AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her lips part as she watches me, her gaze fixated on me as I start to go down.
My body’s giving out and darkness starts to seep in.
The last thing I remember is small hands holding me before I hit the ground.
“Oh no, you’ve been shot,” her words are soft, and I realize she’s British. “You’re going to be okay,” she tells me.
The darkness comes, and I sink into the abyss.
Chapter 2
Gabriella
The handsome guy leaves, and I can’t help but feel a little sad. Things are different here than they are back in the UK, or even Spain. Usually, if a guy keeps glancing over at me, and I smile at him, he’ll come over and sit with me and talk. Not the handsome mystery guy.
No, I smile at him, and he finishes his drink and leaves.
“Bummer,” Megan says as she watches him leave. “He looked like he’d give you a good time.”
Tonight is the end of my first week working in the art gallery here in Denver. I love art. It’s something I have always been passionate about. My dream is to own my own gallery and feature up and coming artists as well as established ones, so landing this job was amazing. There are five of us working in the gallery, and we all get along—except for Karen. She doesn’t like anyone. She certainly doesn’t like me. She’s bitchy on her good days. God help us all when she’s having a bad day.
I laugh. He has an air of dangerousness about him, something I love in a guy.
“He did, but oh well.” I’m not one to dwell on things that aren’t meant to be. If it’s meant for me, it will be; if not, then that’s okay. It’s the way I’ve always thought about things in life.
Growing up without having my father in my life, I learned at a young age that things aren’t as black and white as people believe. My father is a married man who had an affair with my mother. I’m a result of that affair. What I didn’t know was that my father was pulling the strings in every aspect of my life. What he wants, he gets. Including dictating my life along with my mothers. Something I don’t agree with.
“So,” Karen begins, and I brace myself. This woman took an instant dislike to me, and I have no idea why. Sure, we all make instant judgments on people, but I’m not someone who’ll dislike them for no reason. “This friend of yours, Ryan… where is she?”
I grit my teeth. “Her name is Raylee, and she lives in Spain.”
She looks me up and down and turns her nose up. “So why did you move here? You’re from London, aren’t you?”
I sigh heavily. “No,” I snap harder than intended, and she looks taken aback by my tone. I’m not someone who usually gets upset, but damn, this woman is working my last damn nerve. “London is a city in England. It doesn’t mean every English person is from there. I’m from Manchester. That’s four hours north of London. I moved here because my dad lives here.”
I didn’t plan on moving to America. I lived happily in Spain with my mum and Raylee, but when shit went down with Raylee’s family, my father decided it was safer for me to be here in America with him rather than where I wanted to be—with my best friend.
“It must have been difficult,” Megan says, reaching out and touching my hand. “Moving away from your mom and best friend.”
I nod. “It was at the beginning, but I’m slowly getting used to it.”
Karen pipes up yet again. “You said your dad lives here. What’s his name?”
“Joseph,” I reply instantly, saying it in a Spanish accent, hoping they don’t connect Joe Ranieri to being the Joseph I’m talking about. I want to keep my relationship with my father under wraps. Being the daughter of the biggest criminal underboss in Denver will give me a huge target on my back. Something Joe and I don’t want. There are only a handful of people who know Joe is my father, and that’s the way I want to keep it.
Things between Joe and I aren’t like your normal father-daughter relationships. Since moving to the States, I’m slowly but surely forging some sort of relationship with him, but it doesn’t erase the years of hurt I have felt, nor the way he abandoned me because of his wife—a woman who hates me because I’m the result of her husband’s infidelity.
“Don’t know him,” Karen says dismissively, as though my father isn’t worth her time, and as a result, neither am I.
“That’s okay, love,” I say sarcastically. “You don’t have to know him.”
Megan laughs softly as Jenna and Emily rejoin our table. Both ladies also dislike Karen. The woman’s a total bitch who thinks everyone is beneath her.
“Shall we go?” Jenna asks. “I need to relieve my babysitter.”
I get to my feet and nod. “Yeah, I think that may be best.”
Megan gets up behind me and links her arm through mine as we leave the bar. “It was so good to finally get to know you, Gabby,” Meg says as she pulls me into her arms for a hug. Even though I’ve been here for only a week, I feel as though she and I could be great friends.
