Page 35 of Ruthless Redemption

The door eased open and before I looked up I recognized my father from the tips of his Italian leather shoes long before I saw his face.

“I want to talk to my daughter. Alone.”

“Not going to happen, Frank. We’ve seen what happens when you spend time with her. I’m already risking too much.”

A dark look crossed my father’s face. That was the look that had nearly all men who faced him cowering and this women didn’t seem phased by it. Who the hell was she and what was going on here?

“Don’t test me, Kelly. If you want my cooperation then chatting with my daughter is part of the deal.”

“Oh my God. You’re Kelly Turner.” She didn’t look like the girl the club was hunting for. Shewasthe girl they were hunting.

“How do you know that?”

Frank laughed. “You’ve obviously been compromised. What a shock that a woman screwed up the job.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but the seriousness of my situation prevented it. I had a pill in my hand that could end this all for me while I was currently trapped in a situation I didn’t fully understand.

“Fuck you, Frank.”

Her crass quip to my father took me by surprise. There was almost no one who could get away with talking to the head of the Mazzeo crime family like that. Not and stay alive anyway.

He grabbed his crotch and grinned. “Name the time and place. I’d be happy to show you again what a real man looks like.”

The image of my father with this woman who had to be my same age made me want to throw up. His vulgar attitude towards women had always turned my stomach. Especially when he used it to encourage Marco. The door started to crack open on memories better left locked up, and I mentally tried to shove it shut. I could not go there again. Not now. Not ever.

Unfortunately some things were impossible to repack.

To guard against the threatening flood I turned away from him and looked at the woman. “There are a lot of people looking for you since your disappearance. Dangerous people. They thought you were being sold into sexual slavery.” I was probably saying more than I should, but I would literally do or say anything to wipe the smirk off Frank’s face.

It didn’t work.

He howled with laughter at my information.

“Those idiots wouldn’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They think I kidnapped you.” He turned to me. “Don’t they? Is that what all this shit is about?”

The mean, hard glare in his eyes almost made me lean back. But I knew my father and the only way this would work was if I kept my spine straight and fear out of my eyes. No matter how hard my stomach shook.

I shrugged. “Her father hired the club to find her when she disappeared just like all the other girls.”

“Oh shit. Seriously?” Kelly groaned. “That controlling bastard. I told him I was dropping out of school for a job.”

“Have you been in touch with him lately?” The man standing silently in the corner spoke up. I’d almost forgotten about him entering the room with my father because he’d disappeared into the shadows.

“No. Our relationship is—strained—as well you know.”

“Sounds like someone has daddy issues.”

“Shut up, Frank.” Both the woman and the man snarled at her father.

I swear if I had a clue as to what the hell was going on here, I might be amused. As it was, all I wanted was a way out that didn’t include my death and as far as I could tell there wasn’t one.

Frank smiled and this time I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face with my fist. In fact, I wished to God I had a knife on me. I might still fear him, but that didn’t stop me from wishing him dead.

“Either way, this op has been compromised.” The man speaking stepped into a shaft of light and I got a better look at him. Dark hair, gorgeous cheekbones atop a wide mouth. And muscles. Jesus with his arms crossed across his chest, he looked massive.

“No. No. No. I am not letting my daughter ruin all of my hard work.”

“I thought I wasn’t your daughter anymore,” I quipped, unable to hide the anger simmering inside me.

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