Chapter 8

Gabriella woke up slowly, feeling well rested for the first time in weeks. The dream that was plaguing her—the one she could never remember the specifics of but always left her horny and frustrated when she awoke—had finally given her a night off. Well, maybe it hadn’t, but she felt alert, and her body wasn’t operating in overdrive. She could start her day without reaching for her bedside table in a panic, only to quickly follow it with a shower so none of the Alpha enforcers roaming her father’s estate would know what she did in the morning.

An Alpha’s sense of smell was by far the worst thing she had ever encountered, and she hated it. Hated that they could know things about her she wanted to keep private except for one Alpha, but he had been avoiding her.

That was about to change, of course, and she smiled to herself, climbing out of bed as she remembered the night before.

She had ordered Alessandro to return with Matthew the next day, and she had faith the Alpha would obey. Of course, she wouldn’t ask Matthew why he was avoiding her. She knew the specifics. Fear that she would be afraid of his brutality? More like he would need to be afraid she was going to climb him like the great big tree he was because she wanted him.

She had never been one to want to climb up trees, but she would gladly kick off her heels and give it a try if Matthew was that tree.

She considered that and what she would wear for the day, as she carefully made her bed. She had been adding more and more pillows to it and even ordered herself a new mattress topper. Her bed felt too hard, pillows not sturdy enough, and she needed more blankets. The ones she currently had laid across the bed were all rough and scratchy. She wanted softer things, warmer things. Her entire room needed an upgrade, in fact, and she had put her week away from her father to good use, enjoying online shopping.

New curtains, new comfortable chairs, new towels for her bathroom, and even a new rug. All of it needed to be softer, cozier. She wanted richer, deeper colors as well. She wanted it to be perfect, to feel perfect. Her room was her safe space, where she could tuck herself away and sink in. She needed every part of it to be comfortable, to work, to be in its proper place.

More pillows. She would need more pillows. And hopefully, her first few orders would start to arrive soon.

With her bedding properly managed, with as much as she could do with what she had on hand, Gabriella moved onto the next part of her morning. A shower, skincare, hair, then makeup. It was a routine she had stuck with, even when she was avoiding everyone else, to the point she could now assemble herself quickly and efficiently. While she could understand why her father found it acceptable to meet with his men wearing his pajamas and bathrobe, she would avoid doing such things ever again in the future.

She had an image to create in their minds, one which spoke of power and poise and intelligence. Seeing her in lacy lingerie with a bare face and her hair held back by a sleep mask certainly wasn’t it.

More lingerie. She would need to order more sets of matching lingerie and robes, on the off chance that, despite her best efforts, such an event did repeat itself. Everything down to the underwear and even the slippers on her feet and the face mask over her eyes should match. Perhaps also a hair wrap. All of it should look perfect, so she was always at least somewhat assembled.

Her alarm clock—something she had been relying on to wake her at a normal hour for the past few weeks—rang just as she was finishing zipping up the side of her dress. Her father would be sitting at the table to have his breakfast in about fifteen minutes, and she wanted to be there when he entered. She glanced at herself in the mirror, then looked down at the perfume bottle on her bathroom countertop. She had been liberally spraying it every morning, trying to cover up any lingering scent, courtesy of her dreams, but this morning, she felt no need.

In fact, she rather liked the idea of smelling like only her soaps and lotions, with nothing added. Well, her lotions had a scent, but her perfume had been smelling almost clinical, which had to be the alcohol, although it had never bothered her before. She would skip it because she had nothing to hide for once, and hopefully, the dreams would continue to stay away.

“Leave your ego here, girl,” she told herself in the mirror.

If she wanted to get what she needed from her father, she would have to apologize to him and request his help. It was the only way forward to figure out what was going on. What he was keeping from her.

And she needed to know what the hell was going on and to earn herself more freedom in her own decisions.

