Page 13 of The Associate

But this is why I like her so much. She challenges me. A glint in her eye tells me she is up to something but I don’t know what. That, I would figure out.

Her eyes narrow and she pulls her wrist free of my now-lax grip. She runs down the hall the rest of the way to her bedroom. “Oh for fuck’s sake, stop running!” I call out after her, but she has already ducked into her room.

If I am going to be watching her from now on, she needs to be taught a lesson. What she doesn’t realise is that I love a good chase.

Viv slams the door shut behind her. The thud echoes through the hallway.

I bang on the door as she slides the lock closed from the inside.Not on my watch. Sal told me not to let her out of my sight, ever.

Taking two steps back, I growl, “You’d better step back from that door,” and with a strong kick, the door flies open, splintering where the lock had once been.

Chapter 4

Genevieve

Is this asshole for real? He just kicked in my fucking door and if Mia wasn’t already locked in her crate then he would probably not be alive right now. She is standing in her cage, hackles raised and growling, never taking her eyes off him.

His eyes widen at the sight of her bared teeth. “What in the fuck is that?” His gaze meets mine again.

“Uhh, that would be a dog. Or did Mummy dearest never teach you what those are?” I roll my eyes and the left corner of my lips curl up into a smirk.

“I know its a fucking dog.” His eyes scan my face. “Why did you fail to mention you had one?”

“We haven’t spoken in years.” I turn to walk into the bathroom, but he quickly steps around me, blocking the entrance. I’d last seen him ten years ago.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His hand pushes out in front of me.

“I am going to get changed.” I push his arm out of the way and step around him. “I have classes to get ready for.”

“Oh. No, no.” He shakes his head, his hand reaching out to hold the door. “You are not going anywhere, not until we find out what these threats really are.”

“I’ve been going to the same college for the last five years and I’ve never had any issues, so why would it be any different now?” I narrow my eyes at him. “And we don’t even know how far these threats go back. Are they weeks or months? Who the hell knows with my father. So right now, I am going to get changed for my class.”

I slam the door of my bathroom shut and lock it. I can hear him grumble what sounds like ‘motherfucker’ and smile to myself. I don’t know what else to do. This is not the life for me and I just want to be left alone.

My father deals with some shady people, both selling them weapons and taking their money for protection. But when those people stop paying my father to protect them, he stops the protection at the ultimate cost.

I have no intention of being followed around by some brute, no matter how hot he is, and, until I come up with the ins and outs of my plan, I need him to back away. I have to do my best to show that I can take care of myself. At least until the time comes. My life would be a lot easier without my father trying to get himself involved. He thinks he is protecting me from the place he dragged me out of, but he doesn’t realise that Blackmere had been keeping me safe from him. He just found me before their new boss could take the seat.

There is only one way I can get my father off my back.

To stop him breathing altogether.

I know I have to be the one to do it. Mother had always told me how evil he is, that he would do anything to anyone just to stay on top.

My father had grown up on the other side of the country, raised only by his father, who died when he was young. He had then been sent to Murwood, where he grew up.

I was never told why Mum had been promised to my dad, she always said it was a story for another time.

Before we left, his anger was becoming more out of hand. My mother had more bruises appearing over her body and my father slowly turned his anger on me. That was when Mum decided it was best to leave.

It is his voice coming from the other side of the bathroom door that makes me jump. I thought he would have left by now. “So what are you studying at college?” I hear him call out from the bedroom.

I rush to throw on a pair of jeans and a tank top. I have to think of how I am going to answer the question. How do I tell someone who is a part of one of the biggest crime organisations that I am studying Criminology? “Uhhh…”Shit, what do I say?

I study Criminology to understand the workings behind crime organisations. I see firsthand what it is like, but the law aspect of the subject is a major interest too. My father would frown upon my subject choice, but, as far as it concerns me, he cannot control what I do, as much as he tries to.

“Have you finished changing yet? I’m getting bored out here, and your dog is eyeing me like I am its next meal.”

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