Mafia Daddy’s Smart Little by Mary Potter
CHAPTER FOUR
Holland
Ethan Coast was talking with an old man when I drove into his parking garage.
I recognized the man from Leevens Millionaire, a retail store manager who had more money than half of the population of Leevens. His name was Orlando Patterson, and no one had to tell me he was a member of the Ross Mafia.
Of course, I had heard about the Mafia and all about Mr. Coast who died and asked his son to take over his place. I knew all about my uncle, Greg Baxter, who had a falling out with Mr. Coast and left Leevens.
But my uncle didn’t leave the city because he was intimidated by Mr. Coast. He left because he needed to create a world where he would be accepted. They had kicked him out of the Ross Mafia. Greg went out and founded another Mafia.
It was called the Peak Mafia, a society of equally wealthy men that existed in the Ross Mafia. The Peak Mafia has always been a rival of the Ross and I was seriously impressed by how well it had grown.
Just five years ago, I was initiated into the group, right before everything fell apart. As I got out of my car, I didn’t want to think about my shitty past. It was time to face the future, even if it meant asking a friend from an rival group to help me.
“Hello, Ethan,” I greeted when I reached him.
“Holland,” he said, pulling me into a hug and slapping my back. “Good to see you. I would like you to meet Orlando Patterson.”
“Oh, I know who he is,” I said, reaching to shake Orlando’s hand.
His palm was sweaty when I took it. “I’ve heard about you, too, Holland Kennedy.”
When he said that, I wondered if what he heard about me were good things. I didn’t want people remembering the unfortunate incident I had faced. It was in the past, and I wanted it to stay there.
“My youngest daughter is a huge fan of yours,” Orlando added. “She would love to meet you.”
I broke into a smile. “That would be great.”
After Orlando left, Ethan came into the house where I was waiting for him. I stood by the mantel, checking out the portraits on display.
“I miss Lisa,” he said, making me turn around at the sound of his voice.
Ethan was hanging his coat, dusting off snowflakes on it.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“With Raymond and Maddy. They are in Texas for the Christmas holiday. I had to stay behind on important business matters.”
I knew he was talking about the business of the Ross Mafia. Two months ago, I had come to Leevens for the first time, excited to meet my cousin Raymond Baxter and his new wife, Maddy. That was when I met Ethan and we immediately became friends.
My cousin and his wife were travelling when I came back to Leevens this time. I had their apartment all to myself and I got to hang out with Ethan more. Something was intriguing about him. I respected him and wanted to be like him, a businessman who ruled one of the most famous mafia groups in the city.
I suspected it came from the fact that Ethan’s reputation was still intact. Mine was tarnished and I didn’t know how to get it back. If only I could turn back the hands of time.
“Do you want to talk about what happened last night?”
I sighed and took a seat on his comfy sofa. Ethan came to sit beside me, waiting for my explanation. I had a lot to tell him. From the very moment I picked up the pretty girl and asked her to hang out at the club with me to the moment the barbaric man tried to slit my throat.
Ethan just listened with no expression on his face. He didn’t say anything.
Last night, when I called him and told him a man had tried to kill me, Ethan had simply asked me to come to his place the next morning and then he called the cops to follow me home.
I appreciated his effort. Now here I was, telling everything to a man who was my mentor.
“Holland, have you ever thought of settling down?”
I turned to look at him, surprised by the question. Settling down? Did he mean falling in love and getting married? To be honest, I had never thought of that.
I always considered every woman I met to be cunning and only out to get my money. It had happened with the prostitute who wrongly accused me of rape. She was out to destroy my dignity.
“I haven’t thought…I…”
“Holland, at some point in your life, you have to make room for that special woman. I did the same with Lisa and now, we are happy together. You can’t find happiness in every woman you pick up at night and dump the next morning.”
“But I don’t think I am ready,” I said.
Ethan just grinned and patted my shoulder. “No one is ever ready for love. It happens before you are even aware of it.”
“So, how do you suppose I find this special woman?” I asked him. “There are hundreds of single women in Leevens. It’s going to be a hard task.”
Ethan walked to the little bar in his living room. He took out a bottle of whiskey and poured me a drink.
“Don’t push it, Holland. Love doesn’t miss.”
