(Lila's P.O.V)

"Let me and Derek fight."

"No."

I growled, frustrated. "You owe me that much."

"I really don't." Unamused, Diego kept clacking at his computer, compiling reports. His cold demeanear made my insides boil. 

"Don't you dare." I hissed, getting in his face and he sighed. "You lied to me on purpose and I know, I know you have more information about everyone involved with Mellisa's murder but you won't tell me that."

"It's classified information—"

"Diego, please." My softer voice seemed to get me his attention and he looked up at me with his dark brown eyes.

"I never ask you to tell me everything but you knew that Derek and I..." My words caught in my throat. He rose a brow.

"You know we had something going on." I looked away, still unwilling to admit my feelings out loud.

Diego sighed and I straightened, looking at him with unbridled hurt and fury. "I didn't expect it would blow up like this. I'm sorry."

I clenched my jaw and folded my arms across my chest.

His eyes softened. "Lila, he's not a bad kid." He rose his hands, "If he was, I wouldn't have ever let you be with him and you know it."

I did but that justification wasn't enough.

Diego shouldn't care if I was pissed at him or not. If I refused to talk to him.

But I know he did.

When I didn't budge and kept up a silent staring contest, he muttered an explicitve under his breath.

"Alright, what do you want?"

I only let my lips curl up slightly. "Let me and Derek fight."

He was shaking his head even before I started speaking. "No. No way. You do realize that he could uncover your identity, right?"

"How?"

He gave me an incredulous look. "How?" He parroted before snickering and folding his hands over his chest and leaning back in his chair. "Derek Greyson knows you more than anyone in this town. He observes you like you're the only thing that intersts him. Be it the Wildcat or Lila Smith, he feels drawn to you and he's digging around to know more of your story. To know you."

If he'd noticed these things about Derek then that meant more that I could put into words.

I blinked, my stiff muscles loosening as I processed just what Diego had said. Usually a surly man of few words, he hadn't just broken that taboo but said some really corny shit.

"I heard you guys kissed?" His breezy comment made my eyes snap up towards him and he rose a brow. I remianed silent, giving him answer enough.

I wouldn't bother asking how he knew that.

He chuckled. "He's changed you for the better and I'm indebted to him whether he knows it or not. But Lila, how do you think things will end if you find yourself under him in the ring or with extensive skin to skin contact?"

"I can handle myself." I spoke indignantly.

"The tension between you both is suffocating and he's not looking to fight you for pure intentions. We both know he'd grasp the opportunity most guys lust for with you and he's good enough to make you work for it." 

Diego's voice might be flat but his words packed a punch and I grit my teeth, glaring at him.

Always right. I hate him for always being right.

He continued, "Do you think Derek won't be able to tell it's you under the flimsy mask if you're left in such close quarters, grappling each other?" Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

"I don't care. I want to punch the daylights out of him." Reckless comments but the truth was I really did want to beat him to a pulp.

Maybe physically letting my anger out on him would give me a respite from the constant noise in my head and the emotions of my heart. I wanted to clear my head and see how I'd feel after fighting Derek.

If my emotions weren't just short-term chemistry and lust.

"I know the risks but I'm willing to take them, Diego. Let me fight him as the Wildcat." I emphasised.

He frowned at my obdurate stand. 

"He moaned Ana's name while we made out, okay? So yeah, I'm pissed and apple pies and dimpled smiles didn't work this time." I huffed.

His brows jumped before narrowing, "What?"

I nodded, knowing I'd almost won him over. Just a nudge now.

"And I want to see how he'll act with me, the girl everyone wants with curves and the mystery. I want to see how much of a player he still is." I breathed in. "Besides, if we're ever going to be anything serious, we can't keep up this plethora of lies. We're both hiding too much shit from each other." I looked down. "Especially me." My voice came out subdued.

Diego remained silent and the tightening of his features suggested he was torn on what verdict to give. I saw the exact moment he give in, a curse on his lips and emotions in his eyes. Muscles rippling, he leaned forward to look me dead in my eyes.

"You get one fight. One chance."

•♤•

(Derek's P.O.V)

"You should have told me about it."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I turned around, finding Desiree sitting on the couch.

She watched me with her jaw clenched and I guiltily looked away.

This is why I wanted to talk to Kitkat. I wanted her to advice me and I wanted to know how to deal with this confrontation.

I just wanted Lila's words and presence.

But she needed space.

And considering how I had done nothing more than warn Ana and Roy over text regarding the threatening letters they were sending and how I was pretending Lila and I didn't kiss last night....

My guilt wracked up.

"Did you not trust me enough?" Her words were shaky.

I hirried, "I didn't want you to be hurt like I was, Desi. That's it." I sighed, tired of hiding.

She scoffed. "Do you know how bad I feel right now? Our mother cheated and you knew." Her shoulders slumped, curly brown waves wild. "But I was kept in the dark."

"Desiree." I walked towards closer and sat down besides her. "I was a kid and I didn't know how to deal with the situation."

