Iris

I heard a commotion downstairs and immediately woke up from my sleep. I was a heavy sleeper, but when it came to my grandfather...I just needed to hear one questionable thing and I'd be up. I rushed out of my door and straight downstairs, but slowed down when I saw Cain and my grandfather arguing in the kitchen.

"It's a damn waffle maker!" Cain exclaimed as he pointed at the appliance on the counter.

"You see me making the waffle without that shit," my grandfather said as flipped something in the pan with one hand.

"That's a goddamn pancake."

"This is the problem," my grandfather started. "You kids these days want everything to be easy instead of working a little bit harder."

"Don't even start," Cain warned. "I'm way older than you."

"Not mentally," my grandfather mumbled.

"You guys are arguing again?" I groaned as I walked deeper into the kitchen. I yawned in tiredness as I rubbed my eyes and my grandfather walked around the island and kissed me on the cheek. If there was one thing that made me happiest about having Cain around, it was my grandfather's newfound energy.

I didn't know if it was because they were both old souls, but they hung out and talked all the time. They even went on walks, which my grandfather never did before. For the past week, since Mia did what she did, Cain had been staying with us.

My grandfather of course let him. He figured that if Mia were to come back, Cain could help protect me the way he couldn't. I told him that the two guards Cain placed outside of our home would be enough, but they both had their minds made up.

It wasn't like I didn't want him here though. It was a lot nicer than I expected. I was just confused about quite a few things after our..."meet-up" last week. I went to get my crystal ball, but I left with more than the, plus a now jumbled mind.

Last Week

I parked the car to the side of the dark road and slowly exited the car. I knew we were supposed to meet, but this felt like more of a place you kill someone.

I looked around the road and the forested area to see nothing in sight except a large warehouse. I would've thought it was abandoned if it weren't for the light emanating from the windows. There was a man dressed in all black with a gun standing by the door and I wondered what dangerous things could've been happening in there.

It's none of my business.

With that in mind, I turned my attention away from it. I must've taken a wrong turn on my way over here. I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed Cain's phone number. After a few rings, he picked up and I heard chatter quiet down in the background.

"Iris," he said slowly. "Are you here?"

"Umm, I don't think so," I admitted as I looked around. "I think I'm lost."

"What do you see?"

"Well, woods and a warehouse...I guess."

"Nope, you're in the right place," he said. "Come in."

"Into the warehouse?"

"Yes."

"A man is holding a gun, Cain. And this place looks scary. You can't just come out and bring the ball."

"Nope, if you want it you need to come in," he said. Before I could say anything else, he hung up the phone and I was left dumbfounded in the middle of the road.

Cain was absolutely cruel. How was he going to treat a girl that just came out of the hospital like this? I survived one dangerous situation, and now he wanted me just to walk myself into another one? Cruel.

I almost got back into my car and drove away until I remembered how excited he was. He wouldn't bring me to a place to just die, right? With the new mild confidence, I nodded and crossed the empty street.

My heart beat out of my chest as I passed the many cars in the lot, and walked towards the building. The guard remained like a statue and I kept my eyes glued to the floor as I got closer.

He was freaking terrifying on his own, and the gun draped over his arm did nothing to calm my worries.  "Umm hi," I said nervously as I looked up at him. "I'm here to see—"

"It's nice to finally meet you, Iris," he said with a comforting smile.

"How do you know my..."

"Boss talks about you a lot." He laughed.

"Boss?"

"Cain," he said slowly.

Where the hell am I? I looked around the building and in the slightly open part of the door, I saw the gang symbol that Cain had tatted on his chest. "This is-...you're in th—...am I going to die?"

"I don't think so," he laughed. "I'm sure Boss would kill anyone who tried to hurt you."

"What makes you say that?"

"I know him well," he said. "I need to search you for weapons and you can go on in."

"Okay," I whispered. He spent the next few moments patting me down and to my surprise, he was very respectful. It was very obvious that he was strictly doing his job and he made sure I was comfortable before he touched anywhere.

"Why do you look so surprised I'm being gentle?" He laughed again. "We're not all assholes, Iris. Besides, Boss would cut off my hands if I did some weird shit."

"Comforting."

"Go on," he said as he opened the door and tilted his head.

"Thanks," I said nervously before stepping into the building.

I heard voices coming from the middle of the warehouse and I followed them until I stepped in from of a large crowd of men occupying tables and seats. I swallowed a lump in my throat when they all turned to me and I gave them a hesitant wave before my eyes landed on Cain.

He was standing in front of a large board in front of everyone and he smiled at me before pointing to an empty chair. I held my purse tightly against me and tried to ignore their eyes as I sat down between two large men.

I looked around to see everyone taking notes, and on the paper of the man to my left, there were a few bullet points of words I couldn't make out. "Hi," he said softly as he noticed where my eyes were.

