Page 121
Story: Climbing Everest
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.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163