His Queen (18+)

Chapter VII

THE FATHER

I hate you, I love you,
I hate that I want you.

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CHAPTER VII

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THE SUN HAD disappeared from the sky, leaving room for the moon to take over. Even through the deep darkness, the sky had been illuminated, not by the millions of stars that I knew were there, twinkling away, but by the bright, saturated orange of the street lights and the millions of other homes that had all their lights switched on.

The car horns from a million storeys beneath us still reached our ears, making me roll my eyes at how busy New York remained, even late at night.

“One day, I'm going to show you the stars.”

“Hmm?” Mateo hummed loudly, turning away from the millions of bright lights, just like fireflies and looking to me instead.

I didn't know what it was about his eyes that always had my heart beating slower. All I knew was that I would do anything to keep him safe.

I softly took his hand in mine, prying his thumb out of his mouth and smiled. “Mama's been saving,” I said slowly even though I knew he didn't get what I was saying. “And once I create a name for myself, hopefully I'll have more money to save. And then I'll buy a house away from all this bullshit.” I poked his cheek and he giggled, making the smile on my face grow wider.

Children were so easy to please.

“Just for you and me,” I sighed, before turning us to look at the scene in front of us again. “And then you'll be able to see the stars and the moon and the planets. I'll get you a telescope that you can use whenever you want...” I faltered and let a deep sigh roll past my lips before speaking again. “And then you'll have unrestricted access to the sky.”

Unrestricted access to life.

I didn't always let Teo onto the balcony. It was too high and too dangerous for a dumb two-year-old. This night had felt different though. I was high on life for some reason, because I had found the beauty through the pain and I wanted him to experience it with me. Not the pain but life.

I didn't set him down and he didn't fight to be let out of my arms. It was almost as if he knew more than he let on. I bet he did.

I held him tight in one arm and raised the other to check the time before cursing. It was past twelve, but I had to have left by half eleven. Both Derek and Morgan said it would be safer if I travelled at night because it would be harder for someone to track me so Teo and I spent the whole day packing whatever we deemed necessary.

I didn't know how long we would be gone, but that wasn't something I wanted to think about yet.

I turned around and slipped back into the small apartment, finding that the chilly night air had found its way into the home and practically turned the place into a freezer.

Instead of complaining about it like I usually did whenever I left the window open, I instead set Teo down on the sofa and got down on my hands and knees. I peeled back the cream rug on the floor, exposing the dark oak floorboards beneath it.

I was too lazy to clean under rugs, but I found myself having to do it the first time I stored my first wad of dollar bills under the floorboards.

Old habits die hard.

I slotted the old, loose floorboard out of place and pulled out the two plastic bags that sat beneath it, acting as the cushioning I had torn out.

I had saved up just over one-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Enough to place a deposit on a home but I didn't want to mortgage. I wanted to buy upfront and have it over and done with. My line of work was heavily dependent on the amount of clients I got and while I was doing relatively well, they were still some dry weeks where I only received one or two orders.