Chapter 16

Maria

I liked spending time with Lara. She was always so cool, nonchalant and blunt. Like when I thought of the type of person I wanted to be when I grew up I wanted to be like Lara. She was down to earth in a way I had never seen before. She could hang out with the mega elites and just pop a beer and watch Miraculous with me. I liked that she was just a normal person that Dad trusted with a huge part of the business. It made me think if Lara could do it, maybe I could find my place.

"Hey, Lara, do you know why Mom left today?" I asked sitting right next to her on this long slab of marble table that was definitely supposed to be decorative and not usable.

"She's got to meet some old people that are part of the business" Lara said splitting her attention between her phone and breakfast.

"Shouldn't Dad be doing that?"

"Not really, these are like special people that Mom knows from back in the day".

"Why would they listen to her?" I questioned.

"Because Mom was a badass back in the day", Lara confessed. "She literally turned everything in this business upside down and we're living in the aftermath of it".

"Our Mom?"

"Yeah".

"How? Like, Mom is a doctor not a drug lord".

"I don't know, you'd have to ask Dad. I just know when Mom gets involved it's serious".

Well now I had more questions than answers. I thought Dad was the badass drug lord who ran everything. When did Mom also do drug lord stuff. I knew she knew about the business more than normal. But I had really only seen Mom work in the hospital or taking care of us. Was she doing stuff behind the scenes?

And Dad just let her?

Jennifer

I sat in the backseat of the bullet proof SUV with Alejandro dress in black military gear. The white mansion was painted with blood by the time someone put in some work by the sea of bodies littered on the floor.

"This a message", I said to myself.

"It's a warning", Alejandro corrected.

"To complex for the Conrad's".

"Or is it?"

I turned to face Alejandro in his black sunglasses,"Do you know something I don't?"

"No, but you know better than me never to under estimate a cockroach".

"The Gonzalez's were one of the original families that followed Ismael Zambada Garcia. And once he was put in jail, they had no problems taking orders from Michael. They were loyal---"

"And look at where that got them", Alejandro said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigar.

"Do we have eyes on the Conrad's?"

"Yes, from 1 to 99".

Now I had to make a decision. I had a young up and coming house that most likely was trying to encroach on Caffery territory. No one else was stupid enough to dare try some bullshit like this. It had to be the Conrad's.

There was a knock at my window and I rolled down the 10 to the glass to see Liam. "Did you find anything?"

"Just a lot of blood and dead bodies. How do you want to handle this, ma'am?"

"I don't. This is something Adam and Michael have to handle".

"Yes, ma'am", Liam radioed an update to the rest of the team. He stepped away from the car to handle the bodies and I rolled up my window.

"So what's the real plan?" Alejandro said filling the car with thick smoke.

"Kill them all", I stated coldly. "This is to big of an overstep and offense. If they don't fear us, there's no reason to respect us. Get it done as soon as possible".

The scene was cleaned and Liam joined us in the car, sliding into the passenger front seat."Ma'am the next family to meet were the Torres's should we head that way?"

"No, National Palace, please".

Adam

"Anyone that fucking looks at her is getting shot in the fucking head", I shouted hosing down Alma in the backyard with Daniel on my hip limp and gun strapped to my waist.

Alma screamed as the cold water washed her free of Daniel's vomit. This probably wasn't the best thing to do. But I didn't want her walking through the house covered in vomit so the best thing to do was open up the side door and try and fix it as best we could out here..

"You're not supposed to curse", Daniel said weakly.

"And you're not supposed to be vomiting as violent as you are. Jesus, what did you eat?"

"Salad with ranch dressing, blue cheese with croutons baked salmon and water". Well, that sounded actually very healthy. I was expecting he ate a peanut or something.

"We can play outside?!" Maria asked appearing like a ghost out of nowhere behind me.

"No! Get back in the house".

"It's all smelly", she explained.

"Fine, but you have to stand next to me---"

"Is Mom doing drug lord stuff?"

"Yes", I said absent-mindedly as I shouted at Alma,"Turn around, so we can get the back of your legs".

"It's cold!"

"You'll be fine", I yelled back.

"When's Mom coming home?"

