"Hey, love." I open the door, and see Layla fast asleep in bed, on her belly while cuddling her pillow.

I puff out a breath glancing at the clock which showed that it was five minutes away from twelve.

She's had fourteen hours of sleep.

I walk towards her, pulling the duvet off her. Her eyes flash open before she lets out a whimper.

I had woken her up exactly like this last night at about ten, giving her some food as she stupidly decided to skip a meal.

"Ouch." She groans, as she rolls onto her back, her hands landing on her abdomen. As her eyes fall shut again.

I slide in next to her as my eyes land on what looked to be an album, next to her arm. And I pick it up, eying up the burnt up fur with the words "Lay" sewed in the middle, the corners all frizzled completely and I furrow my brows.

"What happened to this?" I glance down at her and she lets out a small sound, before her eyes peeled open, landing on the album in my hand, before filling up with sadness and she sighs.

"Don't know." Her voice comes out as a mere whisper, looking away and up at the ceiling as she drifts off to her thoughts.

I set the book down, before slipping my hand to the inside of my pocket fishing out a debit card that I had set up a few hours ago for her, along with inserting a couple of ten grands into it.

"I got your debit card." I tell her, and she turns her head to me, her face all puffed up and red like every morning.

"From home?" She whispers, her eyes dropping to the card.

"Sure."

"But my one was NatWest." She frowns, taking it from me. "Did you transfer my money?"

"Yup." I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want to make her feel bad either, since she always did feel like that when using my money, persisting to pay me back when in reality I couldn't care less how much she used.

"Finally I can buy my own stuff without using your money." She sighs. "I'll pay you back soon."

"Don't bother." I roll my eyes, pulling off my blazer and stretching out my legs and she scoffs in response.

"Which one do you have, anyway?"

"I don't use one." I clear my throat, as I lean my back against the headboard and she scrambles up in a sitting position looking at me, curiously and my eyes drop down to her crinkled Minnie mouse PJ's.

"Why?" She asks, as I look up to her eyes again.

"Why do you think?" I raise a brow and she bites her lip in thought.

Few minutes later she speaks.

"Is it because you have billions of pounds and when you have a bank, the people look through it and they would get suspicious because you don't have a legal job and they'd be like where did he get all this money from and then–"

"Spot on." I cut off her ramble, and she lets out a yawn, rubbing her face.

"So where do you keep your money?" She then asks as I flip my phone out, clicking onto a message I've received from Kian.

"Keep it around a few countries, most stashed back in England." I speak out, my eyes running through the text and I narrow my eyes.

We've got another case today.

It says.

Which one? I respond.

The Phil guy wants us to kill his wife off for him. The one who ran off after groping and killing their only son.

Oh fuck, almost forgot about that one. I let out a groan, running my hand through my hair as I type.

Alright.

He's paying us 800 grand, I'm getting a quarter of it, right? He responds.

If you don't fuck up. I respond. I've got her file ready, you've sorted the track system, right?

"Who are you texting?" I hear Layla's voice right at my ear and I snap my gaze to her.

"Don't fucking do that." I snap out a little too loudly causing her to jump as I quickly put the phone down before she could see anything, glaring at her.

Her eyes flash with hurt, as her smile falters. "I-I'm sorry." She says, in a strained voice. Her cheeks reddening as she looks away.

Guilt immediately fills me up, and I let out a sigh, rubbing my face.

Doing other people's dirty jobs was a part of what I did for a living. And I just didn't want her to know that. She was too innocent, and selfishly I didn't want to change that. She was too pure for me while I was someone who many feared, I kill, torture and hurt, things she'd never think me of.

God knows what she'd think of me if she ever found out. But I didn't want to change what we have for eachother. It was also a matter of protection. There could be a lot of things that could go wrong if she knew this. So I didn't want to risk anything.

I continue to stare at her fallen face and let out a disgruntled sound, as I pull her closer to me, pushing her messy hair back as I cup her cheek.

"I didn't mean to do that." I mutter, as her big puffy eyes meet mine for a second before she looks away again, forcing her fake smile to grow as she shrugs.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter." Her eyes kept moving around anywhere but my face, but I knew she was terrible at covering her sensitive emotions as I notice the slight wetness on her bottom lashes.

