Page 2 of Ruthless King

Jack runs a hand down his face, then shakes his head fiercely. “Ok. Here’s what we do. We call your aunt, Beatrice.”

“Beatrice?” I haven’t seen my aunt in years. The only memory I have of her is her stern expression whenever she’d visit.

“Yes. She was in business with your father. She might have some idea what to do.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?”

“No.”

My heart begins to beat faster. “Why not?”

He nods at the phone in my hand. “You could have called them already. So, why didn’t you?”

Jack is right. I didn’t call the police. Something in my gut told me not to get them involved.

“How can Beatrice help?” I ask instead of answering his question.

“Because she might know who did this and how to proceed. I’ll call her and have her come right away.” He reaches out his hand and gently touches my arm. “How are you?”

“My father is dead. How do you think I am?”

Jack has the courtesy not to respond to that before walking away and pulling out his phone. I can hear him talking to someone, but I drown it out.

I sit down on the couch beside my father, taking in his open eyes. There’s nothing behind his eyes, and there never will be again.

We went out to dinner to talk about my mother’s death. At twenty years old, losing my mother was the hardest thing I’d ever had to deal with, but having my father helped. Sure, he wasn’t as good at comforting me as she was or going shopping with me like she did or making the perfect pancakes like she did, but my father was kind. He tried. And he wanted us to get through her death together.

And now, I’ll have to get through his death on my own.

Our house is huge. A mega-mansion in Beverly Hills. I should have questioned where my father got his money. I just never did because I reaped the benefits of it. Clothes, my car, the best education.

The only thing I’ve never had is a boyfriend. My father expected me to go to college and then get married right away. It’s not the most modern of views, but it’s what he wanted for me, and because I loved him and respected him, I respected his decision.

I’ve never rocked the boat. I’ve stayed in my lane. Been the good girl because that’s what I wanted and that’s what my parents wanted. I was taught to let a man court me before marriage.

But now, I don’t even have a husband. I don’t have anyone.

Except for Aunt Beatrice, who’s walking through the front door this very moment.

I glance at the clock. I was zoned out for the past thirty minutes. Time isn’t moving like it used to. Before, it would move slow or fast, but now, time doesn’t even make sense. It’s non-linear.

Beatrice is my father’s sister. A formidable woman with straight black hair and intense eyes and an even more intense scowl. In all the years I’ve known Beatrice, I’ve never seen her smile.

“What are you doing sitting there, girl?” she snaps at me. “Get off the couch.”

I immediately do as she says. A part of me is worried she’d slap me if I didn’t listen to her.

Her eyes roam over my father’s body. “God, Giovanni. How could you be so stupid?”

I flinch at her words. “Stupid? My father is dead!”

Beatrice spins around to face me. “Yes, stupid. Because he got himself involved in a deal I told him not to, and now, he’s dead.”

“What deal?”

“You don’t know anything, do you?”

I cross my arms. “What are you talking about?”

---