“I wouldn’t?” Guido rises from his chair. “You wouldn’t tell me what I demand to know?”
Our eyes meet. “No, sir.”
“Everyone has a limit.”
“Death is my limit, sir.”
Guido suddenly laughs and sits back down. “I spoke to your lieutenant. He told me you were the best enforcer he’s had these past three years because you’re like a robot. You wake up, you do your job, and you go to bed. There’s nothing else.”
“No, sir. Nothing else.”
“And yet you threw yourself in front of my daughter. Why?”
For the first time, I hesitate. I have no strong reason to offer why I did what I did. I saw her and I helped her. That’s all there is to it.
“Your lieutenant made it clear when I got my position with him that nothing and no one is more important than the survival of the Paramatti family. I saw a situation going south, and I intervened.”
“That’s it? That’s the only reason?”
I nod.
“You military types… I can never work you out. It’s like they burn all the humanity out of you. I’ve fought my fair share of battles, but I still maintain my soul. But you?” His eyes narrow. “Where is your soul?”
No answer comes. Whatever’s left of my soul is probably in the street of the last country I served in, discarded in the dirt.
“I’ll speak plainly.” Guido rests his elbow on the desk and interlocks his fingers. “What happened last week should never have happened. It’s the closest someone has gotten to my family in a few years. When I find out who, I will not stop until I have erased part of their existence.” Anger licks at his words. “But it’s put me in a precarious position, and I need someone to keep an eye on my daughter. An eye that will not wander. An eye that will not hesitate to lay down their life to protect her, do you understand me?”
I do. I’m being promoted from enforcer to personal bodyguard. Slowly, I nod.
“I need her safe. She is my daughter and my heir; do you understand? I need you to be her shadow, her confidant, and her protector until I sort this situation and bring the culprit down. I can’t spare anyone else, and, given your actions and history, you’re more than qualified.”
“If that’s what you need, sir, then I’m happy to.”
Guide rises. “Then swear it. Swear your loyalty to me, the Don of the Paramatti Empire. Swear you will serve my interests and my interests alone. You will protect my daughter from everything and anything that tries to harm her, from any wandering eye that threatens to soil and ruin her, and even from herself. You work for me. You are loyal tome, understand? Her protection is your only task, and I don’t care how she complains or tries to sway you. Swear it.”
“I swear on my life and my duty that I will protect your daughter to the extent of my capabilities, to a standard you dictate. Nothing and no one will override those orders. My loyalty and my life is yours, Guido Paramatti.”
“Stray but even a little and I will have you executed. If any harm comes to her, I will have you executed. Her life is yours to protect, and your life is now in her hands. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Ultimately, it makes no difference to me in the end.
A job is a job.
Swearing loyalty to a mafia don is no different from swearing allegiance to a flag and country that sent me into hell for nearly two decades. My life is meaningless.
I’m just here to exist until my time is up.
“Good.” Guido sighs deeply as if a weight has suddenly faded from his shoulders. “You should go and introduce yourself.”
“Understood. Thank you, sir.”
“Mhm.” He waves me away and returns to his computer as I take my leave.
Aerin is busy on the second floor of the estate, sitting half cross-legged in the middle of the art room when I walk in.
She’s surrounded by paint pots and brushes and several glasses of muddy water, sitting with one leg stretched out and balancing the canvas she was working on.
There’s very little detail, just splotches of pain in various places and a sweeping yellow line across the middle.
