"And what's that?" I had no interest in the house or any of the cars he'd had. I'd gladly sign over anything he left me right now.
"If we don't run the park together, all four of us, then the park goes to Uncle Carlos."
The name jolted me upright. I stopped breathing. I hadn't thought of that man since I left. Fabian took my shock for something else. He nodded.
"Right? I know. So we need you to come back and help us run things. Otherwise, he's taking it over come September."
I swallowed the tightness in my throat. I felt it slowly make its way down my chest to knot in my belly.
"Look, I know we weren't exactly nice to you growing up. We all kind of hated that Dad always called you his 'blessing baby'. But even you don't want to see his legacy be taken over by Uncle Carlos. He's horrible."
More than you knew.
"The park is shit. If we can take control, then we can fix things up and stop getting sued and have a decent establishment." He sat back. "Don't you want that? Surely you remember how it was. If you come back, a lot of injuries and deaths might be prevented.”
His dark brown eyes, the same ones I shared, pleaded for me to believe him.
"Nice fucking try. We both know that place was built with plastic and tape. You'd have to tear it down completely and start over." I scooted out of the booth and patted my thigh for Georgie to stand. "There's nothing that could get me to go back."
"Wait!" He lunged for me, snatching my wrist and holding me back. "What made you try to pawn your ring?"
I tugged my hand back."If you must know, I had a friend who needed the money more than I did."
"Do they still need it?"
I hesitated, considering the question. Johnny and his family took me in when I had nowhere to go. And after I left the safety of his house, he was still there, waiting to help me. He never once made me feel unimportant and giving him the money for his surgery was only a fraction of what he deserved.
I swallowed.
"Yes, and I'll just find someone else to sell the ring to."
"Or…" He stood. "You can come home, and I'll pay out of my own personal bank account to get your friend what they need. You can keep your ring."
My hand went to my necklace, and I clutched the one thing that kept me tied to my past life. My root. My dad giving it to me was one of the last memories I had of him before he died. I'd been ready to give it up before, but now that I had another option to help Johnny Blue, did I want to sell it?
It was dark now as we drove up the road to our family home in an Uber.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Fabian muttered as we came upon the flashing lights. News vans were parked by the gates, and a dozen or so people with cameras and microphones were outside, talking animatedly. "How did they know?"
I hung my head in my hands. This was getting worse by the second. Georgie, sensing my tension, began to bark, which only made things worse. The driver stopped the car at the gates, and the press crowded us. Fabian helped me out and kept his arm stretched out over me. He raised his hands and shooed them away. "There's no story here."
His words caused a frenzy. Their low mumbles turned into yells and screams as they hurled questions at us. I shrunk down, Georgie clinging to my side.
"Domino! Where were you?"
"Domino! Are you okay?"
"Are you here to take control of Risky Rush Park?"
"Are you pregnant?"
I was starting to feel suffocated and trapped, and when I felttrapped, I ran. Could Georgie and I burst through the crowd?
Suddenly, we heard sirens and saw flashing lights in the distance. The crowd turned as a large truck sped through the parking lot and slammed on its brakes as it turned sharply. The truck slid to a stop and someone leaped out. I couldn't see much over the crowd, but whoever had come to save me was massive.
"We're done here. The police are on their way. Let's not make this a whole thing,” the man said from somewhere in the sea of people. "Get the fuck out of my way." The last sentence was a growl, and it sent fear through my veins. Who was it?
The man made it to us, and my mouth fell open. Tall and muscular, like a fireman or maybe a professional football player, he was huge! His blond hair was slicked back, reminding me of a 1920s mobster, and he was covered in tattoos. It wasn’t until he swung his gaze over to me that I recognized the eyes. They were cruel and startlingly handsome. His irises a familiar gray.
