“He’s waiting for me, and I don’t want to keep him waiting.” He stepped out of the office and shut the locked door before Taina could look at what was behind him. However, she noticed that he had a small disk in his hand. “Would you like me to tell him you are home alone?”

  Taina quickly forgot her suspicions and shook her head fast. “No, that’s OK,” she said. “My mom should be home soon.”

  With that, Diablo planted a kiss on her forehead, walked past her to the steps, and headed for the front door.

  “See you at dinner on Sunday, princess,” he called to her over his shoulder right before the door slammed shut.

  After that, Taina put the incident to the back of her mind, but that night, as she perched behind the stinky trash, the images of Diablo leaving Denny’s office with a bag full of cash just didn’t add up. Taina felt tears falling down her pretty face when she saw how helpless her cousin was. She understood why Diablo stood there looking like he had won the lottery, and she also knew why he had given her father the idea to tape his mouth shut. It wasn’t so that New York couldn’t hear his cries. It was so that he wouldn’t tell who the culprit really was. Taina watched her father hit Chris a few more times, but soon, the spreading blood became too much for her to bear.

  “Papi!” she yelled and jumped up from behind the trash can in the corner. “Stop it!”

  Denny was so shocked to hear Taina’s voice that he stopped his attack on Chris’s face. Turning his head, he saw his beautiful baby girl standing behind him with tears on her face . . . the face that mirrored his exactly. The men surrounding Chris didn’t miss a beat. They stood in front of Chris, hoping to shield her eyes from seeing the shape that he was in, but it was too late. She had already seen enough, and the horrified look in her eyes told Denny just that.

  “Taina,” Denny said, shaking his head. “What are you doing out of bed, sweetheart?”

  “I heard noises,” she said. “I heard screams. I—Oh, Papi, what are you doing to Chris?”

  Denny turned his head back to Chris, whose head was nodding as he tried to stay conscious. He could lie to his child all he wanted, but unlike most kids her age, Taina wasn’t stupid.

  “This is what happens to anyone who betrays your father,” he told her. “Cousin Chris has been a very bad man, baby. And now he must pay the cost. But you know you are not supposed to be out of bed once it is bedtime. Take her back to her room.” He motioned for one of the men to escort Taina back to her bedroom.

  Taina backed away from the advancing man, and her bare foot stepped into something cold and wet. She looked down and saw that she was standing in a small puddle of blood on the concrete floor. She knew that her innocent cousin would die if she didn’t speak.

  “Papi, it wasn’t cousin Chris.” Taina looked up and glared at Diablo, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

  “Somebody get her to bed,” Diablo said, hoping one of the men would listen. “Now!”

  Taina snatched away from her father’s henchmen.

  “It wasn’t Chris, Papi!” She started sobbing uncontrollably. “The other day, Mrs. Sanchez dropped me off early from soccer practice, and I saw Diablo coming from your office with a bag of money, Papi. You have to believe me.”

  Taina ran past the men to a bloody Chris and stood with her hands wide.“You can’t hurt him anymore!” she screamed. “I won’t let you!”

  Denny stood there in pure shock and pulled his pistol from his waist. The murderous stare that had once been on Chris was now targeted at Diablo.

  “Is this true?”

  Diablo’s voice betrayed him when he tried to answer, and nothing came out. His plan had just folded right before his eyes, and he knew the cat was out of the bag. He didn’t know what to say.

  “Boss, I—” he started, but Denny silenced that with one shot to his knee.

  Diablo instantly dropped to the ground, crying in pain. The pain from the bullet and the impact from the fall knocked the wind out of him, and he rolled over on his back, trying to nurse his knee.

  “So you would have me kill my own blood in rage?” Denny’s voice was lethal. “Behind your treacherous acts of betrayal?”

  Denny shot Diablo’s other knee, and his screams caused Taina to jump. Seeing this, Denny went to Diablo and kicked him in his face.

  “Shut the fuck up,” he said. “You are scaring my daughter. Get this son of a bitch out of here. Hog-tie him to the heaviest weight you can find and throw him into a river.”