She was sitting at the table, sipping her coffee, when her father entered the dining room. He almost froze when he spotted her, then shook his head and sat. His meal was quickly placed before him by his cook, hers after. She didn’t touch it, however, and continued flipping through her phone.

Alessandro had yet to text her back. Disappointing. Of course, she had only informed him she would be staying in for the day and working under her father, but she had also noted that she might require his presence. She had expected to at least receive a confirmation message if nothing more.

Perhaps she should have texted Matthew and demanded his presence.

“You look to be feeling better,” her father commented as he picked up his silverware. “Are you better?”

“I am,” she confirmed and looked up at her father with a smile. It was fake, of course, one which she had used in college when some idiot had tried to mansplain things to her. “I had a wonderful talk with Uncle Toto last night, and he helped to open my eyes.”

The clang of silverware onto the plate was startling, and Gabriella lifted an eyebrow as she focused on her father. Interesting that mentioning her beloved uncle’s name would cause such a reaction. That was good to know and something to keep in her back pocket the next time her father tried to force his will on her.

“And what did he help you to see?”

Her father’s tone was casual, but he was visibly struggling to not clench his teeth. This was very interesting. Particularly given her discussion with her uncle about a doctor and finding her own. Perhaps it was something her uncle had brought up to her father before.

“That you’re right, Papa,” she answered, setting down her mug. “I don’t understand politics. I think I know how this all works and perhaps I’ve simply imagined things in my head, about power and how to run this city but I want to know learn. I want to know more about the business, all your various ventures and properties and how it all comes together.”

That was how it would start, with the businesses. The things everyone else knew about. The various things her father sold and bought and traded. His dealings. What he had his hand into. Maybe even some of the finances.

And then she would broach into the secret things, like the Alpha Program no one seemed to want her to know more about.

Her father nodded, picking up his fork, then gestured with it toward her. “You’re right. You need to learn more about the business. And the finances. I trust my accountants, you understand, but you went to school to get your degree in this sort of thing. I want to know if there’s more we can do, to keep more in our pockets. I should have already had you looking at the finances from the start. You can start there today, looking at the books while you learn about each of the properties.”

Gabriella forced herself to stifle the smile blooming over her face and shifted it into a serene one. For him to not only agree with her but to also admit his own small failings? It meant he was fully in approval of the idea of her learning the business side of things. Once she started following the money, she could follow the money to the Alpha Program and see who was being paid, what went into research, and from there...

One step at a time.

“Whatever you think it best, Papa but I agree that learning both about the properties and their uses while studying the finances would be beneficial. I’ve always preferred to approach things with the math in mind.”

“That’s my girl.” He picked up his phone. “I’ll have everything laid out for you in the meeting room beside my office. Should see about putting a desk in there for you as well, unless you think you would prefer the big table to spread out the books on.”

“Oh, no, Papa, you don’t need to have everything moved into the meeting room,” Gabriella insisted, trying to keep her tone casual and from being rushed. “I can work in your office. You don’t need to have anyone move all the books. Surely, that would be too much work.”

“No, nonsense,” her father said with a shrug, lifting his phone to his ear. “You should have your own workspace beside mine and that way you’re able to spread out while you work.”

Gabriella lifted her cup to her mouth to hide her grimace.

While she had no intention of searching her father’s files and cabinets and all of the books, she had wanted to become familiar with the space to study each area and analyze where certain things were hidden. If he was only allowing her access to certain things all curated specifically for her eyes, it meant she wouldn’t stumble upon something that could gain her an invitation to learn more.

Two steps forward, three steps back and a side path forcing her to detour. Amazing how quickly her luck could turn.

She had one last subject to broach, but she was uncertain of it. Perhaps she had already gained plenty, with access to her father’s files, his books, his properties, and even an office space of her own. There hadn’t even been a mention of any more dates. That was enough for one day. She would need to stop pushing any further.

Except her father had mentioned the idea when they fought, and she was tired of pretending like she was a complete idiot.

