Feels Like Home

Chapter 41

Andy looked at him from across the living room. She had finally seen him for what he was. After all these years and she never knew, she just didn't understand how she never knew. Her father was on the phone and she could hear that Carlos would survive.

"Alright call me with anything else."

He hung up the phone and looked back at his daughter who hadn't moved from her spot since Carlos was taken to the hospital.

"Who taught you to shoot?"

Andy looked away with a shrug.

"Well whomever did didn't teach you how to kill."

"I never stayed long enough to learn."

"Then I guess I'll have to teach you."

Andy looked up at her father then.

"I'm not staying here."

"Of course you are. You are my daughter..."

Andy shook her head, getting up.

"I'm not your daughter; I lost my father five years ago with my mother. The only person I have is Leo."

"Leo isn't family."

Andy glared at him.

"He's the only one who's cared, the one trying to save me from YOUR plans to sell me off as a prize for a favor. I lived my life for four years working my ass off to prove to you that I was sorry for what happened only to realize I was the idiot who fell for your lies so you could just what, live the perfect life? Well then you live it, but you keep me out of it."

"And where do you think you'll go? Back to Austin?"

"Believe it or not, there's someone more important than any man in this world and if it wasn't for them I would have pulled that trigger on myself."

"You're not going anywhere and that's final."

"Then that makes you no better than Carlos and just so you know, I hate you."

That had hurt him more than he expected and he had the urge to explain everything to her, but she was already upstairs. Instead he pulled out his phone and dialed someone who owed him a favor.

Christmas came and went. New Years, Valentine's day and at the point everyone was living their lives as they should, except Austin. At the beginning of the year everyone was convinced that Andy had died in the explosion due to the fact that they had found her things and DNA. Austin was devastated, locking himself with his daughter for days at a time until everyone gathered together convincing him that it wasn't healthy for Mady to see her father this way. It was eventually his daughter that had brought him out of his depression and he was soon back to normal.

Andy was growing angrier with her father, with herself, with everyone. She was convinced that no one cared for her, that she was stupid to think that anyone really wanted her back. What hurt her the most was that her daughter was with them and not with her, but then again what life would this be for her? By mother's day she had promised herself that she would see her again and the only way to do that was to do as her father told her to do.

Her father was dangerous, powerful and demanding, forcing her to learn to defend herself and spend time with him at his place of business so she could learn the business and eventually bring her in. Knowing that this was the only way to get him to trust her, she did as he asked and ten times better than his current children.

So Andy spent her mornings training with a "trainer" and her afternoons with her father. Andy wasn't surprised that he had a legit business and yet not so legal. Her father owned half of the city of Atlanta and yet no one could touch him because too many people knew what he would do to them and their families. This included Carlos. Carlos was released just before the New Year, but was soon back in after the lesson her father ordered to be done. For every rape, hit and miscarriage Carlos was responsible for he received the same and that's one reason why she had agreed to do as her "father" asked. She still had yet to call him as such, but she could respect him for trying to make a point that he was there to protect her.