Cherri and Angel woke up midway through the next morning. Cherri went to take a shower while Angel put on a pot of coffee. Neither of them dared to turn on the TV.
After a while, Cherri finished her shower and finished getting ready for the day and joined Angel in her kitchen.
"What do we do, Angie?" Cherri asked, sipping her coffee.
"Fuck if I know," Angel said with a shrug as he sipped his own. "I'm just surprised the press isn't trying to break down your door yet."
"They will be before too long," Cherri said. "It's only a matter of time before they figure out where I live. I've gotta find somewhere else to go."
"The only place I can think of is the hotel," Angel suggested. "Yeah, you might have to listen to the princess preach about redemption, but she's nice and she'd be glad to help you out."
"Isn't that the hotel that the Radio Demon patrons?" Cherri asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes…" Angel said, visibly hesitating. "But he's not that hard to deal with as long as you stay on his good side. I know it's not the best situation, especially if you don't really care about redemption, but it's the best idea I got right now."
"I can't think of anything better," Cherri said with a sigh. "Let's go. It sounds better than being here waiting for reporters at any rate. Just let me pack some bags and we can call a cab…What was that?!"
Angel and Cherri paused to hear the unmistakable sound of a key jingling in the lock.
Before either of them could react, the door unlocked and swung open to reveal the three V overlords standing right there in the doorway.
Without a word, Velvet dashed into the kitchen and pushed Angel aside to start preparing breakfast while the other two V's shut the door behind them and started making themselves at home.
"Good morning, favorite niece!" Velvet said, merrily skipping over to her kitchen.
"I trust you slept well," Vox said, entering the room with Val following behind him.
"What the fuck?!" Cherri snarled while Angel stood there paralyzed in fear. "How did you get in here?! Where did you find a key?!"
Valentino helped himself to her couch and laid back on her couch.
"I have a lot of connections, big and small, baby girl," Valentino said, placing a cigarette in his mouth that he lit with a brandished lighter. "I'm sure ya don't mind if I blow smoke."
"I mind you existing in my space!" yelled Cherri. "Now, get your cronies and get the fuck out of my house!"
"Cherri, we just came to talk and eat breakfast with you," Vox chided, snuggling next to Valentino on the couch. "There's no need to be rude."
"I don't care!" Cherri snarled. "You all need to leave before I fucking bomb you out!"
After a drag, Valentino released smoke into the air and watched it twirl in the air before saying calmly, "I don't think you will."
"You wanna bet, old man?!" Cherri threatened back.
"Yes, I'm willing to bet that, by the time you do that and manage to leave, my boys out there will shoot up Angel. Or just beat him down," Valentino said with a nonchalant shrug. "He's a good fuck and money maker, but I have my priorities."
Angel's eyes dilated in absolute terror as he looked back at Cherri.
Cherri ran over to the window to take look, and sure enough, her townhouse apartment was surrounded. She looked back at Angel and then glared at Valentino in absolute fury.
"You sick fuck!" Cherri snarled.
"Cheryl, don't talk to your bio dad that way," Vox chided.
"Fuck you!" Cherri growled more furiously than before as she glared at each respective intruder. "You're not my Dad, and you're not my Step-Dad!"
Hoping to break the ice, Valentino looked halfway to Vox, took another drag of his cigarette, and chuckled, "She has a point, Voxy. We ain't married. As if I'd ever fall for that crap again."
"Why the fuck are you here anyway?!" Cherri yelled.
"I only want to enjoy breakfast with my precious little girl," Valentino said calmly.
"Horse shit!" Cherri snarled.
"Nah, this is real shit. I'm actually trying to get us together," Valentino said, seeming a bit frustrated, before his gaze and demeanor lightened up. "'Sides Baby doll in there is the best cook."
"The hell you are," Cherri quipped. "You're just a sperm donor who abused my mother!"
"Even so, what else could I possibly want?" asked Valentino with a shrug.
"To ruin my life again!" Cherri retorted. "Get out of here, Valentino!"
Valentino looked away and pretended not to hear her.
"Valentino?! Valentino?!" Cherri yelled.
Cherri wondered why Valentino wasn't responding, but after a moment, she figured it out.
Cherri then sighed and said, "Look, I'm not calling you dad. Stop ignoring me!"
After another release of smoke in the air, Valentino continued to ignore her as he asked. "So, Baby Doll, whatcha' cookin' in there?"
