Page 2 of Midnight Rose

Even today, she takes my breath away with the fiery red hair that rivals the temper I know she has. That temper will be her saving grace, but she just doesn't know it yet.

I am a few years older than Ruby and had just turned sixteen when her brother was killed. It was then she was taken from me, and I thought I was going to lose my mind.But I knew who her father was and what he was capable of. Spending time with Ruby each day also gave me a sneak peek into his dealings and who he dealt with, but I didn't know how to use it against him.

Then, like God himself was talking to me, I had a dream one night. Play the long game, play by her dad's rules. This whole path was laid out in front of me, and I took it. I stepped in and built a family of my own under the nose of the top families who were fighting to dismantle the family that killed Ruby's brother.

They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice me until it was too late. Until I was too big for them to stop me. Until I had several of their top guys on my side. Right now, I have several men undercover in the Russo family, including the guard at her door that keeps tabs on everything Ruby does and has the order to get her anything her heart desires.

That guard gives me daily reports on her studies, her wants, and who she talks to. Anything and everything, and he has been paid handsomely for providing it.

My entire reason for being is to protect Ruby. That is why I built my empire; for my fiery red-headed vixen.She is also the reason I will destroy anything or anyone who gets in my way, including her father.

While I should be grateful her father has kept her safe; I will make him pay for the suffering he has caused her over the last few years. Every tear she has shed, he will pay for.

My family is different in more ways than one. We aren't family by blood, and we don't partake in what I call dirty money.We don't sell drugs to kids, and we don't partake in the hard stuff. Anyway, the drugs are just a means to an end. There is no better source than a junkie needing a fix. It's a great way to get the information I need to keep Ruby safe because a junkie will get what I need any way they can.

We don't participate in any sex trade like her father does. No strip clubs, sex clubs, or sex slavery like the other families. Many times we have worked with the cops to take down people who force women into those types of places.

In addition, we have worked with the police on many things to help clean up the city and slowly take down the Russo family and the others.We donate a lot of money to charity, mostly the local children's hospital that fought like hell to save Ruby's brother's life, but he was too far gone.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, letting me know it's time to get moving. One last look at Ruby as she closes her window will have to last me for a bit. Everything will be in place soon if my little vixen holds on a little longer.I hope the reason will comfort her when I can't because I wish nothing more than to hold her in my arms and tell her everything will be okay. But I can't take that risk yet.

Moving through the shadows and the holes in the Russo security to get back to my car, I climb in.Then I check my email and find all the information I need for my meeting tomorrow morning.

The meeting that everything I've done has been leading up to.

If everything goes well, my little vixen will get the life she wants. If it doesn't, then the Russo estate will be painted in blood before sundown.

Chapter 3

Ruby

A few months later

Freedom!

I still can't believe my dad listened to me. I'm actually attending college and staying in the dorm! For the first time in so long, I feel normal.The first nights I spent wide awake expecting my father to bust open the door and take me back home, saying he changed his mind or there was some new threat, and he planned to lock me up in the tower again, but so far, I'm free.

There were a few rules. Of course, I knew there would be, and I was ready to agree to just about anything. I had to go to school here in Charleston. No problem, as I didn't want to go very far anyway. I have a boatload of bodyguards and have to use a fake name and tell people I'm some tech guru's kid. Also, I have to come home for Sunday dinner every week.

But I'm here.

My roommate was vetted like crazy. She is another rich kid with bodyguards. On our first night together, we bonded over venting about the no privacy because of having bodyguards. After coming back from orientation together, I found a Midnight Rose on my pillow.

He's here, and that alone makes me feel safer than all the bodyguards. Though, I’m not sure why.While I still haven't seen him, the roses have kept coming almost once a day, and the feeling that he's nearby hasn't left me.

Knowing he's watching and that he's close is all I need right now.I don't dare push my luck. Today is only my second day of classes, and I am already in love with it. It's so much more relaxed than any of the tutors I've had. The material so far is easy because I was on such an advanced curriculum at home.

I'm not treated any differently and was even invited to some party this weekend. Though, I will skip it because I don't need to give my dad a reason to pull the plug my first week here, even if I really want to experience a college party.

My female bodyguard is walking beside me in plain clothes and acting like a student and that we are friends. It was my request, so I wasn't a huge freak with a bodyguard in places like the bathroom. My dad agreed to the undercover guard with me, but I get the feeling she isn't the only one undercover.

Then there are the four uniformed male guards that are always walking behind us.They look like the kind of Secret Service guys you would see on TV. Black suits, white shirts, dark black sunglasses, and an earpiece. They don't talk, but they see and hear everything.

Knowing they are there, having my back allows me to zone out a little, making a study plan for this weekend. Though, I want to get ahead in my classes so I can possibly take some fun reading courses. I'm so lost in my study plan I don't see the two people in my room when we get there.

My roommate isn't there, so my first thought is they are waiting on her, but my guards go on full alert. All these two strangers see are me and the female bodyguard, who looks like another student until she drops her books and goes for her gun.

"Don't even try it. One move and Ruby here is dead," the female says. Both she and the guy she is with now have guns pointed at me.

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