Not My Business?

Natasha’s POV

“What exactly is your problem, Natasha?” my father asked, anger creeping into his voice.

I let out a short hollow laugh, shaking my head. “Are you seriously asking me that right now?”

“Okay,” I continued. “Where should I begin? Should I talk about the fact that you’ve been lying to me the whole time? Or the fact that you put our lives in danger—a target on our backs?”

He let out a short sigh.

“You’ll have to be a tad more specific,” he said as he rubbed his temple.

“It’s how you’re feigning ignorance,” I said. “What else could you possibly lie about?”

“For a moment,” I continued slowly. “You had me thinking Tristan approached you with a deal you couldn’t resist. Turns out you were the one who approached him. What were your words again?”

“Someone offered a solution.”

“Men like Tristan just don’t do things for no reason.”

I paused for a moment as a tightness formed in my chest.

“The worst part was, you tried to blame it on me,” I said, voice breaking. “You said I was a notorious rebel and implied I did something wrong. How evil can you be?”

I didn’t stop.

“As if that wasn’t enough, you’re trying to use me to save yourself.”

“And the irony was that you’re the one who pissed some people off.

My father’s face hardened as realization crept onto his face.

“Oh, so now you have nothing to say?” I asked, voice sharp.

“Crazy thing is,” I continued. “You weren’t completely honest with the one person who is willing to save your fucking ass! You think he wasn’t going to find out? He’s Tristan. Miami’s biggest force. And you thought you could outsmart him?”

Silence finally filled the room.

My father finally spoke.

“How did you find out?”

The laughter that escaped my lips was dark, humorless and void.

“How did I find out? Wait, you’re serious? That’s what you have to say?”

“Well,” I continued. “If it’s that important to you, Tristan’s grandmother wanted to see me. I was at their house this morning. I heard Tristan and his buddy talking about it in his study.”

My father didn’t respond immediately.

He held my gaze for a moment. .

Then he exhaled slowly, leaning against the huge table at the center of the boardroom.

“All I was trying to do was save the company,” he muttered, exhaustion written all over his face.

“Trying to save the company?” I asked, my voice rising. “By doing what exactly? Lying?”

“And what is this bounty I’m hearing about?”

His expression shifted slightly.

“Bounty? What bounty?”

“So you haven’t heard?” I asked.

“Apparently,” I continued, folding my arms around my chest. “The people you had deals with put a target on you—on us.”

“Tell me… what kind of deals did you get involved with that could possibly put us in danger?”

“That’s none of your business!” he snapped.

“None of my business? It became my business the moment you sold me off!” I fired back. “The moment you thought it was okay for you to lie about everything.”

Silence settled again.

“You know what?” I finally said, voice composed. “You’re right about that. It’s none of my business. I don't have to get involved in any of this. I don’t have to be a pawn in your stupid games.”

He remained silent.

“I’ll call off the proposal with Tristan,” I continued. “I’m pretty sure he’s thinking the same thing. He wouldn’t want to get himself involved in all of these.”

“I’ll leave the city—if I have to leave the country,” I didn’t stop. “I would. You can deal with all of these on your own. And if you have the slightest human decency, you should tell your favorite daughter so she can do the same.”

“Heck! She can go down with you for all I care.”

Something dark brewed in my father’s eyes.

“And what makes you think you can escape from any of this?” he asked, voice dark.

“Excuse you?” I said, confused.

“If a bounty has been placed on me—on us,” he said, holding my gaze. “There’s no place to hide. It wouldn’t take them much time to find you.”

The weight of his words pressed down on me.

He pushed himself off the table, taking slow, deliberate strides toward my direction. In no time, he was standing in front of me.

“See, when the company was in a mess—still is,” he said, voice dropping into something darker. “When investors were backing out because they were promised high returns but got nothing, I took on massive loans. Used company assets as collateral.”

“I reached out to a couple of underground syndicates to pay off the investors, employees. But it wasn’t enough.”

A heavy sense of irritation settled in my stomach.

“Even after paying off the debts,” he continued casually, “I was still deep in it. The organization gave me a timeframe to pay off the ones I owed them, but I couldn’t meet up. I kept pushing back.”

My father paused for a moment.

“That was when it dawned on me. There was no way out of this mess—not one I could think of.”

“That was when you reached out to Tristan?” I asked.

“Yes. That was when I reached out to Tristan,” he confirmed. “He has the resources.”

“I explained the situation to him. The debts. The company failing—”

“But left out the part where you’re balls deep in debts and trouble with the syndicate,” I cut in sharply.

“I didn’t know it was going to escalate to this point— to the point where a bounty would be placed on my family.” he said.

“What were you expecting? A pat on the back?”

“Tristan asked me what was in it for him,” my father said. “He needed leverage. There was nothing I could offer. The company wasn’t doing well. That was when you came into the conversation. He didn’t ask for you, but I offered and for some reason known to him, he didn’t decline.”

I let out a short, disgusting laugh. It all made sense now.

I knew Tristan could end up with anyone he wanted, but it was unusual for him to want me. My father literally sold me off.

The thought of it made my vision blur as tears filled my eyes.

“How could you?” I asked, my voice breaking.

“What did I ever do to you, Dad?”

“Oh, suck it, Natasha!” my father barked. “I knew it was only a matter of time before Tristan found out. If the alliance had happened on time—if you weren’t being so stubborn and just accepted this sooner, this wouldn’t be happening. No one would want to cross Tristan Castillo.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks quietly.

“Are you seriously blaming me for your mistakes?” I snapped.

“Mistakes that could get you in trouble if you don’t straighten up and do what needs to be done,” he replied, voice dropping just enough to carry weight.

I couldn’t believe what he was spewing. His mistakes, but I’ll pay for them if I don’t do what needs to be done?

“Okay, say I don’t back out of this arrangement, proposal or whatever…” I paused. “…what do you think would happen now that Tristan knows?” I asked, words dissolving into quiet sobs.

“What if he backs out?” I continued. “What if he doesn’t want the alliance anymore? What if he doesn’t want to get involved in the mess you created? Aren’t we back to ground zero?”

My father studied me for a moment, an expression crossed his face—almost like he was worried, but it was gone.

“Leave that to me,” he replied.

“What? You’ll sell me twice? At this point, nothing you do surprises me anymore,” I said.

“You know,” I continued. “I never really understood why mom left you, but I see it now. I’m glad she left you. Did it affect me as a child? It did. But I guess she left you because you’re insufferable. Manipulative. Evil—”

Before I finished, my head snapped to the side. The slap came fast. My ear rang. I stared at the floor and waited for the sting to fade.

“I’ve had just enough of your bullshit,” he said angrily.

Tears wouldn't stop streaming down my cheeks.

“I’ve watched you disrespect me on different occasions,” he continued, his voice sharp. “I stayed silent. I was trying to be reasonable with you. But this… has to stop.”

I slowly lifted my head. My eyes stung as I kept them open, refusing to blink, even as tears streamed down uncontrollably.

“Get in line,” he said. “I’ll handle Tristan.”

I moved toward the door, unlocked it and ran out of the boardroom.

I went into my office, shut the door behind me and locked it.

The moment it clicked, my body gave out. My back hit the door as I slid down slowly, pulling my knees in as the tears came harder.

My heart wandered to the one person I needed the most. My mother, even though I couldn’t fully comprehend why she left.