Page 7 of Mafia Manipulator


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Exactly. In our line of work, we didn’t have coincidences. Happenstances got us killed and if there was something amiss with Collins’ background, I wouldn’t put Rocca at risk, even if I did like Collins’ verve.

“I appreciate it. Same rate as usual?” I inquired, readying to send half the amount due so he could get started.

“Of course,” Soren replied. “In the meantime, if you find anything else out that might help me, pass it along.”

“Sure thing.” After hanging up with my friend, I transferred the money, then exited my office.

Rocca was in her room studying for the day while Collins settled in and prepared for tomorrow. I knew my daughter was going to have a problem with all of this, but for now, I couldn’t chance what might happen to her when her bodyguard wasn’t looking or wasn’t there to save her. Did it make me an overprotective, hypervigilant asshole? Yes. Did I care? No. Rocca was all that mattered to me.

The conversation with my daughter wouldn’t be an easy one. She was stubborn, like her mother and me. She liked routine and missed her friends. No matter how much I knew this course of action was for the best, Rocca had her opinions on the situation. As I got to the top of the stairs, Benny, one of Rocca’s bodyguards, waited outside her door. This wasn’t a prison. She could go and come as she chose to. At the moment, since none of us were sure of how Rocca would react to the news of getting a tutor, Benny waited outside of her room to be sure she didn’t do something stupid.

Like run away.

“How’s it going in there?” I asked, closing the distance between us.

“I’ve only heard her scream once in frustration.” Benny shrugged. “Could be worse.”

The ‘could be worse,’ was coming as soon as I told Rocca I’d found her tutor. “Well, let’s get this over with.” I knocked on the door before opening it. Rocca sat on her bed, reading. Her laptop was on her desk, open to the school’s portal for her to attend classes via online. The black box on her screen, showing she didn’t have access to the program, stared back at me in accusation.

She knew.

“Did you know the school cut me off?” She didn’t look up from her tablet. Even from here, I could see the fire in her ebon eyes. So much like her mother. Her mouth was set in a frown. Her grip on her tablet tense with anger, as if she held herself in check for me. I’d laugh if the situation wasn’t serious.

“I did,” I replied, sitting on her bed. It’s part of the protocol I had put in place should your life be put in danger.” Though, it shouldn’t have started until I called the school to inform them I’d found someone to tutor Rocca.

She turned her head ever so slowly to look at me. This perfect doll. The one person I cherished above all else was about to rip my heart out. Whether or not she realized it, I’d rather she be angry and alive than happy and dead. Yes, a horrible comparison, but until I could find who was trying to kill my daughter, I couldn’t chance her life. Sure, I had my suspicions, nothing tangible though. “The sins of the father should not be placed on the daughter.”

Arrow straight to my heart.

I agreed with her. My past was mine and mine alone. She was perfect. Innocent. Rocca had nothing to do with my life before I started Daidone Holdings, LLC. “You’re right.” I blew out a breath. “Did Benny explain why you came home as you had?”

Rocca blinked, then glanced at the man standing at the door. In my eyes, they were best friends. Of all those who guarded Rocca, Benny and she were the most compatible. My daughter shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell me because he didn’t want to scare me.”

“Someone snuck into the school and tried to kill you,” I stated. Not my finest hour, but blunt was best. If Rocca wanted to stomp around the house and make things hard on everyone around her, then she needed a dose of reality to counterbalance her.

“Because of you.” Her venomous tone didn’t surprise me. I expected it.

“Yes.”

“I hate it here.” Her eyes narrowed. Her bottom lip trembled. “I have to hide and can’t go to school while you do whatever you want. I hate you even more because I can’t be with my friends.”

I took her words with a grain of salt. She didn’t hate me. She just didn’t understand the situation we were both placed in. The sooner I found the person responsible for killing Rosalina and putting the contract on my daughter, the sooner things could go back to normal. “I know things are not the best, but I have found you at tutor. I think you’ll like her.”

“Another one of your flings?” Rocca arched her little brow in accusation. The cut of her words sent a bolt of anger through me.

“Where are your manners?” I snapped, forgetting about pretenses.

“Why should I have manners when I’m not allowed to have anything?” she yelled, her pitch reedy and unhinged.

“You have everything in your room. You’re not locked away. Rocca, you can go anywhere on the property within reason as long as Benny is with you. Do not play the pathetic, hidden princess with me, Rocca.”

She flinched, looking away from me as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t want a tutor. I want to be with my friends, and I want my mom.”

Pain lanced my heart. If she only knew how much I too wanted her mother back, but death was infinite and nothing we could do or say would return her to us. “Do you think I enjoy worrying about you? Or keeping you from where you want to be?”

“It doesn’t matter because you’re already doing it,” Rocca cried. “I have no one. You’re isolating me.”

I glanced at Benny, who shook his head. “Who told you I was isolating you or, better yet, where did you learn that word?”

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