I sigh, pulling her closer to me as I press my lips against her temple.

"I'm sorry."

Five minutes of silence later of me holding her, she leans in closer to my chest looking up at me and giving me a soft smile.

"You okay?" I ask, kissing the tip of her nose.

"I'm always okay." She shrugs, letting out a sigh. "Do you want to do my hair?" She asks, her eyes meeting mine, as she plays with her ends.

"Sure." I lean down, pecking her pink soft lips. "Right after you've eaten your breakfast."

~~~~

"Layla.." I hear Heidi's voice behind just as I'm about to step on the stairs to go downstairs.

"Yes?" I sigh, turning around, our eyes immediately meeting as she gives me a sad look.

"Can we talk?" She asks, fiddling with her fingers.

I purse my lips. "About what?" I ask, and I see her gulp visibly.

"I-uh..we have to talk in my room." She whispers, her voice filled with guilt and I frown.

"Maybe later." I say and she nods with a sigh. And I turn around and continue descending the stairs.

I enter the kitchen, glad to see it empty as I quickly head over to the cupboard for a box of cereal.

When I stop against the counter, I lean up but fail to open the cupboard and I let out a growl.

"Need help, honey?"

I turn around, my gaze meeting dad's grey ones, as he smiles down at me.

Fake.

He comes next to me, opening the cupboard and pulling out a box of Weetabix.

"I thought America didn't sell those." I state in confusion.

"Something called internet and ordering." He hands me the box and I roll my eyes, taking it.

After a moment of dad fumbling with things in his suitcases he adjusts his tie turning to me.

"Well, I'm off to work, Hun. See you." Before he can walk away I speak out.

"What, lawyer again?" I scoff, as I open the box and he turns to me again letting out a chuckle

"I've actually launched my own company now." He grins, running his hand through his greying hair and I narrow my eyes, as I grab a bowl, putting the brown block into it, before adding a big teaspoon of sugar.

"Help from Killian I bet." I grab a milk carton, before pouring it into a saucepan, and then putting it over the cooker to heat the milk up.

Cold milk is just disgusting.

"Just a little help, I'd say.." He shrugs, which angers me a bit.

"No a lot." I grit. "You don't deserve any of this." I turn to him, glaring as I let the milk warm up.

He raises a brow in response, crossing his arms. "Let's not get hasty now. We both got something out of this. He made us rich. And he can provide for you, along with giving you some love you've always wanted. Like I said before, a win win." The corners of his lips lift up again.

I push away the boiling anger that begins to run through me, swallowing the angry lump in my throat. The way he was talking about Killian disgusted me. I would never use him like that.

"See you later." He chuckles at my lack of response, and I make a disgusted face, dipping my pinky into the milk, before I pour it into my cereal.

~~~~~~~

I was in Killian's room right now, my back pressed against his chest as he gently brushes my knotty hair back and I let out a pleasant sigh, loving how his fingers brushed against my neck, leaving a tingly sensation.

"Can you do my hair like this?" I show him my phone.

He leans down, looking at it, his eye narrowing as he lets out a scoff. "Do I look like a professional hairdresser?"

He rakes my hair back as he keeps a grip on it, before taking my phone, scrolling through the various hairstyles before stopping at one.

"You like this?" He shows me a simple sidebraid.

After a while of observing it, I nod my head. "Yeah, I like that." I take the phone from him. "And-and can you put like a wave over here." I turn my face to him, pointing at the right side of my hair that starts from my hair line and he narrows his eyes.l in confusion.

"Alright.." it was clear he didn't understand.

"Like..like make it swirly, like this." I twist a bunch of my hair, nodding my head as I look up at him, expectantly.

"Uh..right." he puts the phone down, and then starts to do my hair.

Ten minutes his chin is leaning down against my shoulder, as his skillful fingers swiftly, works the braid down my long hair, and I hold back a giggle as his cheek presses against mine, his stubble tickling me.

"Perfect." He says, his cheek vibrating against mine and I let out a snort, before quickly covering my mouth, blocking out my laughter. My cheeks and neck are extremely ticklish.

