Page 5 of Vendetta

“Never as well as you do.”

She tutted and set a plate overflowing with French toast, bacon, hash browns, and over-medium eggs in front of me. It was exactly the way I liked it and exactly what my hungover ass needed. Baked goods littered the marble countertops, tempting me. But she knew what would fix my throbbing headache. Greasy breakfast food. Yum.

“Maria, you must have been cooking all day. This is enough to feed an army. Thank you.” My heart filled with warmth, as I basked in the light of her loving smile.

“Don’t be silly. Eat up. We need to fatten you up before you go back to your classes.” She hurried about, busying herself setting little cakes on trays and tidying up the kitchen, but as she turned away, I caught the sheen of glassiness in her eyes.

The urge to hug her again squeezed my heart, but I didn’t want to get her in trouble with my father for being too soft with me. So I shifted my attention to my plate. There was no way I’d make a dent, but I was certainly going to try.

Maria took pride in her work, and rightfully so. Nothing could rival her cooking, and I wasn’t about to insult it. With my heart a little fuller, I dug in. It was just as good as I remembered. Stuffing my mouth with sticky, sweet French toast, I considered her words from earlier. I hoped she was right about me going back to school. That was the life I wanted, but that didn’t mean I missed her any less than she missed me.

As long as my dad and his minions stayed away from me, this might not be so bad. I could spend time helping in the kitchen and stay far from my father and his soldiers.

After filling my belly and rinsing my dishes, I hugged Maria and said goodnight. She’d have to be up at dawn to cater to my father’s whims, and I didn’t want to be the cause of her losing any sleep.

After napping the day away, I wasn’t even close to tired yet. Maria’s excellent cooking and rehydrating with what seemed like a gallon of water had cured my lingering grogginess. Feeling one hundred percent better, I was ready to enact the plan I'd formulated earlier. There were too many ghosts in this house to stay idle for long. I raced back to my room, ready to stir up a little trouble.

I peeled out of my comfy sweats and snatched up my phone, dialing a number I’d had memorized since I was ten. A flirty, feminine voice picked up on the third ring just as I stepped into my bathroom.

“Rosieeeeee,” the voice squealed.

“Claudia!” I replied with nearly as much enthusiasm. “I’m back from school for a bit. You want to party?”

“Ummmmm,” she paused for dramatic effect before laughing. “Yes, absolutely! Is your dad gonna let you go out, though?”

“I honestly could not give a fuck what he wants right now. He basically had Diego kidnap me and drag me back home, so all bets are off,” I said as I popped a suppressant and started on my makeup.

“Oh, wow. Well, if you’re sure. There is this new club I’ve been dying to try. It’s supposed to be amazing.”

I heard her shuffling around in the background, probably starting her makeup routine, too.

“Yes! That sounds perfect. I just have to steal a car, get past the bridge guard, and then drive into town. So, don’t rush on my account.” I laughed, making a joke of it, even though that was exactly what I was going to have to do.

“See you in a few.” She made a kissing noise and hung up.

It would take me a couple of hours to finish getting ready and to get there, but I was looking forward to a night out with my oldest and dearest friend. Was it wise? No. Did I care right now? Also, no.

An old family photo smiled at me from the vanity, but I turned it around, unable to look at what my life had been. Anything was better than this. I had to escape this place and its memories.

Hair curled, makeup on, a little black dress clinging to my curves, and my red-soled heels in hand, I snuck down the hallway to the attached garage. Security was tight, but it was focused on keeping people out, not keeping me in.

Their mistake.

Where there was a will, there was a way.

The white G-wagon mocked me from the back of the massive enclosure. Even from here, the faint film of dust was clear on the glossy paint. My brother's sixteenth birthday gift that he never got to drive. No one ever would now. It was like a monument to his memory that my father couldn’t part with. I needed something inconspicuous—not that I'd dream of taking my dead brother's car—but it stood out in a crowd, anyway. I grabbed a keychain to one of the many black SUVs and clicked the fob. Headlights flashed next to the garage door.

Perfect. That's exactly what I was looking for.

I hopped in, hit the automatic opener, and rolled into the night. Thankfully, the guard at the gate was too busy watching for intruders to be bothered by my leaving. They probably assumed I was an employee running an errand or something. The bridge to the mainland was similarly guarded, but as far as I could tell, my departure hadn’t raised an alarm.

Free at last!

About an hour later, rocking out to some trendy pop radio station, the twinkling skyline came into view. The island was off the beaten path but close enough to the coast to be connected by a bridge and near enough to a major city to pick up supplies or have in-person business meetings without too much fuss. Very convenient for when I wanted to sneak out, or for a drug lord to run his empire.

By the time I pulled up to Claudia’s, she was ready and waiting. Before we headed out for the night, we spritzed ourselves liberally with scent neutralizers in her daddy’s penthouse. Then we were off.

Her powder-blue Aston Martin purred its way past the black SUV I opted to leave behind in her building’s garage. I didn’t think I’d been followed or tracked, but precautions were never misplaced when it came to my father.