"Nothing you can do can scare me, unless you tell me I have a daughter."
ROBERT KING'S POV ( Arabella's Father)
I took a sip of my whiskey as its rich smoky flavour & woody aroma filled my sinuses. The acidulous liquid stings the back of my throat, righteously serving its purpose.
I stared off into the distance, my mind wandering to the thought of my sons.
I was overcome with a feeling of pride as I rejoiced in acknowledging my children's success and accomplishments.
Nothing beats seeing my sons mature into better versions of themselves.
I have raised my sons alone since my ex wife of a bitch, Cora left me, and I never bothered to look for her because, frankly, I didn't care.
I can't keep someone who doesn't want to stay.
She abandoned our family 15 years ago, when my oldest son was only 12 and my youngest was barely a year old. It was hard in the beginning— looking after my 7 sons along with managing the world's strongest mafia, but I never once complained. Even though my younger ones are somewhat crazy, I wouldn't change a thing about any of them. I consider myself fortunate to be able to watch all of them grow up.
For years, I was the don of 'The American Mafia,' and I held the title of 'THE MAFIA-KING.' Nobody dared to mess with me or my mafia because I was merciless.
This power was what I strived on, it was what I sought and it made me unrestrained. It made people consider twice before they plan to cross me.
Our mafia has been a family business and when I told my kids about the mafia, they were all very supportive of it. Four of my oldest sons had already joined the mafia when they came of age while my three youngest are still in training.
I've retired from the position of mafia don, and my oldest son has been in charge since he turned 25. At the age of 26, he became 'The Mafia-King.' And now, at the age of 27, he is the most feared man on the planet.
My lips curved into a smirk as I acknowledged how powerful my sons had become.
We have many enemies because we are the strongest mafia in the world, and we had encountered a few setbacks over the years, but we always fought our way back to top.
There's always one ruler; and our reign has only just begun.
The shrill sound of a ringtone coming from my phone, jolted me out of my daze of thoughts.
I picked my phone from the desk and looked at the unknown calling ID of the caller.
After answering the phone, I brought the phone up to my ears as I leaned back in my office chair, resting the back of my head on it and stared up at the ceiling,
"Hello! I'm Derren Riaz from the Arizona Police Department, may I speak with Mr. King?"
"Hello Officer Riaz! This is Robert King speaking. What can I do for you?" I asked in my usual authoritative tone, wondering which of my idiot son had done something stupid yet again.
"Mr. King, I am calling to inform you that your daughter is here in our department. Her mother, Mrs. Cora Sanders, and stepfather, Mr. John Sanders, died just recently. She does not have a guardian registered with the system and you are her closest and only relative. So I'm calling to see if you'd be willing to take her guardianship, if not, she'll be placed in the foster-care system or an orphanage." He informed me in a professional tone.
Daughter— what?!
I almost immediately sat upright as everything he said left me shocked to my core. When he told me that I have a daughter, it left an unsettling feeling in my stomach as I couldn't believe what he was saying.
"What the fuck did you just say?" I gritted out, obviously not expecting anything close to what I was just informed.
"Your daughter has lost her–"
What an idiot–
"I heard you the first time, there's no need to repeat yourself. Are you certain she is my daughter?" I asked, with uncertainty as I was still trying to comprehend the bomb he had just dropped on me.
"Yes, Mr. King, her DNA has been matched with yours in our system. If you wish, you can still take a DNA test. So, are you willing to become her guardian?" He responded, sounding much calmer, leaving me with the polar opposite of calm.
"Yes, I will gladly take her guardianship, but I will also take a DNA test. I'm going to come get her today so expect me in a couple hours. Could you also send me a photo of her? And what is her name?" I asked as my hands unconsciously rubbed my temples.
"Sure Sir! All of the paperwork for her adoption will be completed by the time you arrive. I'll email you a photo of her and her name is Arabella." he said in response to my questions.
With that I hung up the phone, as the thought of my possible daughter clouded my mind.
Arabella, my daughter.
I had a daughter who I was unaware of.
That bitch kidnapped my daughter, took her away from me and didn't even bother to tell me about her.
I would have killed her if she hadn't already died.
I was suddenly distracted from my thoughts when I heard a ping come from my phone. I opened the mail and there's a photo of my daughter.
I was stunned as I stared at the photo of a girl around 15-years-old, noticing that she shared all of the same features as mine.
She resembles Alexander the most out of all her brothers, but younger and obviously more feminine, proving that she is certainly my daughter.
She looks so beautiful and innocent, but her eyes looked so sad and her face looked so pale. The officers might had taken her photo just recently, it's probably the grief which is clearly obvious through her eyes.
I could only hope that, the good for nothing woman, took care of my daughter the way she deserved.