"Omelets for you two, Angel, and my favorite niece!" Velvet gushed.
"Are you really doing this?" Cherri asked.
"Those omelets sure smell delicious. Don't they, Voxxy?" Valentino said to Vox who nodded enthusiastically.
Cherri rolled her eyes, pretended to swallow her pride, and started stammering, "D…D…D…D…D…D…D…"
Val cocked an eyebrow at her with interest, barely glancing as he waited for the answer he wanted to hear.
"Yes?" Valentino prodded.
"DONOR OF MY SPERM!" Cherri yelled at the top of her lungs. "Get out of my house!"
After another puff of smoke, Valentino crushed the cigarette in his hand frustratedly and said, "Closer than last time- No, I don't think so."
"Cheryl, was that really necessary?" Vox asked disapprovingly.
"Yes, sperm donor and not step-dad, it was," Cherri retorted. "Now, unless you're here to get the press off my back, I kindly suggest you fuck off and stop trying to ruin my afterlife!"
"Since when do you do or mean anything kind?" Valentino asked amusedly before bursting into laughter.
"My God, you're obnoxious," Cherri said with an exasperated eye roll as she turned to walk back to her room. "Why would I expect any of you to care about ruining my afterlife?!"
"That is the thing," said Valentino as his smoke turned her around. "It won't be ruined, or at least, it shouldn't be, so long as you give me a chance, baby girl. You wouldn't have to ever be alone, and you would be on top of Pentagram City and the whole Pride Ring with us."
"Yeah! We're gonna be a family!" Velvet squealed as she wrapped her arms around Cherri.
Cherri stiffened like a board and replied, "Let go of me before I drop a bomb down your dress!"
"Awww!" Velvet squealed. "There's no need to be upset!"
"I'd beg to fucking differ," Cherri snarled.
Velvet grabbed Cherri's cheeks and said, "Come on, smile."
Cherri immediately slugged Velvet in the face and kicked her in the chest to get her off her.
Val and Vox didn't seem especially concerned by Velvet being harmed. It tended to happen to her a bunch, and she shrugged it off with a smile more often than not.
Nevertheless, Val gently blew a large puff of smoke at Cherri, a lot of it centering her head to disorient her while crossing the room to give her a soft nudge and saying, "Why don't you sit down? It should clear your head some."
Cherri felt her head spinning and struggled to remain standing.
"Cherri!" yelled Angel immediately rushing to her side to give her support.
"Yes, sit her down, Angel," Valentino said.
Angel sat Cherri down on the other couch and let her lean on him.
"Val, is she…?" Angel asked.
"She'll be fine, Angel Cakes," Valentino said. "She's just a bit dizzy. Say, Angel? You've been in my baby's life for a long time. Is she healthy? Considering her living conditions, I've had my concerns."
"As far as I know, she's healthy," Angel replied, looking concernedly at Cherri.
"That's a miracle considering the state of this dump," Vox said, snobbishly glaring at the peeling wallpaper in the room.
Annoyed, Valentino chucked a large empty plastic bottle at Vox's screen and yelled, "Hush up! Ain't nothing we can't buy and fix ourselves."
"I thought Cheryl was moving in with us, Val," Velvet said, recovering from the injury and skipping merrily back to the couch.
"She will, but there's no reason she can't have a little something to herself later," Valentino explained. "Anything for her…Wait, Velvet, if you're here, where's the food?"
"It's on the table," Velvet said. "I was going to announce that before your daughter beat me up. She has a killer right hook."
"Oh, good," said the extremely tall demon, stepping into the kitchen, and having to duck down under the ceiling with Vox and Velvet following next to him. "Bring her over, Angel."
"What's this about moving her in with you, boss?" asked Angel as he got Cherri to her feet.
"Well, I want to make up for lost time and get her used to my business," explained Valentino.
"Your business?" Angel asked, sitting Cherri down at the table. "But she's a kingpin…"
"She can have her little territory and fun. But I'd rather get her used to what I do. I may not be around forever like I intend to be, so I'll need someone to fill that spot. So, think about it this way, that would make her your boss," Valentino said with a chuckle as he sat down across the table from Cherri and eyed the omelets that Velvet had set out in front of them.
"You plan on getting exterminated, Val?" Vox asked, raising an eyebrow as he sat next to his boyfriend.
"No, but it's always good to have a contingency plan just in case," Valentino explained.
"I don't think she'll like that, boss," Angel protested meekly as Cherri wearily reached for the fork and knife and began eating.
