Page 34 of Bound By You

"Gentlemen, in the folders I placed in front of you is proof of Mihai not only trafficking young children for some Cartel members, but also doing it in your territories. He picks the children up in your neighborhoods, and hands them over to someone in another of your neighborhoods, so if he is caught, you all will get the blame instead. He has fabricated it so you would be convicted instead of him; it seems he was the mastermind. Juan has had men looking into this, and it's been proven Christian was just the front man; Mihai was their leader all along."

Every man's face turns red.

"I am here today to gain votes to personally kill the fucker, which I should have done a month ago. What do you all say?"Every man at the table shoutsaye, including my father and his most trusted guard.

I nod, then look at Sergi.

"Ice cream date?" I ask and raise my brow.

He knows what I'm asking, and he chuckles. "Okay, but you have to change, Phoebe Pie." I smile and nod, my giddiness taking over, making him shake his head. I hear my uncle clear his throat, bringing me back to the table. This is the first time he's physically listened to his son's voice, and my heart hurts from them both.

I pick up my phone and take it off speaker and say, "Tio, I will contact you tonight to go through the plan. Send my love to my auntie."

He clears his throat again, struggling to grasp his emotions. "Si, I will, sweetheart. You have fun with your cousin." Then he hangs up, before I sigh and send a sad smile to Sergi.

I place my phone in my hidden pocket, then turn and leave the conference room without looking back at all the men's eyes on me. I go down to Sergi's office, grab my bag, which I placed there the way up, and quickly change into my light pink off-shoulder top, a pair of dark blue jeans, and my favorite ankle boots. Placing my other clothes in the bag, I pick it up and head to the elevators, but when I get there, my father is also waiting. I go to turn toward the stairs when he spots me.

"You look different in those clothes."

I sigh, knowing I can't get out of this. The elevator pings as I get near, and we both enter. I ignore him and press the parking lot button, staring straight ahead.

He clears his throat. "I know you and your sister have your differences."

I scoff and look at him, stopping him from continuing. "Differences? She fucking sold me, and you're talking like all she did was steal my favorite dress! For years you have put her first,and while you spoiled her and gave her everything she wanted, including your time, which by the way, was theonlything I wanted, I was being hung from a ceiling in a warehouse by chains wrapped around my wrists, and told to'get out of them, then you can eat.’The first two months I only ate four or fives times; I would hang for days while in my own urine and feces, only allowed sips of fucking water."

His face pales, but I don't stop.

"As soon as my mother passed, it was like I didn't exist. Gone was the father who would swing me up in his arms, and read to me at night. You sent me away to live with a woman I barely knew, with no acknowledgment of the danger I was in. I’d only met her a few days before the funeral and had only spoken on the phone whenever she’d call Mom.

You knew this and yet sent me away anyway. You could have easily protected me but decided to take the easy way out. You think I didn't hear Selene bitching and moaning to you about me living back in my childhood home afteryouchanged the arranged marriage over to me? You don't think I didn't hear you agree with herevery time? She's a fucking drug addict after my inheritance, and you placate her continuously because she's your precious fucking daughter, while I'm the look-alike of yourdead wife!"

I shout the last bit as his face goes red, about to open his mouth, but I'm not done. "Tell me, Father, have you ever hit her like you did me?" I don't think I've ever seen someone go from bright red to deathly pale so fast. "Remember when I threatened to run away if you tried to kill the cat my grandmother gave me as a congratulations for passing her tests with flying colors, and you smacked me for it? Did you know how close I was to getting my knife out of my boot and stabbing you in the neck with it?" His eyes look at me full of sorrow, but I don't let it affect me. He made his bed. "Did you know that you smacked a severelydangerous, trained killer and came so close to death, and the fact that you were my father was the only thing that kept you breathing?" I glare at him as the elevator dings for the parking garage.

I walk out, then stop and turn halfway and state, "Just so you know, you can't be a whore when you've never had a man touch you. I have only ever kissed two men in my life, Alexandr and a man from college, who I nearly killed after he betrayed me." I give him a raised brow while he looks at me in shock as I state my final say. "I'm still motherfucking pure, Father, perfect for an arranged marriage for the Spanish Mafia, don't you think?"

He steps out of the elevator as I get to my bike, his face now going red again, but I ignore him as I strap my bag down and sit on the seat. I turn her on and rev her, smiling a little, while my father watches me. I give him the middle finger and drive off.

Immature? Yes, Refreshing? Absolutely.

Ten minutes later, I arrive at the Brew Box, and I smile. Sergi told me all about this woman he met; she served him coffee on the day he found out I left. He was struggling, and she enticed him immediately without even meaning to.

I walk in and spot Sergi already sitting at a table with a beautiful woman, and I smile at how much love he has in his eyes for her. My heart hurts at the thought of this all going wrong for him. When he came clean about meeting someone who wasn't aware of our lifestyle, I pleaded with him to tell her, but so far, he hasn't, unfortunately.

I head over there, and both of them stand. I stick my hand out to the bombshell, who has no idea how pretty she is. She's in dark jeans and a brown long-sleeve t-shirt, with the coffee shop logo on the front left. Her extremely dark black hair, which seems to have a hint of blue, is up in a messy knot on the top of her head. Sergi says it's the first thing that he noticed;apparently, it's quite long, too. Her violet eyes, which have a hint of blue, look at me with kindness, making me smile wide.

"Hi, Avery, I’m Phoebe. It's so nice to finally meet the woman who can hold this knucklehead down." She giggles a little and smiles widely.

She takes my hand before I pull her into a hug, making her flinch and tense for a moment before she relaxes and whispers, "Thank you, it's nice to meet you, too." And I smile. She's had a hard life. Sergi mentioned she has no family and has struggled, but he has not given me all the details because he, too, is in the dark.

Apparently, she's slowly opening up to him, and I'm hoping we can become good friends so she trusts me enough to tell me, too. She's a beautiful person on the inside and out; she has that aura.

I look at Sergi over her shoulder as I squeeze her tight; she's smaller than me, with curves many females would die for.

He smiles, looking far happier than I've ever seen him, and I smile back. Man, Alex and Damian are going to be pissed that I met her first.

eighteen

Alexandr

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