Jesse's Brother (24 page)

  
 
“See what I mean?” Dad hissed. “Stay out of this, Gabi. I don’t want to see your picture in the papers next to mine.” He swung his gaze to the wall while placing his hand up to avoid having his picture taken as the guys passed.

  
“Did you get it?” The guy’s friend asked.

  
“Good enough for him to tell who I had seen,” the college guy answered as he pushed the door open.

  
She had enough sense to wait until the guys left before whispering, “I want to be involved with the business. Give me a job.”

  
“This discussion is over.”

  
Gabrielle glanced at her watch. Almost time for the boutique to open. “How about we continue this conversation over dinner?”

  
“No.”
 

  
“Why not?” She tapped her foot again. His stubborn refusal annoyed her and she couldn’t help the nervous gesture. Unfortunately her father managed to get her nerves coiled up tighter than a ball of yarn and he didn’t seem to care one bit. “Daddy, why won’t you let me work for you? Don’t I seem competent enough in running my own business to do a job for you?”

  
“You have a good life with the best boutique in town, plus a fancy house. Be satisfied with those things.”

Why couldn’t he see her as more than his little princess? She could do so much beyond selling designer clothes and looking pretty. Now that she had returned home, she wanted to be part of it all. The Mafia lifestyle ran in her blood and the desire to be part of her father’s empire pumped through her so strong she could almost taste it.

  
“Why won’t you let me do something small? Maybe collect money or something?” Excitement bubbled inside of her.

  
“I will not talk to you about this again.” He picked up his cell out and dialed a number but before sending the call through he took another look at Gabrielle. “You’ll be at dinner, correct?”
 

  
“Yes, Daddy,” Gabrielle said even though avoiding the weekly event might help prove her point. Pushing her chair back and standing, she mumbled, “See you at dinner.”

She spun on her heel and walked out of the coffee shop knowing she had go to the dinner instead of miss out on a moment to talk with her father. He’d almost told her today so there had to be a way to get her father to share some of the limelight with her. If she found an opportunity to get him alone later, she might be granted the opportunity pressure him a bit and then he’d tell her the truth.

As she rushed down the sidewalk in the direction of the shop, she tried to ignore the cold swirling around in the Las Vegas air. She’d left her coat at home since it usually warmed up by early spring. But today the cold outside matched the chilly conversation she’d just had with her father.
  

Some day she’d get him to change his mind, but how long would it take? She let out a sigh. Who knew how long her father would take to come around to Gabrielle’s way of thinking. She had inherited his stubborn streak for sure.

She could always ask one of the guys. Of course they kept her in the dark about the business, but she could try to get one of them to open up. She might not know a lot about the Mafia Family her father controlled, but one thing she had figured out where everyone ranked in the family. She shook her head in defeat. Even if she got them to agree at first, her father would quickly put an end to her job once he found out.

What would Mikolas say if she approached him about it? He had to be in on workings of the crime family since he’d been around her entire life. After all, their fathers were best friends. If she had an opportunity to talk to Mik, she would bring up the subject. With any luck, if Mik sided with her, they might be able to convince her father to trust her.

She flipped the open sign on the boutique window and greeted her first customer while she tried to come up with a plan.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wendy Ely is a contemporary romance author. She writes some romantic suspense, really hot stories, and the wonderful happily-ever-after. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

 
Wendy loves to hear from readers: [email protected]