I enjoyed playing chess and if there was one thing I learned it was the fact that you didn’t have to be the strongest or most powerful piece to make a strong impact.
“Since I’m considered a Bishop, does that give me a certain level of leeway that would allow me to get away with certain minor indiscretions that others may not get away with?”
His eyes captured mine before he answered. “You’re my daughter. It means you have certain diplomatic privileges that would shield you from harm and punishments that others may face. If anyone threatens to bring harm to you again, I can assure you they will know why I’m the head of this organization.”
I nodded. I believed I liked him. I also believe I had just seen his devil peek out and say hello.
“I’ll set up a time and place to meet to conduct the DNA testing to ease your mind, but I can assure you, Patrena, I have no doubts that you are my daughter,” he assured me.
I believed him, but I didn’t want there to be anymore unanswered questions about my past. I stepped away from my chair and rounded the table to Sophia. She stood at my approach and offered me her hand to shake, but I wasn’t interested in a handshake.
Smack!
The blow sent a spark of hot pain through my palm that I enjoyed because it meant that bitch’s face was on fire. The quick knee I put in her stomach caused spit to fly out of her mouth before she doubled over in pain.
She was lighter than I was, so she would be carrying my hand print for a few days. I prayed that my knee had done its job and had at least cracked a rib or two. The licks were so sound they had knocked that bitch’s hair from the bougie up-do style she’d been sporting.
“Awww! Oh. My. God,” she managed to blow out her words. She was folded over the table holding her face and stomach while moaning and grumbling like I had shot her.
“You’re crazy just like your mother!” she pushed out through winded breaths.
I bent at the waist, lowering to her level to ensure she could understand my words. “That’s for what you did to Tywin, you nasty child-molesting bitch. He’s with me now, so whatever ideas you have in that twisted up brain of yours, you better put them in order or me, smacking the taste out of your mouth, will be the least of your worries. If Arlo wasn’t here, it would take every guard in this place to pull me off your ass.”
“Get away from me, you crazy bitch!” she yelled, stumbling back when she saw I wasn’t backing off and her brother hadn’t moved to help her out.
Not even the lurking guards I had forgotten about had stepped up to lend her a hand. I believed Arlo was the only reason she was still breathing. From what I knew of the Vallins, if Tywin really wanted to find her, he would have.
She took a few more steps away from me, holding her face and fussing under her breath. I may have started a war with my aunt, but hitting her had made me feel better. Why the hell else did she think I had asked Gemini about being shielded from punishment? Although I hardly knew him, I got the sense that he would protect me from her and possibly over her if it came down to it.
I returned and stood at Tywin’s side before taking his hand. He kissed the palm of the hand I had used to slap that hoe with. His eyes peered into mine.
“Thank you for defending my honor. That was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
When I finally managed to turn away from him, Gemini was standing there staring with a grin on his face as big as the one on Tywin’s.
“Mr. Vallin, Arlo can catch up on his studies anytime. We pay that school enough for him to take off whenever he wants to. Take him for the next few weeks, and I’ll work on getting something set up so you can spend more time with him.”
Sophia stopped dead in her tracks, her heels click-clacking against the patio floor. She turned on her stilted black heels, glaring back and forth between Gemini and Tywin.
“He’s not taking shit,” she spit out, pointing an evil finger at Tywin while staring daggers at her brother.
“Let me apologize now for what I’m about to do,” Gemini told Tywin and me. “I didn’t want to do this in front of you two. And I didn’t want to risk Arlo seeing it either,” he continued. He pointed at the guards and then at Sophia, whose mouth dropped wide open at his suggestion. A guard had a strong hold of each of her arms within seconds.
“Let me go! Gemini, don’t do this. Gemini! You let me go right now!” She cried and slung demands while struggling to break free from the men’s strong hold.
Gemini stared into Tywin eyes. “How long did she have you here as her prisoner?”
“About ten and a half months,” he answered without hesitation.
“Take her to the basement quarters,” Gemini ordered the men. Sophia’s screams lit up the sky, and I could tell by Gemini’s searching gaze he was hoping Arlo wouldn’t bear witness to his mother being carted away, screaming her throat raw, feet dragging, by two guards. The stilts she had been using for heels were left lying on the patio.
Tywin was standing there grinning his ass off, and it pleased my heart to know that he just may get the closure he needed from this situation.
Gemini stared at me and Tywin with an expression I couldn’t decipher.
“Tywin and Patrena, I can assure you I have never put my hands on a woman and never will. However, I don’t for one second condone what my sister did. I was set to let her tell me her side of the story, but the way she blatantly confirmed the accusations without remorse was enough. Besides, I know her.”
I wanted so badly to say what I thought of that bitch, but believed it was in good taste to keep my comments to myself since I had already given Gemini a little glimpse of my crazy.