Diego Moralez was the son of a spy. His dad was an international spy and his mom worked for the government. He didn’t know it at first, not until his 15th birthday. It explained why they moved a lot, he barely had any friends growing up.
He was an only child. His parents found it hard to juggle a family and keep their jobs at the same time. Sometimes Diego thinks maybe his existence was not planned, and his parents were struggling to keep a normal life for him.
He moved out of the house at 18 and went to college. He thought it would be better for his parents to continue on living with their work without him in the way. He was right. They hardly ever saw each other after that, only kept in touch by phone and an occasional letter posted traditionally. They always avoid the email or anything from the internet because it was traceable.
When he was 21, he was approached by the government to follow his father’s footsteps. It was never in his plan to work as a spy. He wanted to consult with his parents first and found out that they were killed in the line of duty. He never got to see them nor their bodies because they were buried in other countries in a secret location.
He was fresh out of college an orphan. He decided to take the offer and made it his mission to find out what had happened to his parents. He left everything behind, left his girlfriend without a single note or explanation. It was something he regretted still.
The training was gruelling. He didn’t waste any time investigating the death of his parents. He found out that his parents were murdered because their identities were compromised, they were killed by the very people who hired them. It was a hard lesson to learn and it changed him as a person.
He defected even before his training was done. He decided he didn’t want to work in the same institution that killed his parents. He learned that no one can be trusted and he lived in a cruel world where everyone has to survive on their own. He continued his training routine by himself, never stayed in one place and expanded his network within the dark side of the world. At 24 years old, he became an assassin.
He led a lonely life ever since. Never had a friend, let alone a girlfriend. If anyone was ever associated with him, their lives will be at stake, or his life will be threatened. It was safer to go alone.
He found it hard to talk to people even though he yearns for the connection. He could never say anything truthful about his life, not even his name. He felt like a fraud, always lying about who he was, what he does, he cut himself off from the world completely.
As far as he was concerned, Diego Moralez had died when his parents died. He roamed in the night to find some release for his needs through one night stands, always lying about who he was. At least he only had to do it for a few hours before disappearing. But God had mercy, he wanted to have that connection with someone.
He knew he was bound to find someone his heart would stop for one day, he never expected it to find that person right before he decided to quit. He tried to deny it. He had managed to sail through 10 years of isolation without any distraction. But this one was different, he simply couldn’t turn his head away from her.
He had lost count on how many people he had killed. His method of killing varied depending on the situation at hand. He found shooting them from afar is the most effective way, but the aftermath can sometimes be more messy. The investigation would be wider and longer.
It would be obvious it was a sniper’s job, a mercenary, a professional hitman and the police just didn’t like them very much. They treat them like serial killers, even though the people they killed were not innocent people, not really.
Poisoning was also one of his primary methods of choice. If he worked swiftly, no one would ever know it was a professional job other than the people who hired him. The usual suspects for poisoning are usually their spouse, business rival, or other people in the victim’s close contact.
Accidents were also a good way to do it. A car crash. A sporting accident. Drowning. Slipped and fall. You name it, he had done it.
But for Armand. He would love to kill him with his bare hands. Put them alone in a room and he will do it. Ever since he learned what a malevolent man he was, he couldn’t help but let his emotions interfere with his work. Or maybe it was because he sympathized with his target for the first time ever, this man was toxic, he was the definition of evil.
When he suggested the idea to kill Armand, it must have come out of his subconscious. With how everything was unfolding, it was the only logical thing to do. Ari can finally be free, he can move on with his life knowing he did his job.
But the look on Ari’s face told him, it was too soon to suggest it. She needed more time to be convinced that it was the only way for her to take back her life. Armand was her first love, and probably first of a lot of things that he didn’t want to let himself imagine.
They buried the charred remains of what was her wedding dress and headed back to the motel. She fell asleep before they arrived. He parked the car in front of their room and watched her sleep. She reminded him of himself. Murdered parents, alone, nowhere to go, maybe … they can get lost together.