“How long has she been asleep?” Violet questioned Paris as Riley rested her head on his lap, practically knocked out.
“A long time,” he responded. “She fell asleep right after we got on here and hasn’t been disturbed since.”
“Is she okay?” Violet questioned. “Is she hurt? Sick?”
“No,” he responded. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. Just a little loopy. She was freaking out, so I had to give her a sedative.”
“The human one,” Violet said, “right?”
“Duh,” he said as if she were a moron, “why would I give the poor girl ketamine? She’s not a fucking horse.”
“I know she’s not really my daughter…” Violet whispered then. “And I know I was supposed to raise her and all after her father passed, but… I still worry about her, you know?”
“You should,” Paris responded. “You kept her safe for the past nineteen years, which was your job. It’s only natural that you’d grow an attachment over her.”
Violet exhaled a sigh.
“So, Violet,” Paris said, making her look up, “you can stop dying your hair brown and take out the silver contacts now. She’ll find out what’s going on in about a week, so I need you to go back to your normal look. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Paris,” she said.
He gazed down at Riley then. “I know why my father wanted her dead…” Paris whispered, “but he’s gone now… I killed him after he assassinated her father, but… I don’t know who’s trying to hurt her now. It’s concerning. I have my men searching every block, but I can’t find anything.”
“Why her…?” Violet said. “Why do they want her dead?”
Paris gazed up at Violet. “Riley’s real mother had her as a teen. She placed her on the police’s doorstep because she was on the run from my father. When Riley was a toddler, her father of her took her in and cared for her, and he was on the run the entire time, but he somehow managed to hide it from her. My dad was hunting her after her mother died years earlier, but he never found her.”
“Why did he want her dead, though?” Violet questioned.
Paris sighed. “I think he wanted her dead because… my father… encouraged Riley’s birth.”
“What? So you’re like siblings…?”
“No,” Paris said quickly, “not brother and sister. He arranged the… sex… because he wanted Riley as a test subject for something he was developing.”
“You make that sound like supernatural or something.”
“No,” he stated, “a disease he mutated to murder people when they inhaled it. Riley’s mother was an experiment, and he wanted her pregnant before he gave her the disease to see if it affected the child. It did not. But after Riley’s birth and while her mother was infected, she escaped and gave Riley to the police. She wasn’t safe, anyway.”
“That’s screwed up,” Violet said, “no offense. That whole getting a teen pregnant thing. And the fact that they were testing on her mother like a rodent.” Violet looked up. “Sorry, I interrupted you, sir. What happened to her mother?”
“She killed herself in an alleyway,” Paris exhaled, “so my father would never find out where Riley went.”
“That’s screwed up on so many levels…” Violet whispered. “I just wanted to say something, is that okay?”
He nodded after checking to see if Riley was still asleep.
She was.
“I want you to know, Paris,” Violet said, “that after your father passed, we were so relieved to find that you were taking over and all. It was a saint that you wanted to reform. It was amazing. We were all stuck with your father, and the way you’re trying to fix things for us is amazing.”
He gazed down at Riley. “She was his main target all these years, and since he has a copycat and there’s no one else in her life other than her friends, it’s our job to make up for it and protect her.”
“Thank you, Paris,” Violet said. “You’re so much better than your father.”
“I am,” he responded. “My father was a psychotic criminal mastermind. I’m just a criminal mastermind.”
Violet chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you are.”
Riley groaned in annoyance, shifting in his lap.
Paris raised his hand so she could move, and then set it back on her head, ruffling her hair slightly when she relaxed back into him.
“Why is she on your lap?” Violet said then. “You could’ve just spread her along the seat and sat next to me.”
“Yeah,” he answered, a small smile creeping on his lips, “I could’ve. But it’s easier this way because if she wakes up and runs, I’d be able to catch her faster.”
Violet nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
He looked down at Riley then. “I’m sorry I had to tranq you, Riley. But I had to so I could bring you back to my house; it wasn’t fun, doing it, I was also worried you’d jump out the car and break your skull.”
“Is Riley the only one your father went after?” Violet said.
“Riley was the only one who survived,” Paris answered. “Which is pretty incredible because my dad was beyond intelligent.”
“I’m actually surprised her father let me in the household knowing I wasn’t her mother,” Violet said. “I’m really surprised that he lied about it, too.”
“It was the only way to keep her safe,” Paris responded. “He wouldn’t leave her side.”
“I know, but… who was he? To your father?”
“Her father?” Paris thought for a moment. “I actually think he was a guard of some sort, and he hated himself after he got her mom pregnant. He left after that.”
“Yeah,” Violet said, “you’re dad….”
“Is messed up,” Paris finished. “I know, but I’m in charge now and everything is going to get better.”
He gazed down at Riley. “Especially for her.”
