CHAPTER 17 GABRIEL "How about we go have another one of our man to man talks while Ari takes care of Bella? I promise to answer all your questions as honestly as possible” I tell Jacob, and he just nods his head in agreement as I guide him outside. How am I going to explain everything about myself to a twelve year old. Try to keep answers short and sweet, I tell myself. “Okay bud, the answer to your first question, well, I am a successful businessman, and I’m well known all over the world. What else, bud?” Looking confused with my answer, he then asks, “Are you like a mafia lord or something? Why do you have all those people with guns protecting you?" I was surprised at first and wondered what he knew about the Mafia at his age. I brushed those thoughts away quickly and then told him that I wasn’t in the mafia, but I guess I was just as powerful or perhaps more and being successful also brings with enemies who would want to hurt me. He seemed accepting of my answers and said that h
CHAPTER 18BELLA I could not believe what I was seeing. My mum looked distraught, crying bucket loads of tears, and holding the newspaper article up in her hands facing the camera. She was going on about how I was a rebellious daughter who got hooked on drugs and prostitution and because they wanted to send me for help to a rehab facility, I kidnapped my younger brother and ran away from home. She went on to say that they have been searching for us all over and didn’t go to the police cos at the end of the day I was her daughter and she didn’t want me to go to prison. She then pleaded with me to come home. She said that she loves and misses Jacob and I so much and just wanted to get me help to get better. I can not believe the nerve of that woman! She didn’t mention how long ago we left home and continued playing the role of the victim and distraught mother who loved her children more than her own life. She cried and repeatedly said how much she misses us and thanked Mr Knight for ca
CHAPTER 19*WARNING – THIS CHAPTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR READERS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS. ADULT CONTENT. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED GABRIEL I watched as my Bella took off her clothes and walked sexily into the shower, and turned on the water. She turned and looked at me with hungry eyes, and I could not put in words how I felt at that moment. She looked like a Goddess, and I could not believe that she was finally ready for me to claim her as mine. I got rid of my clothes with speed and went in to join her. I took the body wash and lathered her body and washed her gently, and she turned to me and did the same. I then picked her up, wrapped her legs around my waist, and passionately kissed her. I released her lips and moved down towards her neck, and continued leaving trails of kisses. As I picked her up higher, I moved her so that her back was up against the wall and I held her tight with one hand so that she didn’t slip and used the other to get her legs over my shoulders as I po
CHAPTER 20BELLA Being all spontaneous and taking a leap of faith and giving myself completely to Gabriel was the best move ever! He worshipped my body like no one had ever done before and treated me like I was the most important person in his world. I have fallen madly in love with him over a short space of time. I feel safe when he’s around, but most importantly, I feel love, joy, and happiness like I have never felt before. After spending the night with him, I don’t doubt his love for me even if we are from totally different worlds. He is mine, and I am his now. I pray to the angels that all goes well tomorrow in that dreadful Hell Town. We are going to leave early hours of the morning to reach there by midday. Arianna was over the moon and kept teasing both Gabriel and I that we were glowing. She also managed to convince me that once we sorted out the issues with Mum and Mason, we would all go back to the city to meet her parents. I am totally committed to Gabriel and not plannin
CHAPTER 21BELLA After a few minutes, Mum’s grating voice could be heard “Baby, why are you disturbing my Soapy time. I have another hour till I’m on duty!” She wore an ugly pink dress that was clearly too small for her. It stuck to her body like a second skin and rested just below her butt. Her boobs were barely covered. Her hair was in a messy bun, and her makeup was INSANE! She looked around the room and then when she noticed us, her personality completely changed. “Ohhhh Mr Knight, thank you so much, thank you so much, you brought my babies home. How can I ever repay you?” she sang while rushing towards Gabriel with her arms wide open and ready to hug him, ignoring the fact that he has a lap ornament, ME, her daughter! "STEP AWAY!” Alex was already on his feet and stood in front of Gabriel and screamed at her. “TARA, COME HERE!” Mason shouted at her. “WE HAVE WASTED ENOUGH TIME! LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS! YOUR WOMAN HUMILIATED MY BOSS ON MEDIA PLATFORMS, AND HE DOES NOT TAKE KIN
CHAPTER 22BELLA “WHAT PRODUCT DO YOU DEAL? WHO IS YOUR CURRENT SUPPLIER AND WOULD THEY HAVE A PROBLEM SHOULD YOU CUT THEM OFF?” Alex continued speaking loudly and in an assertive tone while sounding genuinely interested in doing business with Mason, whom like the fool that he is started singing like a canary bragging about the products he deals and which areas he supplies and then started to bad mouth the mafia family who is his current supplier. He even dared to ask if Gabriel would offer him protection as they would come after him once he cut them off. Alex assured him that he would have 24/7 protection! Thereafter, the focus was back to me. “What do you want in return for my whore? Take your pick from those girls. They are all Virgins and are to bring in a large sum from the auction but I am willing to let you have your pick first” ranted Mason. I observed Gabriel touch his ear, some one was communicating with him for sure, and then for the first time since we got there, Gabriel
