Caught Up In Your Darkness

CHAPTER 2 - SOFIA

Shit. Was I really going to do this? What was I thinking? This had to be the worst idea I ever had. Even worse than dating those 5 guys all at once that one semester in college. Yes, I went to college. I know I don't look the type to actually end up in college, and I shouldn't have, I was the picture perfect package. I was and still am everything anyone could ever want to be. But just being a pretty face with great hair and an amazing body isn't what I want, I mean it's an amazing perk but I've wanted to do more with myself.

That's the problem though, I've just wanted it, never needed it badly enough to go to whatever lengths possible. That is the excuse I always gave myself and everyone around me, why did I quit college? Why did I never continue even a single one of my hobbies? Why did I dump every single guy I've ever dated? Why is it that nothing is important or special to me? All the same answer - because it's not a need.

That is until this specific issue came up. Now some things are quickly becoming top priority for me.

Now listening to my ramble until now would make you think that I was some sort of a spoilt brat. And that would be true. I've been spoiled my whole life. And that's pretty much what you expect from a single father with shit tons of money. So for a very long period of my life I thought that this was what life was for other people too.
Wasn’t everyone getting thirteen presents for their thirteenth birthday? Wasnt everyone getting trips to Bali and Paris as a sorry gift from their parents for being too busy with work? Wasn't everyone spending important days of their life with housestaff instead of their parents?

Apparently not.

Yes, I had the stereotypical rich daddy’s girl upbringing. But, just for the record, my mother was dead and my father was overcompensating for her loss by being scarcely available and each holiday bringing up yet another short lived marriage.

It's surprising what the human mind can get used to. What the heart was willing to push off as casual and what the brain pretended not to notice. And all that for love. I did all that for love. Because I loved my father. He meant a lot to me. I saw all that he did for me, how hard he tried each day. Sure, money was never a problem but sometimes you need more than money for happiness. I knew he tried. And I loved my father.

Which is why the thought of sitting in this car with Alex Barracks haunted me for the longest time.

And now that we were sitting in the car, fresh scent of my perfume still in the air (I was nervous meeting her..we have a complicated history) I couldn’t help but wonder what the actual fuck was I doing!

‘Do you have any idea what you're doing? Why are you even doing this? Is this how you pay back the man that raised you for all those years? The man that loved you unconditionally and did his best to raise you? Sure, he didn't do the best job but that's real life! Is this how you're going to treat him? Do you have any clue what you're signing up for? Do you think she has any clue what she's going to sign up for? And why are you even involving her in this mess? Do you even know what he will do when he finds out what you're doing?’

My inner dialogue was making me panic. So I tried to take a deep breath and take my mind off things, and my eyes went at her. She was gorgeous. I knew underneath that shell hid something so beautiful, I almost smiled at the thought.

No! Focus!

I did have the answers to a few of the questions swirling my head :

Did I have any clue what I was signing up to? Not really. I mean, I already knew things were not going to end well.

Did she have any clue what she was stepping into? Probably not, although for a second when she mentioned doing something illegal I felt my stomach drop. Did she already know? I hoped not. And I definitely hoped she didn't have any clue what she was getting into. Because if she did, she probably would not even look at me as she ran away from me forever.

What would he do? Probably the same thing as last time.
Don't get me wrong, I love my father. But Alberto “Ronny” Manchestes is not the friendliest guy in town. I did know that growing up, what I didn't realize was the extent to which he was hated. Or the reason why. And that is what I have been searching for, for months now. Only to always end up at a dead end.

One of the things they don't tell you about being a powerful man's daughter is that he has contacts everywhere and he will know everything.

And because I was not aware of this, I spent many months begging to find answers only to be rejected by every PI on the streets. It took me a while to realize that they were all under my fathers paycheck. And that brought up the search for someone not under the influence of the Manchestes name.

The problem, however, was that my father had money, and more than what I had, so he used it to buy out the one PI I had managed to get my claws on. Thankfully it wasn't before he told me that there were some sketchy things in my fathers past, that I could most likely get to know if I manage to get into his bank records.

Now, I love my father, but by no means are we any close. And any chances of me being remotely close to him were dumped into a blazing ball of fire the day he figured out why I was out hiring PIs.

“Honey, you can hire all the private eyes you want, I'll buy them all. You forget that I am your father. That's all you need to know, now stop snooping around in places that you don't belong.”

Sure, at that moment I launched a few fake tears and hugged my father in the most loving daughter embrace, but that was because I was scared of him. I knew he was a powerful man, and he did not like having no for an answer. But that's the thing - I'm his daughter, I won't take no for an answer too.

As I sat there thinking of that day I saw the look of dark fury in his eyes, I suddenly snapped back to reality only to find her staring at me with a different kind of dark fury in her eyes. She looked away, dare I say blushing, and then downed the rest of the glass. I couldn't tell if she had an alcohol problem or if she was nervous, both scenarios seemed good for me so I let her be.  

“Right,” she cleared her throat as she gently put the glass down, “what's the deal?”

I sat up straight as I tried to summon the right words to my tongue. One wrong move and I would have missed the last opportunity.

“Are you still doing that thing with the computers and stuff?” I tried to sound casual but cringed seeing the offended look on her face. I kicked myself mentally. It's not that I'm stupid or hurtful on purpose, I was just raised to make others around me feel smarter so I could always have the upper hand, it's difficult to turn these things off.

“Coding? Yea I do. Why?” dammit I had struck a nerve.

I remember back in highschool, how invested she was with her codes, some people said she had written codes for some pretty big companies,that's how she made money, how else could someone like her afford such expensive things? , we knew those computers were a great big pretty penny worth. Some said she had hacked into the banks and stolen their money.

“Well… ” I let the sentence hang as I bent over to pull out the duffle bag I had stashed away behind the door.

She eyed me closely, maybe a little too closely as I reached for the bag, but the look on her face when I pulled it open was simply priceless.