  “And his family, boss?”

  “Fuck his family,” Denny said. “Make sure they are removed from my property and neighborhood by the morning.”

  Denny looked back at Taina, who was gently touching Chris’s cheek. She removed the tape from his mouth as softly as her delicate 9-year-old fingers could, but it still stung.

  “Sorry, cousin,” she whispered when he jumped slightly.

  “Thank you.” Chris’s voice was barely audible and was drenched with pain. “Thank you so much.”

  “Papi,” Taina told her father, “he needs to go to the hospital. You messed him up pretty good.”

  Denny walked over to his favorite cousin with regret and sorrow weighing heavily on his heart. He took his cousin’s bloody hand, but before he could speak, he felt Chris squeeze.

  “N—no apology needed.” Chris smiled awkwardly up at Denny through bloody, busted lips “A boss first. J—just get me to the hospital.”

  “I will make this up to you,” Denny promised. “You will have every dime of what you were accused of stealing waiting for you in your bank account as you recover from this.”

  He wasn’t sure if Chris had heard him because he chose that moment to pass out. But it didn’t matter because Denny would make good on his word. Denny’s men cut Chris free and gently carried him out of the garage. Denny would pay whatever the cost to get Chris back in shape. He should have known that he would never cross him like that. Diablo was closest to Chris when it came to work. He had access to almost as much knowledge of Denny’s operations as Chris. Therefore, he must have hacked into some information to steal the money. It must have been going on for years. Denny made a mental note to open up all new accounts and change the combinations to all his locks.

  “You almost killed him, Papi!” Taina’s voice interrupted Denny’s thoughts. “You almost killed Chris.”

  Denny gripped Taina’s shoulders and knelt so they were at eye level. He sighed.

  “My child, I never wanted you to see any of this, but since you have, I want to be all the way honest with you. This may not be the last time you see such an act. You will understand one day, just as Chris understands what happened here. Sometimes, you have to cut off your fingers to save your hand for the greater good of the business. But I will forever be thankful that you intervened tonight. I love you, princess.”

  His words that night would stay with her forever. She blinked back the tears and allowed her father to kiss her forehead. Denny stood up, grabbing his only child’s tiny hand, and the two exited the now-empty garage and headed back into the warmth of their home. Taina looked back at the chair that Chris was once strapped to. Her gaze lingered on all the blood surrounding it, knowing that it was an image that she might need to get used to seeing.

  Chapter 2

  As Taina grew up, she became a very difficult child. She stopped listening to her mother and father’s discipline when she turned 13, but didn’t let her parents know. She made it seem like their word was law to their faces, but as soon as they were out of eyesight, she became the real her. She was an only child; most days, it was just her and the housekeepers at home. When her father was out handling business in the streets, her mother, Isabella, was trying to find her purpose. Being the wife of a kingpin was not one of the things she had on her bucket list. It was just how things played out. She wasn’t even ready to have a child, which was why Taina was her first and only one. No matter how she tried to connect with her, she couldn’t.

  Taina would try to tell her that going out to dinner when Isabella didn’t have plans or watching a movie with her once a month didn’t cut it. Her mother thought that putting forth minimal effort was enough. Taina was jealous of the girls in her middle school class who came to school talking about how much fun they had with their parents and the trips they took. Taina, of course, took trips with her parents, but they were constantly interrupted by her father’s business calls or the fact that her mother wanted to get away from both of them. The only time she really got to see them was on Sundays when her mother decided to have Sunday dinner. It was all beginning to take a toll on Taina, and the only one who seemed to notice was her personal housekeeper, Stephanie.

  Stephanie had been overseeing Taina since she was a baby, and when she noticed the change, she tried to bring it up to Isabella, who was in the kitchen washing dishes, or that was what she called herself doing. Stephanie and the other housekeepers would always have to go back over her cleaning job.

  “Ma’am?” Stephanie spoke to Isabella’s back.

  Hearing Stephanie’s voice, Isabella turned around, and when she saw Stephanie’s plump frame behind her, she gave a fake smile.

