(Xander's pov) The loud baring music played in the background, the air was filled with the stench of alcohol and cigarettes but that was expected since this is a fucking club. Proxima Centauri, this was the biggest night club in town and it was owned by Ivan. On the surface it was a regular club but in reality was the base of underground deep Mafia activities but that is a story for another night. Tonight it was just a regular club. My so-called friends were seated in the VIP area in the gallery that oversaw the regular floor. Without a doubt our table gathered a lot of attention, our faces were not popular but it was unforgettable. Especially Ivan flashing a flirty grin at the girls at first glance it was obvious he was the Playboy here and definitely a bad influence on Benji the youngest one. Benji was a cheerful guy but not necessarily a Playboy but it didn't mean he was not a flirt. This was meant to be a fun night but it was far from that for me. I just could
(Xander's POV)The music was very loud and I was not enjoying it in the least way. I fucked up big time but too stubborn to accept it. "Hey charming," a brunette chimed by my side. She was not bad in the eyes, but to me, she looked plain. The Brunette seemed very young. My guess is she was 18 at most. I ignored her because I couldn't afford to be called a paedophile. I was never interested in stuff like that. I brushed past her, and my sharp grey eyes scanned the crowd, searching for someone to dance with. The dare was to dance with someone without thinking about Karis so I have not lost the dare yet. I need to find someone that looks nothing like Karis, ginger or blonde, preferably. There I spotted her; she looked to be around 24. From her eyes, you could see she was an experienced woman who had seen a lot completely different from my little red, whose eyes still sparkled. She felt my gaze and looked in my direction. She was surprised at first, probably stunned at m
(Karis's pov) That night, I could barely have a second of sleep; Xander didn't return all night. My eyes were dark, and my head was slightly aching. I didn't understand why I felt so disturbed like something bad happened. My eyes glanced at the space beside me that was completely cold to my touch, reminding me of the reality he didn't come last night. A long sigh left my lips as I rolled off the bed. My head was spinning like mad. Knock, knock. My head started ringing when I heard the loud knocking sound from the door. "Who is it?" I groaned, dragging my legs to the door. It was like I was having a hangover when I didn't even have a tiny bit of alcohol. "Sorry for waking you up but there is something that demands your urgent attention." I heard Deborah's voice strained voice from outside the door. My brows furrowed with deep frown lines. "What is it exactly?" I asked her as the door creaked open. My eyes fell on Deborah; she had panic evidence in her eyes,
(Karis's Pov) Talk about being slapped by a reality you didn't want to accept. Bertha gave me her phone, and I scrolled through the DM, my face getting more pale each second. This shouldn't be shocking to me but yet I really could not comprehend why this was happening. "Bertha, what is it? Can you explain Better?" I asked with my voice shaking. Bertha's gaze softened, and she reached out to grab my hand. "An old friend of mine said he spotted Xander leaving a club last night with a mysterious lady he could not recognize. Since he is aware that we are friends he decided to trail Xander until they got to a hotel. He thought something felt off about Xander." Bertha explained. I glanced at the picture. I didn't want to believe it was really him; from the angle it was taken, it was blurry and hard to recognize the man and lady, but I knew deep down it was Xander. The lady was hard to recognize because the camera was primarily focused on Xander. My hands on my skirt
(Karis's pov) I cried in Bertha's arms until we got to the ground floor. No questions were asked, she just let me pour out my heart. Why did it hurt so much when I expected it? "Everything will be alright." She tried to assure me even though we both knew that would never be the case. Earlier, I left the estate in Betty's car, so she was the one driving while my eyes were on the window, just watching the image of our environs blur away as we drove past them. "So what next? Are you heading back to the De Marco estate?" Bertha asked me, her gaze was on the road as she drove. I did not even care where she was driving to and let her just drive me away from that hotel. Since she didn't get a reply, she continued talking. "You can stay with me if you can't face him again. My family villa is large enough for the both of us." She was indeed disturbed by my eerie silence. "Drop me off at the Crest Towel. " I mentioned not taking my eyes away from the window. There was a hole in my he
(Xander's Pov) My head was aching so badly it felt like splitting apart. What the hell happened? I never get hangovers when I drank my ass off in the past. The sound of light footsteps caught my attention but my head was killing me too much to open my eyes and see who. If I had bothered seeing who it was, that would have saved me a lot of trouble. I felt someone clinging to me, so I naturally thought it was my little red, but something about this stop felt off. This place didn't smell like home or my little red. I also could not remember how I got home. My brows furrowed as I slowly opened my eyes despite the horrible headache that was killing me. ' Where am I?' Those were the first questions on my mind because I didn't recall where I was or how the hell I got here. A bad feeling took over my gut as my heartbeat dropped to my stomach, and my eyes slowly travelled to my waist, where someone was clinging to me. Strawberry blonde hair, you got to be fucking