"Shut up," Valentino snapped as he picked up his fork and knife to eat his food. "After we're done eating, we're leaving this dump."
Angel held his tongue, sat down next to Cherri, and turned to eating. Everyone ate, including Cherri, until she finally finished her food and came back to reality.
"You…you want me to live with you?" Cherri asked incredulously.
"You are one of us now," Valentino explained, wiping his chin after finishing his last bite.
Cherri scoffed and said, "No, I'm fucking not."
"Heh, what else would you be?" Valentino asked bemusedly.
"A kingpin who has scratched her own way up through hell, sperm donor," Cherri retorted.
"Impressive as that is, you could be so much more," Valentino said, reaching across the table to affectionately stroke the side of her face.
"I know and I'd rather get it on my own than by being under your thumb like one of your pitiful prostitutes," Cherri snarled as she slapped away his hand.
"Oh, you'd be well above them, baby girl," Valentino reassured her, emphasizing the last two words in an especially sweet tone. "Think about that. Many would fear you much more than they do now. Others would want to be you. Like that snake loser. Some of my favorite things to watch is you stomping out that cringe."
Cherri leaned back and asked, "Theoretically, that sounds nice, but what would I be giving up?"
"Mainly blowing up my stuff, but it's more of what you're getting," Valentino explained, leaning forward. "Which is you being brought into our family."
Cherri smirked and said, "You know, Dad, that sounds really swell, but there's just one small detail."
"And what's that, Cheryl?" Valentino asked.
In a flash of motion, Cherri grabbed her empty plate and threw it at Valentino's head as hard as she could. It just barely missed his right temple and struck the side of his head before it shattered on the ground.
"I HATE YOU!" Cherri screamed. "You tortured my mother and used me as leverage to keep her from running away! I will never be your daughter and you can't change that!"
Cherri dashed into her room with Angel rushing in behind her.
As soon as she slammed the door, Cherri started searching through her closets.
"Cherri," Angel said. "Are you okay?"
"Of course not," Cherri said, tossing a gym bag to Angel. "We're getting out of here. Help me pack some stuff so we can run."
Back at the table, Vox and Velvet sat there in shock, too stunned to speak.
After picking up his fallen sunglasses, Valentino tried to place the glasses back over his eyes but found the hinges were broken. He shook angrily and crushed the sunglasses in his hands before throwing them across the room, visibly upset.
"I shoulda killed the bitch and taken Cherri," Valentino muttered tearfully under his breath.
"You were a colored man married to a white woman," Vox said, putting a hand on Val's shoulder. "The cops would have been on your ass immediately."
"I knew how to hide a body," Valentino snarled. "There's so much I could have done..."
Valentino sat there fuming and ruminating all the ways he could have prevented this back when he was alive. It was spilled milk. He had to focus on the now.
Lighting his cigarette, Valentino stood up, headed for the door, and said, "Come on. Let's go. The boys will get her and Angel out of there."
"Want us to move forward with buying out her apartment?" Vox asked, following right behind him.
With a huff and not a glance at Vox, Valentino grumbled, "Yeah, go ahead."
After they passed by his demonic thugs and climbed into the limo, Valentino gave his order through the open limo door, "Bring my daughter to me unharmed. Bring Angel, too. I'd like to have a word with him later."
"Cheryl is so grounded," Velvet said cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Angel and Cherri had shoved some toiletries, clothes, and some other of Cherri's belongings in a suitcase, a backpack, and a few gym bags and were attempting to make a break for the hotel.
"The coast is clear for now," Cherri said, pushing the window facing the back alley open. "Let's go."
Angel and Cherri hopped out the window and into the back alley with as many of Cherri's possessions as they could carry and started to move. They turned around to see that Val's men were busting into her room and looking around.
"We better hurry," Angel whispered.
"Yeah," Cherri whispered. "Oh, shit!"
At that moment, one of the demon thugs noticed the open window and spotted the escaping pair outside.
Angel dropped a few bags to his third pair of arms, picked up Cherri, and summoned a few guns.
Angel started running down the street with Cherri down the street. He kept running until he heard, "Angel!"
Angel turned around to see Valentino standing with his men in the street. He froze and gulped as Valentino approached them.
"Angel, what are you doing?" Cherri whispered in a panic. "Run."
"He owns my soul, Cherri," Angel said sadly. "I can't do anything else."