"You changed after that incident though. So much." A self-deprecating laugh escaped my usually happy-go-lucky sister. "You got into fights and came home decked in wounds. You got those tattoos. You didn't talk to Mom. And you grew distant from me and Dad." She frowned. "I should've pestered you more."

Everything she said was true. After I found out about Mom cheating, I'd been thrust into escape mode. For a 15-year-old boy, my options were limited.

My first thought had been to tell dad and Desi.

But then I'd had a full two days to ponder over that idea and I came to the conclusion that the truth would tear us apart.

Not just the fact that everyone would be hurt and feel betrayed, especially my loyal father, but the essence lay in the truth of the consequences that would come.

Till the moment Desi found out, I only envisioned her and Dad being awkward with Mom like I was. But now I could tell that things would blow up. And that would end in drastic actions. Worst case scenario was divorce and I had mixed feelings about it.

"Mm, wasn't that also when you met Ana?" Desiree was smart and with the clarity she gleaned yesterday, putting together the rest of the story must not be hard for her.

I nodded in response.

We didn't say anything, just soaking in the fact that the coming days wouldn't be the same ever again.

Desi gulped, "Dad will be back from his business trip in a few days." She glanced at me. "I think it'd be best to talk about this mess up front with him and Mom."

I cringed just imagining it.

She pulled on a strand of her hair and looked down with her brows pulled in.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry for being unreliable and letting you be on your own you, thinking it was just a teenager phase."

I sucked in a sharp breath and shot her a tight smile. "Not your fault but yeah, I was always mature."

Desiree smiled wryly and I knew she'd beat herself up over it for a while but I couldn't help her out there. That was going to be her own battle of coming to terms with the truth.

She hesitated for a moment, then asked me a question, "Did Mom ever do something again after you found out?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, craving the touch of my lighter. I needed some sort of release and the problem was that my roiling emotions were gearing up towards a violent outlet.

"Once. I only know about one other time."

Desiree looked horrified and she rubbed an exhausted hand over her face. "I see."

Then turning to me, she gave a watery smile. "You did well, Derek. I'm proud of you."

I blinked and when she hugged me unexpectedly, I had a difficult time breathing. Affection clogged my throat and I wrapped my arms around my sister as her words soothed my galloping heart.

For ages, I'd been buried under the weight of this secret. Of the consequences it bore for me and for the wrong decisions I'd made because of it. I'd been almost sucked into the life of the Sicilian Mafia and the heinous acts they committed.

But now I was far from that life and even though the new dynamic posed new problems for me, it didn't leave me stifled. A huge weight had been lifted off of me and I was torn between my feelings.

Is a badboy allowed to be emotional?

I wanted to ask Kitkat this question but I guess I wouldn't be able to.

For a good while now.

But maybe space was what we both needed. To work out our emotions and come to terms with our respective problematic pasts or so I'd learned from my observations.

"Thanks, Sis."

Half an hour later, I was on the phone with someone I least expected to be talking to.

"Hello, Derek." Tatiana's voice was underlined with a seductiveness. 

"Ana."

"You've been ignoring me."

"Is that why you sent threats to any girls I got close to?" My tense tone got me a scoff in response.

"Please. We were perfect together. Those two were trying to steal you–"

"We are over, Ana. It's been more than a year, when will you get over me?" I growled.

"Never!" Her hissed answer made me suck in a breath because I knew just how stubborn Ana could be.

My inclination to punch the wall only increased but I tightly clenched my fist. If it was at least a Saturday, I could release my stress at Blue by fighting but today was a booked show for The Wildcat and The Leopard since it was Friday.

And something told me the Wildcat wasn't about to miss out on this session.

I took a deep breath and then with a pause, remarked. "I ended things between us because I didn't like you anymore—"

"No, you ended things because you were disgusted and afraid of me." She spat and I could hear the hurt in her tone.

I hadn't wanted to hurt her to be honest but Tatiana was right. "Well, since you already know I think it's alright if I ask you not to do such reckless things again."

She didn't respond immediately but then a snicker came through and I rubbed a hand down my face, my eyes on Lila's closed window.

She hadn't been home for hours now.

"Derek Greyson. Just what was it about my lineage that you had to ruin everything good we had?"

I swallowed a scoff.

We'd been over this but never too much in detail. I'd been afraid when I broke up with her, no doubt because Roy hounded me afterwards. Perhaps I'd have been left dead in a ditch if Ana wasn't still so in love and asked Roy to never hurt me. And he'd do anything for his sister.

I had no connections, no power, no money and no independence. I was barely legal for god's sake. I could ask for help but when it comes to exchanging favors in the underworld, it's always a risky gamble.

But maybe I could talk to Diego, worse come to worst. I could ask for the Wildcat's help. The Leopard's. But these were just thoughts with no real backing.

Truth was, I had no one to count on.

"Tatiana Gambino, you're a Mafia Princess. But that wasn't the real issue."

"I was the only one you had back then. You loved me like crazy! I made you strong and into who you are today."