(Xander's pov) The car pulled over at the Sheraton hotel instead of driving straight home for the estate. When I asked Karis why we were taking a detour she said it was because of how late it was that it would not be safe to drive so far away. It was understandable, but she should have just called Sam or even John to come pick us up. Most importantly, why did she leave the estate without her bodyguards? "We are here, I have already booked a room." She chimed excitedly. Her excitement sent chills through my spine. Regardless of how strange everything was and my warning bells ringing over and over in my head, I still followed her bed. I would never say no to my little red. The lift to our intended floor was quiet, Karis held my arm tightly and kept on smiling brightly as she glanced at me from time to time until the doors slid open. The hallway was eerily quiet because of how late it was. The only footsteps echoing were our footsteps. Karis arrived at a door, 1467; something ab
(Xander's pov) The room was in an awkward mood; Karis could not believe my words even though I was in belief. I was a very sexually active person and this was the first time I could not get it up. And Karis could effortlessly turn me on but today was just strange. No matter how badly I wanted to fulfill Karis's every wish and make her feel good in ways she could never imagine; if my body was not cooperating, I just couldn't. Something was weird from seeing the imposter to Karis. My head was hazy, and I was dead drunk, but that was weird because I didn't drink up to what would normally make me drunk. How did I leave the VIP section and get on the dance floor? There were so many questions running through my head.? My thoughts were drawn back to Karis. My words hurt deeply her. She bit her lower lip between her teeth with her doe hazel eyes bidding with tears. "What do you mean by not in the mood? Don't you want me anymore?" She cried, I felt bad for hurting her but
(Xander's pov) New Year's Eve a few hours after Miranda was captured and the failed raid.***** It felt like everything was crumbling down after Bertha told me that Karis was gone. Skyler had taken her out of the mall after he started a distraction in the mall by turning on the sprinklers and fire alarm. From the camera feed, we saw him take Karis from the table as she followed him willingly, but the camera didn't capture when they left, thanks to the chaos and all. He had successfully disappeared. I didn't know where to start from and was honestly considering handing over the company. I did have some hidden cards, but he has my entire family, putting me in a tight spot. I should have stopped her this morning when she left. My head was filled with thoughts of getting the children back. I didn't think of the possibility of her leaving. The door to my study was pushed open, Ethan was waiting in the living room for me while I came to the study to get some docu
(Karis's pov) I could not sleep the entire night; it was the 31st of December, and even the children were confused as to why I sent them to bed so early. Ever since I got here, Val had been coping a bit more; at least she was eating now. "Mummy, why are we not celebrating the new year eve?" Val asked curiously truly naive as a child. Vance was also lying on the bed, I sat in the middle while they were lying by my side. This was the only way I felt comfortable here, close to them. It gave me a bit sense of comfort in this cage. "Because I am tired this year and just want to sleep till tomorrow." I lied to Val who was by my right. "I thought we would celebrate our daddy," her voice trailed the entire time Vance was quietly listening. "I know but he isn't your daddy anymore. Let's just go to bed tomorrow will be a long day." Saying those words broke me when I saw the hurt on Val's face. She bent her head hugging my waist. She didn't cry, but I knew I wanted to. My p
(Xander's pov) The new year was meant to be something special which people look forward to, but for the past 4 years, I always dreaded this day. It reminded me that another year had gone by, and I was alone. That was how it felt to me. "You can do this," I said those words hoping it would help me get my nerves together. I closed the door and then proceeded to the luxurious Crest Lake restaurant in front of me. The place was filled with customers since it was the new year. Skyler chose a safe location; he knew that I would likely not do something Crazy with this many people around. I was put in a difficult situation. From the entrance, I was immediately recognized by the manager, who seemed to have recognized me. "Happy New Year, Mr De Marco. Mr Crest has been expecting you." He chimed. "Happy New Year," I said out of simple curtsey, my eyes darting around the restaurant. I was the least interested in the fancy interior that screamed money. The beauty didn't matter to me. "Ple
(Xander's pov) At this point, I think Skyler's true power is to make people disappear. It made me wonder when he got this tricky. In the end, he won; imagine how frustrating it was to know he was the one behind everything, but there was no evidence linking it to him. He had planned everything, making Emma the front to take the blame, not to forget the fact Emma was still missing, but I was certain that he had a hand in that too. This game had gone on for too long and I was genuinely tired. It was a few minutes to midnight; my eyes were focused on the road as I drove back to Ivan's place. The car slowed down at the red light. My eyes glanced away from the road for a while to the passenger seat where an envelope sat. It was the transfer document; desperate times require desperate measures. I scoffed, glancing back at the road; after finally inheriting the business and building it to an all-time high, the genius business tycoon was giving it out to save his family.
