Page 1 of Hawk
Prologue
Stella
Age 14 - 2000
“Iwant you on yourbest behavior. Do not embarrass me,” he warned with the same threatening tone he used with his enemies before he lifted the crystal tumbler and drank deeply.
The way he spoke to me would make you think I was someone he had no connection to and not his only daughter. He wasn’t a good man or a good father, and over the last few years, he seemed to look at me with disgust. After a while, I realized he didn’t give a damn about anything or anyone but himself.
If I was such a problem to him, why did he insist I attend this event tonight? Remembering the words my brother told me the day before my father sent him away rang deep inside my brain, almost like a warning bell.
“Don’t trust him. He’s evil and won’t think twice about using you for his personal gain.”
I remember shaking my head, trying to reason with him why he was wrong, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked straight into my eyes. I’d never seen Devlin act that way and it scared me. We were eleven months apart in age and thought of ourselves almost like twins, inseparable in a world filled with chaos.
“I know you don’t believe me, but you have to. Keep your eyes open, don’t make him angry, and whatever you do, never defy him.”
“I don’t understand,” I reasoned with my big brother, and he offered a sad smile as he pulled me into a hug.
“I won’t always be here to protect you and I need to know that you can defend yourself. Not just physically like Lucian and I taught you, but you have to be smart. Pay attention, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Avoid him when you can and play his game when he’s around. It’s the only way you’re going to survive without . . .”
His words trailed off, and I feared what he wasn’t saying. I couldn’t make it without him. Lucian had been spending more time with Papa, learning ‘the ropes’, leaving Devlin and I alone more and more. We both knew Lucian was being dragged into Papa’s business against his will, but that didn’t change the fact that he was slipping away from us.
Papa had dragged Devlin into his office earlier that day, and when my brother returned to me, his blue eyes were bloodshot and he was acting weird. The following morning, he was gone, and for the last three years, I heeded his warning in every action and word.
“Are you listening to me?” Papa asked, and I snapped out of the painful memory and brought my blue eyes up to him. “Jesus, you’re as flighty as your mother.”
“I have a big deal riding on tonight, so I need you to be better than your best. Don’t get your head in the clouds and embarrass me. Do you understand?” His threat-filled question echoed in the car as we pulled up to a huge mansion on the outskirts of Lincolnville.
Swallowing thickly, I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The words sounded weak, but I hoped the name would invoke some kind of parental response, except when he sighed before slamming back the rest of the whiskey, I knew my attempt at self-preservation was futile. He never gave a damn about any of us, so why did I think he was going to start now?
Dropping the glass onto the floor without care, he waited for the driver to open the door before he exited. The driver offered me his hand and I slid out, trying to keep my dress from riding up and exposing myself. I offered the driver a smile as Papa straightened his tie and buttoned his suit jacket. One thing he was always worried about was appearances. Everything he did was with the idea of power and self-preservation, so his attention to my demeanor was disturbing.
I wasn’t used to wearing such high heels or such a form-fitting dress, but he’d told me what I was going to wear and I’d dressed without argument. He offered me his arm, and I accepted without words. The closer we got to the front door of the ornate house, the faster my heart beat. The doors opened before we got to them, and a man dressed in a black suit invited us inside with the wave of his hand.
We walked through the crowd, and a few people nodded at my father as we traversed the high polished floor. I was expecting hundreds of people, but there were less than fifty, and something about the whole situation was unnerving.
I was taught to make small talk and smile through any conversation, but something about the guests I saw told me these weren’t the kind of people to sit around and chat idly. I recognized a few men from a meeting my father had with other ‘businessmen’, and one woman across the room looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember from where.
I wasn’t stupid about what my father was. He was a high-ranking officer in a national crime family who would kill without blinking. I did recognize that I was in over my head, and with my father’s aloofness, I was terrified of what was going to happen.
And I knew, no matter what, he wouldn’t save me if it meant he lost face, or worse, with the people at the party.
As we walked toward a large mahogany bar on the left side of the large ballroom, my stomach twisted. My brain was screaming to run, but the real threat of physical harm made me force the warning into the recesses of my mind. Since Devlin was sent away and Lucian was sentenced to a year in juvie last month, I realized I had no one to look out for me but myself. Papa could have gotten Lucian off with no time, but he wanted to ‘toughen him up’, so I was left alone in the madness.
The bartender handed my father a tumbler of whiskey the second he approached the bar, and Papa let my arm drop from his, leaving me standing awkwardly beside him. I was years away from being able to drink, so I stood next to him, sipping on a seltzer. Without being obvious, I snuck glances around the room. The people kept appraising not only me but three other girls around my age.
The longer I stood there, the more my gut twisted. A man walked up and offered my father his hand, and Papa turned his attention away from me and began speaking with him in low tones. They were mumbling, and I strained to hear them over the various conversations, hoping to glean any information on what was happening. Just as I started to make sense of what they were saying, the soft music playing overhead stopped and a man in a black suit with a black shirt and tie walked into the center of the enormous room.
His hair was the color of the midnight sky and his haunting hazel eyes seemed to land on me as he looked around the room. I guessed he was around twenty-two, but he carried an air of superiority and danger. I fought a shiver and leaned against the bar, hoping not to fall on my face. There was something about him, even from across the room, that told me he was the worst kind of trouble. Being in a room filled with mobsters, gangsters, and killers, that was saying a lot. His deep voice sounded and the last of the conversations faded away.
“Welcome, honored guests. Thank you for attending my little gathering tonight.” A few chuckles sounded around the room, and he smiled before continuing. “Dinner will be served in the banquet hall. If you would please follow me.”
I slipped my hand into the crook of my father’s arm as he had instructed on the drive over and concentrated on each step as we reentered the grand entranceway. The man, who I assumed owned this luxurious house, stood tall, shaking hands with the guests as they walked past him and down the wide hallway. I fought to keep my eyes off him, and as we approached, he turned his full attention to my father.
“Sergey, it’s good to see you.” He shook my father’s hand and turned his eyes to me. The corner of his lip tilted upward before he asked, “And who is this lovely lady?”
