Song: Never give up- Sia

We sit in the audience and watch her dance...all of us her new family. We have been to every recital...every fight...everything that we have ever enrolled her in; we have all been there to watch her grow. She has come a long way from that scared little five year old the day I found her. Now she dances before us with such grace. Fifteen years goes by in a blink of an eye.

We have had many ups and downs over the years and she about killed me going through her teenage years. I get that she wants to go out and party and be a teen but we also have to be safe out there. I just don't trust anyone, because there is always someone out there to hurt you.

I only had to punish her the one time in her life and that day killed the both of us. But I will say she learned from it and said she never wanted to feel that pain again. Till this day she does not know exactly what I do; she thinks I just own the Crematory. And she wouldn't have known that but she had to go with me a few times and I let her stay in the office part while I'm in the main room cleaning.

When she was thirteen, she was with me and needed something. She was standing in the doorway in a daze, at first she was shocked but then I let her come on in and watch...it was just a normal procedure with preparing the guy to be cremated...not all the gore of cutting him apart and taking out the organs. I was surprised that she had an interest in it and wanted to learn everything about it.

I watch as she twirls and kick her leg way over her head, she dances so gracefully. I know it's from years of practice along with the martial arts and all the training she does with me and Mekhi every morning. You should see her on the mat...she is bad ass and can bring a guy down in seconds. When the lights go out the crowd stands and cheers for the ballerinas...they all come back out on stage one at a time to take a bow. My heart races with happiness for her.

Mekhi stands beside me with a fatherly grin on his face...his eyes sparkle as he claps with excitement and then he looks over at me and wraps his arm around me. "That's our girl up there...she is amazing isn't she?"

"She sure is."

Afterwards we all go out to eat. She wanted Italian, which doesn't surprise us one bit. We request a table in the far back that way we could have some privacy as we celebrate her accomplishments. She just finished dance school and will be dancing for the American Ballet Company. The whole family makes a toast and we cheer for her.Halfway through the meal she gets up to go to the bathroom. We all stay seated and have another round of drinks.

Well all of us except Ashton...he will drive us home safely. Ten minutes go by and Mekhi looks at his watch and then over at me. I shrug. I stand up and excuse myself from the table. When I go to the back where the bathroom is there are two girls waiting in line. I don't see Violet so she must be in the bathroom still. I walk over the door and it is locked. I pull out this tool and slide it into the lock and it pops right open. The two girls in like just look at me like I got to be crazy.I open the door slowly, hoping that it doesn't make a sound.

I walk in and there are two stalls...one door is wide open the other is closed. I look underneath and see her pretty pink flats...but another set of black shoes are behind hers. I knock on the door. "Excuse me...this is a public bathroom."

I hear him tell her not to make a sound. "Whoever the fuck you are get out this does not concern you."

This time I don't knock...I kick the door wide open and he looks shocked to see me. I'm a little surprised that she didn't kick his ass but then again he is holding her up against the wall with a knife to her throat. I pull out my knife and smile wickedly back at him. "How about you put that thing away and we can talk this out...just you and me."

"Like I said....bitch this doesn't concern you."

I jab the knife into his side and he glares at me. He lets her go so that he can turn around to deal with me. I pull my knife out and jab him again. When he has her fully released from his hold I motion for her to leave. He hits me and she runs out of the bathroom and I know she will go get Mekhi.

"I told you this concerned me...that was my daughter that you are fucking with...so now you can fuck with me."

We go at it. He swings and misses...I swing and hit him in the side. He drops his knife and goes over to pick it up as I take my hands and hold them together and hit him hard along his spine...he falls but gets right back up with full force. He slams me hard into the mirror and I hear it crack in a million pieces. He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder and carries me out of the bathroom. The back door is directly across from the bathroom and when he opens the door I feel the warm breeze of the fresh air. Before the door closes I see Mekhi and the others racing towards the back door.I know he thinks I'm done for...but even though I'm in my forties now...I can still kick a little ass. I reach my arm around and twist it around his neck. I feel for his eye and use my thumb to dig into it until he has no option than to put me down.

He screams out... "You fucking bitch...you fucking..."

 I don't give him time to finish...I use a round kick on his ass and when he goes down I hit him again and he goes all the way down to his knees. I brace myself behind him and wrap my arms around him to choke him out...but that is when I see his knife in his pocket. I pull it out and hold it up to his throat. "Funny how things turn out."

I look up to see Mekhi staring at me...along with the rest of the family...including Violet. She has never seen this side of me. I take the knife and dig it into his throat and let the blood trail down. I hear her scream out... "Mom stop..." but I don't this motherfucker is never going to lay another hand on her or any other girl. I slice his throat and hold him till the life drains out of him.

Mekhi walks over and takes the knife from me. Then I watch as him and Atticus carries the guy to the car that Ashton had already got in and drove to the back of the building waiting on us. They both toss him in and close the trunk. We head out to the Crematory with Violet in the back with us. Meagan and the rest of the family went home while we finished up.

When we pull up, the guys go to the back of the car while I unlock the door and go into the main part. Violet walks right behind me. "What the hell is going on?"

"You always had so many questions over the years and we have never been honest with you. That fucking guy was after you to get to us. Violet this is what we do...you can stay here and watch or you can go back to the office and wait for us."