CHAPTER 23GABRIEL “Bella, Bella, it’s me. Please open up your eyes and look at me. You promised you were never going to leave me, remember? Bella, you’ve never lied to me, so don’t start now! Please Bell, wake up” whimpered Jacob as he placed his cheek to hers and arms around her upper back and chest in a gentle side hug. She opened her eyes slightly and whispered “Jakey” and closed them again. Jacob was an emotional wreck thereafter, and Arianna had to forcefully take him away. I felt like my entire world was crumbling, but I had to keep it together and be strong not just for my Bella but also for everyone who loves her. Alex kept reassuring me that the chopper was on its way and Bella would be okay. Every one had been so caught up in getting the girls to safety that they didn’t rush to apprehend Mason as he was unconscious or so he pretended to be and after he stabbed my Bella, every one was focused on her and he took the chance to escape. I ordered Alex to make sure our men found
CHAPTER 24GABRIEL “Can I tell you something?” Jacob asked me softly. “You don’t ever need to seek permission to tell me anything, bud, know that you can always speak to me whenever you want to.” I reassured him, and then he continued in a very sad tone “It’s my fault that Mason used to hit Bella and burn her with cigarettes and cigars. Bell has always protected me even though I don’t remember much from when I was smaller, but I know she always did. Otherwise, I would not be alive. There’s stuff I do remember, though, which she thinks I have forgotten. Mason used to lock me up in a cage kept inside a room Bella and I shared when he sent her out to work. He would not give me water or food. When she came back, I used to cry and tell her I was thirsty and hungry. Mason got angry when I cried and would want to hit me, but Bell always stopped him and said that he could do whatever he wanted to her instead. He used to hit her real bad and do all sorts to her. I thought that if I stopped cr
CHAPTER 72BELLA We all stopped what we were doing when we heard the excited voices of the children as they returned from the tour of the place, and turned our attention to them.The words, 'totally awesome', 'so cool', 'so pretty', and many more positive comments could be heard. That meant they really liked what they had seen, and that put smiles on our dials. They looked ecstatic, and I heard someone ask, “I saw all that, right? Please tell me it wasn’t a dream” and another voice answered, “You definitely saw it, Tina, we all did. Our rooms are super awesome! Did you see how much clothing and shoes there were in each of our cupboards? Even the door signs with our names on it are so cool. Like our sign is in the shape of a butterfly and says ‘Welcome to Kira’s and Tina’s room.’ We both love butterflies! I think that those aunts who asked us so many questions had something to do with it cos look around, all over are the stuff we and the others told them we liked” I know, I should not
CHAPTER 71BELLA It’s finally here! The day we had all been eagerly planning and waiting for! Last night, after Gabriel and I checked up on my baby girl and Jacob, we joined the rest of the family in the living room and chatted till late hours of the night.When we left the bakery, the plan was to have an early night so that we would be well rested for the next day, however when we got home, we were all so excited and anxious and could not sleep.We wished the hands of time could move faster. After turning off the alarm and fully awake, I could hear the shower running. Gabriel was up early.I wondered if he managed to even fall asleep. He was so nervous about today. Last night, he seemed so stressed out when we got into bed, and I got worried and asked him what was going on. He then asked me, "What if all we did at Safe Haven were just to our liking and will not be that of the children’s?" I reassured him that I was confident that they were going to love everything about the place and t
CHAPTER 70NEOBeing amongst loved ones was just what I needed to get my mind off everything that happened with Crystal. The Knight family and our friends are phenomenal beings. Throughout the evening, they kept checking up on me without making it too obvious, though. Every time I caught Mrs. Knight watching me, she had a look of concern on her face, but she quickly changed to a smiling one as soon as she realized I was looking back at her. She is truly an earth angel. Ever since the first time Gabriel had introduced me to her, I was treated as her own son. Even though Gabriel and I had our fallout, I should have maintained contact with her. She had told me that she never believed that I was guilty of any of those things I was accused of but at the time I didn’t think of those who believed in me and whom would be hurt by me taking off. I was too busy drowning in self-pity. I am just glad to have sorted all our issues out now, and we can all move forward. But before I can completely do
