"Why is there a man outside of the gate?" Loretta asked.
"He's ugly too. He needs to trim that caveman look down," Roxanne said.
The two cousins laughed while Steve rolled his eyes at his daughter Loretta and his niece Roxanne. They looked like sisters with their long, black hair and their big, brown eyes.
"I'm happy my sister married into the Perez name so I can pretend we're not related if people ask," Steve said.
"Okay, rude," Roxanne said.
"Old people are always rude," Loretta said.
The cousins laughed again while Steve drove up in front of the gate. He rolled down his window and stuck his hand out to press in the code to unlock the gate. He nodded at the man waiting and pointed towards the mansion.
"Follow me," Steve said.
The man nodded back and followed behind the car through the gate.
"Seriously, dad, who is he?" Loretta asked.
"He's our new chef Sami Zayn," Steve said.
"That Sami Zayn?" Loretta asked. "The same Sami Zayn that used to work for Roman?"
"That's the one," Steve said.
"Are you telling me he used to cook for Solo?" Roxanne turned around in the back seat to look at Sami. "I gotta know what his favorite dishes are."
Steve gritted his teeth and Loretta laughed at her father.
"She's barely an adult. She just finds Solo hot. It's not like she's sneaking out at night to see him," Loretta said.
"She better not," Steve killed the engine. "If she does, I'll kill her."
"What?" Roxanne asked.
"And that's a promise," Steve added. "I don't give a fuck that your my sister's kid. She's dead, and you will join her if you ever misbehave."
Steve got out of the car, and Loretta turned in the passenger seat to look at her younger cousin. Both of them knew Steve wasn't lying.
"I hate him," Roxanne whispered.
"Stay calm," Loretta whispered back. "You know I got your back."
The two cousins got out of the car and walked up to the front door. It was already unlocked since their maids were working. Only a few trusted people made it through the gate. Steve trusted those maids with his life, along with his security staff. Seeing how he had just returned home after a three weeks long vacation with his daughter and niece, they had been around to make sure the place stayed clean.
"This way to the kitchen," Steve said.
"I'm gonna go read a book," Roxanne said.
Roxanne disappeared but Loretta followed her father and the new chef down to the kitchen.
"Wow!" Sami whistled. "It's a beautiful kitchen."
"Only the best for my chef so I'm sure he cooks what I like," Steve said.
"I'm sorry, you must be his daughter Loretta," Sami looked at Loretta.
"Don't pretend to be confused between me and Roxy. I'm 38 and his only daughter. You've known all along who I am. I'm sure Roman and his gang have pictures of all of us to throw darts at," Loretta said.
Steve and Sami both chuckled. Sami shrugged and tried with a smile. There were a lot of secrets to spill if Steve ever wanted to know any of them, and both he and Loretta knew that Steve wanted to know all of them.
"My father only hired you because Roman fired you," Loretta said. "He trusts you since they kicked you out. I don't trust you and I sure don't like you either, but I don't like anybody so it's nothing personal."
"Don't be rude," Steve said.
"I'm being honest," Loretta said.
"You can go to your room," Steve said.
Loretta eyed Sami up and down, clicked her tongue, and turned around. Steve sighed and held out his hand.
"I don't know what the maids bought to fill up the fridge so work your magic for dinner tonight and surprise me," Steve said.
"Thank you, sir," Sami said.
"I'll leave you to it," Steve said.
Steve left the kitchen and quickly ran up to Loretta that hadn't made it more than a few meters away. He grabbed her arm, spun her around, and pushed her up against the wall. He kept a firm grip on both of her arms. She already knew he would leave bruises as many times before and that it would be pointless to fight back.
"You ungrateful, little shit!" He growled. "I've given you everything and this is how you treat our new staff? You're an embarrassment!"
"Everything but my freedom," she said.
"I'll kick you out on the street tonight if you want me to," he said.
"You always use that threat but you never actually follow through with it. You're fucking scared who I might run to and give an easy way in here. No, you need me here to keep control of me, and you think taking me away on vacation is going to magically make it all better. I get it, dad. I don't ever get to leave, and I won't. I'll be here forever but you can't expect me to like it," she said.
He leaned closer and his breath hit her face. She closed her eyes, not knowing if he would escalate his anger or not. He finally let go and walked away. She opened her eyes again and turned her head to see Sami standing in the open kitchen door. He had witnessed the whole thing, and she could only imagine that he already understood her anger and that he had silently forgiven her for her harsh words minutes before.