Chapter 20 (Benjamin's POV)What in the ever-loving fuck is going on?We just arrived back at my parent's ranch and stepped out of the car when suddenly shots could be heard from somewhere behind us. Of course, my first thought was that I need to get Anastasia and the baby to safety, but in the pitch-black night and only stars shining above us, I had no idea where the shots came from and which way was safe. Where was my father when you needed him? Just as the thought entered my mind the front door burst opened and there stood the man I was just cursing silently in my mind holding his beloved shotgun. As he stepped on the front porch the light above him turned on and I could finally see things around us, but still I could only see two silhouettes from where we were crouching behind the car. I had to get us closer to the house, but first something else, "Dad! Tell mom to call the cops! Now! And get your ass inside the house, just make sure the light stays turned on!" But you see, I sho
Chapter 21 (Anastasia's POV)If I said I knew what was going on around me, I would be lying. Because I had no fuckung idea.When we arrived at the police station they showed me to a seat, not into a prison cell which was kind of a relief honestly but it did not help my numbness. I was completely and utterly detached from my surroundings. And I did not even want to see or hear anything. I wanted to be left alone so I could process everything. The fact that I killed someone intentionally hit me pretty hard. And to top it off I did not kill one but two human beings. At this point, I could say with confidence that I really was a monster. A murderer. And I was disgusted with myself. But it looked like I would not be getting any more time to myself because in the next moment a police officer approached me with a cup of something hot in his hands, "I brought you tea. It will calm you a little and stop your body from shivering." Only when he said it did I realize I was indeed shivering. Even
Chapter 22 (Benjamin's POV)Hours have passed already and still, we had no idea when Anastasia was coming home or if she was even coming home, or if they would keep her at the police station, after all, it would not be the first time that police officers would use tactics of lying to convince someone to follow them willingly. But I had to stay positive, and I guess my struggle was showing clearly on my face because suddenly I could feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder and when I looked over it I found Seth standing behind me, giving me an encouraging smile, "Do not worry Benji. She will be alright. I promise. You know many bad things she survived with small scars to her body and soul and hopefully this time it would be the same." All I could do was hope he was right. I needed her to be strong for herself, for the baby, and for me as well. Just the thought of my sunshine being scared, or in any way carrying around the guilt for what happened tonight was tearing me apart. I was just
Chapter 23 (Anastasia's POV)I was relaxed for the first time since the shooting happened a few hours ago. Wait. Was it really just a few hours ago? Damn! I could swear a whole lot more time has passed since it happened, but no. When i looked at the clock i could see it was showing only two in the morning and I was brought back from the police station around 11 the previous day I guess I can say since it was after midnight already.Right now, I was lying safely in Benjamin's arms just cuddling and enjoying his presence.In a few weeks I would need to face my problems and my father's trial, but until then I can relax and think about nothing and no one. I was adamant to put my focus on Benjamin and our unborn baby. Thinking about the problems in my life would not bring anything good so there was no point dwelling on it."Are you really ok sunshine?" Benjamin's voice spooke me, not because I was scared of him, but because it came out of nowhere while I was lost in my own thoughts. Thinki
Chapter 24 (Benjamin's POV)Something is wrong. And I do not mean some little thing. Nope. Something was very, very wrong, and so far I had no idea what that something could be.Anastasia was acting weird.If you looked at her as someone that did not know her you would not even see the little signs. But I and Seth knew her very well.We both knew Anastasia was one of the softest persons alive and there was no way in hell she was so unaffected by yesterday's events.Now, do not get me wrong. Of course, I was happy that she looked like it did not affect her, or at least as if she accepted the fact that she killed two people in self-defense. But like I said, both I and Seth knew she was full of shit. She was putting on a show for our sake. And the worst part? We had no idea how to get to her and saying it harshly, forced her to drop the mask of false happiness. Even if I did not know her the way I do, something was telling me deep in my gut that yesterday was only the beginning of somet
Chapter 25 (Anastasia's POV)I actually managed to convince Benjamin to let me out with the girls in the evening. Even though looking at it from far away, girls might be a problem for what I had in mind.As the things stood right now, I would have to sneak away from them and meet this mysterious Lyzard boss in secret. Hopefully the gallery that I used as my cover story would not let me down. In the newspaper there was a story about it, they said there were many art pieces and some of them were going to be in an exhibition for people to see for the first time since they were discovered.Thankfully both Anabelle and Valentina were art lovers so there should be no problem occupying them and running away from them for an hour, hopefully even less. I was not interested in a chit chat with this mysterious person, I just wanted answers. Why was I so important to them? Why did they not leave me alone? What kind of answers would they even be willing to give? Damn it! I had so many questions bu
