“What are you talking about? I am your father. I am the goddamn leader of the Callahans!”
“Nah,” I growled, glaring down at the man who had terrorized me, my mother, and my sister for most of our lives and all of my childhood.
I could have just handed him over to the men who were hunting him. They were powerful men.
Merciless.
But I owed this motherfucker for a lifetime of hate. I flicked a glance at my mother as she rose from the broken linoleum floor with my sister wrapped in her arms.
Blood trickled from her lip as we locked eyes and she nodded her head, turning her back on her despicable husband and giving me the okay.
That was all the go ahead I needed.
I took the gun from my waistband and pointed it at his head.
“You. Are. Nothing.”
The muted sound of my silencer echoed in my ears as I watched my sire crumple to the ground, a hole between his eyes.
Ten minutes later, a cleaner arrived.
The men my father fucked over were going to let me live, but it would be a long time before I earned back the respect my father cost us.
The Callahan name would rise above that piece of shit. That was my vow. I would see it done.
No matter what.
Prologue 3-Clementine
Prologue 3-Clementine
Two years ago…
“Well?” I asked standing in front of both my parents.
Josef and Meredith Aziz were one of those formidable couples nothing and no one could ever break up. Not that I would ever try.
I’d been working for my father in his cyber security unit ever since I finished college, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life.
I knew it would be difficult, but I was ready for the challenges of running my own non-profit. My heart squeezed with memories of Andrew Rami, the poor boy who’d been killed as a result of his callous parents’ refusal to accept him and their lack of communication.
They thought he was something to be fixed. But really, Andrew had only craved acceptance.
The guilt I bore for that tragedy was still there and it still hurt. That was why I was there today.
After spending months on a proposal, I’d come to Mom and Pop for their advice and their help. I was lucky, see, I knew I could count on both.
Unlike Andrew.
“Clemmy mine! This sounds incredible,” Mom said with tears in her eyes.
They were the same green as mine, but I hated making her cry.
“If this is what you want, Honey, we are all for it and we will help you in every way we can,” Pop added.
Warmth filled me as I embraced my parents and thanked them. It was true. Maybe even an under exaggeration that I was one of the lucky ones to have family like this. Family who supported and protected each other.
It was my dream to help those who didn’t have the same. And with a little luck and some work I was going to do just that.