The Strategist: A Forced Proximity Romance (WaterFyre Rising Book 5)

Prologue

My heart hammeredas I sat on the city bus, waiting for my stop. The short ride seemed so much longer than usual. Why was the bus going so slowly?

I glanced around at the crowd on the bus, spying to see if those dangerous men had followed me. An old lady wearing a straw hat with a daisy sat two seats in front of me. Two teenagers giggled across from her. They had probably skipped school like my friends and I had today. Three men took up the back seats of the bus.

I’m safe.

I released a slow breath, even though nerves ravaged my stomach. I didn’t see anyone resembling those gangsters who had killed that man, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t come after me later.

Why did the man with the slash on his face let me and my friends go? Was it a trick to follow each of us? I glanced outside the bus, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. People were friendly to you when they wanted something in return. What did he want? Was I being paranoid?

Probably.But I had good reasons.

I trusted very few people. Life was a bitch. The only people worth my time were my four best friends.

The bus finally pulled over for my stop, and I stood from my seat, slipping my backpack onto one shoulder. I got off the bus but didn’t go straight home. Home wasn’t that safe either. The wound on my shoulder still stung from two nights ago. I didn’t tell my friends about my dad’s drunken assault this time. It was old news by now, and they would have made a big deal out of it . . .

Life was hard, and I didn’t want it to be more difficult. My mom died when I was twelve, and my life turned to hell. At fifteen, I’d gotten used to the ugly side of life. On terrible days, I wondered if foster care would be better for me. Then again, who knew where Social Services would send me?

I did my research, and I’d rather be home with my abusive father than with abusive strangers. The world was a messed-up place. If my dad went to jail, I’d be an orphan and thrown into a messed-up foster care system. What if they took me somewhere far from my friends? What would I do? How would I meet with them to continue our WaterFyre Rising video game venture?

No, these boys were all I had.

There was one place I could go besides home. I yanked the door to Pam’s Diner open and entered my safe haven. It gave me a place to go when I had nowhere else.

“Hey, you’re early.” Pam eyed me as she wiped a table with a white cloth. She had curly red hair and freckles. She was in her mid-thirties and the owner of this restaurant, the place where my mom worked before she died of liver failure.

Deep down, I knew my mom had died of heartache. My dad wasn’t a good husband or father. He was before he started drinking.

“Yup.” I forced a smile and slid into my usual corner booth, placing my backpack beside me. Seeing Pam made the erratic bat wings flapping in my stomach calm a bit.

“Got homework to do?” Her brown eyes warmed on me.

“Yup,” I lied.

Teachers didn’t give us homework when it was so close to the end of the school year. But I knew she was trying to get information from me like she always did when I came here to get away from my alcoholic dad. She knew he’d hurt me before, and she’d called the police.

I’d stayed with Pam for a few weeks while everything was sorted out with my dad’s arrest. I didn’t want to be a burden to Pam or go to a foster family, so I lied and said he’d only hit me once. Dad promised to stop drinking and attended his AA meetings. But he didn’t take long to fall into the old routine. Pam didn’t know that, and I didn’t want her to worry. She’d already done enough for me. I spent time at one of my friends’ houses whenever I could.

Avoiding my dad had been my survival method.

“Let’s feed that brain of yours.” She studied me carefully. “What do you want to eat?”

“The usual.”

“No fever?” She placed a hand on my forehead, and I jerked. “You okay? I’ve never seen you this pale.” She slid into the seat across from me. “Wanna tell me what’s going on? Did your Dad?—”

“No. I’m just tired. My friends and I are working on a video game, and I’ve been staying up late.” That wasn’t a lie. Just not the whole truth.

“Oh, that WaterFyre Rising thing, right?”

“Yeah.” She was the only other person who knew about my passion.

Pam smiled. “Your mom would’ve been extremely proud to see you chasing your dreams like this.” She rose from the seat. “Food will come right up. And don’t you dare pay me.” She pointed at me with her index finger. “I need some help in the back room when you’re done, okay?”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

My dad always left some lunch money for me on the kitchen counter. I guess that was when he was sober and remembered he had a son still in school. I’d saved that money to pay Pam, but she never took it. So in exchange for feeding me, I took out the trash and broke down boxes for her. She said my mom was her best employee and didn’t mind helping me.

“By the way, your dad is eating with a woman on the other end,” Pam said before walking to tend to another customer.

Shit.

If he caught me skipping school, he’d beat the crap out of me and kick me out. I slid further down the booth. He could probably recognize the back of my head. I didn’t understand why he kept drinking when he knew it changed him.

Maybe I reminded him of his responsibilities. Or maybe he was stressed and needed someone to hit. I’d fought back a few times. But he was bigger and stronger than me. Though he didn’t hit me when he was sober, he ignored me. Neglect was also a form of abuse, wasn’t it?

Abuse came in all shapes and sizes.

But what could I do? My friends would help me, but I didn’t want to burden them. Besides, it was embarrassing for people to know how shitty my life was.

I snuck a peek down toward the other end of the diner. His back faced me. A pretty Asian woman smiled across from him. Then the door chimed, and four Asian men dressed in black suits entered. My stomach clenched. Did the gangsters send their men after me?

I slid further down the seat so they couldn’t see me. I shouldn’t have come here. What if they destroyed Pam’s restaurant?

Their footsteps sounded elsewhere. They weren’t here for me after all.

“It’s time to go home, Angela,” said one man.

“I don’t want to go,” said a woman.

“Your father won’t like it.”

“Go home with them, Angie,” said my dad.

A dispute occurred between my dad and the woman, but she eventually said, “Fine.”

I heard them exit the diner. I glanced out the window, which was partially hidden by the flower bushes.

My dad held the woman’s hand until one man broke them apart. Who was she?

“Stay away from her,” said the man with a snake tattoo on his neck.

Angela wiped the tears from her eyes. She tried to reach for my dad, but the men ushered her away. Was she his new girlfriend? Mom and I had suspected he’d been cheating since he always came home late and never gave a straight answer. That had made her sad and worsened her condition. How could an injured heart heal the body? I’d never forgive him for that.

“I won’t hurt her,” my dad told Snake Tat.

“Just do your job, and you’ll get paid. If you don’t, you know the consequences.” Snake Tat smirked and escorted Angela into an expensive black car with dark windows.

What was my dad doing for these dangerous people?