me again.
“But it would have been better had I known where my daughter was,” he says, his tone as stern as the look in his eyes.
I smile at him as I hold the bottle out. He reaches forward and swipes it from my hand, drinking down the rest quickly, then placing the empty container on the ground next to his feet.
“I’m sorry, Sofi,” he grunts.
“For what?” I ask, tilting my head to the right. “For being a good father? That’s the last thing you should ever be sorry about.”
He nods as he crosses his leg over his thigh. I can see that the interrogation is still lingering in his mind, so I may as well just confess.
“I walked to Bachimeto today,” I begin slowly. When he stiffens, I look down at my hands and being picking at my nails. “The Federales were there. Fucking up someone else’s business, I guess.”
“What the hell were you doing all the way over there?” he barks. I can tell he’s trying so hard to control his tone right now by the way his voice shakes. I wait until he takes a deep breath, then settles back into the chair again.
“I went for a walk after I left the bar,” I reply with a shrug. “I don’t know why. I just felt like going somewhere. Anyway,” I furrow my brow as I begin to concentrate on picking away at the dead skin, “I saw Omar.”
Papa takes a deep breath and gets to his feet. When I look up at him with my little girl eyes, he grunts and sits back down again.
“And?” he presses.
“Nothing. I had a little bit of fun while he was working. No big deal,” I state with a shrug.
“What would have happened if he had taken you into custody?” he asks, the tremor returning to his tone.
“For what? He’s got nothing on me, Papa. So, a couple of his men disappeared? That wasn’t me. I didn’t kill his father either. He’s got a chip on his shoulder, but so what? Everyone here does in one way or another. Bienvenido a Navolato,” I say with a chuckle.
“Mija,” he says patiently as he gets to his feet and pulls his chair closer to mine. “You have to be careful. Especially when you’re on your own. I don’t want you wandering off and then never see you again. That would hurt me more than I can say. Do me a favor and stay close to home for a while, okay? And stay the fuck out of Bachimeto.”
I grin up at him.
He’s beyond the point of trying to stay calm, and I can see the crimson blush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks.
All partially hidden behind the bushy beard he usually keeps neatly trimmed. But not tonight; he shows signs of obvious distress, and I’m sure he was waiting for word of my death instead of me walking back into his home.
“Go to sleep, Viejo,” I instruct him fondly with a smile. “I’m fine. I promise.”
But my old man is as stubborn as he is ruthless and shakes his head vehemently, “Not until you do.”
“Papa,” I begin as patiently as I can, getting to my feet. I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders and bury my face in his neck. When he hugs me back, I let out a soft sigh. It’s not a usual thing to get hugs from my father, so when he gives them, he means it. “I’m not hurt anymore. We’ll find who did it and that person will be punished. Until that moment comes, everything has to be as it was.”
He clears his throat in an attempt to mask the sniffling sound he just made as he drops his arms from around me. Taking one of my hands in his, he gives it a gentle kiss, then leads me back into the house.
Papa refused to leave my room until he tucked me soundly into bed. I half expected him to sit down and read me a bedtime story, but he’s never liked to linger in his daughter’s rooms.
He’s a very traditional man and believes that everyone in his home deserves privacy. It’s a point of pride with him that he doesn’t invade it.
It would seem strange to some that a man with so much blood on his hands can care so deeply for his children. But he’s only El Señor when he needs to be, and up until recently, that was never in his home.
Someone breached the fortress and dealt