Angel put Cherri on the ground, and she tried to run but they were immediately surrounded by Valentino's men as the overlord finally made his way over to them.
"You want to tell me what you're doing, Angel?" asked Valentino, hiding his anger under a fake smile.
"I was just trying to help my friend, boss..." Angel muttered pathetically.
Cherri took a fighting stance as Valentino grew closer.
"Is that right?" Valentino asked as he finally reached them.
SLAP! With a quick swing of his lower arms, Valentino had slapped Angel to the ground. He curled up into a ball and braced himself for more pain.
Cherri screamed at the top of her lungs and chucked a ton of bombs around her that instantly exploded into smoke.
Unfortunately, before Cherri could make a move, Valentino emerged from the smoke and got right in her face breathing a red mist that immediately made her dizzy.
Cherri held her breath and tried to run, but Valentino immediately picked her up and restrained her like she was a toddler holding a tantrum.
"Val?!" Angel cried. "Val, stop! What are you doing?!"
"Taking my daughter home," Valentino replied. "Now, shut your damn mouth and get in the car!"
"But…" Angel muttered.
"Hey, Angel! Help me with these bags!" Velvet yelled through the smoke.
Angel wanted to protest, but one glare from Val was enough to prompt him to get to his feet, pick up Cherri's dropped backpack, and start loading the other three bags into the car.
"NO!" Cherri shrieked. "STOP! Put me down before I fuck you up!"
Valentino ignored Cherri's shrieking as she became more dazed.
As Velvet and Angel carried in the last of the bags, Valentino sat in the limo with his daughter, sitting her on the chair next to him and laying her head on his lap.
Cherri tried to fight it, but she was quickly growing drowsy.
Valentino stroked her hair and said, "There, there, my baby girl, go to sleep. Get some rest. You've been stressed and you need it. Daddy's right here and I'm going to take such good care of you."
"Fucking...bastard..." Cherri retorted loudly.
Valentino exhaled, becoming more relaxed in his frustrated state and more confident in his power and future.
"You're never gonna be my dad," Cherri muttered exhaustedly as her eyes slid shut.
"We'll see about that," Valentino replied, nonchalantly stroking his daughter's back. "We have all eternity to become closer."
Valentino took off his coat, covered Cherri's body with it, gave her a little kiss, and continued to stroke her hair.
Cherri fell asleep, helplessly muttering curses under her breath.
Meanwhile, Vox, Velvet, and Angel had finished putting Cherri's luggage into the limo and were sitting across from Val and Cherri.
Angel glanced up to see Cherri laying her head in her father's lap and quickly looked away, both to avoid crying and to avoid his boss's wrath.
Valentino snapped his fingers, and the limo drove off down the street.
"So, Angel baby, you wanna tell me why it seemed like you were forgetting your place today?" asked Valentino in his venomously sweet tone that as usual did nothing to hide his anger.
Angel tightly gripped the cushion, knowing what was coming.
"I...It's just that Cherri was afraid and I wanted to help her," said Angel. "I've been all the family she's had up to this point. She didn't want to go with you, so I just wanted to protect her..."
Valentino raised a finger, speaking matter-of-factly and still smiling but with an angered tone as red liquid dripped down his chin, "BUT! I explained earlier that I was her father and did indeed care for her. Did I not?"
"Yes, Val," Angel answered. "But Cherri doesn't trust you..."
"That! Is not your concern. Is it?!" Valentino grabbed Angel's face screaming that into it with a scowl.
Vox and Velvet looked away, feeling somewhat bad for Angel.
"But Val, she's my..." Angel protested as frightened tears formed at the corners of his eyes.
"Shut the Hell up boy before I have you doing gore work for months!" snapped Valentino. "Now, you're going to stay quiet and do what I say! Do you understand?! And for fuck's sake, for once think before you say anything stupid!"
Angel shook as he nodded his head and replied, "Yes, Val."
"Thought so," Valentino scoffed as he released Angel's face and pushed him back to his seat.
Angel shook and shrank away while waiting for Val to berate him some more.
"So, going forward there are a few things you need to know about my Cherri Bomb," Valentino explained. "She is my daughter. You are still my star, my worker, and my bitch and that will always take priority over how you deal with her. That said, it is also your responsibility to keep her safe. If you two ever find yourselves away from the studio, I expect you to be my daughter's bodyguard. You got that?"
"Yes, Val," Angel said sadly.
Angel looked out the window and watched as the studio grew closer and closer.