Chapter Three
Alex was eight when she first learned that her father was a … bad man. Well, not a bad man, but a man who was used to getting what he wanted, and he had his own rules for getting things done.
She had woken up from a nightmare. She couldn’t even remember what the dream was about, but it had scared her. Another reason why she would never watch horror movies, not even now. There was no way she was going to be scared, willingly. She’d needed to use the bathroom, and then after going to the toilet and washing her hands, she’d needed a drink. Being the big brave girl that she was, she’d gone downstairs to the kitchen to have a drink. A nice cold glass of milk, which her dad had told her would make her feel so much better.
It was halfway down the glass of milk when she saw the hooded figure in the reflection of the fridge. He’d been wielding a knife, ready to strike, and even young, she knew she should fear what was about to happen.
Her father had been there.
She later found out that her father had been watching the man sneak onto his property and had simply waited for the right moment to strike. What Liam hadn’t been prepared for was his little girl, scared and thirsty, coming downstairs to enjoy a drink.
From that day forward, he was honest with her. At first, she’d been afraid, but she knew there were bad people in the world. Her dad wasn’t the biggest bad person, and he cared in his own way. He told her so many stories of life on the streets, of the fears he had as a boy, and then how he used them to get to where he was today.
Alex watched as her father and her husband stood toe to toe, yelling at each other. Liam wanted her to come home, and the truth was, she wanted that as well. To come back home. Being married to Roman was … boring and difficult. This wasn’t a fairytale ending. Not that she’d ever sought that.
Alex had never planned her wedding. She’d never looked through catalogs and thought about the big day. She’d thought about a future where she was whoever she wanted to be, even though she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do or be. When she talked to teachers and career advisors, they always said there was time to figure it out. To find the path she wanted to take and to let it flourish properly.
Having a big family wasn’t a career, and it meant having a guy in her life, and she didn’t want to be with men. She had hated guys growing up because they were mean. She’d never had the slender body or the looks that men loved.
Mousy, curvy, and quiet. That was often how she was described. Even her dad had once said that she was Daddy’s little mouse. As a nickname, it wasn’t sweet or cute. It was kind of gross.
“Stop,” Alex said.
They didn’t stop.
She closed her eyes and stepped away, pacing. That car was waiting for her, to take her away, and they were arguing.
Alex hated this. They were not listening.
She glanced around the room and didn’t want to think of what actually happened here. A lamp was available. She reached for it and then threw it across the room so it hit the wall with a loud crash, breaking apart as it landed in pieces on the floor.
She breathed out a sigh of relief as silence filled the arguing.
“Will you both stop it? Or why don’t you get your dicks out and measure them? Ew, gross.” She scrunched up her face, realizing what she said. She’d overheard a couple of women downstairs talking about different men, and how they were always arguing. It just dawned on her what she said. “Please, ignore what I just said, because that is … you’re arguing here, and none of you have thought to ask me what I think.”
She looked at Roman and rolled her eyes. “I understand why you did it. You and your … family don’t believe in actually asking a woman her thoughts, right?” She turned to her father. “What do I do? What did I do wrong? You said I could go back to school. Why were they waiting for me?”
She felt tears fill her eyes, and she clenched her hands into fists.
“Honey,” Liam said, and she shook her head.
“No, Dad, being the calm one right now is not going to work.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I don’t want to be a pain. I don’t want to cause you guys any trouble, and I am so sorry, Mr. Greco, for doing that.” She licked her dry lips. “What did I do wrong?”
The men looked at her. Her father gazed at her with sadness, and she wasn’t sure how the others looked at her.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Antonio, of all people, said. “You’re a powerful woman now. A weakness to our enemies. You’re married to Roman Greco, who will one day be The Boss, and you’re Liam Smith’s daughter, who is a powerful man in his own right.”
“Roman has said all of this, but I am no one.”
Liam stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “Stop saying that, sweetheart. I was wrong about this. I put your life in danger.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, little mouse.”
She groaned. “What do I do?”
“You come home,” Roman said. “I will protect you. I have been protecting you.”