“What happened to him?”
“My father had a bad deal with a big power player, a real ballbuster. And that deal blew up in his face, and he ran away,” Lana answers me, and my blood runs cold in an instant. Fuck, I’m so afraid of asking this next question.
“Did your father ever mention with whom?” Please, dear lord that’s above, don’t let it be who I think she is going to reference.
“Dario.” Her voice uttered one word, and a chill runs down my body for all the wrong reasons. Lana doesn’t know that Dario is my motherfucking father, the head of the Vicious Vipers. All of my insides are on fire, and my heart is telling me to tell that to Lana, but my mind has a different idea. If I’m going to be honest with her, it will break her.
My father might be the reason her father ran away.
I try to regain some control of the situation by kissing her knuckles and by looking at them. When I look at her again, Lana has her brow furrowed. After a couple of seconds, which feels like hours, she breathes again.
“Did you have a good bond with your dad?” I ask her. A smile appears on her beautiful face—she is probably reminiscing.
“I did. Even though we lived far away, he always made sure to visit me regularly.”
“How did it turn that sour?”
“When I came back home to visit him, he was gone, and he emptied everything. The bank accounts, the house, everything was gone. That’s why I had to start over.”
“Why did he leave?”
“I have an idea,” Lana sits up on her knees and is now talking while fiddling with her hair.
“The time I visited before that, I heard him talk on the phone with Dario.” Even the slightest mention of that piece of shit makes me angry. “I couldn’t make out what Dario said, yet it was enough to make my father mad.” I nod at her to continue.
“He started talking about how his life is ruined, his private life is in shambles, and that he couldn’t forgiveme.” Her words could cut through glass, and I can see many emotions go through her. From shock to confusion to something that resembles anger. And worst of all, hurt.
“Lana, what did he mean by that?” I ask carefully.
“I really don’t know. I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in many years.”
“I’m going to be honest.” I sit up as well. “We think that the man who has been following you is your father.” Lana’s left hand flies to her chest in shock.
“Why?” Her question is loaded with concern.
“A couple of days ago, I wanted to execute a hit on a man, but someone was there before me. He was a known pedophile, and the marks of your father were all around the place.”
“Oh dear Lord.”
“I haven’t seen that level of brutality in a long time. It was so precise, so gory, and brutal.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Lana bows her head and braces her hands on her knees. I make her head fall onto my lap, and now I’m stroking her hair.
“He also had a message.” I need to be fucking honest about this so that she will get the full magnitude of the situation. “On the wall, there was a message.”
“What?” I inhale deeply before I answer her question.
“Tell Lana to hum for me.” Lana grabs my hands and kisses them—a silent question to reassure her that nothing will happen to her.
“Don’t worry, Lana, I will never let anyone hurt you.”
“How can you guarantee that?” Her sincerity and hurt are killing me right now. I make her look at me, and my chest is aching for her.
“Besides that, I have the best team in the world. I fucking love you.” She gets up, takes my face in her hands, and kisses me. I revel in her full lips and soft touches. The feeling is otherworldly.
“I love you too,” she says to me as she places her forehead on mine. I guide her back to bed so we can lie down. I pull her front toward me and cover us with a blanket. Before she drifts off to sleep, I make a silent vow.
Leon, I will fucking kill you.
