Strip me Bare

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

3 years later

Banff, Alberta, Canada

It's Connor's 10th Birthday today. I woke up early to bake the chocolate wolf cake he wanted.

It’s been 3 years since we ran for our lives. Over 2400km. But we are safe. For now.

Romero and his men have not found us yet, but I am always prepared. Something my late uncle taught me, as well as how to defend myself and how to survive.

Romero was my father’s choice, an alliance for the familia. That’s all I was. A transaction, a placeholder. My sister, on the other hand, got everything she wanted, even the choice of whom to marry.

She wanted Romero, but my father knew more than what he shared with us. This was the only time he refused to give her what she wanted.

My father always favored my sister because she was the daughter of the woman he loved. Me. I’m the mistake that should have never happened.

So, when he came for me at 10 years of age, I had no choice. He shot my mother in cold blood in front of me, but he didn't know that my uncle Arturo had been visiting since I was born. Training me as a warrior and not a princess. Nobody knew that my father was legally married to my mother and, therefore, I was the rightful heir to the Vargas empire.

Me and not Liliana.

When father found out that Uncle Arturo had been training me, he had him killed in front of me on my 18th birthday in front of all the families to see.

It was also the day I showed him I was better than him. I was quiet. Everyone was staring at me. Then I walked over to my father and, with speed only the 2nd in command should have, I disarmed my father and aimed the gun at his head. He was shocked and humiliated that a woman disarmed him.

That night he grabbed me from my room and locked me in the cellar where my sister and her cronies tortured me for 3 days.

I never broke. I never screamed. I just waited.

What a way to reminisce early in the morning. But my past only made me stronger and I wont allow my past to destroy the future my son deserves. He will never be a made man. He will be given a choice to decide for himself.

After the cake was done, I woke him up while singing Happy Birthday. The smile he gave me was what made it all worth it. All the extra shifts at the bar, all the late nights trying to get enough so that we have a crash fund. This little guy…. He is my world. And so is the 40kg Pitbull who has been here since my son was 5 years old. This is my home.

After getting Connor ready for school and Vira and I ready for work, I walked to the school that was 3 blocks from our small little home. It’s a small school and almost all the parents know each other. I don’t trust easily, and I have made sure that all parents and teachers are not in league with Romero, but I'm still scared. I will always be until he is no longer on this Earth.

After dropping him off, Vira and myself head to the biker bar where I work. The Captain is a small bar and restaurant that caters mainly to the bikers or the people just passing through. But lately more and more bikers have arrived, some friendly, others not so much.

Since I started working here, I have kept to myself and been in the shadows as much as I can. Claire, the owner, gave me a chance 3 years ago, and I was not going to disappoint her in any way. She's a kind soul but a badass when she needs to be.