“Like I said,” he says, reaching out to pat my cheek. I flinch. Still, he strokes my cheek.Pat, pat, pat.“I was at my buddy’s. I can’t control other people. Hell, I can’t even control my own daughter.”
Rage twists like a knife in my belly. It hurts. “How can you be such a monster?”
“I’m not a monster,” he corrects, unhesitant. “I’m just a man in need, honey. Desperate men sometimes have to resort to desperate measures. You should understand that by now.”
“Yousick—”
“Uh-uh,” he tuts, his head shaking. “You don’t want to go there, honey. You can keep playing at this, keep being a bitch—” His hand slams down on the counter, making me jump. My eyes burn with shameful tears. “—or you can make the smart choice. You can do right by the man who’s kept you fed and clothed all your life.”
My nails sear crescent moons into my palms.
“I want money. Monthly payments.” I say nothing as he pulls out the pad I take orders on out of my apron. As he scrawls a figure down that leaves me gaping. “It isn’t much to assureyour new family’s safety, is it? They mean enough to you to turn on your own father. This sum should be nothing.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Crazy,” he echoes. “Maybe. Do you really want to find out? Maybe I’ll go after Darya next. Or the lovely Gela?”
Words fail me. My mouth, unable to close, goes dry.
“Feel free to tell your husband. Like I said, I’m not fucking scared of him. All I need to do is make a phone call. If I go down, it won’t be alone. Remember that.”
I don’t recognize this man in front of me. This can’t be my dad. It can’t.
“In fact, why don’t you give me the first payment now? You are your mother’s daughter. I’m sure you have some nuts squirreled away.” His smile is vicious. “Come on, Nellie. Don’t make me wait.”
In a haze, I drift behind the counter. To the lockbox I keep in the bottom drawer, in a trick compartment, Mom once put away money for when Christmas came around.
He knows. For three months, I’ve been saving every penny I could. Saving to be able to buy the café outright from Iosif one day, so there was nothing transactional left between us.
That dream withers away as I hand over the stack of bills.
“Thatta girl,” Dad coos, patting my cheek again. His hand squeezes mine. Even this isn’t a gesture of affection; it’s a threat, isn’t it? “That’s not so hard, is it? You could’ve saved everyone a lot of grief if you’d just been good the first time around.”
He nods, satisfaction effusive, and his greedy hands count out the bills.
All I can do is watch.
Blood pools inside me where the shards of my broken heart fall to my stomach.
“See you next month.”
The door closes behind him with a happy jingle.
It may as well be a funeral dirge.
I run to the bathroom and drop to my knees, throwing up the contents of my stomach.
***
Stepping into the penthouse is always like stepping through a portal to me. I leave the cold outside when I step into the warmth, where the laughter is easy, and affection is unconditional.Home,I think of it now.
The first thing I see is Nadya holding court, snuggled into a throne of pillows. She gesticulates madly with a single arm. “—Miron’s fault!” she’s shrieking. “He tried to jump the fucking fence. That’s when his stupid pants got caught. He wouldn’t’ve hung there if—Janella!” Nadya’s whole face lights up as soon as she sees me. “Will you come back me up? Iosif won’t believe me.”
“And betray the brotherhood?” Iosif objects, pelting her with popcorn from the bowl in his lap. “Reason with her, Nell.”
When his eyes meet mine, they soften. He doesn’t just see me, he sees through me. How long can I hide this from him?
“I know better than to get between you two!” I nudge a lilt to my voice, manufacturing joviality. “But it sounds like I missed a great story.”
