Page 112 of Fierce King (L.A. Ruthless 1)

‘You’ve been spying on me?’

‘Keeping an eye on Mr. Montoya’s interests,’ he replied.

‘Does that mean me too?’ I asked Paulo.

‘Not until today, ma’am, when Mr. Montoya told me that you were coming into town. He asked me to make sure no harm came to you. I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner,’ he looked down at his feet and I wondered if he was worried about Alejandro’s reaction when he saw my cheek, which was sure to be bruised after the smack my father had given me.

‘There’s no need to apologize. I appreciate you intervening when you did,’ I said and then I glared at my father. ‘You sold your own daughter and you tried to convince me that Alejandro was the monster. You made me marry a man because I believed he was blackmailing you, all for a campaign donation. You make me sick,’ I spat. ‘And I never want to see you again.’

He glared at me and I could tell he wanted to respond but he was still sitting under the heat of Paulo’s intense gaze.

‘Does Michael work for my husband too?’ I asked Paulo, recalling the driver who had picked me up from the airport and brought me here.

‘He does now, ma’am,’ he said with a nod. ‘Would you like me to call him for you?’

‘Yes, please,’ I said. ‘I’ll wait outside for him.’

I sat on the steps of the Brownstone while I waited for the driver to return for me. I felt the hot tears streaming down my face but I didn’t bother wiping them away. My whole world had been turned upside down.

I had never really known my father at all. Everything I believed about my life and all that I’d done had been a lie. He wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t a good father.

He was the monster.

I looked up at the blue New York sky and watched a bird swooping overhead. Suddenly, I realized that I was free. For so long, I had lived my life out of a sense of duty and responsibility, and now I was completely free to do whatever I chose and not what anyone else wanted or manipulated me into doing.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled to myself, because for the first time in my life, I knew exactly whatIwanted.

---