"Late", I said hearing the growing crescendo of a power ballad being blasted from upstairs. "Who's playing Adele?"

That was normally Jennifer's thing went she wanted to be passive aggressive with me. Now I couldn't listen to any Adele song without having to go back over the past month of my actions to see where I fucked up.

"Fitz. He's being dramatic cuz you called him stupid".

"I didn't call him stupid", I said finished hosing off Alma.

"You inferred it he ", Daniel said on the edge of falling asleep or just passing out.

"I'm freezing", Alma shivered running back into the house.

"Why is Mom doing drug lord stuff?"

"Maria, she's taking care of some things. She'll be back tonight for whatever you need", I rushing into the house to immediately be hit with the smell of puke. It made me gag as I rushed to put Daniel to bed. But hopefully he just slept until Jennifer got back in approximately 9 to 10 hours.

I gently laid Daniel down in his bed ready to run out of here only to hear,"Will you rub my head?"

"Umm, sure", I kicked off my shoes and climbed into bed with Daniel and I started to pat the top of his head.

Daniel opened his eyes with confusion and a frown on his face,"Don't pat me like a dog. Rub the side of my templates like Mom".

Yes, boss.

"Wash your hands, please".

"Can I get, my liege, anything else?"

"My water please", o right. Daniel didn't understand sarcasm just yet. "And Mom would take my temperature now".

"Okay".

"If it's over 100 that's worrisome", He said like I was a proper idiot.

"Are you sure you didn't eat like a nut or something? Coming to contact with some bad grass?"

"No, I was on a plane, Daddy. Where would I get grass from?"

Again I needed to stop using sarcasm. "I'm going to go get your water".

"Thank you...and my ice pack".

"Yes, Pharaoh. I will retrieve your items", I said walking towards the door.

"Dad?"

"Yes".

"I know you don't like me. But I'm sick and mommy's not here. If I could take care of myself I would".

Wait a second...

"Hey, wait, buddy I love you. I know I'm not Mom, I would not even dare to dream of stepping into her shoes. But I love you. And I'd anything for you---"

"When you say mean things it hurts my feelings like it hurts Fitz".

"Knock! Knock!" Lara said from the door. "I think it's time for somebody's medicine".

Lara held up Daniel's sparkling lemon water with ice with a handful of medicine Jennifer had left behind. She went and sat on the edge of Daniel's bed putting the water on the nightstand as he sat up. "You're supposed to pour half of that in the medicine cup. And then I get one pink chewable pill".

"Got it my man", Daniel was more than capable of getting the pill out of the bottle. But he had Laura measure out half a cup of the liquid medicine on the nightstand to make sure she got the exact right measurement. "Okay I think it's good".

She handed Daniel the medicine that he graciously drank along with the chewable pill and his water. "Thank you".

"Anytime", she smiled standing up to fluff his pillow. "Will you get some rest? I'll come and check in on you---"

"In two hours, like mom, to do my vital check".

"I don't know how to do that. But I'll check on you to make sure you're still alive. You want your EpiPen or inhaler?"

"No, I can breathe", he said confused at why Lara would even ask that question.

"I'll come back in 2 hours and we'll try some soup".

"No only crackers and water".

"Okay, crackers and water. Sparkling water with ice and lemon, right?"

"Yes, please".

"Okay, get some rest", As if that was even possible with Fitz blasting his music.

I thought after a weekend in Hobbit world me and Daniel were good. Apparently, I was so far in left field I was in the fucking parking lot... in the wrong state...on the wrong day. This was something I needed Jennifer to sit down with me and explain my case. I didn't want Daniel growing up thinking I was just an asshole. I didn't want any of the kids thinking that.

"I'll be back in two hours as well", I said flipping off Daniel's light and following Lara down the hall to the next problem.

Lara went right up to Fitzgerald's door and banged on it like he owed her money. "Headphones! Have you heard of them?!"

"Go away!" He shouted

"Feeling sad?!"

"Yes!" Maria shouted from her room. "Stop playing Mom's old people music!"

"Adele is a queen you uncultured---

"At least I can spell uncultured!" Maria fired back really not making the situation any better.

"Can you guys not? Daniel's trying to sleep. He's sick. Let's be empathetic to him? So just use your headphones and feel what you need to feel?"