She looks a little confused on what all is going on. "Mom what are you saying?"

"We are cleaners...we go around and clean up other people's mess...but sometimes we have to kill."Mekhi and Atticus bring the guy in and toss him on the table.

Mekhi looks over at her. "Maybe you should go to the other room sweetheart while we do this."

"No...I want to know what you guys do...what the hell is this?" She throws one hand on her hip while gestures to the guy with her other hand.

Atticus looks over at her. "We sell the organs...to make money on the black market...this is what we really do. Maybe you should listen to them and go into the office and wait."

"The fuck I am...this guy was going to kill me." She walks over and looks at the dead guy on the table.We get to work. She stands back and watches us slice him open and take out his organs one by one. I waited for her to either puke or pass out but she does neither...she watches with her eyes wide open in curiosity.

We place them in a cooler and then Atticus leaves the room, while Mekhi and I get ready to cremate him.When we are done we clean up our mess and head home. On the way back she glances over at me. "How long have you been doing this?"

I turn to look at Mekhi before telling her. "Since I was taken from my mother."

"But wasn't you like seven...how does a seven year old kill like that?"

I smirk but then feel everything drain out of me. I try not to think of that very first night but I have to be honest with her now. I look back out the window before talking. "I was seven when the monsters came in and took my mother away from me. I told you already that Zane found me. What I didn't tell you is that I cleaned up my Mother's blood that night as he disposed of her body. From that moment on I was trained to clean up blood the correct way...I was trained to kill if I had to and to protect myself from getting killed." I don't have the nerve at the moment to tell her who killed them...she would never understand that Mekhi's father was assigned to do a job and how I fell in love with the assassins son.

"Wow...oh my God...I never..." She stops for a second. "Wait...how did the two of you really meet then and tell me the truth this time?"

I look over at Mekhi and he blinks and looks out the other window...he waits for me to tell her about his dad...but I don't. "Zane and I had a job at Mekhi's grandparents restaurant...he just happened to be there. He kept finding ways to be where I was hoping to con me into dating him. What you don't know is that he was an assassin at the time."

"What...you got to kidding...you was one of them?"I look over at Mekhi and he just gives me a look. I think he was surprised a little that I didn't tell her everything. We have never told her about any of this afraid that she would be scared of all of us and then she would for sure want to leave us.

Mekhi looks right at her. "Yes...I was hired to kill people but I haven't done that in like over fifteen years...I gave that up when...when you came along."He pats her on her knee. That he is not lying about; he gave it up and started working with me.

"Do you know who killed my parents...my family?" She asks.

The car comes to a stop and we get out. "Let's finish this conversation inside."

She gets out and follows behind us. I take her into the office and hand her the file. "You should know about everything. I would have told you sooner but I just never could find the right time."

She flips through the file and I see her mind turning in her head. "Who is Shawn Green...I don't know him."

"He was your half brother. Your dad was married before and they had Shawn. When they divorced he remarried and your mom had the four of you. Shawn took your family away from you with the help of these two guys." I point to them.

"Why?"

"Because apparently your dad was loaded in money and he wanted what was taken from him."I see the look in her eyes...that scared look not knowing if he is still out there or not.

"And is he still alive...or did you kill him?"

Mekhi looks over at me. I hand her the other file. "They are all dead. I took care of it. Look it's what we do."

"He meant to kill me too didn't he...but Carlie...she made me climb out her window...she...she told me to go to the playhouse and don't come out till she came and got me. You were there. You saved me." She looks up at me as if seeing me for the first time like she did that night.

"No...Carlie saved you. If you would have stayed in the house you would have died that night as well."

"But you killed him to protect me."

"I did...and I will kill again and again...I will always protect you. Violet I..." I look over at Mekhi leaning against the wall "...we love you more than anything. It was like maybe we were always meant to cross paths."

She stands up and walks over to me and holds her arms wide open. "Thank you for taking me in that day...thank you for never leaving me there and for taking good care of me all these years."I don't know what to say. "Thank you for telling me the truth."I feel Mekhi's arms come around us and the three of us hug.

We are one.I always had a feeling that she would hate me when she found out the truth but I was so wrong...it brought us closer together. She wanted me tell her more stories about my life growing up and I told her so many crazy things but I never had the nerve to tell her the way my father hurt me. I wasn't sure how she would understand that it was his way of loving me.

The pain is engrained into my soul and even to this day Mekhi helps me on those nights that I need to feel the pain. It's fucked up...over forty years of feeling that way and I still can't get it out of my system. I'm thankful for him for always being there and understanding me. I'm more thankful that he let me have my wish...he let me keep her those many years ago and she has changed me for the better. I will never give up what I do for a living and now my daughter can help me keep the family practice alive.

The End...

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Author's Note:

To all my loyal, awesome readers...I hope you have enjoyed and loved reading this series. I never imagined the first day that I started The Cleaner's Daughter that it would turn into three books series/trilogy and even now a part of me is sadden by the ending. A part of me wants to continue the story but if I do it may be from Violet's POV. I'm not sure yet.

What you can do for me is vote...and share with your friends. One day...I wish for this to be a published work in an actual hardback book...and could you imagine this as a movie...uhm...maybe one day.Please...tell me your thoughts. I love reading your comments...again...Thank you...thank you...thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking it out and reading all three books.