Page 4 of Mayflower

"You really like him?”

I try to hold back tears and look away as I wipe my eyes with my palm.

"I'll see what I can do,” Dad says. “They have their own games going on in Port Mrei, Tony Parp and all.”

“Tony Parp?”

“Butcher. He was out for Mr. Levi’s blood. I do not like that or the fact that he got you involved.”

“Yeah,” I say bitterly. “Involved all right. You are the one who makes deals with the likes of Butcher. You know what the guy in charge said when they held me and Raven at gunpoint?” I stare at Dad, trying to gauge his reaction to my next words. “Listen to this. They said, ‘How about we take this girl for a ride? All of us. See how she likes it.’”

My father’s eyes darken. I know that look. And I want him to understand that his shady deals jeopardized me and his future.

“How would you have felt,” I say, feeling nauseous just at the thought but knowing that it will push Dad’s buttons, “if they gang-raped your daughter? And then you’d have your heir from some scum in Port Mrei? Wouldn’t that be a great story for your enemies to laugh about at the baby shower?”

His fingers tighten into a fist. The soft wrinkles around his mouth harden. He stares at me unblinkingly, but the familiar viciousness in his eyes is unmistakable.

Oh, the people who know him are petrified of that look, the rage and cruelty that follow. Many times in the past, that look was what his enemies saw right before their lives were blown up into pieces.

“Raven traded himself for me,” I say quietly, my father’s face blurry because of the tears that instantly well in my eyes. “I offered myself, Dad,” I say with a sob, looking away from the screen because if his eyes could set things on fire, Ayana would’ve been ablaze right now. My dad is possessive. He doesn’t like his reputation tarnished, and I am his reputation. “Yeah. I offered myself for his freedom, but he told the guards to take me away. He stood there, Dad, with a chain around his neck”—a sob escapes me, my chest tightening with pain—“stabbed and bleeding, hands tied, with a gun against his head as he pleaded for me to walk away.”

Another sob rips my chest. I hide my face in my palms as I try to breathe deeply and shoo away the horrific images of last night.

“I want to see you,” Dad says. “You know, I can protect you better anywhere but that island. Venezuela. Brazil. Australia. Canada. Take your pick, Mila.”

That’s where he is anchored now, Venezuela. No surprise, really, considering Venezuela sits on the largest oil resources in the world and—Archer already filled me in—my dad is investing in oil-mining infrastructure. Has been since the Change. And of course, he has assets and houses in many countries that weren’t affected by the nuclear war.

“I can give you everything you want,” he says. It’s a promise I’ve heard many times before.

“You mean, everything you want?” I snap with an evil chuckle. He is so good at changing topics. “That’s exactly why I ran away.”

“Mila, I am not asking you to go to Russia. I am coming to see you and talk this over.”

Dread starts in the bottom of my stomach. “And you want me to believe you won’t drag me out of here?”

“I will not. Number one, I do not want to lose you again. Number two, I will protect you even on Zion. And now I have an assurance that I can.”

“An assurance?”

“I made a deal with Mathew Levi.”

“A deal…” I still didn’t confront him about that, but he admits it. “Tell me about this deal.”

I know his fucking deals. University was my deal with him. I got to pick one in the States and have my four years of relative freedom. Then I would have to marry his business partner. That deal was a way out of his claws. I was a spoiled girl growing up. I turned reckless when I made that deal. But I became smart when I decided that it was a shitty deal and would make my life hell.

And look at that, someone made a deal on my behalf. I always end up being someone’s bargain.

“What deal, Dad?” I repeat calmly but insistently.

“Mr. Levi transferred some of his major arms contracts to me. It screwed up his other partners, yes. For my sake. Well, for your sake, actually. He also gave most of his Gen-Alpha shares to me.”

A bitter smirk tugs at my lips. Dad is actually telling me what Archer told me—the truth. That’s impressive. “You got a good bargain for me. As always.”

Dad sighs, shakes his head. “No. I did not ask for it. He offered. I wouldn’t have bargained.”

“You wouldn’t?” I force myself to laugh. He stares at me, not responding. “But you accepted? You took that all from him because you could? Because he was willing to do it to ensure my independence?”

“Yes.”

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