“Two of my men are moving the files now,” her father announced as he set down his phone. “By the time we are finished with breakfast, you will have plenty to sink your teeth into. Should you have any questions, I will be in my office all day but I suspect you will keep searching until you answer the questions for yourself.”

Gabriella forced herself to smile, but she couldn’t bring herself to focus on her breakfast. Not when something was pulling at her stomach. She thought about mentioning it. After all, it was his idea! She would simply agree with his previous decision—reminding him of it, really. She wouldn’t be pushing too hard, just to bring it back up again.

“Alright, Gabriella, out with it.” He let out a sigh, setting his cup down and gestured with his fork. “You’ve been staring off into the distance. What is it you want to ask.”

She had a few thousand things she wanted to ask, but she was playing careful. This was an invitation. She needed to tread delicately.

“When we... last week, you mentioned how I should probably learn how to use a weapon for myself. I would like to do so. I can have one of the Alphas show me and you mentioned before that I am your weakness so why not—”

Her father laughed, and she bit her lip to keep from snapping at him.

What was so comical about the idea of her with a weapon? She had been playing innocent, trying to lure him into the idea, mentioning how he thought her weak. He hadn’t been opposed to the idea before, but that was in the moment. Was she asking to actually learn too much?

“A weapon in your hands? Gabriella, your lessons of politics would be pointless if I gave you the ability to shoot anyone who upset you.”

“She should still know her way around a gun, Boss. Know how to use it and at least not hurt herself with it.”

Gabriella blinked as Matthew entered the room. The dining room was bright from the sunlight, and she blinked more, amazed. She had never before seen him in anything other than darkness, save for the militaristic white lights of the Alpha Compound. It was a wonder what good lighting could do because the man who was normally gloomy and growly was smirking at her as he nodded and shoved his hand into his pocket. He looked relaxed, completely at odds with how he had been the last time she ran into him.

“Ahh, Matty,” her father greeted and gestured to the chair beside his. “Please, join us for breakfast.”

“I’ve already eaten, Boss, but my seat, if I took it, would actually be beside your lovely daughter, if you remember.” Matthew shot her a grin, and she forced herself to look at her plate and pick up her fork.

Her breakfast had been sitting there untouched, but it was a way to give her something to focus on.

“Ahh, formalities,” her father answered as he laughed, gesturing with his fork again. “It is good to see you again. With my daughter hiding up in her room, I have not had cause to see you. Did you spend your downtime busy?”

“Spent the time beating the shit out of everything my fists came into contact with, Boss,” Matthew answered and then coughed. “Apologies for the language, Miss Santorini.”

She didn’t look up from her plate. If she would have, her heart would skip a beat, and that would be a reminder to take her meds. If she went to do so, she would have to grab them from her bedside table, where a certain drawer had sat untouched that very morning. She would then be tempted to touch said drawer, and Matthew was in the building, who would overhear whatever she was up to, which would be—

“Gabriella, I have to take this phone call,” her father announced, standing and holding the phone to his ear again. “Do not wait for me to finish eating. Your research materials are awaiting you.”

She didn’t bother to fake a smile as he headed out of the room and turned down toward his office, one he would not allow her to work in, which likely held all the files she needed access to.

The good thing about her father was that he was old school. There would be no looking through devices and hard drives to find out what she needed. Everything would be on a piece of paper or in a notebook or in a file somewhere. The bad thing was, she needed access to it, and he seemed to never leave it these days unless he was heading to an event, in which case she would be in attendance with him.

Maybe she was just imagining it. Maybe he wasn’t keeping things from her. Maybe there wasn’t more to it. But until she had confirmation, she would wonder and worry.

The father she remembered never would have allowed someone to shoot at his guys and not demand answers from everyone around him. That, along with demanding she start dating immediately—the fact that he kept calling it his table rather than theirs and even the secrets surrounding the Alpha Program that no one was allowed to talk to her about—was too much. Too many questions. Too many unknowns.

She needed answers. Somehow.

But first...

