, avoiding looking at the color of the water. I was taller than the glass of the shower and my head almost hit the shower, and I couldn't fit in the square without hitting my elbows on the sides, but I managed to get out of there. Michelle was dead, that was the thought that invaded me when I stood in front of the mirror. And she was killed right in front of me. There was still blood on the corners of my nails, marking my life forever. "Where is he?" I heard a male voice with an Italian accent. "Crying in the bathroom," Enzo answered and I wanted to punch him.

"What happened?" "We have to go to the Canadian package. Time to leave." "Okay." Enzo kicked the bathroom door open completely. "You're on your own. See you in New York." He smiled and left. Alone in the hotel room, I dressed in the clean clothes that had been left, grabbed my things and disappeared from there, through the back, using an instinct for escape that I had never known before. I walked around the city, in the middle of the night, feeling lost and not trusting anyone at all. Without realizing it, I stopped in front of Michelle's house. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. [3] "What are you doing here?" Kyra snapped. "You have to leave now." "Where's Kate?" "Alone, in there. Is there anything of yours there?" Robert hasn't come back yet; Michelle's men have scattered and left the girl alone. "Then she's going to New York with me." I took a step forward and Kyra stopped me. "He's going to kill her. Her father won't protect her. He doesn't care about Kate." I looked back at the house. Kate would get in the way of my parents' plans. She needed to stay alive and I couldn't take care of her with him under the same roof.

I didn't know what to do. "Why are you telling me these things? Don't you play on my father's team?" "I play on my team." She smirked. "Come in, get your things. She'll be safe as long as her father thinks she's worth some money." "I promised I'd keep her safe." Kyra was silent, looking at my face for a while and then at the house. "Go get your things, I know what to do. Don't take long, I don't know how much time we have," she ordered and feeling dizzy, I simply obeyed. I went in through the back, grabbing my backpack that was in the kitchen and heard a noise on the stairs. I turned and prepared to attack. It was Kate. She was four years younger than me, tall for her age and wearing gym clothes. "What are you doing here, Dom? Is Mom with you?" "No. She's out," I lied, my heart racing. "Go back to bed." Kate looked at me suspiciously and went back, used to not arguing with orders. Her mother would never come back and it was my father's fault. I needed to protect her. Prologue | Kate "Daddy?

Dad?" I called through the hallways of our house. "Is anyone home?" I spoke louder. Everything seemed strange. The security guards weren't in the guardhouse, the kitchen staff left before their shift ended and no one talked to me about anything. I climbed the last flight of stairs and found my father standing with his back to some boxes. "Daddy?" "What is it, Katherine?" "What happened?" I took a small step forward. "Go back to your room and stay there until school." Oh my. What had I done? "Do you know why Mommy doesn't answer her phone?" He laughed darkly and looked at me in a way that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. Touching my face, he pinched my chin, startling me. Dad used to pretend I didn't exist, he only smiled at me in public. I wasn't used to his touching me, much less him acknowledging my presence. "You're lucky you look like my mother," he said softly and I swallowed hard. "Even if you still have Latin features from your bitch of a mother. Forget the slut. She's not coming back." "Dad?" I gasped.

"Go to your fucking room and don't come out." He released me abruptly and I backed away, scared. I turned at the sound of footsteps. A woman was walking sensually toward us, she gave me a dirty look before kissing my father on the mouth. I backed down the hallway, tripping over my feet and I ran... far away. Chapter 1 | Dominic A few years later Los Angeles "Are you ready for the party, honey?" Mom walked past me and studied my clothes. "Always in black." She sighed. "Is there a problem with the color?" "You should wear white, it will make you look younger. You're only in your early twenties, Dominic. You look older and darker." She frowned and I smiled when her gaze changed a little. "Dom, son. Our looks..." "Are you afraid they'll think I'm more than a spoiled young player?" I teased. Mom blushed, cleared her throat and left. My father put down the newspaper and glared at me.

I arched my eyebrow, daring him to say something. "You know your mother doesn't get involved in our business." "She's married to you. How could she not be involved?" "You decided to drop out of college and the football team just to be annoying, Dominic? I don't have time to deal with a spoiled brat right now." He looked at his watch. "If you're going to the office with me, we're late." "I'm ready." "Wearing black in this sun?" "You're wearing a suit and I'm not criticizing." He just nodded, picking up his things and deciding to leave. We weren't in the same car, I didn't want to continue the subject of my clothes. Following him in my luxury sports car, I received a message alert on my phone and quickly read it, calculating the time available to do everything I needed to do and still be at the party in two hours. "Robert's here," Dad said in the elevator and straightened his tie. "I know. He works here." "Don't do anything. I know things got bad between you guys after Michelle disappeared, but he's an important member of our circle and deserves respect for the position he holds." I almost laughed. My father used the term disappear as if he didn't know she was dead. Jack told me and from afar, I saw him looking at the body. He just didn't know I was there. He hadn't known anything about me for a long time. I smiled and walked on, not worrying about Robert, after all, his days were numbered. The men stood up when my father entered, after all, the presence of the president in a meeting was very important.

I stopped in the back, with my hands in my pockets and some of them felt uncomfortable, because it was a position where I could attack them at any moment. They weren't wrong. Many couldn't understand my change, one day I was a good and silly boy, a student who played football and made money from it. I joined the College League and became a different person and over time, who I became no longer fit on a field. It was time to be more and if they were smart, they wouldn't take me lightly. I watched the meeting, thinking about how hypocritical they were, sitting in their expensive suits and dictating how other people should live, when they were dirtier than