He Doesn’t Deserve the Perfect Me Chapter 07
When I landed in Las Vegas, I went straight to my father. The moment I saw him, I threw myself into his arms and sobbed until I couldn’t breathe.
All the pain and sorrow of those days finally had somewhere to go.
My father had always been ruthless and decisive, but even he wept when he learned his wife was dead.
Then he made his decision. He ended every narcotics deal with the Colliers and cut off their access to his gun- running network.
The Colliers looked untouchable, but their empire existed almost entirely in the shadows. They’d never built a real foothold in legitimate business.
Without my father’s backing, their survival would be an uphill battle.
My father’s ties to powerful New York crews made matters worse. A few phone calls were enough to cripple what remained of the Collier organization.
After that brief reunion with Dad, grief for Mom swallowed me again.
During the day I was listless and couldn’t eat. I’d barely make it through to nighttime, only to be jolted awake by nightmares.
I kept dreaming of Mom in her final moments. She hadn’t even had time to say her last words to me before she was suddenly gone.
And the cause of it all had been a love affair that should never have begun.
The thought hardened my hatred for Soren and Daisy.
Hatred carried me through one brutal month. Little by little, I began to feel alive again.
I never expected to see Soren again so soon. He should have been off enjoying newlywed bliss with Daisy.
Instead, he was standing outside the Las Vegas villa my father had bought for me.
Gone was his former polish. His shirt was wrinkled, and his shoes were caked with mud.
When he saw me, he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Vivian.” Then he pulled me into his arms.
I smelled the sharp stench of alcohol on him, cheap liquor that made my stomach churn.
I shoved him away and put several feet between us. “Stay away from me. If Daisy sees us, she’ll start telling everyone I’m trying to steal her husband again.”
Hurt flashed in Soren’s eyes. “Vivian, do you have to talk to me like that?”
I burst out laughing. “Thank your lucky stars I’m willing to speak to you at all, Soren. Otherwise, I’d have put a bullet in you already.”
His gaze swept over me from head to toe. “Thank God you’re okay.”
I thought he must be out of his mind. Or was he disappointed that I hadn’t fallen apart?
Maybe he had expected me to fall apart after he abandoned me, or to wait around begging him to come back.
I turned to leave, and Soren quickly grabbed my wrist.
He grabbed my wrist when I turned away, then slowly released me under my icy stare. “Vivian, did a Sicilian crime family take your father? Were they forcing you into a marriage?”
I frowned harder. “What are you talking about? My father is expanding his operations in Las Vegas, and I canie to work with him. No one kidnapped him. No one is forcing me to marry.”
Soren went white and doubled over, clutching his chest. I took a step back. “If you’re going to die, do it somewhere else. Don’t do it on my doorstep.”
After what felt like forever, Soren lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and a vein throbbed at his temple. “She tricked me, Vivian.”
“What?”
He covered his face, sank into a crouch, and sobbed. “Vivian, please. Sit with me for a few minutes. That’s all I’m asking.”
I had never seen Soren like this before.
Reason told me I shouldn’t agree, but something nagged at me. I sensed there was something he’d been hiding.
So I went with him to a restaurant nearby.
He ordered no food, only a bottle of whiskey. After draining a glass, he wiped his face and looked at me with naked longing. “Vivian, I love you. I never stopped.”
“Soren, if that’s all you came to say, then don’t bother. I don’t want to hear it.”
Afraid I might leave, he clapped a hand over mine, then seemed to think better of it and carefully drew back.
His knuckles were white around the glass, as though he were about to crush it. “Daisy lied to me.”
I frowned. “What could she possibly have lied about?”
Soren told me everything.
Six months earlier, Daisy had told Soren that a Sicilian crime family was holding my father. They would only release him if I married one of their heirs; otherwise, they would destroy the Wellmans.
He’d wanted to come to me and ask, but Daisy had stopped him and played him a recording.
