out whatever is going on here.”
“I doubt that.”
I push past him to round the car door as it’s opened for me. Darius grabs my arm, stopping me. I turn slowly, looking down at his hand on me.
Clearly, he has no idea where I’m from. The woman he knows is the one that was raised with my father. The girl that was raised with my mother is still very much alive and coming back to life slowly as if my father’s death has been that Roni’s resurrection.
“Get your hand off me. I’ve said all I have to say. Now leave and stop making a scene at my father’s funeral before you get yourself hurt,” I hiss with a healthy dose of warning in my voice.
He narrows his eyes at me. “Is that a threat?”
I pointedly look around at the men watching us. My father’s men as well as his closest friends. The few that my father exposed me to and that know who I am are paying very close attention.
“Why would I need to threaten you? You’re putting your own life in danger.”
He releases me and takes a step back, buttoning his suit jacket and smoothing his hands down the front. “Exactly,” I say.
As the word leaves my mouth Richie walks over with disdain on his face. “We should leave,” he says next to Darius’s ear.
“Yes, you should.”
When he turns his attention to me it’s the nail in the coffin. “You’re an entitled brat. Perra sucia.”
“I’ve got your dirty bitch,” I snarl, balling my fists.
“Richie,” Darius snaps at his brother as he glares at him.
My driver has placed a hand on my arm to hold me back. I remember where we are and calm down. Years of charm school have gone out the window.
“This isn’t over. We will talk,” Darius warns.
I snort. “Yeah, don’t hold your breath, Joder, muchacho.”
His eyes grow hard. “Not this time,” he says tightly before clamping his lips shut.
His hazel eyes hold a ton of things he wants to say, but I don’t stay to hear any of it. I get into the car and settle in for the ride back to my father’s house. This day has a weight of its own.
It’s once we are out of the cemetery gates that I allow myself to breakdown. I know this is only the beginning. Of what? I have no idea. Although I get the heavy sense my father left me to handle something way bigger than me.
“How could you leave me again? No one ever stays.”
Chapter 4
Devastation
Roni
I sit staring at my motorcycle helmet sitting on the edge of the desk. I’m tempted to pick it up and take off for a ride. My father would chide me about being ladylike.
It’s my one guilty pleasure he has never been able to chastise me out of. As I think of it now, it’s my escape. A way to be free. What I would give to have my father boss me around at this moment.
I jump out of my thoughts as the sound of clinging pulls my attention. “Thank you,” I say to my father’s assistant, Taine as she sets a cup of tea in front of me.
“Do you need anything else before I go?” she asks.
It’s her last day. I’m grateful to her for staying on for this long. It’s been three months since my father had a heart attack and died.
I’m still in shock. My father was so healthy. Or at least I thought he was.
He was always telling his guys they needed to eat healthier. It’s been so hard to wrap my head around all of this. It feels like I’m numb.
“Why on earth did he leave all this to me?” I mutter more to myself.
I look around at all of the papers on the desk in front of me. So, this is what drowning feels like. Half of this shit doesn’t make sense to me.
“He always said that you were good with numbers. Given his system, I think that’s why,” Taine replies.
I groan and place my head on the desk. I’m not a quitter. I’ll figure this out, but damn. What the hell was he thinking? No warning, no training, no map to help me out.
All of this was meant to confuse anyone that might stumble across it or worse case scenario if it ever fell into the hands of his enemies or the authorities. My father kept me out of his business. Which is why I can’t for the life of me figure out why