“No!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Lord, not Brandy.”
“Daddy,” Tiara looked up into Blake’s eyes, “is it true that those men came looking for me today? Is it true that they wanted to kill me?”
Instead of answering, Blake looked to Cat for help. She came and stood by his side. Gripping his hand, she tried to talk to Tiara.
“Honey—”
“They meant to kill me!” Tiara screamed. “They killed Brandy instead! But they were trying to kill me!”
Tiara was hysterical by then. Her sobs were uncontrollable, and she looked at both of her parents with deep anger in her eyes.
“Tiara—” her mother tried again. That time she reached for Tiara, but Tiara pushed her hand away.
“Fuck you!” she screamed. “This is all his fault!” She pointed a finger at her father. “My best friend is dead! She’s dead, and she’s not coming back!” Tiara had to take a breath. She backed away until she got to the stairs that would take her up to her room. Her face was completely twisted, and she cried like a five-year-old child. She turned and looked around the room. “I hate all of you! I don’t want to live like this anymore! I have lost the only person in this world that ever truly gave a fuck about me, and you all are just standing there nonchalant as hell like I’m the only one with blood on my body! Her blood is on everybody, not just me!”
With that, she turned and ran up the stairs, leaving all of them to stand there in an awkward silence. Stephanie nodded her respects to Mario for bringing her home safely and ran up the stairs after her. Blake wiped his face with his hand and tried to make sense of what had just happened.
* * *
By the time that he and his men had arrived at the scene, the shooters were already dead. He couldn’t understand why they had even gone to the trouble of invading the school in the first place. The first person that came to his mind was Rodriguez, but regardless of the fact that Blake had pretty much taken over his operation by force, he still had a major hand in all of the dealings. He was making more money in the heroin game being partnered up with Blake than he ever had running things solo. Until he figured out exactly what was going on and who called the hit, he would need his security to be doubled. He was deeply saddened by Brandy’s death; he knew how close she and Tiara had been. She was the first real friend Tiara ever had that didn’t use her for the perks of having a truly rich friend. However, he would have been lying if he said he wasn’t glad it was her and not Tiara. Mentally, he made a note to write Brandy’s family a check to cover the entire funeral, and more.
* * *
Blake finally noticed the tall boy standing in the room with them. He looked a mess, and he had blood dripping down his arm. Blake could tell the boy was trying to decide whether he should leave or go upstairs after Tiara. From the concerned look in his eyes, he guessed that this was the boy that his daughter had begged to go on a date with.
“Mario, right?” Blake said, catching the boy off guard.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Rogers. Sir,” Mario stammered.
“Are you all right?” he said as he gestured toward Mario’s bloodstained arm.
“I’m all right, sir. A bullet grazed my arm, that’s all. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“I was told that you were the one who rescued my daughter and brought her home,” Blake said, walking to Mario and standing directly in front of him. “Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Blake sized Mario up, and then finally nodded his head. He held out his hand for Mario to shake it.
“Thank you,” Blake said. “I apologize that you had to witness that. Please have one of my guys take a look at the wound on your arm.”
“No need to thank me, sir. It was no problem at all,” Mario said, shaking Blake’s hand. “I’m just glad she’s OK. And my arm will be fine. I was one of the lucky ones. If it’s all right with you, I would like to check on Tiara before I leave.”
Blake contemplated the boy’s words. He knew that the right thing to do was allow him to go upstairs and console his daughter, especially since his face was probably one of the only ones she could stomach. Blake waved his hand to the stairs.
“I might have been wrong about you,” Blake said, remembering how hard he’d been on his daughter’s crush. “Go on. When you come back down, my security will let you out. I have some business to attend to, and I’m sure my wife will be in bed.”
“Thank you, sir,” Mario said and hurried past him.
Halfway up the stairs, Blake Rogers surprised him again. “And Mario?” he said.
“Yes, sir?”
“Come over on Sunday. I would be honored if you joined us for dinner.”
Mario was shocked, but instead of showing it on his face, he flashed Blake the best smile he could muster given the grimness of the situation.
“I would love to, sir. Thank you.”
Chapter 9
Tiara was allowed to miss school the rest of the week. She couldn’t find the strength to get up and go back into that place. All she had been thinking about was Brandy. Her family laid her to rest only two days after, and the funeral was hard to attend. She sat in the front along with the rest of Brandy’s family and clung to Brandy’s mother like her life depended on it. She was able to say her final good-byes to her best friend, and although she was sure Brandy was at peace, she wasn’t. There was an ache in her heart because she felt that Brandy’s murder was completely her fault. If Brandy
