NICKThere was silence on the other end of the line, and I held my breath hoping the man was smart enough to make the right decision. While we were still waiting for him to respond, the line went dead. Luke chuckled with an evil smirk on his face. I wondered what he was thinking because I was never going to let him hurt a child.“Well, it seems you don’t mean much to your husband. All he cares about is his wealth. Anyway…” he stood, and I did the same. “Take them to the car, we are taking them with us since the man doesn’t want them. we will keep them.” okay, that was not so bad. He said nothing about hurting them just taking them.It was going to scare him enough to act, I hoped. He and I walked out. “Tell your boss that I have taken his family. Tell him if he wants them back then he knows what he must do.” He told the guards. We got into the car. “Let’s get out of here before Olivia and Marcus arrive.” I agreed fully with that one.Olivia would think I was a monster if she saw me do
OLIVIAWhen we landed in London and got out of the plane. My heart almost stopped when I saw so many men in black standing there. Marcus and I looked at each other confused. I even thought they were agents of some government organisation or something. That was until we got down and one who seemed to be the leader of the group came forward and greeting me.He paid Marcus no mind as he told me that my father the don told him to come get me. I was shocked because firstly, I didn’t know what the hell the don was and secondly. I thought the mafia was back in Summer Strand. There was no way Luke flew all those men there. Marcus and I followed them in our car.The car was brought by his driver to the airport. On the way he was telling Marcus how much damage was caused by Nick and Luke. “Don’t worry about that Larry, am here now and I am going to sort all this out.” I couldn’t believe they burnt down so many m
OLIVIAI didn’t know where that anger came from, but I just exploded when she said those things. I didn’t care about any of that, I just wanted my son. “That’s my daughter, if you thought I was bad, then you haven’t met my daughter. Well, you have just now but she is worse than I could ever be.” Luke said coming in with a tub of ice cream in hand.The man was making it seem like we were a family of mafias there, I threw a glare at him and he lifted his hands up in surrender. “See, I am even scared of her myself and yet she is my daughter. My only child. That boy is her only child as well and trust me. she will gut you and leave you bleeding to death if you don’t give her son back.”Jesus, Luke! Marcus laughed. “Now I see why you want to take everything from us, you are being threatened by this family of gangsters you married into. I thought I knew your character and the type of woman yo
OLIVIAMarcus followed me to the kitchen, probably wondering why I was being stubborn about this. But that woman’s husband traumatized my son, taking him from his home and flying him across the world. And for what? To get money from his nephew? Samuel was not Marcus’s son; he should have gone after something that was Marcus’s not mine.“Olivia, I know what he did is unforgivable. But I am already taking everything from him and his family. Lilly will no longer have the same lifestyle she grew up with. Things will change for her big time, school, friends, everything. I can’t take her father away from her too. Believe it or not. My uncle is a good father to his daughter.”I wished I could shut him up with a punch right on the mouth. How could he try and manipulate me like that? actually that was emotional blackmail, and I didn’t like it. “Fine, I will tell Luke to give her a phone. But I am not going to forget this.” I told him then walked out of the kitchen. I felt like he was, yet agai
NICKMy heart swelled seeing Samuel back safe. I was worried especially when that man threatened to do harm to him. I was worried sick, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like if something were to happen to the boy, it would affect me more than it should. As he was not my son. But there was something about him.Something I couldn’t place my finger on, I had a connection to the boy, I couldn’t explain. If he were born at home with me and Olivia, then I would say it was because of that. but he was born in prison, and he had a close relationship with Ethan and not me. But why did I feel the way I felt about him? maybe it was because he was part of Olivia, and I loved her.When she came into the house with him, I followed. I don’t know why but I followed and got into bed with them. Olivia on the one side and I on the other. Samuel in the middle. I thought she was going to chase me away or Marcus would say something. But to my surprise, none of them said a thing.Marcus only peeked at the
MARCUSI frowned, since when is Nick the reasonable one? By staying a week with Samuel here, I thought I would make up for the honeymoon that was ruined by my uncle, and she would be at ease with Samuel with us. I didn’t know I was pushing it. I seemed to be making a lot of mistakes, and I didn’t like it.“Why did you force her to make Luke help that woman?” I sighed. I had many reasons for that and none of them were the ones I provided. “I will tell you but don’t go running to my wife about it. I will tell her when the time is right.” Nick nodded but I could tell he was not going to like what I was about to say.“That woman in there and I used to date.” Nick didn’t look as shocked as I thought he would. He just stared at me. so, I continued. “We dated for about a year until I brought her home to meet my uncle. I guess she liked him more than she claimed to love me. but she ended up leaving me for my uncle and six months later they got married.”Still Nick kept his mouth shut. “I was
