Chapter 143 Not easy to kill - Miguel POV
"What the fuck were you doing out again in the middle of the night!" Father drops the bag of clothes on the hospital bed.
"I needed the fresh air, as you noticed, your house is literally swarmed during the day." I carefully get up, the skid marks on the left side of my body burning.
Whoever that was in a fucking black BMW with no plates, got me good, because when I noticed the tail and tried to get away, that motherfucker was on me. He was smart, too, wearing a balaclava.
Someone wants me dead.
This is definitely not the same tail as before. That one just wanted to check my whereabouts, this one wants to inflict damage.
"Your brother just fucking died." Father clenches through his teeth. "You're not supposed to be gallivanting around on your motorcycle!"
I refrain from telling him he's talking about the same person he disowned.
"So you expect me to stay cooped up in the house?" I raise my eyebrows mockingly at him. "Until when exactly? You do know this is not going to blow over soon, right? Ben may be dead, but his crimes are going to follow us until we die, too."
Father probably knows that more than most. He still has to make a public statement that he's stepping down from his office. Everything he protected all these years, disappointing my mother, bowing down to a family name, has gone down the drain.
As soon as the funeral is over, I'm done with this farce. I don't need his name or his job, and of he wanted me to, I could give him back his trust fund too. I needed it in the beginning, and it made me a very rich man, but if it's going to keep me in this family's clutches, I don't want it.
"Fuck!" Father curses and drops his head in his hands.
I pause, taking him in. Unlike most times, he's not wearing his usual suit this early in the morning. Instead, he has on black sweatpants and a hoodie, making him look younger somehow.
"I'm sorry." I don't even know why I'm apologising to him. I shouldn't feel bad for hitting him with the truth, but maybe I should've been more sensitive to what he's going through.
He lifts his head, his blue eyes red from trying to keep in his emotions. He used to tell me a Cargill man never let others see him cry, a complete contradiction to what my mother used to tell me. I remember being so confused as a kid.
"I can't lose you, too." His voice breaks on the sentence, and I wobble over to him to hug him to my bigger frame.
He didn't believe in hugs either, but I'm giving him one now whether he wants it or not.
"I'm not that easy to kill." I say in his ear. "Many have tried with no luck."
"Well, a cat only has nine lives." Father clears his throat when he steps out of my embrace. "Get dressed, I'll wait outside. There are probably a bunch of fucking reporters waiting already."
That asshole who ran me over better wish I never catch him. What he doesn't know is that nobody is undetectable, not when I have someone like Lucille in my back pocket.
Speaking of which.
I dial Raul, who I had to reassure since I was brought to the ER that he absolutely does not need to come to the hospital. That man is more of a brother to me than Ben ever was.
"Are you alive?" He answers drily.
"And well. Just a few bumps and bruises, nothing new." I'm more pissed off that I didn't get to see my woman. "Listen, please tell Lucille not to come see me. I know there's like a memorial or something in a few days, but I don't want anyone seeing seeing her there and putting two and two together."
"She's your friend, Miguel, it's not going to look weird if she's there."
"Someone could also figure out she has skills that I want to be kept a secret." If someone is following me to kill me for whatever reason, she may end up a target next.
If the Bloombergs find out it was me who leaked those videos, they might hire someone to take me out. I wouldn't put it past them, the rich and elite would do anything to keep their reputations intact.
"I'll talk to her." He sighs. "Are you sure you are good, though?"
"I'm good." I reassure him, wondering what he'll say if he finds out Madison is pregnant. He'll probably be as happy as me, seeing he's the only one who knows how I was pining after her since I was a teenager. "My father is waiting, I'll catch you later."
And Father wasn't wrong either. News stations are already outside, screaming questions at us when we leave, but we now have security that ensures we get quickly in the back of Father's town car.
"Maybe you should go away for a little while, after the funeral." I tell my tense father who is looking at the city flashing by. "Maybe take Caroline somewhere, she's not doing so well." I'm revelling in the way she's so broken, she deserves even more for destroying my childhood and Mom's sanity, but if I don't show some kind of sympathy, it would look really suspicious.
Father scoffs. "I don't want to go anywhere with Caroline."
"She's your wife."
Father turns to me, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "We all play our part, Miguel, remember that."
There are so many meanings behind that sentence.
He never loved Caroline, I've known that for a long time, another reason why I could never understand why he married her in the first place.
He's also telling me to play my part of the dutiful son. He thinks me being with Madison would look bad to the public and the family's image.
He should also know then that I really don't give a fuck, and I'm going to be with Madison as soon as the funeral is over.