With Love

Chapter Four

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you're all doing well, please note that all of these chapters are unedited, and so there may be typos that I may miss so feel free to point them out if you see them. I don't mind at all!

Enjoy.

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My parents stared at me in silence from the third row of the SUV as we sped out of the cemetery and merged into traffic.

"What are you doing here?" I blurted, without thought. Three years of not speaking and those are the first words out of my mouth.

A glance around the SUV showed my parents in the seats furthest to the back with Giovanni driving and for an unknown reason Wilson, the family's top lawyer.

My father's gaze turned icy at my tone. My mother frowned, her thick black eyebrows curving downward with the motion. "Is that any way to talk to your Mama? I thought I raised you better than that." After living in the United States for more than fifteen years, her Greek accent remained prominent.

You barely raised me.

I offered her a tight smile instead. "Hello Mama, I've missed you." She turned her cheek to the side slightly and waited. Knowing my father's eyes were watching me closely, I buried the internal eye roll and leaned toward her, kissing her cheek softly.

My father spoke his first words. "The look of fear on your face as you ran toward the car disappointed me." His British accent grating in my head.

Oh, fuck you.

He continued, "The head of the family does not run in fear, only determination."

I crossed one leg over the other. Well then next time I'm shot at I'll make sure to smile and wave as I go. "Was this some sort of test?" I asked instead. Slowly the idea formed in my head, my father chose the setting, the guards and decided beforehand not to attend.

My mother, already uninterested in the conversation, leaned back in her seat and pulled out her iPad, and started tapping furiously.

My father's face didn't even twitch at my words. "What personal gain would I have to attempt an assassination on my own family?" He asked slowly, arching a single brow.

Crap. He was right.

The best thing for me to do at that moment, keep quiet. So I did.

Knowing he won that round, he draped a hand over his lap and clasped the other hand, toying with his family ring that I would inherit once he died. He's nervous.

"I received troubling information two days ago," he started, changing the subject and sitting up straighter in his seat, "It appears one of our enemies has decided that they want to eliminate this family."

My face paled and a knot formed in my stomach. "Eliminate in what way?" A squish noise sounded from my mother's iPad, confirming that she would rather play a fruit matching game than listen to this news.

"A hit has been put out against all Love family members, your uncle being the first victim."

A harsh breath left my lips and my mouth stayed open, my gaze in my lap. "How much?" I breathed. The SUV jerked to the side but I stayed rooted in my seat.

He glanced at my mother before looking back at me. "Twenty million for each family member with the exception of you and I at fifty million."

A random rush of air left my lips in disbelief. I didn't know whether to gloat or cry over that sum. Fifty million dollars for me to die, hell I would kill me for fifty million.