OLIVIAI have been wondering about what Marcus said the whole week we have been back. We left London the following morning. Nick and Luke went back to Summer Strand, and we came home. But the events of the day stuck with me. spending time with Nick showed me a different side to him. what he would be like being Samuel’s father.It was clear the man loved his son, and it only made me feel guilty about what I did. But then he went further than that and put Marcus straight. The Nick I knew would have taken advantage of that and tried to separate us. But this one didn’t. instead, he told my husband what he was doing wrong. That too showed me that he was a different man.A more matured man. “Penny for your thoughts?” Marcus said wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “Just thinking about Nick and how much he seems to have changed.” He nibbled on my earlobe. “Thinking about another man while you are in my arms, what a naughty wife you are.”I laughed hitting him playfully. “I
NICKIt’s been a month since the incident with Samuel and I have been trying to get together with the Dr, but she has been playing hard to get. Eventually, I got fed up with her games and I told her she should tell me if she has no intention of getting together with me so I can stop pestering her.The good doctor seeing that I was not about to play her game, came up with the excuse that I should understand that she had a busy schedule as the doctor and so on. I couldn’t care less about that. We were both adults and the least we could do was act like it.If you don’t like someone or something, just say it and not play games wasting people’s time. Right now, I was sitting in an Italian restaurant waiting for her to arrive for our date. According to the research Owen did, the doctor liked Italian food, so he booked this restaurant for us.I must admit, the place was nice, looked and felt expensive. Nice classic music playing on the background which you can’t tell or see where it was comi
MARCUS“Boss, we’ve arrived,” Steve said, his voice cutting through the thick fog of sleep that had settled over me. I blinked a few times, disoriented, before slowly coming to. My body ached from the constant movement, the long days of traveling across continents, jumping from one city to another, chasing dead ends and half-truths. I hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in days. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was the face of my wife, Olivia, fading from my thoughts like a distant dream.I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to shake off the fatigue. The exhaustion was getting to me, but there was no time for rest. Not now. Not until I had her back. My mind was a blur, constantly circling back to the same thoughts: Where is she? Why won’t anyone tell me? The people who had information were all cowards, and none of them would speak up. It was maddening. The jet had become my only sanctuary, a
OLIVIAIt had been two days since Xander left, two days without food or water. My body had grown weaker with each passing hour, and I could feel every ache in my bones, every crack in my spirit. But there was a small sliver of hope amidst the physical torment: the sedative he had used to paralyze me was finally starting to wear off. I could feel a slight tingle in my legs when I pinched them hard, nothing much, but enough to give me the faintest glimmer of relief. Soon, I would be able to move again.That is, if I didn’t collapse from thirst and hunger first.The worst part of being in that hellhole wasn't the paralysis. It was the silence. The uncertainty. I had no way of knowing if it was day or night. Time had ceased to exist in that dark, suffocating tomb, and with each passing moment, I felt like I was slipping further from reality. I was literally buried alive, a prisoner in a catacomb of stone, with no one to help me, no one to hear
NICKLuke’s face changed from shocked to anger very quickly. “Tell him, tell the moron where we are!” he bellowed throwing his hands in the air. “How could this moron do something like this? I am the only one who is supposed to do things like these. You boys are supposed to keep your hands clean!” he paced the room.He was frustrated. “Since when did Marcus become worse than me in things like these, just what the hell is wrong with him?” he said to no one in particular. I didn’t know if he was just frustrated or a little impressed by his son in law. He turned to me with a glare. “What the hell are you waiting for? Do you want him to bomb more cities before you tell him where the hell we are?”I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Just moments ago, Luke had been telling me to keep everything from Marcus, and now, here I was, being blamed for not telling him where we were fast enough. It felt like I had no place to stand, caught between a rock and a hard place. But it wasn’t the time t