  “Hey, Stephanie,” Isabella said, drying her hands off on the dishrag that hung by the sink. “Does Taina need anything?”

  “Aren’t you her mother?” Stephanie asked, causing Isabella to raise her brow.

  “Excuse me?” she asked Stephanie, daring her to repeat herself.

  “I said, aren’t you her mother? Shouldn’t you know what she needs?”

  “Really bold, Stephanie. But yes, I should know what she needs, and that’s why you’re here to tell me.”

  Stephanie shook her head and took in the image of the beautiful, five-foot-four woman before her. Her Christian Dior heels gave her a few more inches of height, and the sleek beige pants suit clenched onto her fit body for dear life. Isabella’s face was blemish free, and although she was in her midthirties, she didn’t look a day over twenty-five. Stephanie could not say that Isabella was not beautiful, but she felt as though that was all her head was wrapped around. The real reason she never had another child was because she didn’t want to ruin her figure. She said it took her too long to bounce back after Taina and refused to put her body through that again.

  “Well, yes, Taina does need something,” Stephanie finally said.

  “Well?” Isabella put her hands in the air for emphasis. “What is it?”

  “Taina has been acting differently ever since she started the eighth grade. Her teachers keep calling home and saying she’s being a distraction in class. There have even been some fights. The only reason she hasn’t been suspended or even expelled is because of who her father is.”

  “OK, Stephanie. She’s a kid. That’s what kids her age do. They talk, and they fight.”

  “I understand that, but how she’s acting is not okay. It’s not normal.”

  “Well, as you can see, Taina isn’t a normal girl her age. Her father is a fucking kingpin, for crying out loud. And that isn’t exactly a secret in this house.”

  “All I’m saying, ma’am, is that you and your husband might want to spend some quality time with her while you still can. I think you should form a better relationship with her.”

  Isabella looked at Stephanie as if she were a fly on the wall.

  “Who do you think you are? Coming in here and telling me what I should do with my child? Are you her parent? And if it is so important to you, why don’t you just tell her this?”

  Stephanie had finally had enough. She looked at Isabella with the same type of contempt in her eyes.

  “No, I’m not her mother, but I might as well be. I have been her caretaker since she was a baby, and it is true when I say everything you take credit for, I taught her. I have watched her grow these last few years of her life, and each day she becomes sadder and sadder. If you paid enough attention, you would see this too.”

  Isabella tried to speak, but Stephanie held up her hand to shut her up and continued speaking.

  “Now, I can talk to that girl until I’m blue in the face, but you see, she didn’t come from my womb, so I don’t think it has the same effect. She doesn’t feel loved. She feels pushed to the side. This is the last year you’ll have her before she’s gone to you forever. Once high school gets a hold of her, and she has that attitude, not even the fact that her father is the deadliest man in this state will be able to put fear in that child’s heart.”

  Stephanie left Isabella standing there looking dumbfounded and went back upstairs to check on a sleeping Taina. Stephanie could only hope that she’d gotten through to Isabella and that maybe she would pass the message on to Denny, but the following weeks showed her that her words had once again fallen on deaf ears. The saying that you could lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink was absolutely true. The warning Stephanie had given should have been heeded. She knew how it went; she was the eldest of five children. She had seen it all. She also knew that once a good girl turned bad, she was gone forever, and Taina had already gotten a taste of that life.

  For the rest of Taina’s eighth-grade year, Stephanie tried her best to keep her in check, but it proved challenging to do when her father showered her with gifts even though she acted a fool in school. There was no positive or negative reinforcement because Taina got everything she wanted and even things she didn’t want. Stephanie knew the reason for the gifts was because Denny felt guilty for being so disconnected from his daughter, but everyone knew that Denny’s first love was his business. He had left it up to everyone else to raise his child. He didn’t understand that although he had an iron grip on the streets and his business, he was leaving his child to grow up with only herself for guidance.

  Stephanie knew that things had finally made a turn for the worse the day she caught Taina smoking marijuana in the bathroom of her bedroom. Stephanie was so caught off guard that she didn’t know what to do when Taina opened the door. Her eyes were low and bloodshot red.

