Shadows In Durango

*****Vincent's POV*****

"Vincent," my father's gravelly voice comes through the line. "I've heard back from Frazier." He states slowly, giving nothing away.

My heart skips a beat. This was it - the conversation I had been waiting for, but also dreading at the same time.

"Yeah, so what did he say?!" I manage to keep my voice casual, though inside, I was already bracing myself for the worst.

"Well he's not exactly happy, as you'd expect," my father continues, his tone cold. "He's been looking for his daughter for months now, and he's not keen on the idea that she's been hiding out with you this whole time." His tone is stern, almost scolding, as I feel my jaw tighten in defence.

"First of all, she hasn't been with me the whole damn time! I've only known her for a few weeks!" I state, matter of factly, already not liking the tone of this conversation and it had only just started.

Of course, Frazier wouldn't be happy, since from what I've learned, he never was! Frazier was what my father often referred to as a 'Desperado'. A man willing to chase money over all else - even if it meant fucking his own family over.

Over the years my father had watched many men like him rise and fall, and so I had very little respect for any sort of 'business' that they had together.

He currently had no control over Sofia's life, and had missed out on a money making plot against his own flesh and blood - and so he felt like he had been wronged.

My father is silent for a moment, and that silence speaks volumes. I know him well enough to understand that he's calculating, weighing his options, and what those options mean for me...

"He wants her back Vincent," my father finally says, his voice colder than before. "And he was willing to pay a hefty sum to make it happen. He sees her as an investment. A bargaining chip." He retorts, as my whole body begins to tremble in a rage.

I'll strangle his scrawny fucking neck if I have to, I won't just give her back to him!

I clench my fist, anger now bubbling beneath the surface. "She's not a goddamn commodity," I snap, my voice low and dangerous.

My father chuckles, the sound devoid of any real humor. "To people like Frazier, everyone's a commodity. You know that, Vincent. We don't live in a world where feelings matter much. What matters is leverage, power, money, and right now, Sofia is his every leverage." He trails off, before I hear the sound of puffing, which signals to me that he was smoking a fat stubby cigar like the rest of the twats who work with him do.

A bitter taste fills my mouth. I want to curse him out, to tell him that he's wrong for not caring about this like I do, that I won't let anything happen to her.

But deep down, I know how to play this game. I need to remain focused, hear everything that he has to say first before I act out...

"So what happened?! You didn't agree to just give her back to him for a little bit of cash did you?!" I retort, hoping that he hadn't crumbled so easily.

I could only imagine the lump sum that he was getting in return for marrying her off if he was willing to pay us just to get her back...

"No of course not! I might not agree with your reasons, but I delivered the message as promised. I told him you wanted to have the girl for yourself and that you would pay money for her." My father's tone is light, leaving me to trust that there was yet more to come from this.

"So?" I encourage him to continue, desperate at this point to know what the outcome from the entirety of the call was.

"Well interestingly enough, that request started to get the wheels turning inside of his head. His interest was most certainly piqued, but not just for the money." My father quickly adds towards the end, remaining cryptic and enjoying teasing me with this, simply because it mattered to me.

This was the type of asshole he was, never taking anything seriously unless it directly affected him!

"Quit pussying around the conversation and tell me what the fuck he wants!" I demand, my voice raising without a care whether the cleaners would hear me from inside or not.

I was over this shit!

"Alright, enough of your fucking tone! Remember who you're speaking to boy!" He warns, as I scoff down the line.

"No, enough of your fucking tone! Don't piss me off anymore than what you already have! You and I both know that I'm a very crucial part in your empire and without me, it would crumble very fucking easily these days!" I threaten, knowing now that my words had some weight to them.

He was getting old, and no longer wanted to face his enemies head on which often resulted in sending me. Business partners wouldn't settle for anything less than meeting face to face with him or the next best thing - his son.

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I would be lying if I said that I didn't bask in the power I had over him these days, and enough was enough.

He needed me, more than what he would like to admit!

"Will you just calm down?! I've been trying to tell you what he said so let me finish!" He argues, deciding to cut our little dispute short before it could escalate further. Smart choice...

"When I told him you wanted the girl for yourself, something in him seemed to get excited and as I had predicted, he explained that he already had somebody in line to buy and marry his daughter, forty-eight year old Dennis McCane to be exact." He recites the information that he must have noted down from their call earlier, as my stomach churns at the thought of Sofia being anywhere near a pervert that age.

Wanting to marry a seventeen year old girl? I can only imagine what he was offering to pay for her in order for Frazier to even consider it in the first place!

Disgusting pigs the lot of them!

"He immediately latched on to the idea of giving Sofia over to you, but on three conditions..." My father begins, getting to the nitty gritty of where this conversation had really gone. Here goes nothing...

"He still wants some sort of payment for her, promising to step out of her life in return." He starts, as I nod at the first condition - deciding that it was easy and looked good enough on paper.

But he wasn't done yet...

"So what else does the bastard want?!" I grit out, checking my watch to see that the school day was still an hour or so from ending.

"He wants you to marry her and to be there to witness it." He states, as the world around me seems to pause.

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Did I just hear that right?

"HE WHAT?!" I yell, losing my shit completely at the games this fucker was attempting to play with me.

First I've to pay him to have her safe, and then I've to marry her and let him watch? What twisted, evil little prick would even come up with that?!

Just take the money and go, how difficult was it?!

"He seems to think that if you marry his daughter, it will strengthen our business together, but you and I both know that that's bullshit but we can at least let him think that if it helps the situation?" My father remains level headed, seeming to not react much to the whole thing meanwhile I was losing my damn mind over it.

How does he propose that I tell Sofia about this? That I've found a way to get her out of the shit with her father as long as she marries me and lets him come along to watch the whole thing? Bullshit!

"This is a whole load of shit and you know it! You didn't happen to tell him where she was staying, did you? Surely he doesn't know what property we are at?" I question frantically, needing to buy myself some time before he attempts to show up at our doorstep for her.

"Nah he doesn't know, but he did ask. I told him that the last I spoke to you, you were at our Miami place." He tells me, to which I feel slightly grateful for his lie.

At least he had helped to cover my back, that was one plus from all of this!

"He said he would give it a couple of days before calling me back and we can take it from there..." He concludes, as I feel the bile churn around in my stomach.

I didn't want to get married, I was still trying to work on the whole damn relationship thing with Sofia let alone convincing her that marriage will solve everything!

Marriage was the damn reason she ran away in the first place! Other than the age difference, this was shaping itself to be the same exact scenario - an arranged marriage to benefit her father.

Shit was very quickly becoming a whole lot worse...