“You are a baby in this game. More like a fetus, Sina.”

He was pissing me off. “What do yo want from me? Why am I here?”

“I want to give you an opportunity. I see that you did well. The life you chose is not the life I would have chosen for you, but I did my best in making sure you were safe.”

“Safe?”

“Yes, Sina. The Turnpike incident? And your Aunt Carmella loves the time she spends with the baby.”

How could he have been playing me so close? That’s fucking scary. I felt violated. Tears of rage burned my cheeks. “Why do you have me here? Do you want to kill me? What? What do you want?”

“I want you to stop. You deserve better. This is not a life for you. You are more than this. This life was my only choice. Why do you choose to run around like a common criminal? What happens if you go to prison? What about your son, Sina? I had to get it the hard way. I had no choice.”

“What does that have to do with me? You gave me no choice. You left us for dead. And now you pop up to tell me to stop the one thing that I am good at. It’s too late to step in and play daddy. I don’t need you.”

“You do need me. You just said the one thing you are good at; let me give you a promotion. I have operations way bigger than that elite business you call your self-doing.”

“Fuck you!”

“Watch your mouth!” He said that so loud that he startled both Carlito and me. I was a little shook and Carlito was quiet. You could hear a pin drop.

“Like I said. I have bigger operations that I need you to run. Legit operations. I have operations in Venezuela, Brazil; I have business in South America. I want us to be clean. I want us both to wash our hands. I want my grandson to grow up without this chaos. Attend prep school. Travel the world. You can have this, Sina. Don’t you want this?”

I was at a loss for words. I refused to submit to my father. But yet, I wanted to. That scared me and it made me feel weak.

“The streets are not going to allow you to just walk in and take over. I won’t allow it.”

“My dear, Lolita. It is already done.”

“What do you mean?”

“You no longer control any territory. I have already taken over. Go to your room, Sina. Game over. Seven is dead.”

“That’s what you think!” I needed my phone. I had to call Kevin.