(Karis's pov) The table was silent as we ate. After finding out Val had refused to eat anything for over a day now, I had to force her to eat. So we had our meal together as what appeared like a family of four. The room had a very heavy tension and I wondered if the children knew that Skyler was a bad guy. This was totally unlike Val who was always chatty and cheerful with Skyler. "I am full," Val said. I glanced at her plate to see it was now clean. "That great dear." I chimed at her, and she nodded. "Can I leave now?" Her voice was very soft. "Sure, if you are full." Skyler was the one who responded this time around. Val nodded and then left the table. I watched her little feet run away. "Can I also leave?" Another small voice asked. My attention drew from Val to Vance who was super nervous. He was also done eating. "You can go ahead," I informed him and he didn't waste a second more to flee the room. It was left just me and Skyler. "They will und
(Karis's pov) I think I lost consciousness as soon as I sent the text to Bertha to leave, I had to send the text to Bertha for Skyler to believe. I had no idea where we were heading. My head was a bit dizzy and was laid on Skyler's thighs while gazing outside. "You are awake," he muttered, drawing his gaze from outside to me. I tried to sit up, holding my head that was aching. I glanced outside and the only thing I could see was an endless stretch of trees. We must be somewhere around the outskirts. "Where are we going?" I asked Skyler, sensing his gaze on me. I was trying my best to act natural so that he would not sense anything odd. The more I looked at him, the more my heart ached, realizing what he did. He was a freaking lunatic. "Somewhere safe to avoid Xander's eyes before we leave the country during the new year." My heart skipped a beat, my eyes drawing back outside. It was still day, hours away from midnight. I know we were miles away from civilizatio
(Xander's pov) I thought today was going to be my lucky day; by chance, we were able to comprehend Miranda. She didn't even give us any issues and relayed the information she had about the twin's location. It was an old manor on the outskirts of the city deep inside the forest. If I had not caught Miranda there was no way we would have found out. The car sped as fast as it could. I crossed my fingers, hoping they would be there and this would be the end of this madness. "We are getting close." The driver informed me. Ivan's men had already gone ahead to lay a siege on the property. After what felt like forever, I finally arrived from a distance. I could hear the baring sounds of gunshots. This time, we were prepared to go against the mercenaries as I had my hands on some military combatants, a favour from an old friend. I stepped out of the car, and one of the soldiers approached to give me cover along with other armed personnel, who were all covered with bulle
(Miranda's pov) Emma was a fool, I could not even believe she was my daughter. How can she trust a guy who basically used her like a pawn for this long? She wanted to stay for revenge, but honestly, I don't care about revenge. I just wanted the money and I had enough for now with the amount I stolen from Christian. I did not tell Emma I was never coming back. "I will be gone for a while this mansion is suffocating," I told her. "Be careful if you get caught, Skyler won't help you," Emma said. She was lying on the bed crying about Xander, a man who was never hers. My poor baby, it was too sad I had to leave her in this trap. "I will, just cover up for me while I am gone," I said before closing the door. I was never coming back that was for sure. My eyes shone with determination; Skyler didn't restrict Emma's and my movements, knowing fully well we would be scared to make any reckless move when Xander's hunt dogs were everywhere, and it was a matter of time befo
(Karis's pov) A single bodyguard followed me and was seated in front of the car. What was I doing? I wondered. My mind kept on telling me it was a bad idea but yet I felt I had to do this regardless. My phone notification beep drew my attention; it was Bertha. I had told her about the mysterious text, and of course, she was against the idea. In the end, we agreed to go together. "Good morning, Betty." I simply said. "Morning Karis, are you on your way?" She asked sounding a bit exhausted. "Yes, I left the estate a few minutes ago." The line went static for a while before I heard her "Karis," she called out with a soft voice before continuing. " You know it is not too late, you can turn back. I honestly think you should trust Xander. We have no idea who it is that sent you that message and this might just be a means to lure you out." I knew everything she said was true. I had also considered the possibility but I had also made up my mind. "I know, but if we a