You know what an asshole I can be when I'm drunk. Well, she heard and now she's really pissed.."
Now the upset state she was in earlier that she shrugged off to me makes sense. I can't help but feel overwhelming anger towards him, he was told to knock this shit off.
"What did you say?" I ask through gritted teeth.
"That uh.. that she's psychotic and stupid.. a few other things." He mumbles and my fingers clench tightly on the edge of the desk.
"She just got fucking kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed. Why in hell would you even think to speak of her like that?!" I yell at him.
"Mate.. I'm your best friend remember? Why are you getting so worked up over a stupid girl?" He asks.
I reach my breaking point, walking over to him and grabbing him by the throat, holding him against the wall. His eyes widen in fear, never having seen me like this with him before.
"If you disrespect her one more time I will end you do you fucking hear me?" I say.
"Yes-" he barely manages to get out.
I let go of him, his body falling from the wall to catch his breath. I watch as he straightens up once more, shaking his head at me.
"Jesus Christ mate I didn't know you liked her that much." He says.
"Go apologize. Now." I say.

•Aurie's pov•
I send out a few emails, trying to pretend today is just like any other day. Honestly, everything I've been through this past month has been non stop and all I want is for things to go back to the way they were.
There's a knock on my door, and I look up to see Tom standing there. I roll my eyes as he walks further into the room, shutting the door behind him.
"I came to apologize." He says. "Not that it's any excuse, but I was really drunk when I said those things. I shouldn't have been so insensitive and I'm sorry."
"I just don't get what I did to make you dislike me so much." I mutter.
"I don't dislike you." He shakes his head. "Haz is changing.. and honestly now I see that it's in a good way, thanks to you."
"Thanks to me?" I question.
"You're softening him. The guy was a trained assassin, he's done some awful things. I didn't expect him to change so suddenly. I just need to get use to it is all. Again.. really sorry."
And with that, he leaves my office, leaving me to once again wonder what terrible things caused Haz to leave his old life..
I'm glad Tom apologized to me, I do honestly believe that he doesn't hate me. He's gone through a lot of change too, and his best friend suddenly is busy 24/7 with my family's mob and I'm making it harder. I get it.
__
The very long and stressful day comes to an end, and I go to the bar in the living room to grab a drink. I mix up the cocktail, and as my eyes gaze out the sliding glass doors I see Haz sitting out on the patio with a glass of bourbon in hand. He looks really stressed...
I step out the door, shutting it behind me. He turns around to see it's just me, and I go sit down next to him.
"What's going on?" I ask.
He sighs, finishing off the last bit of liquid in his glass and sets it down. His attention is fully on me now.
"We've got nothing so far." He states.
"Haz they're not going to notice that the payments have stopped for at least a few days.. you've got to be patient." I remind him.
"If I don't figure this out I can't protect you, Aurie." He says a little fearfully.
"You don't always have to protect me." I shake my head. "We can deal with this together."
"I know how they are.. I was one of them." He says.
"One of who?" I ask.
"Killers.." he says just above a whisper. "All you see is the kill, it doesn't matter how innocent the person is, all you see is blood."
"Haz.. please tell me why you quit being an assassin." I say, grabbing his hand in mine.
His bright blue eyes look up to me with fear and hesitance. I can tell he wants to tell me, he wants to open up to me, he's just scared.
"I promise I won't think differently of you." I say.
"Okay.." he breaths out, preparing himself. "My last kill was a year ago. His name was Mateo and he was a well known scientist and surgeon. He was an innocent man, never done wrong in his life. He saved people.. I was told to kill him so.. I did."
"I'm sorry.." I say.
"That's not even the worst part." He shakes his head, looking like he's about to cry. I squeeze his hand in mine as he continues. "When I showed up, there was a young boy- couldn't be older than fifteen or sixteen. He got in the way.. I was told to take out anyone who tried to stop me. It was his dad, Aurie. And I killed them both."
So that's what he's been hiding..
the tears fall from his eyes, showing how truly hurt he is by his past. I pull him into my arms, stroking his hair and comforting him. Until this day, I have never seen anyone in the mob cry.
Haz isn't a robot like everyone else. He has feelings, he has a heart, and that's what I love about him.