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“There’s only so much we can do to mitigate the risk. Why do you think your mother and I never go out? Why your sister has tutors and never leaves the property without an armed escort? It may seem excessive from the outside, but I assure you there’s good reason for it. I almost lost them both, too.”
I straightened, attention locked on my father.
“What do you mean?”
My father let out another puff, watching the smoke swirl up to the ceiling.
“When your mother was pregnant with Eleni, she insisted on going to a regular doctor and delivering at the city hospital. I had men on the building when the time came, but it’s hard to watch a place that large with so much coming and going. Your sister was born, and we were leaving to return home when the hit came.”
He paused for another drag on the cigar. Despite knowing nothing could have happened since my mother and sister were okay, my heart was still pounding.
“The nurse was wheeling your mother down the hall while she held Eleni in her arms when two men turned a corner and came toward us. They were wearing scrubs, but the way they stared at your mother had my hackles up, so I moved so I’d be between them as they got closer.
“One lunged for your mother while the other came at me with a scalpel. The nurse turned and ran, leaving us there alone without calling for help. I found out later she’d been paid off.”
He paused and shook his head.
“If they’d been trying to kill us it would have been over, but they were trying to take your mother and sister to use as hostages. I turned the blade back on the one who attacked me, and your mother, God bless her, kicked the one coming for her right in the jewels when he tried to take Eleni.”
My father let out a snort, grin lighting up his face as he looked back over at me.
“That woman can be vicious. I got her out of there while they were still picking themselves up.”
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk between us as he let the smile fade away.
“The point is, you won’t be able to protect her a hundred percent of the time. Shit happens. There’s always risk. Your mother doesn’t go anywhere without a gun, and your sister carries even when she has guards with her, because if they can’t defend themselves should someone get past our precautions, then they’re sitting ducks. If you’re going to bring Cadence into the family, she needs to be prepared for what she’ll face.”
I heaved out a breath, the words not what I wanted to hear, but I knew my father wasn’t the type to sugar coat things. I had let the last few years of relative peace lull me into believing I could give Cadence a normal life, but I remembered how things were when I’d been younger and my father was struggling through a turf war as he carved out our territory. The nights he came home not smelling of gun powder and blood were fewer than the nights he did, and it looked like history might start to repeat itself if we didn’t handle whoever was attacking us.
“What do I do?”
It hurt my pride to ask, but anything was worth keeping my promise to Cadence.
“If you want her, you teach her to defend herself, but keep her away from your business. No more hanging out at the club. Get her to move in with you, give up the job, send her family away where they won’t be targets, and keep her under guard at all times.”
I shook my head, knowing that would never work for Cadence. She wasn’t going to give up her family for me.
“If youreallylove her…”
My father paused, waiting until I met his gaze.
“Let her go. She’ll never be safe otherwise.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cadence
Leo had been distant the past few weeks, and I wasn’t sure why.
I hadn’t noticed at first, grappling with my own issues after the fight with Michael. The things Michael had said to me still reverberated through my mind, guilt and anger taking turns ruling my thoughts.
He was right.
He was cruel.
I deserved a life.
But so did he.
