AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The world isn’t so simple. That’s what I would tell him if I saw him again. It’s not black and white. It’s all the colors of the rainbow.
I know he could be a good father but only if he believes that and he’s made clear that he doesn’t. He thinks he can’t change so fuck him. Why should I hang around with a man who threw me out? Who told me my child will be his heir and that’s that. No one else gets a say in things.
To hell with that. I will not hang around with a man who refuses to be all he can be. I deserve better than that. My child deserves better than that.
I gather up my money and shove it in my purse. Time to start packing.
I dig a case out from under my bed. I choose two of each thing. Enough to get me moving but not so much that I won’t be able to carry the case onto the bus. I add a toothbrush and a couple ofbooks. I look around me. Do I need anything else? It’s all tainted by what happened here. I don’t want any of it.
I shove the case closed and head for the door. I’m barely through it before they descend on me.
Three of them. Just like last time. Only it’s not Pietro in charge. It’s a man I’ve never seen before. He’s got a match between his teeth like he’s in a gangster movie as he takes hold of my arm, twisting it painfully behind my back.
Someone else gets a hand over my mouth just as I breathe in ready to scream.
“Can it,” match man says, leaning close enough for me to smell the hair oil he uses. “Your father wants to see you. Any idea how long we’ve been casing this place, hoping you’d turn up here. You cost me fifty bucks. I told the old man you wouldn’t be dumb enough to come back but you’re stupider than I gave you credit for.”
He bends my arm so far I think it’s going to break. I let out a scream but it’s muffled by the hand over my face. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he continues.
“We’re going to walk out of here together. You’re going to climb in the back of our car and you’re going to go have a nice family visit with your father. You run, I break something. You scream, I break two things. You try anything at all and I’ll make sure you don’t walk for a month. Got it? Nod if you understand.”
I nod, slowly, my eyes wide with fear and rage. If Alexsei was here, you’d be the one having things broken, I think to myself. He’d snap their necks and not bat an eyelid while he did it.
For the first time since I left, I wish he was with me. Even the asshole version of him would be better than these three, holding onto me as they lead me over to the elevator. “Remember,” match man says as he hits the call button. “Not a word.”
He nods and the hand over my mouth slackens. I look around me at the other two. They could be twins. Tanned skin, slicked back hair, cheap gray suits that are ill-fitting, stained in places.
“Not a word,” match man says again as the doors open. “Out to the car. Now.”
14
Alexsei
I’m watching a shipment of merchandise taking place. The cops have been bought off so there’s no risk of anyone disturbing things. It’s the first batch coming in from Garcia’s factories.
Things are running well. My people are working hard and soon the profits will come rolling in. Whatever people want to buy, we’ll sell it to them. You can’t afford morals if you want to make money.
If I don’t sell stuff, someone else will, right? Might as well be the one to make money from things. That’s what matters. Money. Gives you the freedom to do what you want.
It’s the reason Mila will have her art gallery. It’s the reason I have the house I do, the lifestyle I want. It’s all that matters in this world.
There’s no need for me to be here. My men are nervous, knowing the big boss is watching them as they unload the boxes from the truck. I haven’t told them I’m checking on them. They know it.
None of them know the truth.
I’m here because I need a distraction from thinking about Mila. All I want to do is bring her back. She’s my wife. She should be by my side.
I won’t do it. I won’t have her in my life trying to chip away at me, at my perfect world. She thinks she can peel away the layers of me and reveal some weak whiny asshole inside.
I’m not going to let her. I am strong. I don’t need her. I don’t need anyone.
I’ve got my people watching her place, just in case. I don’t want her getting hurt while I deal with her father. The last thing I need is her death on my conscience.
Last night I found myself wondering if I’d made the right decision. Should I have kept her at home? Then I remember how she looked at me, the disgust in her eyes. She knows I can’t change, same as I know it. Why pretend otherwise?
She’s better off without me. She’ll be happier. I’ll be happier. I’ll take her kid and raise it to become me heir but that’s it. She can go on with her life.
She’s only going to hate me more when I kill her father. There’s no point pretending it can work out between us.