Matthew moved into her line of sight as he stepped behind her father’s chair and set his hands on it. The chair looked tiny compared to his large size, almost comically so, but she was too busy taking him in to laugh. She hadn’t allowed herself to really study him the first time he entered the room, but no one else could see the look over she was now giving him. He was beautiful, and she wanted to soak him in.

Except he was smirking at her, and she didn’t like it.

“Your absence has been noted,” Gabriella commented as she set down her silverware and picked up her coffee.

She was almost done with her drink and wanted a refill, but she wouldn’t move from her chair. Something about this, about him at the other end staring her down, felt like a tease, like something more.

“You haven’t required me this week,” Matthew pointed out and raised his eyebrow. “A tantrum in your room?”

“You know what I am talking about,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sending the rest of your team to accompany me on my dates but refusing to come yourself? Care to explain yourself?”

“I will not.” He grinned at her, completely at ease, in a way she hadn’t seen before.

She kind of liked it on him, although she somewhat missed the intense growling while he stared down at her. She hoped that growling wasn’t gone for good.

Gabriella took a deep breath before setting her coffee cup on the table and smiling up at him. So tall so handsome so strong and so very...

She needed to stop thinking about this. Needed to stop her attraction to him. Needed to do something. Needed to clear her mind and get back to the task at hand. “Is the rest of your team just around the corner?”

“No.”

She raised her brow. “No? So, you came to the estate because?”

“Because you told Alessandro you missed me.”

Gabriella snorted—absolutely unladylike—and rolled her eyes.

Oh, Alessandro... He wouldn’t. She knew he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t dare.

“Ah, I do believe your friend may have stretched the truth. It was more along the lines of, I noticed that you were avoiding me, which tells me that you’re keeping something from me. Would you like to tell me what that is?”

Matthew’s smile faded, and he shifted to stand upright, his hands going to his sides. She had meant it as a tease because she hadn’t expected him to admit he didn’t want her to fear him. Particularly given his previously good mood.

Was everyone keeping secrets from her?

“What is it you need to tell me?” she asked in a firm tone. “Or is this another secret my father is keeping from me?”

Matthew’s brow quirked, and he shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder toward where her father had disappeared. He looked at her and took a deep breath, only to freeze. As he flared his nostrils again, he closed his eyes as he kept breathing in. She didn’t know what he was doing or what he could smell, but she wouldn’t let this go, whatever it was.

He finally opened his eyes, then swallowed before stepping toward her. “You’re not afraid of me.”

She shook her head, not looking away from him as he drew closer and closer.

He was concerned about why she wasn’t afraid of him.

“You should be afraid of me. The things I can do with my hands, the things I’ve done to—”

“To my father’s enemies,” she finished for him and lifted her chin. He was so close that she had to, but she also wanted to meet his eyes. She wanted to exude she wasn’t afraid. “You’ve done terrible things to my father’s enemies. To my enemies. But you wouldn’t harm me, would you?”

He had stopped only two chairs away, and shook his head while glancing down. A smile curled at the corner of his lips. “No, Miss Santorini. I would never hurt you.”

“Gabriella,” she corrected and smiled back at him. “You should call me Gabriella.”

“Gabriella,” he repeated.

She forced her eyes to stay open, to not close at the delicious sound of her name on his lips. Her heart skipped, and it had been pounding loud enough that an Alpha would easily sense it and notice that beat missing. Did he know what the sound of her name on his lips did to her?

She really hoped not because she wouldn’t be able to explain herself if she had to. It made no sense. She barely knew him, yet the trust she had in him and the desire she had for him was growing every second.

“The boss said he was setting things up for you. Shall we go see if it’s ready?”

He offered her his hand, and Gabriella looked down at it, considering. Touching him meant she might die, but to miss the opportunity to touch him was unfathomable.

“Let’s go see.”

Gabriella stared at the mountain of file folders, books, journals, maps, and receipts, uncertain of what she was even looking at. She knew her father kept everything, of course, and that there was a wide variety of garbage shoved into a number of his old storage boxes, but this was absurd.

