Rodrigo's povI tried my best to find him, but he had suddenly disappeared. It was almost as if he had hidden off somewhere, very far away from his car. It was a wonder how he got out of it without me knowing about it in the first place. After all, I had been watching him closely for any signs of movement so that I could intercept him. I hopped out of my car after waiting for another couple of minutes. It was only now that it occurred to me that I had wasted that valuable time for nothing. It would have been better spent looking for him, as now there was a chance that he would do something to harm her in my absence. There were numerous turns. Streets were everywhere, confusing me. If I were to look through all of them on foot, I would take forever. I did not have that much time to find what I was looking for, so I got back in the car the next instant and started cruising around, looking for her in every street. Some of the streets were longer than I wanted them to be. That was the
Tanya's POVIt was the most unexpected reconciliation for me, and being in his arms was more than I imagined. I felt a little grateful, but something in me was still uneasy."Come," he said. "Let's go home.""Home?" I said, thinking about the idea. I did not see it as a real home anymore; the memories that place held for me were not the best."I'm going," I said to him."Home?" he asked, looking hopeful."No," I said. "I want to be all by myself for a while.""What?" he asked, looking at me as if he did not understand. I gave him a rather bitter expression in return. "You are still not coming back?" he asked."Maybe," I said. "I might decide to change my mind later on. But first of all, I want to be by myself."I could clearly remember telling him that I loved him, and it was true. However, that was different from wanting to be with him. Maybe I would like that later, but now I wanted nothing more than peace. Anyhow, he was sure to treat me a little differently now that we had reconci
Rodrigo's POVI drove my car home as a sad feeling settled over me. My mission had failed ultimately, even though I had tried my best. She rejected me after I poured my heart out, but something about it seemed off.Maybe I still have a chance with her, I contemplated, knowing fully that I couldn't do without her for a long time. Just as I had confessed to her, I loved her and would not let her go. Although she had sent me away, she also said she loved me.Maybe she wants to give herself some time and distance from me before coming back, I thought, remembering that she had sent me away but did not seem to be angry at me anymore. With that hope in mind, I went into the house feeling slightly lighter. I could not imagine how I would spend the night without her, not knowing whether or not she was safe at the moment. But I knew that I had to. It was necessary for me because that might be the only way to get her back. Ultimately, she wanted a break from me, and as much as I hated it, I need
Rodrigo's POV The man at the gate was wise not to try to keep us out; if anything, he ushered us in in such a way that I wondered whether he was doing it in excitement. What was with how he smelled as I opened the gate and allowed us all to go in, every one of us? I took a deep breath, now feeling a lot more relaxed at the thought that we had been able to come in. It was something I had been thinking about since we were on the road. I wondered then whether he would let us in, seeing the number of people in the convoy and the potential threat we could pose to him and his people. It would be tough to come in if he didn’t want us to. “Hello,” I heard a voice when I exited the car. He was standing there, waiting to meet me. Great, at least he respected me to that extent. “Hello, brother,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. Of course, it was difficult, considering that I was here to challenge him openly, but there was no need to go all out now—not yet. “What is th
Rodrigo's POV It was more than an insult for a subordinate of mine to hit my brother directly in the face. I was pretty sure it was not meant as an act of disrespect, but, of course, Fabio wouldn't see it that way. He was supposed to beat me up—that was the course of the battle now—but my man had stepped in to intervene and had done a lot more than just defend against him for me. "How dare you!" he asked slowly, clutching his cheek as he looked at the man with fire in his eyes. I stood up as fast as I could, feeling the pain going through my leg. The person did not even care to help me stand up, making me feel hostile towards him. The one thing on my mind now was to call him off and probably insult him. Well, while I was at it, I could probably try to make things right with Fabio. I had only a couple of seconds to decide. I could still turn the situation around if I wanted to, but it would take a lot out of me. A simple word of "sorry" was not enough to make Fabio
Rodrigo's POV "Let me pass," I instructed sternly without coming out of my car. "Do it now and fast, or you'll regret it." I was not with any of my men, which was true, but a standard gatekeeper would be easy for me to handle if he was indeed normal. I wasn't ready to be disrespected in such a way by such a lowlife. "You have to stay here," he said. "The master hasn't allowed you to leave yet." At that very moment, I decided to stop talking with him. He would not listen to my reason, so I had to force him to. Hoping I still had it to defeat an ordinary man, I stood up and opened the door, walking out slowly and calmly to avoid the pain in my leg. The fool stood there waiting. I knew he had a good idea of what I was about to do: a physical fight, organic and bloody, with both of our fists and without weapons. I was a little afraid of his confidence that he could defeat me. If he had managed to do that, I would never have been able to raise my head and look at my