"No, Ana you didn't." I grit my teeth. "You gave me a direction and then I made my own decisions. I broke up with you because you lost your sense of right and wrong." My voice softened. "How could you aid your brother in helping kidnap girls your age and run a sex trafficking racket?" I cursed, "For fuck's sake, Ana, you enjoyed your power, wrongly gained from other's plight. You craved the attention and the fear. You acted like a heartless bitch. You started becoming more and more involved in Roy's work." 

I sucked in a sharp breath, "You were seducing other guys for his work when we were together and we were fucking sixteen!" My chest rose and fell, my voice increasing a few octaves.

Neither one of us spoke and I could feel myself slipping into memories from two years ago.

I'd seen her change.

Ana was the girl I'd cherished but I saw how she turned into a repulsive version of herself. When I accidentally found out her secret, just how deep she was into the underworld and who her brother was...

I'd tried to adjust.

But once the cat was out of the bag, their attitudes had a subtle shift. No longer were their shady activities carried out secretly whenever I was over and Ana pushed me to learn using a gun along with her.

I tried.

The Gambinos were well-known in the area but their solid cover was business. Still, once I knew their reality, I picked up on the rumors of their work and their sources of money. Ana had apparently put in lots of work so I didn't hear much about her.

I'd presumed black money and drug supplying had been their work and despite my growing discomfort I'd found myself getting caught up in everything. It was a miracle I didn't start doing drugs but I did get addicted to smoking.

But then one day when she and I were practicing shooting, a new 'shipment' of girls arrived. I hadn't known about this aspect and the next time, it was a total coincidence that I caught her helping Roy by seducing a partner at a bar downtown that I'd sneaked into.

And just after that, she'd acted friendly with a couple of drunk girls and under the pretense of helping them, she got them drugged and kidnapped.

I'd been aghast.

That had been the last nail to the coffin.

"It's because of that whore, Lila, isn't it?" The malice in Ana's voice made me swallow thickly. Her knowing of Kitkat's existence made me afraid in itself but her using a derogatory term for her made my heart pound in my ears.

"This is between us, Ana, no one else needs to be brought into this mess–"

"But she was involved in all this much before you, Derek." Her mocking tone sent unease slithering up my spine and I clenched my jaw.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You know nothing about her and you're whipped like a pup. I promise you, Derek, when you find out everything about her, you'll be just as repulsed by her as you are by me if not more."

Chills traveled down my spine at her omnious tone. Of course I wasn't naive enough to take her words a face value; I knew better than to fall into her traps. But honestly speaking, I didn't really know Lila.

I knew she was a witness to a murder and perhaps even somewhat of a victim.

I knew she had nightmares.

I knew she was haunted by some sort of traumatic incident.

I just didn't know the stories behind any of these facts and Ana rubbing that in my face sent rage boiling in my veins.

"I'll deal with that myself, don't try planting ideas inside my head, Tatiana." I could feel the entirety of my emotions from the past few days build up like a pressure inside my head and soon I'd go off.

She cackled, "But it's already done. Anyways, do what you will. See you soon."

The line went dead and I was breathing hard as I clenched the phone tightly in my hand.

"Fuck." Cursing under my breath, I grabbed my hair and plopped down on my bed.

Going to Lila right now wasn't an option. Her cold treatment since the morning was both justified and not.  I couldn't pinpoint whether her actions were fueled by our kiss last night or me witnessing her panic attack after the nightmare.

Either way, Kitkat's attitude was giving me a whiplash. Hot, cold, hot. 

Lila and I were both wary people. The only difference was everyone knew she hid behind a mask whereas no one presumed the same of me. Our approaches were different.

Just because I always took a step back didn't mean I wasn't still curious. I was.

I was so curious to know more about Lila that I felt like I might die. But she didn't divulge any information and my guilt at hiding the fact that I knew we'd kissed made me give her space today when I was ready to push her.

I was positive she had conflicting feelings about us kissing but she would probably not bring it up. To a certain extent, I could tell why she'd keep mum what with threat letters and changing dynamics.

But that didn't mean I liked it.

All I wanted to do right now was throw stones into her room like old times and talk to her, completely carefree. Annoy her till she glared at me and grumbled and became frustrated.

But the awkwardness between us had only increased since I tended to her and decided to give her space.

Frustration welled up inside me. At my inability, my shortcomings, my messed up past and my screwed up present.

My phone pinged with an incoming text and I grabbed it.

Spine straightening, a slow grin crawled over my face.

Big D: Come in early today. You've got yourself your first and last fight with the Wildcat.

My eyes lifted from the screen and I glanced outside towards Lila's room.

This was absolutely perfect. I needed this fight like I needed oxygen and I had a few things to confirm as well.

I knew the purple hair she wore was a hoax. Her eyes were covered with contacts of blue color. The Wildcat wasn't tattooed either.

My suspicions had increased with every passing day and this time, I was going to get a confirmation even if I pushed her over the edge.

I had a solid plan to put into motion, now sure of it more than ever.

Tonight, I was going to find out just who exactly the Wildcat was.

•♤•

A/N

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and next up, we have the fight between The Wolf and The Wildcat!

Let me know what you thought of Desi and Derek having a talk and Tatiana's past information! Don't forget to vote and comment!

Thank you!

~Skyler