“Uhh...” Matthew was still standing in the doorway, unmoving, while she continued walking around the large meeting room table.

Originally, she had feared her father would barely let her see anything, but she had a new theory, one she wanted to share with Matthew.

“Close the door,” she instructed. “How many listening devices are in this room?”

“One,” Matthew answered before moving to a picture hanging on the wall. He shoved it to the side, revealing something that must have been purchased back in the nineties. “But it’s only turned on before meetings the boss wants to record. This room and his office, it’s not connected to any of the other security feeds and nothing online. What goes on in here stays in here, unless the boss wants to keep a record of something.”

“Good.” She crossed her arms, turning and leaning against the table, and studied Matthew.

He had let the picture frame fall into place and was staring at her, clearly waiting on what she had to say.

She couldn’t believe the words were about to come out of her lips. It was one thing to think it but something else entirely to voice her thoughts and fears. She had hinted at them with her uncle, had even broached the subject with Alessandro the night before. But with being face-to-face with the possibility as Matthew was by her side, she needed to say it. To question it out loud so that it could be disproven or confirmed.

“This is busywork,” she said, gesturing at the meeting room table. “I tell my father that I want to learn more about the family and the business and politics he talks about and who does what and where and when, and he even goes so far as to offer me full access to the financials. I thought this was a step forward, an invitation to learning more, to having more responsibility because ever since that night when I met the Alphas, I’ve spent all my time basically going on dates with idiots and being told what I can’t do. He says that I can start learning things, making more use of my time and then he gives me this.”

She turned and looked at it all, shaking her head. Everything she wanted to learn and everything she needed to know was not here. Her father’s words about knowing she would research her own answers before asking him a question flashed back into her mind, and she laughed to herself, still taking it all in. He had been joking at her expense and, in essence, telling her not to ask questions.

This wasn’t records and financials and books. This was a mess that needed sorted—or, better yet, burned.

“My father is keeping things from me and keeping me from things. He spoke about me learning from him, becoming part of the family and taking my place at his side but all he has done is waste my time and distract me. I know nothing about anyone or anything and rather than teach me, he gives me all of this and insists I know nothing about politics. Politics? I don’t need politics to tell me that the guy with the biggest pockets and the biggest guns makes the decisions. That used to be my father. Has that somehow changed or?”

Turning to Matthew, she felt exacerbated and wrung out. This was the point where he would deny it all, tell her it was for her own good or something like that. He had always been loyal to her father and, apparently, owed his life to him. He barely knew her, despite whatever little attraction thing they had, and that might have even been her imagination. Even though he owed her nothing, Alessandro was his right hand, and he was comfortable enough to confirm her suspicions. She had to hope Matthew felt comfortable enough to do the same.

“Don’t tell my father I—”

“If you’re wanting to learn more about the business and the family, then you’re not going to find it in these pages. You could start by asking me.”

His face was completely blank, his eyes unfocused.

She waited for him to say something more, to offer something else, but he was still as stone. What she wanted to learn was definitely not in these pages, but she had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t tell her about it, either.

Not yet. Perhaps soon. But first...

She opened her lips to speak, to ask him about what his role was for her father, how much he knew, but she stopped. Businesses, the assets, those were all things she could learn in time. There was something more important she needed to know. She shouldn’t ask, couldn’t ask but must. He would probably lie to her but maybe not.

He had promised her he would do anything for her, anything at all. He had vowed that any Alpha in the room would obey any command, even die for her. She had to ask. She had to know.

Yet she already suspected the answer.

“Who are you loyal to?” Gabriella turned to Matthew.

“Who am—I am loyal to the Santorini Syndicate. Are you questioning if I—”

“No, Matthew. That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking who you are loyal to, within this family. Are you loyal to your team? To the Alpha Program? To my father?”

She took a deep breath.

