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I’d been wearing my seatbelt. So, at worst, I might have gotten a bruise from the belt and maybe a little bit of a burn fromthe air bags being as I was going forty miles an hour by the time I made it to the end of the driveway.

Kato’s fancy as fuck car would have been smashed. That would have at least given me a bit of satisfaction, fleeting as it might have been.

Where the hellamI going? I don’t have anyone other than my guys and Flora, and I’m not too sure Roman would be super happy about me showing up to the Pakhan’s house unannounced while driving the vehicle of a professional rival.

I can’t help but snort to myself at that phrasing. To be professional rivals would mean they would have to have some form of boundaries. And Kato – as well as Brix and Madd – just proved to me they have zero boundaries, especially when it comes to my bodily autonomy.

Just like when I was growing up and being groomed to be married to the man of my father’s choosing, just like the men who tossed money at me on stage, just like the men who would get a little too rough when they paid for my body.

It really shouldn’t surprise me – they’re mafia. Criminals. I’ve tried my whole life to pretend they’re not as sick as my father, but…aren’t they?

Before they knew the truth, without bothering to actually have an intelligent conversation with me, they decided how the rest of my life would look without a single word of input from me.

Because I’m a woman. I’m nothing more than tits and a pussy. I’m nothing more than a vessel for the heir of the next in the Antoniou line, just like every other woman in this criminal world of ours.

At least if I’d been born into a normal family, the kind who doesn’t sell drugs, weapons, or sex, I might have been treated like a human fucking being.

No matter how hard I fight them, the tears refuse to be held back and stream down my cheeks. My nose is running, and I highly doubt Kato keeps tissues – or a glove box full of napkins – in his car.

Turning onto a main roadway, I merge into traffic, still driving aimlessly while contemplating calling Flora. I need to keep from speeding considering that my ID is a fake, something Kato had forged for me. I haven’t had an active driver’s license since it expired two years ago.

Who am I kidding? Even if I got pulled over, I’m sure one Family or another have the cops in their pocket. They might very well call Kato to tell him exactly where I am.

I lift my chin and look in the mirror, turning my head one way then the other as I wonder where they inserted the tracker. Behind my ear? In my neck?

My luck, it’s somewhere I won’t be able to find, thus I won’t be able to remove.

As traffic becomes a little congested and I’m forced to slow to a near stop, I drop my head against the rest and grab my phone from inside my bag.

After hitting Flora’s number, I put my phone on speaker and set it on my lap.

“What’s up?” she answers after three rings.

“You busy?” I ask, fighting to keep the emotion out of my voice.

She’s quiet a few beats then says, “What happened? And who am I killing?”

I huff a watery laugh. “No killing. Not yet anyway. Meet me for drinks? And maybe pay for them since I don’t currently have a single penny on me.”

Yeah. The guys are all about supporting me and have yet to actually give my cash to me, yet I have zero access to any accounts, no credit cards, not even a checkbook.

Although I’m pretty sure there isn’t a bar in the state – or country – who would accept a check for some booze.

“Place and time,” she says.

“Now and wherever.”

“Salty’s?” she offers.

I frown at the cross street as I pass by and tell her, “I can be there in ten minutes.”

“Twenty for me. See you there. You need me to see if Daddy has anyone in the area to keep an eye on you until I get there?”

Not that she can protect me but where Flora goes, her sinfully sexy guards go. She’s had the same guards for years, one of them since we were around ten, making him somewhere in his thirties or even forties.

She can deny it all she wants, but I’m pretty sure Flora has been crushing on at least one of the two for years. Hell, knowing her, she might have already slept with one of them. My girl refuses to deny herself anything, and that includes pleasure.

“I’m fine. Doubt anyone will be looking for me at Salty’s. Hell, I doubt anyone thinks I would leave the estate after our little announcement.”