WARIDI ✔️

Chapter Thirty Eight

DEAN'S POV

LA was just as beautiful as the movies depicted it out to be, it was scenic, full of life and exciting but it was expensive as fuck. The food prices alone were outrageous, activities even more so which apparently did not matter much since River, Demi and Evan were loaded but I did not fail to notice it.

The worst of it all was the racism, the odds look we got were worse than those we got while in Kenya. It's like an interracial couple was the worst thing these white folks were experiencing. It pissed me off that we could not go through our day without getting cussed at or having people look down upon us but especially towards River. They were probably wondering how a rich white girl could be with a black man like me. It made me angry but I could not do anything about it. People were going to be themselves no matter how badly we wanted the world to change and be more accepting.

Besides all the hate we got, that we tried our best to tune out, the week had been a bliss, almost enough for me to forget that I was living with the mafia but the ankle monitor and the fact that we were not allowed to leave the house without guards was a constant reminder.

Everything was as good as it could get but I did not fail to notice the distress my wife was in. At first I had dismissed it as regular blues because she was under her father's rule again, arguing with him all the time and even if that was a reason there was more. I had asked River about it but she kept assuring me that everything was okay even if we both knew I could tell she was lying to me. I did not push much because she was already under enough stress without me being a pestering husband but I was getting really worried and it was impossible for me to ignore it anymore.

I needed to figure out what was wrong with my wife but first I needed to find her. I had not seen her all morning, since she had been gone from the bed when I woke up and she was not in the kitchen when I went down for breakfast. Claudia had not seen her either. I was afraid of walking around the house full of armed bodyguards by myself but I needed to find River. She had been spending a lot of time with Alberto and were it not for the fact that they were cousins and I actually liked the guy, I would have been really worried about him being so close to my wife all the time.

I got lost in the pursuit of my missing wife and ended up on the floor that River had told me was 'forbidden'. I was trying to find my way back to neutral ground when I ran into the very reason I was not allowed on that floor in the first place.

"Mr. Anderson." I greeted politely watching the tall powerful man stare me down.

I should have been more careful where I wandered off to and now I had walked right into the lions den. Well, I was practically already in its den so I had veered further into the unknown darkness of rival territory and it was not looking good.

"Where is River?" He asked me ignoring my greeting not like I had expected him to return it anyway.

"That's what I am trying to find out. I haven't seen her all morning." I answered.

"Lost her already huh?" Mr. Anderson scoffed.

I knew that the man did not like me but he could at least give it a rest. Not seeing my wife for a couple of hours did not mean I had lost her.

I had not been alone with Mr. Anderson ever since we met and I did not think it was a good idea for us to be alone in the same place especially when there was so much bad blood between us. I knew I needed to get away from him before I said something I would regret. The man knew how to push my buttons so before I gave him a reason to put a bullet in my head, besides all the pre-existing reasons, I had to get away from him.

"If you'll excuse me Mr. Anderson." I expressed as calmly as I could.

I moved as if to walk pat him but he blocked my path.