There was one more option she hadn’t listed because she wanted him to reach a conclusion. She wanted to know if the possibility even crossed his mind and if she could trust him enough to share it. No, well, it was too late. Stupidly, she already did trust him. What she needed to know was whether he was worthy of it.

“My loyalty has forever been to my team,” Matthew said. He was tense, and he glanced toward the wall, toward her father’s office, then back at her. “And now, my loyalty is also to you in a way I cannot describe.”

“Can’t or won’t?” she asked.

“Both.”

His answer was honest. She would admit that.

“You didn’t mention my father.” She raised a brow. “Are you loyal to my father?”

He peered at the floor and then looked back up. His jaw was hard and set, and he looked at the papers before pushing off the wall and walking toward the table. He stopped at the first chair and pulled it out, then moved to the one beside it, taking a seat. Almost immediately, he tried to relax into it, although that seemed impossible given his large size. He was too bulky, too awkward.

How strange that her father seemed to have no chairs large enough to fit any of the Alphas. She would have to change that.

“What do you know about Alphas?” he asked, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

Gabriella moved around to take the seat, pondering his question.

It wasn’t necessarily what she knew but what she had surmised. It wasn’t really something that Betas thought about or talked about. What was the point in having any thoughts about something you didn’t understand?

“I know that they’re stronger than the rest of us,” she answered, resting her forearm on the table. “I know they need an Omega, or they’ll go insane. I know they put off pheromones that make Betas uncomfortable. And I know that most people consider Alphas to be idiots for losing themselves to their emotions.”

“Not emotions.” Matthew shook his head. “Biological need. Like, you have a need to eat, right. Would you listen to your body if you were hungry?”

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yes?”

“And how would you respond if you were starving. I mean, truly starving. Like, feeling sick, might pass out, desperately need to eat something or you might actually die. Someone offers you a meal but it’s just out of reach. How would you respond?”

“Uhh... I guess I would destroy anyone and anything in my way, keeping me from eating.”

She had never experienced a hunger like that, but she could try to imagine.

“That’s it.” Matthew nodded. “You have a biological and basic need to eat to live. And just like that, Alphas have a basic need for...”

“For Omegas?”

“For their Omega. Only their Omega can sate them.”

She didn’t know what to say or how to respond. So, Matthew needed an Omega, his Omega, to calm the raging beast inside of him, or he would completely lose his shit and die. Amazing how easily an Alpha could be defeated because of their natural needs.

“Alright?” She tilted her head. “So, what does this have to do with loyalty?”

“Without it, without our Omega, we are nothing. We destroy everything. We don’t have a choice. Without that basic need soothed, the pheromones, they take over. Our rage builds, our strength as well. We destroy anything and everything in our path until we are stopped. Many of us end up becoming a danger to the public, if we don’t find our mate in time. We can’t control when it happens, but once it does... if we’re lucky, we get sedated and locked up until we burn through the pent-up hormones. And if we’re not, we end up dead.”

She said nothing as he leaned back in his chair and studied her. He was clearly trying to decide how much more to tell her, and she had to wonder what in all he was even allowed to. The other Alphas around her hadn’t said much about it. She didn’t know what conclusion she was supposed to draw from any of this besides the simple fact they were involved, and it helped.

“And so, my father’s Alpha Program somehow helps?” she asked.

“The Alpha Program, what it offers, is a serum. An injection. I don’t know if it blocks things or adds things or what but the end result is that with the serum, we don’t go into rut. We can control ourselves—and, yes, our pheromones and hormones go up, but they don’t tip over. It keeps us from becoming that destruction. Keeps us sane.”

It sounded like the serum pushed back against and stopped nature. Given how deadly Alphas were, she had never seen an Alpha in rut, but it was often the talk of news reports when it did happen. It had even happened as she was in graduate school.

All those Alphas had been sedated. One had killed themselves while contained.

“The truth is, without it, I would probably be dead. That’s what your father gives us. Gives all of us. We have control of our lives, of our senses.”

