Chapter 3
Memories flooded my mind as I took in what used to be my father's bedroom, which was now empty, down to the walls. I could still envision him making his bed, holding me as I’d cried when my heart had first been broken by Johnny Wilcox in sixth grade, and each subsequent heartbreak after that.
Tears blurred my vision as I inhaled deeply, letting the sweet tobacco scent envelop me like one of his hugs.
Eventually, I turned and made my way down the hallway, my bare feet barely lifting off the grey hardwood that had been put in only five years ago.
“Ma’am?” I looked up to the end of the hallway and saw the donation company driver smiling at me. “Is there anything else you need for us to load up?”
Stepping into the living room, I looked around at the couch, coffee table, and Dad’s recliner.
The La-Z-Boy was beyond any help, but I couldn’t haul it off to the dump yet.
When I’d suggested my father replace it, he would just grumble and say it had finally been broken in.
“No. I think that’s it, if you got the boxes from the kitchen. ”
“We did. The house is empty except for what's in the living room.”
“Thank you. Do you need me to sign anything?”
He gave me a big smile. “No, ma’am. You already completed the necessary paperwork. We do appreciate your donation.”
I nodded, and a tear slipped down my cheek. “I’m glad something good can come out of this.”
He turned and headed out as I sat down on the couch, when my phone alert went off for the Lounge’s app. I smirked when I saw Jacob’s message.
Boi: Lady E, I will be ready in room 2156 as instructed.
Lady E: Good Boi. Be on your knees when I arrive.
Boi: Yes, Lady E.
Tossing my phone into my purse, I sighed, tilting my head back onto the soft brown leather.
I couldn’t wait to get it into my townhouse.
My old couch was wearing out, and Dad had only bought this one a year ago.
Staring across the room, I chuckled as I remembered telling him how I was paying my bills.
“Darling, as long as you’re safe, you can do what you want with your body.”
“Dad, I don’t actually have penetrative sex with them if I don’t want to.
It’s the empowerment. For two of my clients, it is all about letting someone else have control over an aspect of their life.
Obviously, I can’t tell you who, but I have a few really high-profile clients who pay me a lot of money for what I do.
There is one that made me sign a lot of NDAs when I agreed. ”
He tilted head as he leaned forward. “When you agreed?”
“Yeah.” I smiled at him. The line of worry between his eyes was always a giveaway to how he was truly feeling.
“I meet with the potential client, and if I like them and they like me, we have a trial session with pre-outlined boundaries. One I always have is that they can’t touch me without express consent.
It’s written into the contracts I have with each of them. ”
“So, he just walks away with blue balls?”
I laughed. “Sometimes. Other times I let him or her masturbate before me.”
“Well, alright then.”
Dad hadn’t seemed to mind, but he would still check in on me on occasion. One time, I’d had a bit of a domme drop, the sudden release of emotions after a hard session, and he’d come over to take care of me. Never questioned anything.
A knock pulled me from the memory and had me groaning. Getting up, I answered the door to find Don Azzaro there.
“What do you want?” I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorjamb.
The man had his long, curly, dark hair pulled back, and while he had a wide smile on his face, there was nothing warm or friendly about his dark eyes. “Is that any way to greet a future business partner?”
I huffed. “That’s with your son. Not you.
” After we’d sat down with the attorney, I’d found I had more money than I knew what to do with.
I had known my father was well off but had no idea he’d possessed such wealth.
Even as I cleaned out the house, I didn’t see any sign of it other than a couple custom-tailored suits in the closet.
The man had lived a humble, loving life in private.
During the will reading, however, I’d learned I was also inheriting his half interest in the Paradise Club, and by extension the LLC he had his portion in.
It was a very exclusive sex club down on the Avenue, the high-end business entertainment row that stretched four blocks down from the Vispania Tower, the Don Supreme’s main building.
That didn’t bother me so much as the other half belonged to the don’s son, Gavriel Azzaro, also known as the Owl’s Talon, who happened to be standing directly behind his father. Great.
At thirty-two years old, he was the clone of the don, with the exception of a lighter olive-gold skin tone and straight blond-brown hair, also pulled back in a bun, and a short trimmed beard.