ETHANThe moment Nick hung up the phone, his face shifted, his expression unreadable. It was as if all the colour drained from him in an instant, his skin paling in a way that I had never seen before. I had been around Nick long enough to know that he was no stranger to bad news, but this? This was different. It was as if something beyond our worst fears had just been set in motion.We had already been living through the chaos, Luke, Xander, Olivia’s disappearance, and now, the kids were safe with us. That much, at least, had been a small mercy in the storm. But Nick looked like he had just been hit with the weight of something even worse, something that none of us could prepare for. My mind raced, trying to figure out what could possibly be so bad. And then it hit me. Could it be…? No, it couldn’t be.Before I could make sense of it, I moved closer to Nick, my concern deepening. I needed to make sure that whatever was going through his mind wasn’t as bad as I feared. Leaning in, I wh
NICKI had been holding onto the hope that once Xander showed up, everything would fall into place. That the mess would be cleaned up, and we could put an end to the nightmare that had been plaguing us.Luke and Xander reached some sort of agreement, at least, that’s what I gathered, but the specifics were still hazy in my mind. Luke had told Xander to bring Olivia, or he would destroy his father’s remains.What exactly that meant, I wasn’t sure. It felt like a vague threat, but the tension in the air told me it wasn’t just idle talk. Xander responded with some sort of counter-deal, loaded with things I couldn't follow. Honestly, I was drained. I didn’t care about the details anymore. I just wanted this whole nightmare to be over. But Xander wasn’t backing down, and neither was Luke.Luke had his men tail Xander. And, as expected, Xander went straight to the hotel. He wasn’t trying to outsmart anyone or go off the grid. He was playing by his own set of rules, one that I didn’t fully u
XANDERI was about to take the biggest gamble of my life, and I knew it. Luke was offering me a choice, an impossible one. It was a trap, a setup where only he could win. The terms of his proposition were clear: there would be no chance for me to exact my revenge on him, and there was a very real possibility that I would lose my life in the process. But I wasn’t ready to die, not yet. Not when I had a son waiting for me, hoping I would make it back.I had to think fast. Luke had me cornered, but I couldn’t show him how much fear his words stirred inside me. I had to put on a face, act like I was in control, even if I wasn’t. It wasn’t just about surviving this moment; it was about finding a way out. I wasn’t going to let him win that easily.I stood tall, trying to exude confidence, even though inside I felt like a bundle of nerves. My heart hammered in my chest; my hands clenched into fists at my sides. I could feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead. If I didn’t hold it toget
XANDERFor the past few days, I had watched them stumble around in their futile attempts to track me down. Every morning, they would set out at dawn, and every night they would return empty-handed, their efforts wasted. It was amusing to me.They had no idea where to look, no real understanding of how to hunt someone like me. It was almost laughable. I had thought they were dangerous, but I quickly realized how wrong I was. There was nothing good about them, nothing that made them worthy of fear.Perhaps they just hadn’t met their match yet. Until now.Now, they had encountered me, and they knew they were nothing compared to what I was capable of. They were amateurs, playing a game they couldn’t win. But Olivia... she was another story. She surprised me. I had expected more resistance from her, some fight, some fire. But instead, she complied. She ate the food I gave her, barely muttering a word of protest. The silence was almost worse than anything. I could tell that the trauma from
NICKThe island was still, too still. No one slept that night. Luke had kept busy with his men, the sound of his voice drifting through the halls, low and intense. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could tell they weren’t discussing anything good.Ethan had joined them; he was more involved than I would have liked. I had asked him to keep an eye on Luke, to make sure things didn’t escalate further. I didn’t trust Luke, not when he was like this, wild, unpredictable, the kind of man you couldn’t reason with once his mind was made up. He was like a caged animal finally set free, and I was terrified of what he might do to the people on this island. They were innocent; they didn’t deserve to be dragged into whatever madness Luke was planning.As for me, I was stuck dealing with the kids. I tried to keep my mind occupied, tried to push away the dread gnawing at me. But before anything, I knew I had to prepare. I organized money, lots of it. It felt like I was bracing for something big.
NICKIt had been three days since Olivia disappeared, the longest, most agonizing three days of our lives. Every day felt like a never-ending loop of despair. We woke up, checked the rooms, scoured the island, hoping to find some trace of her. But no matter how much we searched, it was as if she had vanished into thin air. There was no sign of a struggle, no indication that she had left the room, and absolutely no lead to follow. It was like she was swallowed up by the earth itself.The island wasn’t that large, and it seemed impossible that someone could just disappear like that. But here we were, endlessly combing through every corner, every inch of the place, but we kept coming up empty. It felt like we were chasing ghosts. The stress, the exhaustion, the hunger, none of it was helping our situation. It wasn’t that we didn’t have food. We had plenty of food. But none of us could bring ourselves to eat.The nanny we had hired to take care of the kids, a kind woman, had been cooking