AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m a lady, I shouldn’t be hearing that.”
“Have you heard, Danny? It’s a miracle Sofia is such a cutie, what with everything he says. And he curses in two languages.” I signaled the number two with my fingers.
“What you said was rude. I’m officially offended right now, and I expect your apologies. In writing.”
“I’m not gonna write you an apology. What the hell kind of lady are you? You’re wearing a shirt with a little bird shooting two guns and saying, ‘Pew Pew Madafakas.’”
“But the fabric is so soft.” She roamed her little hands over her shirt, looking down at her torso. “Here, feel my sleeve, it’s really comfortable.” She raised her arm in my direction.
“I’m not gonna feel...I won’t touch...why are we talking about this?”
“I figured you needed a distraction.” She shrugged one shoulder.
My shoulders fell, just like my head, and I felt despondent and helpless. But for whatever reason, arguing about herladynesshelped ease some of my anxiety. I sat back down next to her, and she leaned her head on my shoulder, so I leaned my head on hers. “You’re in so much danger. God, I can’t believe this is happening again.”
“Actually, and I can’t believe I’m saying this to you, we’re all in danger. It’s not just about me.”
“But this is so much bigger than us, even than him. He’s here to collect his threat, but he’s not alone. I’m still wrapping my mind around the fact that he seemed to be involved with a cartel. And you were central in bringing them down a notch with the arrests and stopping the shipment.”
“Again, they don’t know who I am, and we were all involved. They don’t know my name, they’re probably out there looking for a man right now. I’m far away from their radar. We should focus our energies on bringing Michael down.”
“He made himself abundantly clear that he’s here for you—”
“And you.” She pointed.
“We need to make it stop.” I raised my head and rubbed my hands over my face. “Please, God, make it stop.”
She looked down, still playing with the wrapper of her snack. Cautiously, she raised her eyes to me, and I could see her determination overruling her distress. “If it comes to it, we need to bring him down.”
“That’s the idea, we get him arrested—”
“That’s not what I mean.” She took in a fortifying breath. Her eyes focused elsewhere, she nodded her head, making peace with whatever she was thinking. “If it comes to that, we need to be ready to stop it. Once and for all. He won’t stop until he’s stopped.” She turned her body to me. “What I’m saying is that, if I need to, Iwillkill him. I need to know you’re okay with it.”
I was at a loss for words. I’d never imagined there would come a day when I’d hear her say that.
“I know there’s no love lost between you two, but he’s still your biological father, and I need to know you won’t resent me or feel guilty if it comes to it.”
“This is not your battle.”
“Yes, it is. It’s been for quite some time. You’re not fighting this alone, and it pisses me off that you’re trying to leave us out of it.”
“I can’t let you carry that burden.” My voice broke, and I wasn’t comfortable with the knot forming in my throat.
“Taking care of my family isn’t a burden. I’m sure Zach and Danny feel the same way. Just like my parents and the rest of us. If we need to, there won’t be a shred of hesitation from any of us.”
I could only nod at her words and ignore the dread growing inside me. “I won’t resent you. His being gone would be a dream come true, no matter how ugly that sounds.” I looked straight into her big brown eyes. “But I need you to promise me you won’t get hurt in the process.” My words came out in urgency. “Promise me you won’t go down along with him. No matter what happens, I need you to be safe. Even if we can’t end this now, we can find a way to do that later. Promise me you’ll be safe and that you won’t put yourself at risk to keep us unharmed.”
She shook her head, her eyes full of contrition. “You know I can’t promise you that. We can’t control what happens, Benny. We both know handling this comes with risks, and if given the opportunity, I’ll go all the way down. This has been going on for far too long.” Before I could argue, she placated me. “I promise you I’ll work my very best to end this with as little loss as possible. That’s the best I can offer you, because I can’t lie to you. I never will. Just like I know you’ll never lie to me.”
I was too emotional—and frightened—to answer her. I just drew myself closer to her, enclosed her hand in mine, and we stayed in silence for a while.
I spent the better part of my early years being beaten up by the man who was supposed to love me. I learned from him that I was useless and a nuisance. I grew up believing in his words, so when I met the Bryants, not only did I have a hard time letting them in and caring for me, I felt guilty for having something so good in my life even being such a bad person—as I was told.
Then I met Izzie and felt my heart expand almost to the point of suffocating me. It’d been scary at first—it still was sometimes—and all-consuming. When I found out I was having a baby, my world collapsed.
After a while, I understood that everything I was feeling was so foreign to me because I was in love—something I’d never been before—and that I was looking forward to the future and whatever it’d bring me because I had my woman by my side and my boy on his way.
Cue the guilt. How could I be so happy being the person I was? Wasn’t it wrong that everything in my life was working out? If anyone deserved to have it all, it was Zach, yet he was still waiting for a traumatized woman to give herself and her baby boy fully to him. Or maybe Danny, who was devoted to her little girl and had to put up with his dreadful, soon-to-be—hopefully—ex-wife. And Mia, that loyal and selfless, little spitfire, who was willing to put herself at insurmountable risk to protect the people she loved.
