𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

41- 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀

"What the hell are you doing here, Alma?" Amara asked, standing in front of Alma, who was sat on a chair nervously tapping her foot on the floor.

"I need your help," She admitted and Amara scoffed.

"My help? You're the London Mafia princess, I'm not helping you," Amara firmly told her and Alma shut her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I won't ask for anything ever again, I promise," Alma assured her but Amara shook her head.

"The answer's no. I don't care what the question is," Amara responded, turning her back and starting to walk away.

"I have breast cancer."

Amara stopped, the words that fell from Alma's lips being the last ones she ever expected to hear. "What?" Amara asked in disbelief, turning around.

"It's slowly progressing to stage four, so I don't have much time left," Alma confessed, and suddenly Amara felt ashamed.

This woman was battling to live, but all she cared about was the Mafia. It was the first thing on her mind, and she hated it- because it should be Azaiah or something that showed she was capable of emotion like she once was.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" Amara started, but Alma cut her off with a smile.

"It's fine," Alma assured her, kneading her hands together.

"I need some money for treatment, that's what I came here to ask," She admitted and Amara furrowed her brows.

"What about your brother? Your family's supposed to be rich," Amara asked and Alma shook her head.

"We fell out a couple of years ago and he still hasn't forgiven me," Alma admitted.

"You have cancer? Surely, it can't have been that bad," Amara pointed out, but Alma shook her head.

"I sold out his Mafia to protect my girlfriend. He managed to get it back, but it cost him almost everything. He'll never forgive me."

Amara didn't know what she expected to hear, but it wasn't that. The London Mafia valued loyalty above all, and their princess was busy selling them out from underneath them.

"What about your girlfriend? Why don't you ask her?" Amara asked and Alma felt her breath lodge in her throat.

"Selling out the London Mafia still wasn't enough, she was murdered by those same people."

"How much?" Amara asked and Alma shrugged.

"Depends how long I live," Alma admitted, "but it's roughly one hundred thousand."

"Well, if you led with that, I'd have handed it to you in cash," Amara replied and Alma chuckled.

"Thank you, Amara. I know this is pretty out of the blue," Alma told her and Amara shook her head.

"It's fine, Alma," She replied, turning around to walk away again, but Alma stopped her.

"There's one more thing," Alma spoke up and Amara turned around to face her.

"What is it?" Amara asked and Alma avoided looking at her in the eye.

"When Nate and Kae were killed, I was Kiara's legal guardian. I won't be around much longer, and I just wanted to ask if she could find a home with you."

Amara's heart stopped, everything else fading out into the background. Alma was asking Amara whether she wanted to look after Kiara. Whether she wanted to be a parent of a child that wasn't hers. That was a big question.

"If you're not comfortable with that, I'll look after her until my time comes, but then she'll be heading to an orphanage," Alma continued, but Amara didn't have chance to reply as she heard Azaiah enter the room.