Tanya's POV The both of us were husked away without any form of bind. This time, the man seemed to trust us for some reason, but I could not help but feel grateful. At least now, I could be a little more comfortable. Either way, I couldn't escape with him watching us, but if we put our hands together... I glanced at my grandfather, giving him a questioning look. If he were smart enough, he would get my point. He shook his head in response as we communicated silently. He didn't want the both of us to try to attack this man and take him down. But why? That would be a brilliant way of escaping, and it might even work. "I don't think there's anything to lose," I thought as I braced myself for what would happen. As long as my grandfather joined in the fray when it was time, then it would go well. Either way, the worst that could happen would be that he would tie us back up because I was pretty sure that he did not want us to be beaten up in any way. I threw a punch, a s
Tanya's POV "I don't know anything," I said immediately in a panic, although I had a feeling that it was a bit too late to start denying. "But you just told me that you know him," the man responded, looking at me as if I was making a mistake or was sick. "You are going to tell me everything you know when I ask you about it, or you will tell me everything you know when I force you to tell me. It's your choice." "Who the hell are you?" I asked. "I don't appreciate you using that language," he said. "You are in my care and territory, as you know." "F*** you," I cursed. I could feel the wind blowing towards my face. The next instant, I tensed up, expecting the slap to land on me, but at the last moment, it stopped. I looked up to see the man raising his hand. "Don't hurt her, not yet. I don't know whether she wants to be useful to me. That's a choice for her to make." Turning to me, he continued, "If you try that again—disrespecting me and disobeying the order I just gave
Rodrigo POV I had to admit she was one of the strongest I had ever met. For some reason, she could keep up and pace with me, and that was also because she was pregnant. I felt happy knowing we had many more rounds like that to come in our lifetime. If that was the only compensation for the loss accumulated throughout the last couple of weeks, it was worth it. I got up from the bed, finally. After such a long time, I had been determined to leave her as soon as possible, but somehow, she had convinced me to stay. And stay I did, throughout the night, over to the following day, and even now. I didn't want to leave. Even though we didn't have sex throughout the entire night, the kisses and hugs we lovingly gave each other were enough to keep me excited all the way. She made a sleepy sound as I slipped away carefully, not wanting her to know I was going. Who knew how long I would stay back if she wanted me to? After all, I couldn't resist once, and most likely, I wouldn't be able t
Tanya's Pov By the time I met Dante, I found that he was making some phone calls. I had a sudden feeling that they were preemptory ones because he was planning something. I observed his expression for a moment, and upon seeing the grim expression on his face, I realised that he intended to leave. "Don't tell me..." I said once he was done with the call. He looked at me before managing a smile. "We are not safe anymore, not even me. I should have thought about it earlier. It's rather annoying that I had to figure it out from Rodrigo." I looked at him in surprise. I could vaguely remember Rodrigo telling me to tell him about this. Did that not mean he was not supposed to know about it yet, as I had not told him yet? "I asked him about where he was off to when I saw him acting all weird and uptight," he told me with a roll of his eyes. "Honestly, things don't always need a serious cryptic explanation." "Where is he now?" I asked, feeling like I was being left behind. I
Tanya's POV It took me a lot of serious searching to find him. Once or twice, I thought he was in the house and that Dante was bluffing. But after remembering the severe expression on his face, I decided to make sure that Rodrigo wasn't here before I went over to accuse Dante of lying. I found him eventually in a secluded room, staring into space despondently as if he were depressed by something. "Hey, Rodrigo," I said, my voice becoming very soft as I stepped in. Something told me he didn't want anybody to enter at this time; he wanted the moment of silence to himself. But I found myself intruding anyway. It had been so long since I had seen him, and I wanted to ensure he was well. He glanced my way, but suddenly, a light entered his eyes. He didn't look angry—wasn't angry like I thought he would be at my sudden appearance. Instead, he seemed happy. It made me smile, knowing that I still brought joy to him despite everything that had happened. The light in his eyes faded