I immediately looked up at him and he gave me a charming smile before looking down at his paper. He held out his hand for me, and I placed mine into his hesitantly. "I'm Paris."

"Iris," I introduced myself.

His mouth opened to say something else, but a ruler hitting the table we were sitting at made us both look up to see Cain. "Stop flirting, Paris. I need your attention up here," he said in a threateningly low voice. I could detect the angry undertone in his words and it felt like a knife cutting into my skin.

"I wouldn't flirt with your girl, boss," Paris laughed from beside me. "There's no need to be jealous."

"Cut it out," Cain warned him. Paris held his hands up in defense and Cain gave me a looks before turning back to the board.

"He likes you way too much," Paris laughed softly. "I can see why."

"We're just friends," I whispered as I looked back to Cain. He was speaking to everyone about something I couldn't quite understand, but I tried my best to pay attention.

"Does he know that?" Paris whispered back.

I turned my head to see the amusement twinkling in his eyes and I shook my head before turning back to Cain. "Allstaires Bank has top-notch security," he spoke. "To people that go into the bank, they're made aware of three exits. The one by the entrance, and the two emergency ones on either side of the building. But...we won't be entering, nor will we be leaving through there."

"Boss!" Someone called.

"What?"

"Are we really going to talk about a bank robbery in front of your girl?" He asked.

Everyone's eyes moved onto me and I wished that I could disappear into the floor. My eyes moved back to Cain who was eyeing me studiously and I held my breath. "Are you going to snitch, Iris?"

"No." I quickly shook my head.

"Well," Cain said as he raised his arms. "If that's good enough for me, it should be good enough for the rest of you."

He resumed telling his plans to everyone and we all listened avidly, but there was a nagging question in my mind about all this. This specific gang was notorious for pulling off multiple crimes. Everyone knew who they were, but they somehow always managed to evade the police. No one had been prosecuted for any crimes.

"Can I ask you a question?" I whispered to Paris.

"Sure," he mumbled as he wrote something down.

"If the goal is to not get caught, why do you guys let everyone know that—"

"Iris," Cain interrupted. My eyes moved to his and I cringed as everyone turned to me again. Cain had a smirk on his face and he crossed his arms and waited until he had my full attention. "Care to share with the class?"

"Not really," I whispered.

"She had a question," Paris said smugly as he glanced at me.

Snitch...I thought as I shot him a glare.

"What was your question, Iris?" Cain questioned.

"It's nothing," I dismissed it.

"Ask."

I let out an exasperated breath and looked around hesitantly before looking back at Cain. "Well, if you don't want the police to catch you, why do you let everyone know that you all did it?"

Cain smiled before pacing the floor in front of the board. After a few moments, he pointed his marker at me. "Because no crime is worth doing if everyone doesn't know that you got away with it."

"That's kind of cocky, isn't it?" I questioned. A resounding 'oooh' and 'damn' echoed around the room, but Cain seemed unbothered but it. He instead, seemed intrigued by my words.

"I'd say ballsy instead of cocky," he said.

"Well, okay," I shrugged.

"Hmm," he hummed. "Iris, what would you suggest we do then?"

"Excuse me?"

"If you were in charge," he started. "What would you do?"

"Well, since notoriety seems to be important," I started shyly. "I'd change everything."

"What do you mean?" Paris asked.

"Instead of the signature all black that you guys wear, I'd completely change it. With a new look, it'd be a new signature. One that police wouldn't be able to recognize, but they'd think it wasn't the Kingdomz."

"So you'd create a new gang?" Cain asked.

"No, I'd create a rival gang," I said. "We could be someone else and the authorities would be too busy focusing on that to notice that Kingdomz just robbed another bank."

"In what way would that benefit your gang?" He questioned.

"Less police interference and much more money," I countered.

Everyone in the building seemed to be shocked by my plan or intrigued. I couldn't look at one of them long enough to be able to tell. Cain turned away from me and walked to the board. I thought he was going to continue his meeting, but instead, he erased everything he had written down.

"We're done here," Cain said. "We'll reconvene in two days to make a new plan utilizing Iris's idea."

Everyone cheered and my mouth dropped open. I thought this was all hypothetical, I didn't think they'd actually do it. If they got away with it, I was the mastermind behind it. And if they got caught, I was the one that sent them to jail. Shit.

"I'll see you around, Iris," Paris said from beside me as he stood up. I gave him a small smile before he walked away, and slowly but surely, everyone began exiting the room. I remained in the seat as Cain talked to a few men and after a few minutes, they left the room. Cain and I were left alone and he walked in my direction.

"Come on, I brought you here for something else."

꧁꧂

Author's Note

Why did Cain really ask her to come?👀
Lmk your thoughts ✨