Page 135 of Savage Don

I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. Hell, it takes me a moment to process what it all, but when I do, the comment cuts through my heart with such force that I nearly keel over.

Mom…

How could he say that?

Tossing his pen to the ground, Father crumples up the now signed contract and throws it at Ray.

With an eery calmness, Ray catches the paper ball, then straightens it back out before neatly folding it into his pocket.

“You can leave now,” Ray says. The threat in his voice is clear, if not shockingly collected.

It takes me by surprise.

Is he just happy that this is over, or has he been baiting them this entire time?

My heart is still pounding with pain as I consider that option.

If he is, then why wasn’t I told about it? This could have been so much less painful… we’re supposed to be partners…

“It’s alright, honey. You don’t deserve this shit,” Sonia says, tugging at Father’s arm. Clearly, she wants to leave.

Father, on the other hand, doesn’t seem ready to go anywhere.

He stands up straight, face still burning red, hot with shame and fury, those black eyes glaring at Ray as the gears turn in his head.

Don’t do anything stupid, father, I silently plead. No matter how much I hate him right now, I know that Ray is just looking for any excuse to harm him… or worse.

And maybe he deserves it. But I still don’t want to see him suffer, not any more than he already has.

Fuck him! How could he say that about Mother? How could he say that about you?

“You will leave my home on your own accord, or I will throw your corpse to the curb myself,” Ray threatens, after the silent standoff goes on for a little too long.

“We’re leaving,” Father sneers in response.

That’s all Sonia needs to hear. In the blink of an eye she’s turned around and made her way back to the front door. Before she can open it, though, Ray makes sure to see his guests off with one final reminder.

“Don’t forget to ask your wife about Artuzov,” he tells Father, a furious heat simmering just below every syllable.

Father barely reacts as he reaches for the handle and whips the door open. The same can’t be said for his wife.

For as uncontentious as Sonia has become since Ray first brought up that name, she explodes again at the last second reminder.

But her ire isn’t directed towards Ray. Instead, it’s turned onto me.

“If we’re asking each other questions all of a sudden, then here’s one for you, dear,” Sonia spits, hate burning through those dark eyes. “Ask Raymond about me. I’ll give you the start of our story, he can finish the rest: I was his first. Hell, you could call me his teacher. All that he’s built, it was thanks to me. Whatever he’s told you, I’m sure he hasn’t told you that. How could you trust a man who—”

Before she can finish, Father yanks her out into the cold, and the door slams shut behind them.

Just like that, a deafening silence invades the foyer, and I’m left standing next to the towering don who just bought me from my own father.

It doesn’t take long before my aching heart starts to pound like a jackhammer behind my chest.

What the hell just happened?

Was that chaos part of Ray’s plan all along? Why?

How could Father be so cruel to me? How could he bring up what he did to mother?