Page 63 of Swamp Princess

The first thing in my life has been destroyed by an unknown man that I've never met, and it hurts losing him. I lost Blaise, and now Thiago, and I never really had the other three guys either. I don't know if I can get any more information out of my mother, but now that I know my father's name causes that much of a reaction, I'm going to be more careful about who I tell. Maybe I can catch my mother on a good day and she can tell me more of what I need to know

Chapter Twenty-Five

Going back to school during break is hard. I have tried multiple times to reach out to Thiago and found that he blocked me. It hurt even with the truth of him telling me who he was. I don’t know what to do, and I honestly feel a little lost.

Thiago offered me a family and a place where I could be at ease. He was even okay with multiple men, but the moment I talked about my father, I was told that I had to leave. I had a feeling that his cousin, Elise, took pleasure in seeing my face.

I went through my classes, numb. The usual taunts were there, but strangely enough, the three kings of the school didn’t bother with me. In fact, they were the ones who backed off a little. I didn’t trust it and I started to get weary.

Blaise seemed to ignore me as well. Though, when I looked into his eyes, I could see a lingering sadness. Something must have happened over the break. I wanted to reach out and ask him what was wrong, but pride is a bitch and right now, I was not going to be the one to offer an olive branch this time.

By the time the last class of the day came, I was stressed. I didn’t want to be dancing and held so close but was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Brooks came and started to dance with me.

“Thiago called me.” He kept his voice low as we moved through the steps of the waltz.

“Oh?” I didn’t say more to it, I don’t know what Thiago said to him.

“Yes, he wanted to know more about you and if you know more than what you’re saying.” He dips me and spins me once before pulling me against his body again.

Looking at him, I see what I have been missing with Mr. Brooks. “You are related to him, aren’t you?”

A smile like Thiago’s, tells me I was right. “I thought he told you, I guess not. Thiago is my little brother.” He smirks at me as we continue to move. “Though he refused to tell me what everything was about.”

I look into his eyes, and I don’t see any malice, but I am not certain how he would react. Weighing my options on what I know about Mr. Brooks which is slim to none. Weighing my options, I know that he is Thiago’s brother, and that means he probably knows about my father.

On the other hand, telling him could mean that I another person ices me out, and right now, he is the only one who is remotely nice to me.

“I can see the look in your eyes. Ask or tell me whatever you want.” Mr. Brooks, again, smirks at me and I hear the song coming to an end. “Class, keep your partners and move into waltz five. This will be the main Christmas waltz.”

He keeps me in his arms as we start the next waltz, and I make the decision to tell him. “The other night, I found out who my father was, and when I mentioned it at Thiago’s, everything went to shit.”

“What is your father’s name?” I can see the curiousness in his voice.

“Kove Matteo Mariano.” I leave it hanging between us as he spins me before pulling us back.

“Well, shit,” he says. “I’m going to write you a pass when class ends. I think we need to have a talk.”

“That bad, huh?” I chuckle, trying to make light of it.

“Darling, you have no idea.” We keep dancing until the end of class and Mr. Brooks keeps me as his partner and when class finishes, he motions me to the bleachers, waiting for me to take a seat. I am a little worried that someone will catch us.

I watch patiently as he looks around, making sure no one is there. I know he is worried about someone finding us together and anyone finding out Thiago is his brother.

“Call me Diego. Well, at least in private.” He smiles warmly at me, and I start to relax. “You know nothing about Kove Mariano SR or his son?” He pats his knee before looking up. “I guess that means Kove JR is your brother, technically.”

“No, mother never told me anything about him. I personally thought he just vanished or even died before I found the photo of my mother and brother.”

“Your father is one of the scariest men in Warren,” Diego says to me. He looks at me for my reaction but there is none. I figured that was the case when I was kicked out of Thiago’s house. “He runs really shady businesses and some legal ones that cover the shady ones. He kills without a second thought.”

“What is his businesses?” I don’t know if I really want to know, but knowing is probably better than being left in the dark.

“He runs drugs through Warren and he also has some skin businesses. He trades internationally and he has some auctions that he hosts in other cities.”

“He auctions women?” I feel the tremble in my hands as I look at him.

“And men.” He looks down before looking away. “He tried to have Thiago killed and almost succeeded had it not been for the interference of our parents. He is the reason that they died.”

My heart stutters and I don’t know what to say. The realization that my father killed his gives a better understanding of why everyone crammed up the way they did when I mentioned his name.

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