"Are you alright?" He looks at me weirdly as he ties a small black bobble at the end before turning me around.

"Yup." I say, looking down at the braid, running my hand down it. "I wanna do a twirl here." I point at the top.

"What, like a twist?" He cocks a brow, and I nod as he pulls me closer, taking some hair out of the braid.

"Wait." I lean to the right, picking up a bobby pin, giving it to him.

He then swiftly begins to twist my hair around tucking it under my ears before taking the pin with his other hand, pinning it.

"There you go." He smiles at me, pressing a kiss to the corner of my lips and I blush.

"Let's take a picture." I say with a grin.

"Sure." He pulls out his phone, and I turn my back to his chest, sitting comfortably on his lap.

"Here, I'll do it." I take his phone, putting the camera on, and sticking my lips out in a pout. "Copy me."

From the camera I see him look at me, weirdly.

"You look like a duck."

"It's a trend, everyone does it."

"Right. I'm not doing that." He states.

"Fine." I pout again, and then capture the picture. Scrolling to the right.

"Ugh, you look so moody. Smile at least." I nudge him.

"I'm not smiling on camera." He scoffs and I look at him with a frown.

Is that a boy thing?

"But you look really handsome when you smile." I nudge him, trying to get him to do it.

The corners of his lips twitch up, and I quickly face the camera and take a shot.

"Ha-ha." I smirk, sending the pics to me on WhatsApp.

"Good pic, but you look like you're having a heart attack." He smirks and I look at the last pic, cringing.

"I'll crop." I click on it but he snatches the phone off me.

"Hey!" I scowl, turning to grab it but he lifts his hand up, before it beeps. He brings it down again as his eyes narrow and he begins to type something and I sigh, just watching his face, before it drops to his blazer.

"Let's see.." I whisper to myself, as I shuffle against his lap, putting my hands into his blazer, furrowing my brows as I skim over through the stuff in it.

I then fish out something, and see that it's Airwaves gum, and I grin.

"This is my favourite too." I glance up at him, as I take out the last green gum from the pack, putting it into my mouth, as I chew on it, dropping my gaze back to his chest.

"What else do you have?" I put my hand into his blazer again, fishing out a tube thing and finding that it's a mint tic tac box, and I lick my lips.

"I like these." I say, casually putting it into my jeans pocket, before he could notice.

"Stop robbing me."

I snap my gaze up at him to see his brows furrowed, his eyes still on the screen.

"I'll give you some, if you want." I suggest, shrugging, as I continue to chew, looking down at his phone, as he switches it off, glancing at me.

"Alright."

I pull the tic tac box out, taking just one out, leaning up and putting it to his lips. He rolls his eyes opening his mouth, as I pop it in and smile at him, putting the box back in my pocket.

"I wanna go somewhere with you today." I say, scratching an itch inside my nose.

"I have to go soon and I'll be back late. How about tomorrow?" He runs a hand through his hair and I nod.

"Where are you going?" I ask, curiously.

"Just need to deal with something."

"Ok.." I trail off as I stare at him intently and he cocks a brow, showing no emotion at all and I sigh.

"What shall I get you for your birthday?" I ask after a moment of staring at eachother. Now that I have my money, I can buy him stuff like he did for me.

"Nothing." He responds, leaning back against the headboard, pulling me closer to him.

"I want to get you something."

"I'm fine with a birthday kiss." He gives me a wink and I immediately blush.

"Pick a better thing."

He cocks a brow. "A kiss from you would beat anything." He says and then lets out a chuckle when my cheeks burn even more, leaning down to my ear.

"I know how much you love it when I'm corny." He whispers and I scoff, pushing him back.

"Just tell me what you want." I scowl, crossing my arms.

"How about an early kiss?"

I narrow my eyes as I open my mouth but he cups my jaw, his eyes staring through mine and I gulp.

He brings his face closer to mine, his eyes darkening as they drop to my lips then back to my eyes, as he stops when his lips are a mere inch from mine.

He brushes his lips against mine and my stomachs twists into knots, my heart beat accelerating. He then presses his lips on mine, more firmly as his tongue parts them, his lips tasting like mint.

