Chapter 47
Fuck me.
My heart hammered as I pulled into the driveway.
Seven hours earlier I had had my wife beneath me, when all of a sudden I got a call that made my heart stop.
It had been years since I nearly lost Anastacia and it still haunted me to this day.
I slammed my hand into the steering wheel.
My face growing hot as I roared out all the rage, pain, and fear.
Who the fuck wanted my daughter dead? Who? Had I not made it clear to everyone in the tristate area not to fuck with us? Had I not spent my entire adult life building a wall of fear and respect that would protect my family?
I sat back in my seat, my breath sawing in and out and sweat rolling down my forehead. Who was I kidding? My daughter would never be safe again. She was now the leader of the city’s criminal world. By announcing her as my successor I had effectively painted a target on her back.
Yes, but she’s still alive.
I sighed as my phone pinged.
Don’t destroy yourself over this. Our daughter is fine.
We all knew we would have to face these things…
I knew that when I gave you my heart. Besides, Isabella is tougher than you give her credit for.
Now hurry your ass back and don’t forget to bring her a change of clothes as well as her fav pjs. I love you xxx
Where would I be without my fucking wife.
Grunting, I stepped out of the car and jogged into the house.
It was eerie and quiet, too quiet. As a bachelor I had always been a fan of calm and silence.
It helped me focus. But after years of marriage and a house full of people and laughter, there was no way I wanted things to go back to how they’d been.
Sighing, I climbed the stairs and stalked to Bella’s room.
As the door creaked open, memories flooded back to me of my little girl.
The day she got braces and took the cutest photo ever.
The summer she was addicted to the All American Rejects and we were subjected to the same songs over and over.
Smiling, I ran my fingers over her comforter and sat, swallowing the lump in my throat.
The day we’d bought her this throw she had come home crying.
The school principal had put her in detention for hitting someone in class.
I had found her hiding under her bed, gripping the ridiculous purple dinosaur Luca had won for her at the fun fair we had taken her to the year earlier.
“My little diamond… What are you doing under there?” I had said to her, flattening myself onto the floor and propping my head up on my linked fingers.
“Why does everybody hate me?” she had wailed.
“Bells… That’s not true. Do you want to tell Papa why you’re so upset?”
“I got detention today. I didn’t even do anything wrong.”
I remembered the way my fists tightened. My instinct when it came to seeing my family hurt was always to strike first and ask questions later.
“What happened, Bells?”
“Eddy Blair Junior pulled my hair and called me ugly,” she whispered. “And then when we were in gym class he pushed me over!” My nostrils had flared as my daughter shared her embarrassment. The rage I felt at some snotty little rich boy getting away with bullying my little girl made my blood boil.
“What did you do?”
“I got so mad, Papa. I’m sorry… I c-couldn’t help it.
” She had then burst into tears. “I p-punched him and he lost his tooth.” The last word had been wailed.
I remembered biting my lip to hold back my laugh as her words sank in.
My beautiful little girl had stood up to one of the richest kids in Manhattan and she’d done it with such sass.
She was of course my daughter, and I was fucking proud.
“Come here, my diamond.” I had beckoned her with my hand. The moment she was settled in my lap, with her head against my chest, tears staining my shirt, I stroked her back and said, “Don’t you worry about a thing. Papa will speak to the principal.”
“Thank you, Pa…” she’d sniffled.
“Oh and Bells?” My heart had melted as she’d looked up at me like I was her whole world. “If anyone ever mistreats you like that again, you give them hell. Don’t ever let anyone harass you and get away with it. You’re a Ricci, and we never take any shit.”
“Papa, that's a bad word.”
“Says who?” I had laughed.
“Mama of course.”
I ran my hands through my hair as my little girl’s tinkling laughter faded from memory.
My wife was right. I’d thrown Bella into my world with a little more than a trainer and half my attention.
And despite her having to learn everything in such a short space of time she’d excelled.
But I was still treating her like she was my terrified little girl, hiding under her bed because she had defended herself.
But the fact was she wasn’t my little girl anymore.
She had blossomed into this strong, capable leader who no longer needed her papa to fix her problems.
Damn… She had become me…
Nodding, I pushed myself to my feet and grabbed her overnight bag from beside her bed.
Remembering my wife’s message, I started opening drawers pulling out her favourite pjs, sweatpants, and t-shirt.
But when I got to her bedside drawer and tried to pull it open, it jammed.
Frowning, I yanked a little harder until it came loose with a crunch.
The sound of a book dropping made me pause.
Placing the bag onto the top of the drawers, I looked down at my feet to find her violet journal laying splayed out on the floor.
I bent to retrieve it, carefully closing it and looking away so as not to invade my daughter’s privacy.
But as I placed it back in the drawer I noticed a thin strip of paper on the carpet.
Huh? When I reached down to pick it up, a sense of foreboding filled me. After a beat, I turned it over.
What the fuck was that?!