The music continued to blast for a moment before the house finally went silent. "Thank you!"

Vvvzzzttt, vvvzzzttt, vvvzzzttt

Lara's new focus was her phone and judging by her smile it was one of the boyfriends. Since most of the fires were put out, now would be the time to clean up and start making lunch.

I would talk to Fitz later. Like Michael they were just a height of dramaticism you just had to let them get out of their system before you could talk any sense to them.

Lunch and dinner prep work time. I look down at my watch and felt my heart dropping to my stomach it's only been 2 hours.

Fuck.

I got this.

I headed back into the kitchen to see Laura like the goddamn saint she was had cleaned up Daniel's vomit. I washed my hands and started to make everyone a sandwich of bread, ham and cheese. I had a feeling this was going to be the easiest thing I did today.

"Dad!?"

"Yeah?!" I shouted back to Alma who was freshly showered dressed in a light pink frilly dress. I was glad the color pink was still our favorite. At least something's never changed. Alma headed over to the Fred and pulled out a bottle of water and a parfait before going to sit at the kitchen island. "I'm making sandwiches".

"Gross", she frowned.

"What's wrong with a sandwich?"

"No, lettuce or tomato with one piece of meat. They're not even grilled or cut". I honestly didn't know there was a way to fuck up a sandwich. But apparently I was doing it.

"What does mom normally make?" I had a feeling I was just told to make a sandwich because it was supposed to be easy.

"I like mom's turkey burgers or chicken fried rice. Or Mom's homemade pizza is always good".

"I don't know how to make any of those", I said taking a bite of the sandwich I had just made to realize Alma was right not enough meat so all I tasted was bread.

"That's okay, no one was expecting you to be a chef master. Mom has just started to trust me to make my own salmon. It's not bad".

"Since when do you cook?"

Alma shrugged, "I don't know I've just been watching Mom do it for forever. So I just picked it up. Plus it's nice to know you don't have to live out of convenience stores or restaurants when you're constantly going. Sometimes you just want homemade French fries".

"That's a wonderful skill", So hopefully she doesn't end up like me struggling to make a sandwich.

"Yeah", she smiled enjoying her parfait, "So I just got a offer letter to perform a Carnegie Hall".

"That's great. You like playing there".

"Yeah, but they want me to perform this Friday. Nana wanted me to ask if it was okay for me to go?"

"Alma we're on lockdown right now. It's not safe---"

"Yeah, but it's Carnegie Hall. You don't say no".

"You could be killed", I stressed. "No performance is worth your life".

Alma exhaled dramatically as she frowned at me, "Can we at least ask mom what she thinks?"

"You can ask her. But she's going to think the same exact thing I am".

"I don't think she will. Mom understands you can't turn down big halls or you'll get blacklisted. I worked really hard to get to this point in my career---"

"I know that", I've always been supportive of Almas talent ever since she was a little girl. I was made sure she had the best teachers and pianos. "But, it's your life. And that's the most important thing. However much it cost to make this absence go away will be taken care of. But you can't go".

"Okay", she said softly.

"I will make it right. You won't be blacklisted, I swear".

"Okay, if you say so", She said tossing the rest of her parfait in the trash, "I'm going to go practice".

"Okay".

Why did it feel like I was fucking up everybody's life?

I went over to the intercom system and hit room four for Maria. "Yeah?"

"You want a sandwich?"

"Okay".

"It's not like Mom's. It's just bread, ham and cheese".

"No tomatoes, mayo or lettuce?"

After a deep breath I responded with, "I can put that on there".

"Thank you".

"Come downstairs and eat it. If you can check on your brother to see if he's hungry or still in a mood".

"He's still in a mood", nevermind then. Maria came running downstairs to eat her freshly made sandwich. She frowned at the sandwich.

"What's wrong with it?"

"You kept the crust on". I cut her crust off and threw them away. "Now cut it in a triangle".

"My queen, is that to your liking?"

Maria laughed, "Can I have a Capri Sun to wash it down?"

"You kids are needy", I said going to the fridge and pulling out the first juice box I saw.

