Kamara’s POV
“Kamara Hermes!”
I flinched over the sheer anger in my mother’s voice. It wasn’t the kind of anger I usually felt from her when she was ready to scold the shit out of me, I could tell it was much worse than I could comprehend.
“Mum”
“Do you not Mum me!” She snapped. Her irritation is obvious even from over the phone. “Do you have any idea what we’ve just heard? Don’t even try to explain yourself. You lied to us, saying you were in New York chasing a dream we fully supported, just to find out you’re in Atlanta, pregnant pregnant for Don Diego, Kamara. That dangerous man. What the hell is wrong with you?”
My chest tightened, my hands trembling as I made my way out of the room hurriedly, heading down the hallway to find somewhere private and quiet. I could hear my father’s voice in the background, muttering something in disappointment.
“How could you do this, Kamara?” My father demanded. “If any of the family or the family friends were to hear about this, it would bring shame to the family, to me.”
I clenched my teeth angrily. They wouldn’t even care to ask why I did it. Why the brief break Diego gave to them was just to determine if I would bear him a child or not. They freaking crossed a mafia. And not just any mafia, Diego Sanchez, the most powerful Don in Atlanta. Mother won’t even ask Father how he came in contact with Diego’s business to end up owing that huge debt to Diego.
“You don’t even care why, do you?” I said bitterly, grabbing my phone even tighter than before, my body trembling.
“Why?” My father repeated as if the idea of an explanation was totally ridiculous. “There is no way you could justify this. You lied to us. You abandoned your family to go do whatever… this is. You know how we had to suffer for the money to book your flight to New York, you ungrateful”
I wanted to scream at them. This was all for the family and yet they just come over bashing me over the phone. They had no idea what I had gone through. The tears I’ve shed for the sacrifice I made. I didn’t just make this crazy decision to ruin my life.
“You’re coming home,” my mother declared.
I stiffened. “What?”
“You’re coming home!” She repeated as if I misheard. “You need to leave that place and”.
“No,” I said, my tone firm and steady. “I am not leaving.”
As I said that there was silence on the other side of the phone. Knowing how stubborn hey they are, they would probably keep on insisting.
Then, my father spoke. “Then we’re coming to you.”
The breath wooshed out of me. I had expected that one bit. “What?”
“We’ll be in that house as soon as we set things in motion.” He said firmly. “Since you won’t come see us, we will come see for ourselves.”
My stomach twisted. I had no say in this. I couldn’t hide because Ciara knew where Diego might possibly be and they were crazy enough to match up to him accusing him of whatever they settled on.
The call ended and I stood there, the phone still placed against my ear, my entire body trembling. This wasn’t seriously happening. I’ve always thought about what would happen if my family found out about this but this was even much worse. I knew since I came across Ciara, everything would go downhill with them.
I stared at my phone, trembling. What can I do? What would I even do? My hand hovered over the screen before settling on Fernando’s number. It rang only once before he picked up.
“What’s up, Kam?” He said, his tone more cheerful than it had been the last few days. He seemed to have something going on and not like I was interested.
“Can you take me to Diego? Now.” I said and he didn’t say anything before hanging up. I collapsed onto a chair nearby, burying my face in my palm as I tried to hold back my tears. This was the worst possible outcome all this could end up in.
I didn’t know how long I was there but I soon saw a pair of sneakers standing before me. I looked up to see Fernando standing there with my bags. I appreciated that. I couldn’t face Nana now that I was a sobbing mess.
“Where’s he?” I asked, standing up. I adjusted my dress calmly before walking towards the elevator.
“He’s in a meeting so I couldn’t inform him of your request before I came over. But you should be able to see him.” He replied, tapping the button on the ground floor. “And Chantelle asked you to take care.”
She just guessed what was going on and knew I needed some space. What would we do about this? I didn’t know how Diego would react if I told him my entire family was storming over here angrily to have a word, would he act nonchalantly? I mean, we still technically are in his debt.
I got into the car and Fernando drove off somewhere. I’ve been in Atlanta for a few months now but I didn’t know everywhere. I was always indoors so it would be very much expected that I wasn’t familiar with the city at all.
Fernando soon stopped in front of a huge tall building. I knew Diego ran a chain of clubs and hotels, but this was just for the sight, right?
Fernando tossed the keys to a valet as he led me to the elevator. I could see all eyes on both of us as we headed toward the elevator. It just is a shock someone was with Fernando because since I’ve known him, he was either with some of Diego’s men, with Diego, or alone.
“Ignore them. They are nothing but a bunch of gossip.” Fernando said as we stepped into the elevator.
The elevator came to a halt. When we stepped out, the first person I ran into was Diego, dressed in a suit, and some group of people behind him. Fernando did inform me that he was in a meeting.
“What is she doing here?” He looked at Fernando who handed me my bag.
“She has an issue to discuss with you obviously.” He replied and Diego looked down at me. I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head due to the cold look on his expressionless face.
“Get out!”