Page 10 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

“Are you fucking deaf?”

And what did Nova do? She cupped her hand behind her ear and sang, “I didn’t quite catch that, could you say it a little louder.”

Ten seconds into this deal and she was already pushing my buttons. Four years suddenly seemed like a long fucking time.

“Maybe throw a please in there. Manners go a long way.”

Apparently she needed a reminder of her situation.

“Or, we can call this shit off right now,” I gave her a pointed look. “And your brother will be dead before you get home.”

That made her face pale, but it didn’t wipe the anger out of her eyes .

Nova huffed out a disgruntled grumble and stomped her way over.

I assumed that meant she got the point, so I ignored her and headed up the stairs.

This time, she followed. She had no problem making sure I knew how aggravated she was about it though. Every step landed extra heavy while Nova grumbled curses under her breath. A toddler had better behaviour than she did.

“Best get your tantrum out now, before you talk to my father.”

“Your father?” Nova stopped, “Why do I have to talk to him?”

Was that a serious question? “He’s the head of the family.”

“Right,” her hazel eyes rolled as she added, “the family,” with finger quotes.

I got her meaning but still cocked a brow. “The family?”

“That’s what you call it, right?”

“Call what?” I asked.

Nova leaned in like she was about to reveal a big secret, “The mob.”

Alright, I was curious enough to see where this was going.

“And what do you know about the mob?”

“I’ve seen The Godfather.”

Really? “You’re basing your knowledge off a movie made more than thirty years ago?”

“Well,” she rolled her eyes. “There’s no now-a-day movies about the mafia.”

“Have you looked?”

“No…”

“Then how do you know there isn’t any?”

“Because I looked.”

“Obviously not hard enough.” Off the top of my head, I could name three, and I didn’t like movies.

Nova’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t we have somewhere to be.” A smirk curled the corner of my mouth as she lifted her chin and marched past me while singing, “Wouldn’t want to keep the boss waiting.”

“Oh, so he’s the boss now.”

---