Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Anger bubbles in my chest. “I didn’t know they were following me, but you can clearly see now that I had nothing to do with why they’re here. They wanted me to get into that car, and I’m sick and tired of wondering why that is. Tell me, Cohen. I want to know the truth. If you want me to stay here with you, and trust that you’re going to protect me, then you need to be honest. I’ve seen those men before. I want to know what’s going on.”
“You want me to be honest? What about you? You complain that we don’t fuckin’ trust you, but you’ve given us nothin’ to trust. You came back and all you’ve wanted was to get your revenge on me. I’m not so stupid that I didn’t figure that out the second you came back in. Trust goes both ways.”
Dammit, he has a point.
I stare at him.
Do I let it all go and just tell him the truth? Tell him what I planned on doing? Tell him anything else I know?
Do I decide in this moment, that I’m going to move forward?
Or will I stay exactly where I am, living this bitter lifestyle?
“I’ll be honest with you, if you can promise me that you’ll have my back. You gave me away out there, just threw me under the bus like I didn’t matter. You’ve not trusted a single word that has come out of my mouth, how can I be sure you’re going to now?”
His jaw ticks. “I was protectin’ the club, you know I had a right to do that. As for the rest of it, I’ll have your back if you fuckin’ let me.”
Let him.
Can I do that?
Can I let him in?
Can I trust him?
“Tell me why those men wanted me. Tell me what it is you’ve been hiding from me for so god damned long. I want to understand, Cohen. I need to know why you did what you did.”
He turns and walks over to his bag, unzipping it and pulling out a large file. He walks over and hands it to me, then he sits back in his chair and watches. “You want to know, that’s everything you need to know.”
I sit down, feeling a lump rising in my throat. My stomach twists and fills with butterflies as I glance down at the large file. Then, I open it and begin reading. What I see makes my head spin and my heart race. Over and over I read it, confused and a little shocked. When I’m done, I look up at him and whisper, “Is this real?”
“It’s fuckin’ real alright. There are people that want what you’ve got, Aviana. People that your father had beef with, and they’re willin’ to do whatever it takes to get hold of you so they can get what you’re sittin’ on.”
Sitting on.
That’s one way of putting it.
What I’m sitting on is a hell of a lot.
Houses, bank accounts, real estate, and even my father’s business which has now been taken over by another man, someone I don’t know, but as far as I know he stepped up when my family was killed and I went missing.
All of it is in my name.
The entirety of what he owned ... belongs to me.
“I don’t understand why he’d do this,” I say, shaking my head.
“He’s smart. You were barely known by most; some people didn’t even know he had a daughter. He left everything of his to you because you were the safest option. You were a secret option. If someone took him, if someone took your brothers, they’d fail because everything was smartly put into your name.”
It makes sense, but it also doesn’t. My mind spins with confusion. If my father put everything in my name, he would have done more to protect me. He didn’t do that. He treated me as if I didn’t matter. Is that why he did that? So the world wouldn’t know I mattered. Who would suspect his daughter owned everything when he acted like he couldn’t stand her?
I search my mind for memories, for things that would indicate the time he chose to put everything in my name. I can’t remember anything, not about that side of things, he simply never included me. He always kept me at arm’s length.
“Those two men, I’ve seen them before,” I say to Cohen, rubbing my arms as if that’ll make anything feel better.
“I have, too. Didn’t know who they were when they were shootin’ at us yesterday but now I’ve seen them up close, I know exactly who they are. Those two men were the exact people I was keepin’ you away from. They will take you, they will take everything you own, then they’ll kill you. You’re not safe while those two are livin’, Aviana.”