“I’m taking you to see your father.” He patted my back and immediately stood up. “Get dressed. We’re leaving right now.”
I thought I was hearing things, or I had slipped into a dream. No, it was real. I rolled over and sat up, sliding to the edge of the bed to gather my clothes. The dress was resistant to wrinkles, so it looked as beautiful as ever when I stepped back into it. Devlin walked behind me and zipped it up, forming a picture in my mirror that I remembered from memory—the day he helped me pick out my prom dress.
Prom. My father didn’t take that well. I wonder how he’s going to react when he sees me with the devil himself while he’s in a cage.The prison was not what I imagined. I thought it would be—cleaner. I thought he would be in something a little more sanitary, not something that smelled like a sewer when we were led towards the visitor’s area. My father was facing treason charges, so they skipped the white-collar resort he would have usually ended up in—especially for a man of his stature. Devlin followed me to the visiting area and I walked forward to sit down at a table that was separated in the middle by a thick pane of glass.
The man on my left looked like he had led a hard life—there were tattoos on both arms and when he turned his head towards me, I saw a teardrop tattoo under his left eye. He looked like he could murder me with a stare—yet I had looked into the eyes of the devil, so he was not that terrifying. I looked to my right and saw a woman who was holding a baby with one on the way. I assumed the man on the other side of the glass wearing an orange jumpsuit was the father.
My dad is in here with the dredges of society—after working too hard to build an empire that could provide us with all of the things we wanted…
It’s not fair.
I looked across the glass and saw a man being walked down a hallway. It wasn’t my father, so I looked past him—but then I realized that the man was approaching my glass. It was my father. He looked nothing like the man I remembered. There was heavy stubble on his face, hair that was disheveled and unkempt. It looked like he had lost twenty pounds from his normally muscular frame. I swallowed hard when he sat down. He grabbed the phone and my heart began to beat hard in my chest.
“Violet!” He was so happy—a smile behind the dirty stubble that was trying to become a beard.
“Hello Daddy.” I took a deep breath and tried to put a smile on my face, despite the turmoil of seeing my father like that.
“How did you get in here? Raymond said they weren’t even allowing me to have visitors! I’m happy to see you. These charges against me are not true—I swear on my life!” He rambled, but I didn’t interrupt until he paused.
“I know, Daddy.” I nodded quickly. “I had help—but you may not be happy…”
I didn’t have a choice—but I can’t tell him that.
“What the fuck is he doing here!?” My father’s eyes flashed with rage as Devlin stepped forward and my father’s gaze locked on the devil’s intimidating stare.
“He’s helping me. We’re going to get you out.” I tried to keep my voice calm.
“I don’t want any help from a fucking Windsor.” He slammed the phone down—then he got up and walked away.
“Daddy! No!” I screamed, jumped up, and beat on the glass with the palm of my hand. “Daddy, don’t go—we have more time!”
It was too late. My father didn’t even look back at me as he was led towards his cell. The guard in the visiting area came over to tell me not to hit the glass, but Devlin stopped him in his tracks with a menacing glare.
Tears filled my eyes and I turned to my only source of comfort—the devil. He wrapped his arms around me. He held me tight as the tears destroyed the makeup on my face.
“He didn’t want to see me…” I felt my cries turning into sobs.
“It’s okay. You know the wound is deep between our families.” Devlin exhaled into my ear. “Let’s get out of here.”
Devlin led me towards the lobby and then we walked out of the prison to his waiting car. I might not have gotten to see my father as much as I wanted, but the visit confirmed my greatest fear—prison was going to kill my father. There was no way he could survive in that den of murderers, rapists and thieves. He didn’t belong there. He didn’t belong there at all.
I’ll do anything to get my father out of that hell—I’ll do anything to make sure my brother doesn’t end up in a cell next to him.