Rodrigo's POV I didn’t protest anymore, deciding to hope for the best and let everything play out by itself. Tanya wouldn’t die; I knew it, and as long as she was alive, everything was fine despite everything I had lost and would lose. I had no other option than to let the driver take the car over to my mansion. I was shocked when he was granted access. It seemed that Tanya and Dante had modified the security system while I was gone. “It’s all well,” I thought to myself as I entered my room immediately after getting out of the car. I didn’t want to talk to anybody—though there was nobody for me to speak to in the first place. I needed some time to myself, time to meditate on everything that had happened so suddenly, and also some time to figure out what the next course of action should be. I was before my laptop, typing furiously as if my life depended on it because it probably did. I wouldn’t let the same situation repeat itself in my life more than once. But then again, it
Rodrigo's POV It took me quite a while before I realised that it was an ally standing in front of me. It wasn’t just any random person; it was Dante. “What are you doing here?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow. There was a good chance that he was here to help, but he could also have his motives. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that we were friends. We weren’t. “What does it look like I’m doing here?” he asked. “Saving you.” He went behind me, and with one swift motion, I felt the ropes on my hands slack. He had cut me loose. I looked at him again, realising that he wasn’t bluffing. It started to make sense now; he most likely had taken out all the men guarding me, one after the other, though they thought it was some accident. “Follow me,” he said. “I’ll get you out of here.” I didn’t want to accept his help, but I had no choice in the current situation. Since he had been able to manoeuvre his way through the many criminals with guns, there was a good chance he could do
Rodrigo's POV They were closing in on me. What's more, I knew it when I saw how everyone fighting around me kept an eye on me. I knew that it would be tough for me to escape. It didn't stop me from trying to free myself, though. Constantly, while they were fighting, I tried my best to loosen the ropes. I knew I would have a better chance of survival if I could utilise every skill at my disposal, and I couldn't do that if I were tied up. I was almost there; I could feel it already. All the ropes were nearly gone, and I was secure enough from the bullets flying across the place like rain. If I kept my cool and continued the process diligently, I would easily succeed in freeing myself. Then, I could either join the fight or escape entirely. Suddenly, I saw a man beside me, pointing a gun right at my head. "Don't move anymore," he said. "Do you think you can escape now?" I froze, realising that he wasn't bluffing; he would shoot me if I did anything funny. "Look here," I sta
Tanya's POV The leader I was to meet turned out to be Diego himself. Well, what did I expect? Seeing him, all the rage and frustration I felt as a result of how things had turned out came rushing back. After all the threats and everything, the man decided to kill me anyway. What, then, was the point of making me give him the flash disc? If he would fight to get me out of there, why didn't he do that from the start? I glared at him in annoyance as I opened my mouth to speak. From the look in his eyes, he already knew what kind of reaction to expect from me after what had happened. I only hoped he had a reasonable explanation awaiting. "Why?" I asked finally. It was only one word, but it carried the weight of all the emotions raging through me. I wanted to scream at him, to fight him—a couple of punches from me to him would release some of the anger and frustration. But somehow, I didn't move. "It's hard to explain and even harder to understand," he told me in a small voice. "But
Tanya's pov I couldn't understand why he would want me to hand it over to him if he had the power to threaten him. He made it seem as though he could keep him in check, but if he could, then why did I have to give him the document? Why couldn't he just break the both of us out of here so we could forget about the entire incident? All those questions were bubbling in my head, wanting desperately to burst out, but I kept them in. I knew when to speak and stay silent, and now was the typical time to remain silent. I couldn't precisely question him when he showed up out of nowhere to save my sorry ass. "Do we have a deal?" Diego asked him. From the amount of time he was spending to think about it alone, I knew that he had no intentions whatsoever to let me go out of here alive in the first place. The realisation made me even more glad of Dante's intervention, though I could not still understand many things about his actions and why he was doing them that way. Maybe it was not so
Tanya's POV The shooting started unexpectedly. I was still thinking when he finished counting down, and his men automatically started firing at us. The man named John took cover immediately, narrowly missing getting shot himself. His men took arms as well, and it was a free-for-all. I tried to find Rodrigo in the commotion. It was a perfect chance for me to escape with him and forget all that was happening. But suddenly, I felt a hand cover my mouth. I struggled, but to no avail. The person holding me was too strong for me to resist. Finally, when I stopped struggling, I felt his grip relax a little as he turned me to him. I already knew it was not Rodrigo before I saw his face, and when I didn't recognise him, I got my confirmation. He put a finger to his lips, indicating that I shouldn't scream. If I had known what was going to happen next, I would have because suddenly, he brought out some ropes and tied my hands behind me. I attempted to scream now, but it was too