CHAPTER 69BELLA We all were even happier after hearing Alex and Arianna’s good news. I silently wished that joyous moments like those could last forever. Aside from the recent drama with Crystal, it's been so amazing having everyone together. If only Aunt Brie, Amber, and Pearl wouldn’t have to leave, but they had their commitments in Honeyville. During their time here, they have helped to bring us all so much closer together and have helped me a lot after being discharged from the hospital. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Erica ask who would like to help her out at the bakery to prepare treats for the Welcome Party. Everyone volunteered, Yes, even the guys! They said that they would help with the packaging and other odd jobs we may need them for. Gabriel and I told them that we would go check up on my baby girl and Jacob first and then meet them at the bakery. Thereafter, everyone decided to go home and freshen up and dress more comfortably and return to the bakery at a s
CHAPTER 68ARIANNA My blabber mouth just had to let the cat out of the bag! That’s so not how I wanted everyone to find out about my relationship with Alex, but at least we got positive reactions. Gabriel totally freaked me out at first, though. My brother had always been on my case to stop messing around and commit to a stable relationship. But I was worried about how he would react when he found out that it was Alex I had decided to commit to. I shamelessly flirted with Alex every chance I got for years. He entertained it and flirted right back. We were very similar in not wanting to commit to any relationship at the time. But as time went by, I guess we both realized that there was more to the playful flirting, but we had too much pride to confess it to each other. I noticed that Alex started getting all jealous whenever he found out that I had been out on dates. He had been my brother’s right hand for many years. Being protective over me was part of the job at first, but it soon
CHAPTER 67BELLA We got our fur babies all comfortable in bed baskets and packed up into the vehicle, we then headed off to Safe Haven. After we were screened at the gates, we were allowed in, and saying that I was impressed from the time we entered the place would be an understatement! Gabriel sure went all out. From the security gates, the beautiful gardens and children’s outdoor entertainment facilities, it was clearly visible that a very large sum of money was spent to get it looking the way it did and we had yet to see the inside of the place. Gabriel handed over our fur babies to the carers, who fell in love with them immediately and rushed off to get them all comfortable and settled in. As we entered, the house was filled with so much laughter and joy. Our group of women could be heard amongst the voices of the Safe Haven staff, and everyone sounded so happy and excited. Mrs Knight was on a roll. She had everyone on their toes, rearranging stuff and making sure everything was
CHAPTER 66BELLA Gabriel went with Neo to sort out some paperwork with the doctor. Erica and I remained in the waiting room. I phoned Arianna to check up on my baby girl and Jacob and she told me not to worry, they were both fine and that the house hold staff would be watching over them as all the women were going over to Safe Haven. I am glad they were still going. Then again, Mrs Knight would never put something as important as Safe Haven on hold because of Crystal. After my call to Arianna, I noticed that Erica was lost in deep thought. I gave her a side hug and asked if she was okay. She turned to face me and spoke in a sad tone, “Bell, I know it’s a terrible thing to say right now and will probably make me seem like a cold hearted and selfish person, but I can’t help it, I am glad that Crystal didn’t make it!” I gave her a full hug and told her that I fully understood how she felt, and she had valid reasons to feel all that she was feeling. “Do you think that Neo and I would eve
CHAPTER 65BELLA Even though we got home rather late from the Café, everyone had waited up for us as they were so worried and curious about what had happened at the station house. We didn’t go into too much detail but gave them the gist of it all. Mr Knight said that there was no way they would allow Neo to suffer any consequences because of his sisters wrong doings. He instructed Gabriel to do whatever he could from his side, and he would also see what he could do from his end. Mrs Knight too said sternly, “I don’t care what you both do, but you better protect that boy! He has suffered more than enough because of that ungrateful wretch!” After much discussion till late into the night, we had all decided that we women would head out to Safe Haven the following morning to inspect the place and make sure it was all prepared and ready for the children to move in . The place already got the thumbs up from Building, Health & Safety, and Child welfare Inspectors. Also, all the registration
CHAPTER 64ERICA Most of my childhood and right up to early adulthood memories were not so pleasant, and I wished I could totally wipe them out of my mind. My mum and dad were like oil and water and fought all the time. I used to wonder how they ended up married. They never shared that tale. Long story short, when they finally decided to divorce, I thought it was the best thing ever! One would say that I was crazy to have been happy that my parents were splitting up, but trust me, they were HELL together! Having witnessed what they went through, I had lost faith in relationships. I needed to get away from my parents, and as soon as I could, I moved out of Honeyville and headed for the city, and started to rebuild my life. My mum and I kept in contact, but my dad distanced himself from me. He seemed to have divorced his daughter, too! I was so angry at first, but I decided that I was never going to force anyone to love me and especially not my so-called father! Once I settled in the c