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The city belongs to him. Everyone owes him favors. He’s like some fucked-up underworld king, and the Empire Syndicate is far reaching. There’s no way Mum could leave my father and live. At least, that’s what she says. I don’t believe father would ever hurt Mum though, I think in his head the way he acts is how he shows us love.
I don’t want his love though.
Not if it feels like this.
By the time I’m nearing the entrance to the greenhouse, my mood is even shittier than when I ran from the schoolhouse. I try to keep my face neutral, but Mum will be able to know something’s wrong the moment she sees me—she didn’t send me to school with a black eye, for one.
I’m rehearsing what I’ll say to her when I notice the sliding glass doors of the greenhouse.
They’re open.
Weird.
Mum never leaves them open. She’s told both me and Graham not to more times than I can count. I can hear her voice in my head already, rambling about how it messes with the temperature and how that could kill her flowers.
Instantly, panic grips my throat.
Dad often leaves the door open. Is he here? Sweat gathers on my palms. Should I go back to school? I’ll have to face him anyway, but I’d rather not right now.
The air is still, everything is quiet.
Maybe my father isn’t here after all—it’s never this quiet when he’s around.
I force myself forward, gripping the straps of my backpack. The throbbing in my eye has moved to my head, and my mouth is dry. Why am I so nervous? This isn’t the first time I’ve come home early after a fight.
But it’s the first time I’ve come home early after a fight with Liam.
I don’t want to seem like a snitch for telling my mum that my cousin beat me up at school. Her brother’s son. We might be related, but our fathers hate each other and I think we hate each other too. We have to. His father is the leader of a rival syndicate, my father always talks about how they’re trying to take our territory from us.
And sometimes when Graham and I are alone with him in his study, he tells us that’s why he took Mum from them. She’s his prize, his trophy for waging war against them and winning.
I don’t really understand it, but he doesn’t treat her like a prize.
She’s more like a pawn.
I’m at the threshold of the greenhouse. Another painful breath, and I straighten my back. Though mum will see right through me, I'm still going to act like it doesn’t affect me much. That’s the only way I can protect her from feeling too bad about what happened.
I’m about to call out her name when a distinct sound pierces the humid air.
A gunshot.
Asilencedgunshot.
I duck behind the nearest row of shrubs, my heart hammering in my chest.Gunshot? I’ve been on enough errands with Graham and father to know I’m not mistaken.
My mind whirls with all the possible implications.
Stay quiet.
I squeeze my eyes shut, ignoring the pain even as tears start to leak from my eyes. Fumbling with the pocket of my gray trousers, I get out my phone. That’s when I hear the footsteps.
Heavy footsteps.
Those have to belong to someone really tall and weighty.
I open the messaging app on my phone.
The footsteps are getting closer and my heart is in my throat. Every inch of my body is wound tight with anticipation. I’m a fucking fool for cowering in the corner like this. If the greenhouse doors are open, then my mum might not even be here.