He releases a deep groan, causing a shiver to run down my spine and I hold back a moan.

His lips move slow against mine, running his tongue along my lips, savouring the taste as his large hands trails down to my neck, his other one rubbing circles against my thigh.

I lean forward, grasping his hair, my eyes opening and immediately meeting his even darker gaze and I let out a small moan as he increases the pace, his lip ring digging deeper into my skin.

I soon pull away, our breaths coming oug heavily, as they mingle with eachother.

I open my mouth to speak but he slams his lips against mine again, and I moan from the impact, grasping onto his arms as he kisses me more roughly, his tongue slipping into my mouth and exploring it causing another moan to escape from my lips.

He groans in response, gripping my thigh as he tilts my jaw upwards kissing me deeper.

I run my fingers down his neck, before the intensity inside of me gets too much and I quickly pull away, breathing heavier. "N-No more." I pant and he lets out a husky chuckle, clearing his throat.

I run my fingers against my swollen and slightly sore lips, as I glance up at his, which were matching mine.

"How's your rib?" He asks after a moment, his voice still deeper than usual as he pulls my hand away, his thumb running along my lips, leaving more tingles to spread.

"Good." My voices comes out as a squeak and I clear my throat as he smirks in response.

It did still hurt a little bit but I've been used to it since it first broke.

Well not really. The pain of it actually kept waking me up crying in the night, for the first month but Killian was there for me so it was alright.

He nods in response, kissing my cheek softly leaving me blushing even more as he runs a hand through his now messy hair, pulling out his phone. He had quickly composed himself while I was still a flustering mess.

He begins to play on his phone while I stare at his handsome face, licking my tingly lips.

I shuffle closer to him, leaning up and wrapping my arms around his neck, my eyes dropping to the scar on his cheek.

"What happened here?" I ask the question I've always wondered about, tracing my index finger along the slanted scar.

He pulls my hands from his cheek and I look up at his eyes to see him staring directly at me, his eyes dark again.

We continue to stare eachother until my eyes drop to his defined jaw, narrowing my eyes when I see it moving, as he chews on something.

And that's when I notice the airwave gum missing from my own mouth and my eyes widen.

Ew, he took it from my mouth!

His lips tug up into a smirk, as he reads my exact thoughts, blowing out a small bubble before winking at me.

And I blush again.

~~~~~

Its been hours since Killian left, and it was nearly 10 o clock in the night.

God knows what he's doing.

I was sat in my room, with artistic products scattered across my bed with a bunch of colourful cards in my hand.

I was going to make a really special handmade birthday card for him, which I always did for my best friends every year back home. And since he's my boyfriend I thought I'd do the same.

I pull out a light blue piece of A4 card, my tongue slightly poking out, as I carefully fold it in half, while listening to Zack Knight on my phone, humming along to the tune.

I begin to neatly draw his name onto the top of the card in bubble writing, then drawing a massive 'Big 20' in the middle.

Half an hour later I have the cover finished and decorated, with his name painted in dark blue, and the 'big 20' filled in with light blue glitter glue. Along with several other decorations drawn around in gel pen.

An hour later, I have the inside covered in gel pen writing, with a happy birthday message, and a few other notes, and I smile, signing my name on to it.

I also left a small area on the left side which I wanted to put a photo of him inside it. I'm sure I've seen a few of Killian's old pics scattered somewhere a few weeks ago so I'll just use that.

I stand up, rubbing the paint from my hands onto my jeans, before exiting my room and into Killian's, heading to his drawer.

I look inside each and find none and sigh, running my fingers through my now messy hair, glancing around the room.

And then I spot a brown box near Killian's wardrobe and I walk towards it, squatting down, I open the folds.

My eyes wander inside it curiously, as I put my hands inside. There was an A4 sized zipped up black folder that was slightly dirty.

I pick it up with a frown, as I eye the box again, where there was several photos of strangers with a red cross on each face and my eyes narrow.

This seems dodgy..

I unzip the folder, opening it as my heart begins to race when I see it cramped with old and new papers as I flick through them then going back to the first one at the top.