FEAR

53

•VERENA•

I woke up this morning with such a dread. I didn't want to be awake, I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep but I noticed Keegan had already gotten out of bed, the bed was cold where he was asleep. There was a cup of coffee on my nightstand along with a note. 'We have work so get up, I love you, - Keegan.' My stomach fluttered. I stared at it a tad too long before putting the note down. It's just a note. I grabbed the mug and tasted the coffee, it was perfect.

I groaned but I got out the bed and started my day. I decided to stay in my robe after a shower. I just washed my face and walked down to the office/library. Keegan and Denise sat next to each other. He was listening intently to whatever she was saying but when I walked in his whole expression switched to lust. "Good morning," I said.

"Good morning." Denise smiled nervously. I didn't pay too much attention to it. She is awkward at times, I understand that. I sat down at my desk and picked up the first folder on one of the piles. "List of local contractors." I set it aside, it was about time that I designed a new estate, something that would accommodate everyone better.

"All your profit and everything you have earned since Rowan died. There has been some resistance and some of his old lackeys that still have control." Keegan said. "I've already sent Ghost."

"When will he be back," I said. Not the first thing I would usually ask. I would usually ask when will it be done.

"Depends on what he finds." I bit my lip and nodded. "He'll call."

"Okay." I said and he smiled.

               I spent the whole day in office working. I usually don't have to do this but I haven't been keeping up. I had numbers and people to verify. It was easy enough to pass the work to Denise but I would only have the concern if I didn't know exactly what coming in. I don't like being played with and once I was done with that I started stretching and listing everything I wanted in my new house. "Put it down." Darian place his finger between my eyebrow. "You're gonna get wrinkle."

"Like you." I smirked. He looked at me confused.

"I don't have wrinkles." He took the stack of paper out of my hand and looked at it. "You draw?"

"I use a ruler for most of those lines," I admitted. He just turned the page.

"This is nice. New house." I nodded.

"Yeah, I like my design better than any modern designer I honestly hate modern homes. It's lacks that homey touch to it." I cross my legs over. "I grew up in small homes but they were always comfortable. After my mom died we moved in with Esperanza, her home was so small that Mateo had to sleep with me and whenever Gabriel would visit he would have to sleep with us too."

"How old were you when your father died?" Keegan asked, he was sitting across from me with his feet on my desk.

"I was four. Mateo was born afterward. The police killed him because he could not stand the corruption. I saw it. My mom being bragged and she pleaded with them but they shot him right in front of her. I was watching at the time from a window on the upper level I didn't know any better. When I saw him die I didn't understand. I was so innocent back then." I said smiling sadly at the sketchbook. "The only reason they didn't kill my mom was because she was pregnant with Mateo, she gave birth to him hours later."

Keegan kisses my forehead. "No wonder you're such an asshole." I pushed his forehead away.

"Fuck you." He grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek again. "It might be weird to say but I'm happy my father didn't raise Mateo. He was a misogynist."

"Sounds like a great man to me." Darian joke, I rolled my eyes.

"I think you're with the wrong woman if you think I'm that type." I narrowed my eyes.

"I don't. You get so serious." He brushed my hair off my face. "I want a hot tub in my room."

"What?"

"I want one too." Keegan said.

"Who said you're getting a room? Sleep in the stable with the Sherpard and the horses."

•SIMON•

        I been out in the heat all day commanding Verena's men to kill this minor discrepancies. Everything was falling into line quickly so I could get back by tomorrow. I was planning on stopping by Manuel Rivera territory since he lived not too far away from here. Already stepping into his house they're was something off. Something dark that hover over the air. I wasn't unsettle by it being around death all these year I grew accustomed to it. Even seek it somehow finding it strangely more normal than everyday life.

A little lady walked out of the house. She looked at me and quickly recognized me. "Please come." She looked distressed.

I followed her into the house. To my surprised she moved fast. "What going on?" I asked as we moved through the mansion.

"Manny is lock in his room again." Her accent was thick. "He didn't eat this morning-"

"Where is Dahlia?" The lady frowned.

"She is being taken care of by the head maid. I been getting the guard to opened the door but I couldn't find one today." I looked at the door. It was a big door probably thick too. Ahh fuck.

"Manuel opened the door." I shouted and internally praying for a respond, a sound despite how thick this door was. Ah fuck! "No key."

"No sir he took them all." With the bottom of my gun I hit the left knob until it fell off the door. I kick the doors opened to the room. It looked at if it hasn't been clean in years. Books, paper and trash stacked in the room. It was super hot in here and the familiar smell of rotten flesh tinged my nose. "Call his family." I turn to the lady, it seems that she either recognize the smell or she understands that we will find a dead body in here.

To think it was Verena birthday tomorrow.

Dahlia was a happy baby. She smiled and cooed brightly. She was crawling everywhere and would even eat on her own. She seen well taken care of by the head maid and the other staff around her. This kid was growing an utter bliss and no conception of the shit happening around her. She doesn't know what she was born into. I had no say on what to do with her. If it were up to me I could only wonder.

"Ghost," Keegan said over the phone.

"Are you alone?"

"Yeah."

•_•