"Mommy does this everyday", And that's why my wife deserves all of the finest jewelry and vacations life can afford her.

"Your mother is a saint", I said going into one of the cabinets and finding a bottle of vodka. I was normally a whiskey or brandy man but I take anything at this point. I held my crystal cup as if it held the secrets of life.

"Thank you for my sandwich", she smiled taking a big bite.

"You're welcome", It looks like Maria was the only one eating today.

"So are you going back to work tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes I am".

"She's got to meet with some important people".

"But, why? This is your business. What does Mom have to do with it?"

"I know it's hard for you to understand. But that's not the way this business works. One person can't hold the whole thing up. Sometimes I need your uncles's help, sometime I need your mother's, today I need your mother's".

"Okay, but why? Why would anyone in your company listen to her? Shouldn't they just be listening to you because you're the boss?"

I can help but chuckle to myself, "I wish. This whole business is built on connections, who you know, what you can get and what you can give. I have connections from Roger, family name and relationships and understandings I've built over years. You're mom, has connections just like I do".

"Like what?"

"Like your grandpa, he sells medicine to sick people. Sometimes people who aren't sick also want those medicines. It's easier for her to get her hands on pharmaceutical drugs than it is for me---"

"Because of Grandpa and because Mom's a doctor?"

"Yeah. So today I needed your mom to go meet with some people because she has connections to the drug cartels down here", I explained finishing off my drink.

"Really? How?"

"You know your mom used to run this", I said blowing Maria's mind.

"No way!"

"O yeah, your mom is the reason Michael controls everything down here. She didn't want to run this so she gave it to Michael".

"Why!? Why would you.... You can't... Isn't this.... Why!"

"Being here for the family is more important. We both can't be drug lords someone's got to stay home and take care of you guys".

"If Mom controlled all of this that means she controlled more territory than you do".

"Was even more back then. Michael has had to scale down to appease the local cartels. But the bottom line is we're still making a shit ton of money every second of every hour".

"You should be the one staying home".

"Ouch, my feelings", I said dramatically holding my heart.

"More territory means more trade, more trade means more money".

"That is true. But, your mother didn't want this. She wanted a family so did I. So we both make sacrifices to make this work".

"What did you sacrifice?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, Mom gave up one of the biggest territories in the world. What did you give up?"

This shouldn't be a hard question but it was turning into a hard one. " I guess I didn't really sacrifice anything I just make sure that... I can afford our lifestyle. Whatever your mother wants I rarely say no. I guess I give the comfort of security".

"It doesn't sound like you gave up anything".

"I'm not explaining it well. But you'll understand when you have a family of your own".

"So when I run the business I will give my husband the comfort of security?"

"You don't want to run this business", I said lightheartedly.

"I do".

"No you don't".

"Yes, I do", This was definitely another conversation me and Jennifer were going to have to have with Maria. I didn't want her in the business. I wanted my boy genius that couldn't stop throwing up to take over the business.

"You know, Maria you can do anything. You can go to any college, have any person you want, Get married and have some kids. You're not going to be able to do that if you're running around running an illegal operation".

"You just said Mom did it".

"Yeah, but she stopped".

"Isn't she meeting with drug lords right now?"

"Yes, but... This isn't the norm this is... An emergency".

"Why can't I be a drug lord? Mom was a drug lord, you are a drug lord, great-grandma is a drug lord".

"No your great-grandma is a thug, a pimp, a schemer", I said wishing death on Mrs Price.

"But a drug lord in her own right. Do you think I can't do it?"

"I think you can do whatever you want. But this world isn't easy. It may look flashy and tempting on the outside. But this world is rough and unkind. You will be pushed to do things you never imagined or dreamed of. But you have to do it for the sake of the business, to protect everyone underneath you. And that kind of weight is crushing. One day, you are going to want a family, you can't put out a thousand fires and nurse a newborn at the same time. Unless you plan on being an absent mother---"

"Why can't my husband take care of the kids?"

"I mean he can...it just..." I was digging myself in a hole that I couldn't get out of. Could Maria run the business? Yes. But I was still holding on to hope that one day Daniel would show interest. "You know this world isn't kind to women. And your name can only get you so far---"

"I want to be a drug lord. I've always wanted