Chapter 3

I'm thankful when I enter my home and don't see my father anywhere. I hadn't noticed any of his cars outside, but that doesn't always mean he's not here. I lean against the closed door, hating the shame I feel over my situation. I've never felt it before now, which only pisses me off more.

I suppose it's better that Luke and Paul's family assume I'm poor because it's better than the reality. Well, technically I am poor, but my father isn't. Not in this neighborhood. Here he's the king and has the one thing that so many of them want. Drugs. This part of town thrives and dies off what my father sells. It's a vicious cycle that no one around here can escape.

Paul was an addict, and I should have known. He works in finance, so I assumed the deal he made with my father was about money. In the back of my mind, I thought maybe money laundering. My father doesn't hide what he does, and he conducts his business out of our home. But he doesn"t just throw it out there either. I try to keep my head down and out of it, and I do my best not to hear what he's up to. It only makes me feel guiltier because there isn't anything I can do to stop him. Not when I don't know who's on my father's payroll, which includes a few of the local police officers.

"Marco?" I call for my brother and grit my teeth. If he's not here that means my father took him with him, and that's not part of the deal. Though our deal might be off, how could my father know that already?

I go to my room and dig through my bag to find my phone. I'm hoping Marco took his with him. I bought it months ago with my own money. He was supposed to keep it hidden from our father but always on him when he leaves the house.

"God, I hate him." I drop down onto my bed, knowing the only thing I can do is wait. He probably has him at one of his warehouses.

It feels like forever later when I jerk awake at the sound of Marco's voice.

"Kel?"

I didn't mean to fall asleep, but sometimes the exhaustion catches up with me. "You're home." I sit up and grab my brother"s face to kiss his cheeks.

"Ah, come on." He scrunches his nose. "I'm not a little kid."

"You are," I tell him because he'll always be a baby to me.

He's only twelve, but I suppose with the kind of life we live, he's grown up more than he should have at this point. My father is always trying to lure my brother into the family business. That was his plan until we made a deal of our own.

"Dad's hungry," Marco says, and I nod.

"Right." I push off the bed and slip on my shoes. "How about you?"

"I'm always hungry."

I smile because he's not wrong. He eats like a full-grown adult, and I have no clue where the kid puts it.

"Come on, I'll make spaghetti."

Marco follows me out of my room, and the floorboards creak under our steps. We've lived in this old building for as long as I can remember because my father owns the whole thing. We occupy the top floor, which thankfully gives us some room to put space between us and him.

I'm sure he could afford to move out of here and to somewhere nicer, but he enjoys the power he holds in the neighborhood, and power is something my father will never let go of. He wants that more than money.

"Dad's downstairs," Marco tells me when we make it to the kitchen. He doesn't have to say with whom because I know he's with Barbra. She stays on top of everyone"s rent, and my father stays on top of her. In more ways than one.

"What did you guys do today?" I ask as I start to prepare dinner.

"Nothing really." Marco pulls out his phone and starts playing on it. "He met up with some people. I stayed in the car."

Then what was the point of my father taking him? Marco has been staying home alone since he was around ten. I didn't love it, but my father always has the final say over everything.

"When are we moving?" Marco doesn"t look up from his phone when he asks the question.

"Ah..." I lick my dry lips. "Soon, hopefully."

"Cool." He smiles. "Can't believe we'll have a pool."

Why did I have to tell him all about Paul's place? His building has a pool and offered a lot of things that would be good for my brother. The schools in that area were on the top of the list.

Marco wasn't a fan of Paul, so it took a few perks to get him on board with the marriage. Once finding out about all the new stuff, he was excited to get out of here. I'd been just as excited to get him away from all of this. That was the deal I made with my father. I didn't put up a fight about marrying Paul and then I could take Marco with me.

I knew that my father letting me take Marco didn't mean much because he'd still be able to get his hands on him when he wanted to. He's trying to groom my brother, but I was willing to take anything to put distance between them. It would've also made it easier for me to find an out for both of us. A marriage to Paul would have meant I could have saved money and had an escape plan. The goal was to run away as far as we could and never look back.

The front door opens, and then I hear my father's voice. Along with Jackson. I grab the noodles off the stove and strain them while praying they don't come into the kitchen. Jackson makes my skin crawl. The way he stares and the things he whispers to me when no one else is near is terrifying.

"Kelly," my father calls before walking into the kitchen.

"Hi," I say, not turning around. "Dinner is almost done. I'll bring you a plate." I hold my breath, hoping he'll retreat to his office.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he says, and I slowly turn around.

My father is glaring at me with his arms folded over his chest. Jackson stands behind him with a smug expression on his face.

My blood runs cold.