♤DEALS♤

Chapter 43 - Guilt of a Dealer

Some burdens are easier to bear when one is left alone.

-Peyton Griffin

Sam Griffin's POV

The British Empire.

I sip my coffee with no sugar and no milk. Purely black like how my soul feels.

I lean on the balcony of the Griffin Manor, where it all began. The house has been my family heritage for as long as I can remember.

A truth and a lie.

As a young lad, my father would make me sit on this balcony and watch as the money deals were handled. The weapon and drug shipments were dealt with, and least I forget the day he shot a man who looked at him in a dirty way.

"You see, Sam," He once said, "This place is our home. No matter how hard we try, we can't run away from it. It will come back to bite us one way or the other. It's either you learn how to control this place, or it controls you."

I took a large sip of my coffee as I watched men dressed in suits walk around the green fields, and as much as I hate to admit it, my eyes were solely trained on the cottage that stood far away from here but was still close enough for me to see.

The occupant of the said place was the daughter of my father's second command, a pretty girl who grew to accept that our marriage was not something she could run away from.

But good grief, did she put up a fight, like mother like daughter.

I found myself rubbing the two rings on my third finger, one was my wedding ring, and another was a promise ring.

The person who gave it to me had a deep connection with me. Even though many people don't see it and neither do they believe it. My daughter was born to lead, though we never saw eye to eye.

But I think the misogynism that has kept this place from falling apart was what tore us apart.

Even though I was meant to have a son who I would teach how to do things the way they should be done, I was given a daughter who I swore I would protect.

But as the years grew and our bond became stronger; I was given a choice that would either make us or break us.

If she were to take after me, the people would eat her alive, and our friends would become our enemies. I did what I could to protect her from the inevitable.

I gave her to a wolf, knowing she could tame him, and together they would lead and be the difference she always sought.

"When you kiss her on that altar, I want you to remember that if things don't go the way I want, I will be coming back for you." I cocked my head to admire my future son-in-law.

Lest I forget the deal that brought me to my knees. The deal that still haunts me to this day.

"Mark my words, son. Your sister and her children will come back and fight what they have been denied."

I set the mug on the railing and brought the small picture I had taken when my daughter was born.

That day was my weakest, and that was when the final words my father gave me finally sunk in.

"You will inherit my enemies who would want nothing more than to tear you down. And like I, and my father before me, you need to make sacrifices that won't always go the way you plan. But remember, there will come a day that when that deal slips up, you will find out the truth that I fought so hard to keep away from you, and you'd thank me for tossing your mother aside."