AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But don’t you support me because you’re my daddy?” I asked.
He grimaced at the word. “I’m being made to pay for my mistake. The courts told me I had to, but you need to understand that I can’t give you anything else. I have a family that I chose, and they need me.”
“And I’m not your family?” I asked, still not grasping that I’d been thrown away like last night’s leftovers.
“No. When you get older, you’ll understand,” he said, and then walked away.
I’d chased after him, and he motioned to some men that had come with him. They pried me off him as I cried.
Whatever understanding he’d referred to, it never came. The only thing clear was the fallout. It was still causing ripples throughout my life, my choices. Had Kaden been partially correct? Was I clinging to my old life because of my past? Maybe, but it didn’t matter. My life was officially gone, and I had to accept that.
Dice walked into the kitchen with an espresso. He came near, reading over my shoulder before laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
Dice pointed to the paper. “That. I don’t know what that guy did, but he pissed Kaden off bad.”
I dropped the paper. “What do you mean?”
“I was climbing a damned tree a few nights ago,” he said, walking over and getting another espresso.
“You planted the nest there?” I asked.
“Yeah. Kaden sent me. He didn’t say much, but man was he pissed off like I’d never seen. He sent Cookie over to the guy’s label to get him booted. Do you know what this guy did?” He sipped his espresso.
“He didn’t say?” I asked, playing stupid.
Note to self, don’t ever ask Kaden to leave a party.Bit of an overreaction for what my father had done to him.
“Hey, I had a question. When you said Johnny was a bad apple, was there something specific you knew from seeing his picture?” I asked.
Dice leaned on the counter, thinking back to it. “No, but something jumped out about him, and we all picked up on it. The longer you do this job, the more that’ll start to happen to you. Can’t tell you exactly, but maybe murder or a crime nearly as bad.”
“Murder?” No. That I wouldn’t believe. Maybe Johnny did something, but not that.
Dice shook his head. “Don’t ask me for details. I can’t tell you because I don’t know myself. Certain acts leave a bad mark on people, and that man is marked. I’d bet my existence on it, and if you look at my track record, you’ll know that means something.”
I nodded, not pressing him for more but knowing I’d have to know before I could move past it.
“What are you up to today? You’ve been kind of quiet the last couple of days,” Dice said.
I leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, just figuring some stuff out. Coming to terms with other things.”
“Getting ready to cut the cord to your old life?” he asked, as if he suspected more than what he’d let on.
I let the silence build for a little bit before answering. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
“Well, you should do whatever you gotta do and just get on with it. If you’re going to make the jump, staring at the drop doesn’t change the distance.” He turned, made another espresso, and then put it in front of me. “Drink up and just do what you have to.”
“I know you’re probably right.”
“I usually am. The numbers in the betting book don’t lie.”
I waited outside Johnny’s work, leaning against his car. There were a few things I was going to need to clean up Topside before I could move on. And it looked as if that’s what I was going to have to do, whether I stayed with Kaden’s group or not.
He walked out of the building, smiling at his coworkers and waving. He slowed down as he neared his car and saw me leaning there, arms crossed, waiting.
“Can I help you?” he asked, as polite as ever and without a drop of recognition.
