Page 70 of Swamp Princess

“Did you ever think a year ago that we would be here in this school, doing the freaking waltz?” I smile up into his face as he does another spin with me.

“Honestly, I know I'm surprised that I made it this far. With the way life has changed, I didn't think that I would get a chance to ever be in a place that could better my life, and not only are we bettering our lives and getting a possible future, we're doing it together.”

I frown at him. “Well, that's not exactly true, is it? We haven't been doing this together. You have kind of had your own life since you got here, and you won't tell me why or what I did to make you pull away from me.” I know right now it's probably not the best time to be opening up to him, but it's the only option that I have. With our bodies so close together, it feels as intimate as it's going to get with him.

“Brin, I really want to tell you what's going on, but I just don't know how to. I need you to trust me. This was not the way our life was supposed to be.”

“I really want us the way we used to. I miss you, and I miss us.” I hate opening up in a place like this, full of people, but this is the only chance I am going to get. I miss him so much and being in his arms makes me feel safe and awkward at the same time.

It shouldn’t feel like a sin to be in his arms the way that I am. I should be feeling good about this. I should feel like this is my Home. Instead, the glaring looks from his girlfriend reminds me to come back down to earth.

“I will fix it, and everything will be better.”

“Will it? Will I even be there?” I look into his eyes again as we continue to glide around the floor.

“You wouldn’t wait for me?”

“I’m trying, Blaise, but it’s breaking my heart.” He brushes his hand against my cheek as the dance comes to an end.

“I know, and I’m so sorry. There is just too much.” We fall into silence as the next dances start. I just delight in the feeling of his arms around me. After the main dances end, Mr. Brooks opens the dance floor to everyone.

I slide to the back of the room, hoping that nobody will try to dance with me. I know I can't go too far because Mr. Brooks said that we all have to be in attendance if we were going to get a grade, so I still need to make sure that I'm seen.

It doesn't take long before an older man who's wearing a black three-piece suit and a black undershirt with a black tie walks over to me. His hair is slicked back and his skin tone reminds me of my own. He is tall and even for his age, he looks like he works out. His brown eyes meet mine and his lips curve up into a smile.

Something about him sets off alarm bells, but when he reaches me, there's nothing that I can do. He holds out his hand and together, we move to the dance floor. He spins me around and I catch a glimpse of Thiago and Vince. They are across from one another in two different tables.

They are glaring at one another and the tension is rough. They look at me and I see their eyes both turn on the man that's dancing with me. I don't know what it is about their faces that sets me off but I know when they look at the man that the red flags that I was feeling were legitimate. Whoever this man is, he's dangerous, though no one else seems to be alarmed.

“It's a pleasure to finally meet you, my dear.” I look back into the man's face and he's trying to put on a pleasant smile but something about it is like a knife sliding through butter.

“I would say it was nice to meet you, too, but you haven't told me your name.” I try to edge him on and off to give me his name and all he does is smile broader at me.

“My darling, you haven't figured it out yet? Look around you at all of the men who like to play in the underbelly.” I take this moment to look back at Thiago and Vince before my eyes meet and find Blaise. All of them looked very alarmed and that's when I notice Thiago’s grandmother with her mouth hanging open, looking more alarmed then settled.

I don't know what makes me think it, but it hits me like a bolt and I try to pull away from him, only for him to hold me tighter. “I guess you figured out who I am?”

I nod my head as my ability to speak has left me. If my assumptions are right, and from the sheer terror and anger on the guy's faces, this must be my father. I should have listened when Diego said he would come for me. He did pick a perfect place to introduce himself. It's not like I can cause a scene or I will fail out of this class, so I would do the only thing that I can do at this moment, and I continue to follow the steps of some stupid dance.

“I've been wanting to meet you ever since I found out about you. The problem is, I don't know why your mother didn't keep you in better living conditions?”

Anger flares up in me so quickly that I have to bite my tongue before I talk. I know this man is dangerous. I can feel it even in his dance moves. “You're the one who decided to leave me there and take my brother because I was a girl and he was not.”

For a moment, the cool facade that he is putting on cracks and he looks at me in astonishment before he quickly covers his reaction. “That is not the case, my dear. Your mother threatened your very existence should I try to take you, and that was not something I was willing to risk. She even tried to tell me that I wasn't the father, even though the very look of you is the female version of me.”

Now I take the time to look at him more thoroughly. He is right. I do look like him. Our dark features and olive skin match. The jaw line,while his is more manly, mine is still just as sharp but toned down because I'm a woman and have softer features.

“I sent your mother money multiple times, telling her that she needed to use the money to get you out of the trailer. Had she done right by you, you would be living in a better place than you are now.”

The information that he's giving me is too much and I don't really know what to believe. For being a mafia boss, he would have the means to make sure that we're taken care of, and my mother always seemed to have the money to buy the crack that she was smoking. I guess it would explain why she always had the money to do that, but never the money to get us basic groceries.

“I'm here because I want to meet you, and I want you to come back with me and meet your brothers. I'm sure you've probably heard of your older brother, Kove, and you also have a younger brother named Brice. Both of them are excited to meet you. Would you consider coming back with me?”

I can tell on his face that it's not really an option, but he's trying to be polite and ask me if I would. Avoiding the topic, I continue to dance without actually opening my mouth because I don't know what the right thing would be to say to him. Everything in my body tells me to run from this man, but the curiosity that I have had all my life wants me to take the chance to follow him and meet siblings that I've always wanted. I wanna see how they've lived all their lives with him, if they had the same fucked childhood that I had.

Before he can really ask me anything else, Diego announces the start of the slideshow. My father leads me back to my table and he kicks the person out that was sitting next to me and sits down himself. He turns his attention to Diego as Diego starts to talk. I can see by the curling of my father's fist that he doesn't like Diego either.

“First, I want to thank everybody for coming, especially those who made a generous donation to the school for the upcoming school year. Our yearbook committee put together a very small slideshow just to show you the different things that we have been doing, and how we've been expanding our learning through the year.”

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