She could see it now, could see why her father had his loyalty—to a point.

“Have you ever gone into a rut?”

He was one of the oldest in her father’s program, so she had to guess that if any of his Alphas had suffered setbacks, he would be one.

“Yes,” he confirmed, not meeting her eyes. “I only survived because I was kept locked up and sedated for most of it but even then, I destroyed anything I could get my hands on. It’s not an experience I would ever what to go through again, a rut without a mate.”

No, he didn’t want to go through another rut, just a rut without his mate.

Suddenly, she felt lacking.

But this wasn’t about her—at least, not now. She wasn’t going to interrupt this lesson. Not when learning more about this had been one of her goals.

“You’re loyal to my father because of the serum.”

“Yes.”

His eyes were now locked onto hers, and she stared back as she continued.

“When I’m in control of the family, the Alphas will be loyal to me because of the serum.”

“No,” he answered quickly, then shook his head. “Yes, they will be loyal but not because of the serum.”

“Because I’m a woman?”

He laughed as he shook his head but returned his focus back to her. “I can’t explain it any further than that. You will have our loyalty.”

She didn’t know if she liked that, not knowing why all the Alphas would maintain their loyalty to her.

“Is it the same reason why you’re loyal to me?” She leaned forward.

Matthew suddenly looked down, at his hand resting on the table, and her eyes followed to see it was shaking.

She had seen that before, when she had demanded he bring in Morcan for questioning and the night in the hallway, when she had nearly thrown herself at him.

She had to wonder if it was the serum, how good something was, truly, if it stopped nature. Had to wonder how safe such a medication was if it was creating such a response.

“Matthew?”

He gazed up at her and shook his head. “The reason I am loyal to you is something you cannot understand but know without question that my loyalty to you supersedes all other loyalties. I will die for you. I will kill for you. I will destroy everyone who looks at you. I will serve you and only you. Do understand, Gabriella?”

His voice sounded haunted. Like he knew things that worried him.

For the first time, wariness slipped into her conscience. She was wary of what she did not understand and fearful of the unknown.

She nodded, still unaware of what she had done to earn such loyalty, but she wouldn’t question it. Not yet, at least. Not when she had so many other things to concern herself with. Not when questions needed to be answered.

“My father is wasting my time on dating and with these files. I think he’s hiding something from me. He has always been hiding things from me but I thought it was just this, his job, what he did. I thought that with my return, things would be different. He swore to me that there would be no more secrets. And I don’t know how to figure out what I don’t know.”

“Alright, well, you can’t exactly force him to speak.” Matthew nodded slightly, then tilted it and raised his eyebrows. “Well, I mean, I could torture it out of him but—”

“As much as I would love to watch you torture answers out of someone...” She smirked at the thought but reverted to neutral. “No. No torturing my father for answers.”

The thought of watching Matthew act on her behalf was nearly intoxicating. She couldn’t allow her thoughts to go down that path, however. Not right now.

“Alright.” He leaned forward. “So then what are you going to do in the meantime?”

Gabriella glanced at the papers and let out a long sigh. She, at the very minimum, couldn’t leave this untouched. Perhaps she would sort it while asking about what she saw. That would be a start, at least, on her education of who was who and who did what and where and when and how. More of the where, of course, but also the why and the what. Some answers to things. It would be a start.

But also something more.

“I want you to take me to the shooting range,” she said, standing. “I want to have my own weapon. I’m not a weak little girl, like my father thinks. I can take care of myself and I want to prove that.”

“You are far from a weak little girl, Gabriella,” Matthew insisted, and she looked down at him, only to have to lift her gaze as he stood beside her. “But yes, I’ll teach you the basics of how to shoot a gun.”

She wanted to smirk again, knowing he would be surprised at just how much she knew.

“And help me sort all of this. I want to know everything. The businesses, the imports and exports, and the people. I want to learn it all.”

“Very well, then, Boss.”

She liked the sound of that.

But not as much as she liked the sound of her name on his lips.