He was known for his ruthlessness and vicious way of solving problems. What he didn’t realize was this wasn’t going to be an easy fight.
I was going to make his life a living hell for killing my father.
“What in the fuck do you want?”
Don Azzaro reached out to touch me, but I batted him away. Tsking, he waved a finger at me. “Now, now, little girl. You don’t want to make an enemy of me.”
“What, you think your son can kill my father, his best friend, and we are going to be on each other’s speed dial? Think again, asshole. I don’t care who you are.”
Stepping back, I went to slam the door shut, but Gavriel was suddenly through and pushing me against the wall, hand on my throat.
Thrusting my knee upwards, I made contact with his groin before swinging on his jaw and wrapping my other hand around his throat.
There was a familiar pause in his motions as he grunted and tried to catch his breath.
When his eyes met mine, I saw his raw hatred for me, but also surprise before he threw his arms up, dislodging my hold on him.
Without thinking, I pulled my gun. It wasn’t the first time I had drawn on someone, and if I shot and killed him, it also wouldn’t be the first. Having Joel as my father had brought its own threats to my doorstep, and I’d had to defend myself on more than one occasion.
Once it was trained on Gavriel, he stopped, stuck his hands in his pockets, and stared at me like he was daring me to pull the trigger. My words came out commanding and through my teeth. “Get the hell out of my house.”
Gavriel’s lip lifted in a smirk. “Don’t you understand? You are ours now. Well, once you’ve signed the rest of the deeds and transfer paperwork with your attorney.”
“I am not owned by or honor-bound to anyone. I am my own person. None of those documents mentioned the Azzaro family except for Paradise. Neither you nor your father have any right to be here. Leave.”
His gaze trailed up and down my body, and he licked his lips.
It was like he was sizing me up like a piece of meat at the butcher shop.
My shorts and tank top were nothing but ordinary, but there was something heated in that gaze of his that, for the first time, didn’t feel slimy coming from him.
What the fuck? This was the man who’d killed my father and carved his heart out.
“Your father and I had—”
“Had. Keyword there. You had a relationship. A friendship. Did you know he considered you one of his closest friends?” I shook my head, not believing this man before me had the gall to talk to me about my father.
“Even worse, he considered you a son. He valued you just as much as he valued me, and you betrayed him. You fucking killed him.”
What appeared to be sadness passed through his eyes, and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I wouldn’t have seen it. I wanted to huff in annoyance, to wipe that look off his face. He had no right to grieve my father.
“You don’t understand.”
“What? That he was irrevocably in love with your sister?” Don Azzaro and Gavriel’s eyes widened slightly.
“Yeah, I knew all about that. Dad and I talked. I noticed how happy he was the last year. When he finally came clean about it, he told me everything. How he and Rhea loved each other deeply, despite the age difference. They were trying to find a way to make you, Ezequiel, understand and accept them being together. If my father was wrong about anything, it was about how much he meant to you. How much Rhea meant to the both of you. The way they looked at each other is what true love stories are made of. Unfortunately, there was no happily ever after for them.” Setting my stance, my arms still raised with my gun in my hand, my heart racing, I growled, “Now, get the fuck out of my house or you will be leaking blood.”
Don Azzaro stormed toward me, and when I aimed at him, he didn’t stop, so I fired off one shingle shot between the two of them.
Don Azzaro did stop then and looked to his son, who was studying him.
When they realized neither had been hit, Don Azzaro chuckled.
“You can’t even hit the broadside of a barn. ”
“Care to test that theory?”
Gavriel grabbed an unopened can of soda from the pile of groceries by the couch on the floor and tossed it into the air.
Without hesitation, I fired, and instantly liquid sprayed in every direction.
Neither of them moved, the only sounds in the air were from the hissing of the can and my phone text alerts.
Gavriel nodded approvingly with the smallest of smirks on his face, but Don Azzaro just said, “I suggest you behave, little girl, or you might find yourself seeing your father a lot quicker than you intend to.”
He turned his back on me and walked out. When I looked at Gavriel, his head was turned toward me, eyes downcast as he muttered, “You don’t know as much as you think you do, Elin.”
A minute later, the house was silent again, and I dropped to the floor to settle my racing heart.