Never Judge

Ray eventually joined Al and Eric in the living room.

He was surprised to find Al much calmer as he laughed with his cousin.

"That was your mom." Ray informed his son. "She told us not to worry, she and Andres will head home tomorrow. They are booked at a very secure hotel outside of the city. She doesn't want to push their luck tonight."

Al nodded as he let out a breath of relief. He had been worried about his mother's and brother's condition since he heard the news.

"You can go head on to bed. You still have class tomorrow and you'll be meeting the traitor in your team, if I'm not mistaken." Ray said as he gestured for his son and nephew to head to their rooms. "I'll speak to your sister."

"Dad, if you don't mind. Can I speak to Cara tonight? I want to try to fix things." Al said as he awkwardly fidgeted with his hands.

Ray gave his son a sad smile, but still nodded nonetheless.

"I'm not sure if it'll help a lot to try and speak to her tonight. You had her locked in her rooms." Ray frowned.

"I did it to protect everyone, dad, even herself." Al tried to reason. "You know this."

"But Cara doesn't, and I doubt she would truly believe you." Ray explained to his son.

"Then what do you suggest?" Al asked as he threw his hands in the air, exhausted by how his day had gone.

"Fine, speak to her." Ray counseled his son. "But talk to Peter Jao as well. If anyone can get to her, it will be her own father."

Al laughed and gave his father a questioning look.

Ray simply responded to his son with a shrug.

"Why would her father speak to her on my behalf? He too is practically a prisoner in our house!" Al tried his best not to shout at his father.

"You won't know until you try, Al." Ray said with a smile as he turned to leave. "Good night, Al, Eric."

With that the king of the underworld headed up to speak to his daughter.

"Will you still speak to her?" Eric asked his cousin as he stayed by Al's side.

Al nodded.

"I don't want to go to bed knowing I didn't try."

"Let me walk you to her door." Eric offered as he and Al walked in silence.

Eric knew better than to attempt small talk with Al. It was clear that he was running what he would say to Cara in his head.

When they finally reached her door, Al was surprised to see Peter Jao leaving his daughter's room.

"Young Master Laurence." Peter Jao said as he gave a slight bow.

"Mr. Jao." Al respectfully replied to his father's friend.

There were a few seconds of awkward silence before Al decided to bring up the dilemma he was facing with Cara.

"Has your daughter mentioned what happened?" Al asked as he searched the older man's expression for an answer.

Of course as someone that has worked with the mafia for so long, Peter Jao was not so easy to read.

"She did, sir." Peter confirmed, nodding at Al as he avoided eye contact with the younger man.

"Cara, she's my friend, and I hope you understand that I would never do anything to intentionally harm her." Al knew that if Peter Jao was anyone else he wouldn't owe the man an explanation, but as Cara's father Al wanted him to hear both sides of the story.

"Sir, I know you wouldn't do anything out of impulse or anger." Peter Jao told Al. "You might be quite young, but you are much more mature compared to other people out there. I  am sure that you didn't lock my daughter up for a shallow reason."

Al nodded and felt relieved that Peter understood the situation.

"I've even tried to get Cara to understand the situation." Peter's words made Al smile. He didn't expect that Peter would go as far as explaining things to his daughter. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm sure things will get better soon."

"Thank you." Al said with a genuine smile. "I won't keep you for long, I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Jao."

"Good night, sir." Peter said as he left Al and Eric standing by Cara's door.

When the man entered his room and closed the door, Eric finally spoke.

"That was nice of him." Eric commented.

"Yeah, I didn't expect that." Al nodded in agreement.

"It kinda makes sense to me, just think about it. The only way he can keep his daughter truly safe is if she is here." Eric explained. "If Cara were to remain pissed off with you, she would probably demand from her dad that they leave."

"Peter knows my father will never let him leave till things have been corrected." Al said with a sigh. "I wish I could have become friends with Cara the normal way."

Eric patted his cousin on the back and smiled.

They all understood how difficult Al's situation with Cara was mainly because of how they met and who their fathers were.

"Well, I'll leave you to talk to Cara. Good night and good luck Al." Eric said as he turned and left.

"Will you enter, sir?" One of the two bodyguards by the door asked as they looked at the young man who was simply staring at the door they were guarding.

"Did she attempt to leave?" Al asked. He knew Cara wouldn't go down quietly.

"Unfortunately, multiple times, sir. We had to resort to locking the door so that she stayed in there." The other guard reported.

"She wasn't hurt, was she?" Al was clearly more concerned about Cara's well-being over the possibility of her escaping.

His concern made the two guards look at each other and smile.

"She wasn't sir. We didn't touch her, she didn't give us a reason to." The first guard informed Al.

"Very well, I'll speak to her. Thank you for keeping her in there." Al said with a thankful nod as the guards bowed their heads and opened the doors for Al to enter.

"You fucking bastard!" Cara shouted as she saw Al enter the room.