Page 27 of The Stolen Dagger

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

KATHERINE

“ E milia,” my father breathed out, like he was relieved. “It’s so good to see you.”

I glared at him from where I stood in the middle of his lavish office.

When I didn’t respond, he continued. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman. I’m sorry we had to meet this way after all these years.”

Not wanting to look at his hopeful gaze any longer, my eyes traveled over the grand mahogany desk that separated us to the walls lined with books, then to the shiny, hardwood floor, and finally to the men dressed in black with weapons strapped to their hips.

They were giving major Doberman energy.

My eyes flickered to the portrait of my mother that hung on the wall like a shrine, and then back to my father. He stood there, unnaturally still, behind his desk.

“This is where you’ve been all this time?” I clenched my hands into fists at my side. “Hiding away in this fortress when I—when Mom—needed you?”

“Emilia,” he said, voice heavy with emotion, and adjusted the sleeve cuffs of his suit. “It’s more complicated than that.”

“But it’s not,” I argued, my voice hard as I tried not to lose it and break down in tears. “Why did you leave us?”

He sighed and shook his head “Emilia, I?—”

“It’s Katherine!” I shouted, sick of hearing that name come from his lips. I wasn’t that girl anymore. I wasn’t the same girl he abandoned.

His eyes widened at my outburst but soon softened. “Your mother …”

“Yes, my mother, who you abandoned.”

“I never meant to leave the way I did. It was complicated.”

“No, see, it wasn’t because you should have stayed and helped her. You should have been there when she passed, but you weren’t.”

“Her sickness, her death, it was very hard for me and?—"

“You don’t think it was hard for me, too? To not only lose my mom like that but also my father. I needed you then more than ever.”

“I regret what I did, Emilia. I do, but you don’t understand.

Once you’re a part of an organization like this,” he gestured to his men and Mack, “you can’t just walk away.

I tried for your mother, but it wasn’t enough.

And I had to decide to either stay with you both as she got worse or leave so that I might provide for her. So that she might survive.”

“But she didn’t survive, did she?”

“No, she didn’t.” His head dropped in shame.

“And I regret not being there for you both, but you have to know I might have left,” he raised his head as a lone tear fell down his cheek into his salt-and-pepper beard, “but I never abandoned you. I never left you unprotected. And now that I’m in this position, I have more power and resources at my disposal. I’m not the same man I once was.”

Not the same man? What did he mean by that? What did this all have to do with the dagger? How was he involved at all?

“I don’t understand,” I said, trying to piece what he’d said together. “And what about Adrian? Where does the dagger factor into all of this?”

My father sighed. “When my men informed me of your relationship with Adrian, I wasn’t happy. He was a punk, trying to rise in the ranks of the underworld. I knew he wasn’t good enough for you, but I figured if you were happy, then that was all that mattered.”

But I wasn’t happy .

My father continued, “I realized after everything, I had no right to get involved in the life you had made for yourself without me. Although I didn’t want to interfere with your life any more than was necessary, I never stopped checking in on you. Until the night you disappeared.”

He said that last part as if it pained him. My heart lurched in my chest at the possibility that my father might have actually cared, but I wouldn’t give myself the hope of it being true.

“As for the dagger,” he continued, “it was always in my possession, passed down from my predecessor, and his before him. As power-hungry as Adrian is, he had that weasel, Henry, steal it from me, and well, you know what happened after that.”

I did, and those three gunshots Adrian fired, killing Henry, would forever haunt me. But there was still one thing I didn’t understand.

“But what is so special about this dagger? Why is everyone so willing to kill for it?”

“It’s not just a dagger.” He shook his head a little and snickered. “It’s been passed down through generations of our organization. Each who possessed it controlled the city. They controlled all the underground deals, drugs, property treaties, and more.

The man with the dagger holds all the power in our world.

Our way of life may be filled with blood, betrayals, and death, but the dagger and its meaning are law.

Those eager enough to go against that law are either killed or rise to power with the dagger in hand.

That is why it is so important Adrian does not get it.

An underground world ruled by the likes of him will erupt into flames, leaving only chaos and ash in his wake. ”

My father’s words slammed into me like bricks, each one heavier than the last.

If the dagger held that much significance for criminals and drug lords as he described, then the thought of someone like Adrian possessing it and wielding that kind of power was terrifying.

Adrian had always been greedy, but this was more. This was obsession. This was madness. This was worse than I had imagined. Because if Adrian got the dagger, who would be able to stop him?

Then my father asked the question I’d been waiting for.

“Do you have the dagger?”

I debated lying to him, just in spite of everything, but this might be my chance to get rid of the damned thing, along with Adrian.

There was just one problem with that: Adrian still had Pearl.

“I know where it is,” I replied, but the relief on his face was short-lived when I added, “but I can’t give it to you yet.”

The armed men around my father shifted in frustration, tightening their grip on their weapons.

My father cleared his throat. “And why is that? ”

His voice was hard, but I wouldn’t expect anything less after learning of the dagger’s significance. It was obviously important to him and his men.

And I was the only person who knew where it was.

“Because Adrian still has Pearl. She was my neighbor. She helped me leave him that night. That is how Adrian found me. He hurt her because of me—because of this dagger. If I don’t give it to him, he’ll kill her. I can’t let that happen.”

I refused to let anyone else get hurt because of me. Pearl should have never been involved in this at all. It was my fault she was in this mess, and it was me who was going to get her out of it.

“I see,” he said, and the suit he wore stretched as he crossed his arms over his chest and scratched at his bearded jaw.

My father wasn’t happy, but I refused to put Pearl in any more danger. I couldn’t do that to her.

And if Adrian knew I had given the dagger to my father, he might kill her to get back at me, just because he could.

So, I had to give the dagger to Adrian. There was no other option.

Then an idea popped into my head.

“Unless …” I started, disrupting the silence that had settled in the room, “I make Adrian think I am handing over the dagger just to ensure Pearl’s safety, giving you enough time to get your revenge on the man who stole from you.”

“Interesting proposal.” My father’s dark brow quirked. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

The pieces were still coming together in my head, but with a bit of help, I think it could work. I just hoped the man in front of me, desperate to prove himself as the father I once knew, wouldn’t disappoint me again.

“I have a plan,” I said, “but I’ll need your help.” I glanced at the armed men who worked for my father and then to Mack. “I’ll need all of your help.”

My father nodded once. “I will agree to whatever plan you have, but I will ask for one thing in return.”

“The dagger? Yeah, I was going to give that to you anyway. I sure as hell don’t want it.”

A small smile quirked at the corner of his mouth, accentuating the subtle wrinkles there.

“The dagger, of course, but that wasn’t what I was going to say.

After this is all over, I’d like to have a relationship with you as my daughter.

I’d like to get to know the young woman you’ve grown into.

I’d like to be a part of your life, if you’ll let me.

I know I have a lot to make up for, but I’m more than willing to try for whatever you’re comfortable with. ”

Well, I wasn’t expecting him to say that .

The urge to tell him there was no way he would ever be a part of my life again was strong, but I could tell he meant every word he said just now. And I had to admit, there was a small part of me that wanted a relationship like that with him, too.

Unsure how to answer him in the midst of everything going on with the dagger and Adrian, I sucked in a breath to respond when he cut me off.

“You don’t have to answer now,” he said. “All I ask is that you think about what I’ve said. Take your time, but I will ask again when this is over, and the dagger is back where it belongs.”

I blinked away the tears that had formed from hearing the sincerity in his voice. I nodded my head in agreement.

I would think about his request, but first I had a dagger to retrieve and a psycho ex to ruin.