Her brown hair and signature blue eyes. All the members of the family have brown hair and blue eyes.
I guess no children of mine took after their mother.
Take that bitch–
Arabella, my daughter, my precious little girl. I have already missed so much of her life, but no more.
The mafia princess is coming home.
My eyes unconsciously started to watered from the emotional shock I just received.
My daughter, I have missed out so much of her life,
Will she ever forgive me?
My eyes locked on the screen, as the news of a daughter brought about a new set of emotions I was unaware of, when my two oldest sons entered my office.
They looked at me, surprised, and a laugh escaped my mouth as I took in their absolutely startled reactions.
They have never witnessed me so deeply affected before. And here I am on the verge of crying when I found out about my unknown daughter.
I already love her so much.
I sighed as my mind reasoned every ground of why my daughter shouldn't love me.
Did Cora even tell her about me?
What if she bad-mouthed me in front of my daughter?
What if my daughter believed every one of those lies?
What if she believes I abandoned her?
The more these questions run through my head, the more my heart craves to kill that bitch, Cora.
I didn't realise, I had my jaw clenched angrily as my son's concerned and panicked voice snapped me out of it.
"What happened Dad? You're mood swings are getting harder for me to handle." Elijah, my second oldest son, looking at me as if I was crazy.
Dumb fuck
I rolled my eyes at the idiot and then went back to look at my daughter's photo as my lips curved up into an unconscious smile.
"He's getting old." Alexander, my oldest, muttered as he patted Elijah's back, who was wearing an exasperated look on his face.
Boys are dumb, I'm sure my girl is going to be the best.
"My gun works just fine." I said, not bothering to look at the guys anymore.
"What's up with you, old man?" Alexander asked, as I raised my head to look at him.
"Call all the boys to the living room. I have some brilliant news to share with you all. Elijah, pack your bags, we are going to Arizona. Call the pilot and get the jet ready" I stated all that while dismissing them off to their task.
"Why? What happened? Tell us before those idiots, you know how...." Elijah began to complain but was cut off in the middle of his speech by Alexander.
"Sure, we'll all be in the living room in 10 minutes." He said, his eyes calculatingly stared at me before exiting the room.
"Are you all right, Dad? The older you get, the more you make me worry." Elijah said and my eyebrows shot up in response as I gave him a look which caused him to gulp and run out of the room in hurry.
"I have never been better, my son." I chuckled happily in response to Elijah's question, stupidly talking to myself in the empty room.
If the boys saw me now, they'll probably book me in a mental asylum.
I finally got out from my daze and walked out of my office to the living room.
As I walked in, I was greeted by the sight of all my boys seemingly engaged in a pretty intense argument as they tried to pry information from the oldest two about what was going on.
Elijah looked riled up as he seemed to be ready to beat the crap out of the younger ones while Alexander, who had his arms crossed in front of his chests, just ignored everyone.
My three youngest sons were seated comfortably on the couch, two of whom unceasingly argued with Elijah. While my third oldest appeared to be as uninterested as ever and my fourth oldest was occasionally putting in a cent or two to fuel the argument, every time Elijah seems to have a upper hand.
Alexander saw me coming and gave me a taunting look and pointed to the mess; which were my boys, as if saying, "You created this."
Aren't I one lucky father?
Hearing me come in, the questioning finally stopped and all eyes looked at me, some had their eyebrows raised, as they all seemed to be impatiently waiting for an explanation.
"Dad, what do you want to talk about?" Noah, my youngest son, grunted, who looked like he had been forcefully awoken from a deep sleep.
"Well, I received a very interesting call today—" I began.
"Get to the point." Mason (the elder twin) deadpanned, causing me to gave him a look which successfully shut him up.
"Don't think I won't beat your ass." I said lazily as I provocatively looked at Mason.
He stayed quiet while avoiding any eye contact, knowing full well I was dead serious.
"Now you shut-up? I was hoping for a good show." Noah whined as he threw his hand in air, giving an aggravated look to Mason.
"Don't think I won't beat your ass." Mason copied my exact words, while staring at Noah with a raised eyebrow causing the latter to squirm in his seat.
"Anyway as I was saying, I received a call from the Arizona police department, telling me that Cora and her husband had died and that a very important person is waiting for me there." I interrupted Noah who was about to cry his grievances and began explaining, waiting for a moment to let them process the information.
The expressions on their faces shifted from confusion to sadness to anger to confusion again.
It was pretty comical, and only Alexander and Matthew (third oldest son) had a blank expression on their faces.
The other guys are in desperate need of another training—
"Who's the important person?" Alexander questioned his brows furrowed in confusion.
"My Daughter." I replied with a smile, internally smirking as I saw the look of complete shock on each of their faces.
"WHAT?"
All of them yelled in unison, damn my poor ears.
**
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