Chapter 2 FATHER-DAUGHTER REUNION

The door buzzed open some moments later and she stepped back. One of the female prison wardens came forward and patted her down, searching her for anything prohibited inside the walls of the prison. After that, she walked through a metal detector and a thorough body scans. Mackenzie was a little surprised that her father never allowed her to come pay him a visit; it was not all that bad. His lawyers had given up fighting for him since the last two years and just advised him to complete his prison term which he might not live to complete.

Mackenzie recalled the gruesome process of going to appeal in court over and over again, year in and out. It came as a relief when the lawyers gave up.

She started walking down a long white corridor and she subconsciously noted the surveillance cameras placed at intervals as she imagined helping her dad escape from this place. A lump formed in her throat as she thought about her father in this heavily secured prison and how he may never get out alive.

Another buzz sounded and the last door swung open and Mackenzie took a deep breath. This was it. The moment all those protocols had been building up to. The wasted years that she grew up without a family-mother dying during childbirth and father locked away in prison since she was ten-the only person she had looked up to as a father figure was her drug addicted uncle who was currently in charge of the Mafioso in the home front. As she continued to walk forward, she knew her father would not be expecting her. She knew her father would be incensed at the sight of her and internally she dreaded his anger and the pain that would come at being rejected...again.

She walked past the guards and went straight to Alessandro D'caprio Rodriguez who was seated on the other side of the room. Mackenzie watched as a variety of emotions played on her father's face ranging from disbelief to surprise then anger then to amazement...and happiness? A sob choked out from her lungs as she stared at the powerful man who she hadn't seen for the better part of her childhood. He had gotten a lot bigger than she knew him to be and looked so healthy as though he was on a vacation.

"Father..." she whispered brokenly.

She stood stock still as he lifted himself up from the round table and engulfed her in a big bear hug like he used to when she was a kid.

"Santa Madre! What are you doing here?" he whispered gruffly into her hair as he almost crushed her with his giant arms.

Mackenzie wasn't sure if she should hug him back or slap his huge chest hard because he abandoned her for more than ten years. It was hardly fair that he get to pull her into his arms after all this time that she had cried for her father. Besides, she was surprised that Alessandro hadn't walked out of the room and refuse to see her as soon as the visitor turned out to be her.

A guard standing close by cleared his throat only then did her father move back, kissing her atop the head, breaking the hug and they both sat at the table.

"I almost didn't recognize you, princess." His voice was raspy and an octave deeper than she thought it was. Maybe it was because she hadn't heard him speak for years but he sounded so different yet familiar.

She smiled shyly, "I grew up."

"You sure did my little girl. Marco had always sent me pictures but this... seeing you right now, how grown you are... Jesus, Mackie I have missed a lot of your growing years... " He looked and sounded so sad that Mackenzie took his hand over the table.

"I missed you so much dad."

The man nodded and Mack saw him blinking back tears. Wow! She knew for a fact that her father doesn't show emotions. This was so surprising.

"I missed you too Princess. Believe me I did." he said fervently.

"But dad, if you truly missed me, why didn't you let me come here?"

"That doesn't matter anymore, does it? No matter how much I tried to keep you away from this shithole, here you are my stubborn princess."

"That doesn't answer the question dad." She muttered as tears sprang to her eyes.

"I did it for your own good." He finally said.

Mackenzie's head shot up and she stared at him for a long moment and then she decided not to respond to that. "How are things dad? How are you holding up?"

"Nothing much is going on. I am fine. How are your classes? Marco told me you went ahead to college even after I warned you not to." His voice was neutral. She had no idea if he was angry at her or not. She also noticed how he steered the conversation away from himself. He had never liked to involve her in his business. But Mack was sure that she would sooner or later be involved in it.

"I graduated last week dad. Any news from the lawyers." If he thought he could change the subject so could she. It is said that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

He looked shocked and he ignored her probing into his own mess, "What? My daughter graduated college and I missed it?"

The lid suddenly flew off her temper and she lost her cool, yelling in a harsh whisper "What is all this Alessandro? Why are you suddenly so accepting and loving about everything concerning me? Why aren't you showing mad anger that I went to culinary school? What is all of this?"

Alessandro kept mute, regarding his daughter and then he blew out a breath, "I fucked up real bad, didn't I?"

Mackenzie pursed her lips and looked away from her father. The room was teeming with people also visiting their loved ones who were behind bars and Mackenzie recalled what the jerk of the guard had said at the entrance that today wasn't a visiting day. He could be right anyway, It was the weekend so chances were more people had time to check on inmates. She regarded a couple sitting in the next table beside her, engaged in a deep and heated argument. Although the conversation was hushed, she could make out some of the words they said, "Shut up!" "Fuck you."

Suddenly, Mackenzie started to feel the hairs at the nape of her neck tingle as though she was being watched by someone and when she turned her head, she saw him. Heated blue eyes color of the pacific are focused her and she was too astounded to look away. Those were the same eyes that had stared at her on her way into the prison building. Those set of intense blue eyes that seemed as though it looked through her to the depth of her soul. It was the man in the white vest and orange pants, the muscled man made no move to hide the fact that he had been staring at her and she couldn't still look away. She tore her gaze away from his eyes and slid her eyes up and down his body. He had a dark tanned skin with tattoos that ran up his neck and hands disappearing beneath his white vest.

He was so big that the chair he sat on looked like a doll's and she could literally hear the chair creaking and moaning under his weight. The man seated across him was saying something and the inmate nodded but still didn't take his eyes off Mackenzie.

"Mackenzie, did you hear what I said?" her father's voice interrupted her train of thoughts.

"What?" Mackenzie jerked her head towards her dad as her heart strangely began beating rapidly.

"You are going to have to take over the business." He smiled softly at her.

"No."

"Why?"

"You know I can't dad, it is not what I want. I need to live my own life." She replied surprised to find herself challenging her father.

"By living you own life. What exactly do you mean? Slaving away in some kitchen, sweaty and disgusting."

"And by taking over the family business, what do you mean? Selling drugs to some little kid and getting him hooked on coke." She shot back with fire in her eyes.

"Wow, you are really not a little girl anymore." Alessandro whispered.

They both sat in silence and stared at each other.

Then her father said in a softer tone, "I am never getting out baby girl. It is not twenty years I got. I got life baby."