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"We have many in the city who are on our side. They're a text away with scouts in the area to alert me of anything troublesome."
The doctor thought over my plan before grabbing his water to sip. Setting it back down, he knew how serious this could become, but Millie deserved every ounce of fight we had to offer. "My gun cabinet is in my room behind the picture of her mother. The code is 0410."
"Guns?" Millie wheezed. She never thought about her father handling such a device.
"Sweetie, I paid for my education by joining the military. What did you think I learned while serving our country?" He sat back to study his daughter's stunned expression.
"But you don't condone violence. You've always taught me to believe in a better way."
"And sometimes, someone's logic can't be reached. In those cases, we need to learn self-defense." His words made sense to me, but Millie needed time to hear them. "When your mother and I moved to the city, we knew we needed to have a level of protection within our walls. We never told you about them, but the guns have been here longer than you have. We could never live somewhere like this without ensuring our safety if law enforcement couldn't come right away."
Millie placed her face in her palm. She could hear the words he spoke to her, but they were hard to digest. Stirring through her food, she decided her end of the conversation was over. My mother took that as her cue to chime in with her own life. "Knowing who fathered my son made me sleep with one eye open, Millie. I always slept with a weapon under my pillow, and I had something in every room of my home just in case he came for me. Those were never moved when Costas left to seek his father out."
My eyes weakened just enough at her words to know she never stopped living in fear. Clearing my throat, I raised my glass to her. "Then let's pray Tony kills him quickly."
As everyone went back to eating, I felt my phone ringing in my pocket. Speak of the devil... Showing the screen to everyone, I excused myself to take it for an update to come. "Ciao."
"We have more than one problem on our hands," Tony whispered into the line. Entering the living room, I glanced out the window to see if anything came our way already.
"What do you mean?"
"When we arrived at the island this morning, we found an empty residence with low staff to maintain in their absence."
"Where did they go?" I already knew the direction this call would take as my stomach knotted into a tight ball.
"After doing some research, we've found traces of updates that came from Chicago. Floyd Griffin has been feeding them information about Millie's father's movements. He’s also been tailing the ex-boyfriend, but someone else has to be helping because I saw this motherfucker at the gala. He wouldn’t be back to the states that fast."
"Augustus?" I panicked, wondering if we placed our trust in the wrong person again.
"I don't think so, not after his blood oath to me. Even if he was corrupt, he'd honor his word, but I'm not sure who that leaves with enough men to dispatch quite like this. They have people stationed everywhere, and some are in the prison as guards."
"So we need to live off the realization someone from here has alerted them of our arrival," I finished.
"We're going to be leaving tomorrow night, but we'll still have a full day of travel, Costas."
His worry for mine and Millie's life made something soften within me. "We will handle it, Tony. I've just learned her father is military trained. I'll send Augustus this update as well to keep someone closer to our location. You need to have your guard up too. For all we know, this could be a ruse for them to get you."
"Yeah, I thought something similar. I'll be keeping a level head for me and Draven because his anger has reached a new level. We found pictures of Millie within her room at our compound. Someone placed a camera in her shower."
"Before or after Mario?" I lowered my voice to keep it quiet.
"Before."
The caveman within my own soul called for retribution, but I had to rein it in. Draven could be the only one being a loose cannon for us to make it through this. We'd get our own revenge. I just had to have the patience for its arrival. "Keep me posted."
When we hung up, I turned to see Millie right behind me. Now I had the pleasure of relaying the message and letting the doctor know his stance at work might require a few days of absence. He'd be catching the flu or some shit for me to know her father wouldn't be used in the crosshairs to get to Millie.
eighty
Millie
One day here began to feel like eternity. Just as the day ended, another night began. We attempted board games, but that ended faster than it began as we tried to come up with plans to face what might be coming our way. My father even agreed to stay home for the next few days to make sure he'd be safe. Though, I had a feeling it came from him wanting to lend a hand in my defense more than the risk he'd be put in.
Sighing, I watched as Costas walked through the home with my dad again, making strategy plans for our survival if anything did happen. My dad still wasn't Costas's biggest fan, but he knew a good fighter when he saw one. No other compared to the dedication Costas put into making him a warrior, and it showed with every precise decision he made in his role as leader.
Turning my attention back to the women around the coffee table in the living room, they idly watched a soap opera. Kasey stared at the screen, but I could tell her hurting mind took her somewhere else. My heart ached for her, but I hadn't lost one of my guys like she had to know the true depth of her pain. When she slept next to me, I could hear her call out for Rocco to come with her, telling me she dreamt a different end to his tragic fate. Two weeks. It took her heart two weeks to give itself to another human because she knew he'd been her soulmate.
Not that I'd voice it now, but I felt like we all had more than one. Me finding three of mine only proved that. She needed time to grieve, but I hoped she didn't take as long as my dad. While I appreciated his loyalty to my mom, he deserved someone to make the hard days easier too.