  “Taina?” Stephanie called out to the 13-year-old.

  In response, Taina gave her a dopey smile and tried to shut the bathroom door behind her. But it was too late because Stephanie had already smelled the potent aroma and saw the smoke.

  “Oh my God,” Stephanie said. “You’re high as a freaking kite.”

  “I’m OK, I’m OK.” Taina tried to assure her and went to lie on her bed. “I feel so good right now.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  “You know the other caregivers smoke on all their breaks.” Taina giggled and snuggled into her pillow. “I just snatched it from one of their bags. It’s some good stuff too.”

  “Por qué?” Stephanie asked. “Why do you feel the need to be high? How long have you been smoking?”

  She went over to Taina’s bed and lay beside her in her work clothes. Taina smelled strongly of the product and smoke, but that didn’t stop Stephanie from pulling her close.

  “I just need something to balance out my lows,” Taina told her, then started laughing like she had just told the world’s funniest joke. “And I’ve been smoking for about five months now. I usually use eyedrops, so you guys can never tell.”

  “Oh, honey.” Stephanie just shook her head. “I feel like I’m losing you.”

  “You will never lose me, Steph,” Taina said while yawning. “But everyone else might as well have already said goodbye. I’m done aiming to please the two people who created me, especially when I’m invisible to them. They don’t care about me . . . They only care about themselves. Well, it’s time for me to start doing the same thing.”

  “Oh, honey,” was all Stephanie could say.

  She could chastise Taina all she wanted, but she knew that there was no point. It was too late, and she knew whatever she said would just go over her pretty brunette head. It hurt Stephanie to know that the reason Taina smoked was to numb the feeling of emptiness that she had been feeling for so long. After that incident, Stephanie tried her best to fill a little bit of that void over the next few years, but what she soon found was that all she was doing was reminding Taina that her parents weren’t active in her life.

  Denny had noticed how distant his daughter was from him during her first few years of high school. He also noticed how slick her mouth was, and he constantly had to put her in her place. He was upset with Isabella because she was supposed to be the stay-at-home parent and teach their daughter morals and values, but then again, he couldn’t be too upset. The only family-oriented thing that she did was make dinner on some Sundays. He knew when he married her that she was too self-centered to be a mother. He knew Isabella loved Taina very much, but she just didn’t know how to be a mother. It was easier letting the help do the job they were too busy to do.

  The guilt set in once he realized that his only child was almost an adult and he barely knew her. The housekeepers knew everything about her, but he still thought her favorite food was ice cream and cake. He stepped back from his business to form a better relationship with his daughter before it was too late.

  “You’re just like me, you know that?” he told her one night after they’d gone to see a movie.

  “How so?” she asked as they walked to the car, arm in arm.

  “You’re smart, speak your mind, and don’t take shit from anybody. I also don’t think you have a scared bone in your body.”

  His words made her smile because they were true for the most part. And he was right. She’d gotten those traits from him. When they reached his Rolls-Royce, he opened the passenger-side door for her to get in, but she hesitated.

  “What is it, Taina?”

  “I am scared of something, Papi. I’m scared of losing you.”

  “That’s something you’ll never have to worry about,” Denny said, cupping her chin and kissing her forehead. “I’ll always be here.”

  The pair continued getting closer, and Taina’s behavior improved tremendously. Stephanie never told Denny about the weed and hoped that Taina would be smart enough to hide it from her father. He would kill them all if he knew his daughter was under the influence of anything. It seemed like Taina was well on her way back to herself, and at the beginning of her senior year of high school, Denny made a promise to her. He promised that as long as she remained boy free and stayed a virgin, then once she graduated high school, he would put $1 million in her bank account for her to do whatever she wanted with it. Taina was happy with the proposition and didn’t care that her father sent his hired hands to watch her closely at her private school. It never crossed her mind that any boy would ever even approach her. She was Denny Capello’s daughter, and that made her intimidating. She felt that the promise would be an easy one to keep . . . until it wasn’t.