Chapter 26 (Benjamin’s POV)Any moment now Anabelle and Anastasia will get down and we would play the dutiful boyfriends by escorting them to the car. None of the girls knew we were going to follow them. It was better this way. It was not because we did not trust them because honestly, we would probably trust them with our life if we had to. But we did not want to put them in a position where they would have to lie to their friend, it was bad enough that we were lying and hiding things from all of them, and we knew there would be hell to pay once they realized what we were doing. But right now, their safety was on the first place and then we would worry about the consequences of our actions.Just as I was thinking what kind of punishment they would come up with when they realize our plan, the door on the front floor could be heard how it was opened which was our cue to wait for our girls under the stairs. I was completely ready, that is until I saw what Anastasia was working. If there
Chapter 27 (Anastasia’s POV)This is it. No way of backing off now. Ok. I could still just decide to not go to the meeting point and that would be it, but like I told you the previous night, I was too afraid to do anything to upset these people. They did not have their reputation for no reason.And even though I was getting more and more nervous while the clock of the meeting was nearing, I was also kind of hardly waiting for it to be over with because it meant I would finally get all those answers that I wanted to have for years.But first, I needed to run away from my friends without them realizing I had something completely wrong on my agenda. So, let’s get down to business. I did not have much time left. It was already ten to seven and I was supposed to be at the restaurant across the street in ten minutes, preferably a minute or two earlier so I can take good look at everything in the restaurant, meaning where the exit doors were, if I could maybe recognize the person I was suppo
Chapter 27 (Loraine’s POV) epilogue Some years later… “Andrew! The girls will be here any minute, could you get Samuel ready for me please?” Before you make any assumptions let us make something clear. Samuel is our son, and he is three years old. As weird and unthinkable as it might sound, all girls gave birth to a child in the same year. Sure, there were differences, Valentina and Nathaniel had three kids. The first one was a little girl named Daisy, who was not so little anymore since she was nine years old already. Second was a boy named Gareth, he was six years old and the last was Penelope who was three years old as well as our Samuel. Then there was Anabelle and Seth. They had two kids, twins to be exact. A boy and a girl, Samantha, and Sam, they were three years old as well. If we move forward, we have Anastasia and Benjamin, they had just one kid the same as me and Andrew, and the little three years old princesses’ name was Lory. The next in line would be Malcolm and Mandy
Chapter 26 (Andrew’s POV)We were on our way to the airport and of course, with Malcolm in the car we were driving over the speed limit and if a police officer pulled us over there would be hell to pay once he realized who the driver was, but mostly no one dared stop Malcolm, even the new guys knew his car and just waved when he passed. But in my opinion, we were still not driving fast enough. I wanted to be at the airport already, deal with the bastard and wrap my Loraine in my arms where I knew I could keep her safe.But as much as I wanted to yell and rant and be a smart ass, I knew I was thinking irrationally so I rather just sat back and kept my mouth shut. That and the fact that Malcolm threatened to throw me out of the car if I dared be loud.Thankfully we arrived at the airport just when my patience was running low. But as we stopped the car, I could not believe my eyes. There was a plane, ready to take off at any moment, but the stairs were still pulled out and firmly on the
Chapter 25 (Loraine’s POV)Either these people were stupid, or they just assumed I knew London so well that I did not need to have my eyes covered while we were driving to the airport. Or maybe it was just the fact that they were so sure I would not be going anywhere except board the plane to Washington.Too bad for them because I had every intention to run away as fast as my legs could carry me, especially now that I knew two of six guys were on my side. Two of those guys that were not on my side are going into the plane’s cabin to make sure everything is set up and two will be completely oblivious to my attempt thanks to my accomplices. I still had no idea what their moto was, but I was not about to ask them since I was just happy to have someone willing to help me get away without a need to kill someone.You see all my self defense classes and so on that I was taking while on the run were in case, I found some place I want to stay and not run anymore, but before London there was no
Chapter 24 (Andrew’s POV)“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE IS FUCKING GONE?! YOU STUPID BUNCH OF IMBECILS! HOW COULD YOU LET HER SLIP OUT OF THE CLUB WITHOUT ANY OF YOU NOTICING!?” As you can see, saying I was pissed would be a huge understatement, because I was livid! Somehow, while we were celebrating our win in the office with Malcolm and the girls, and a few minutes later with their boyfriends as well, Loraine managed to slip out of the club and disappeared into thin air.If you would tell me a week ago, she disappeared I would probably believe she ran away like she did every time in the past eight years when something or someone got too close to her and her heart, but today I was sure she did not run away. She promised me that she would not run away, and she would stay with me for as long as I wanted her and on the other hand, the fact that Rodriguez was just leaving my club when Loraine mysteriously disappeared just did not stop nagging me. So, I had my suspicion that he had something to d
Chapter 23 (Loraine’s POV)Today was the first time in my whole life that I remember standing up to myself for as long as I can remember. Not once when I was married was, I willing to do so. I just swallowed everything that was thrown my way. I never yelled at the man or talked back, I never told him my opinion, never objected to his decisions about my life, nothing.And the feeling was kind of refreshing and new. It felt amazing.Now, you see I stopped smoking years ago, it was bad for my health and all that and honestly it was just an expensive habit. But at this moment I felt like I was on top of the world and decided to treat myself to one cigarette you could say for old times’ sake, so I can finally close the door on every bad decision I made in the past.I was at the back entrance when I heard steps approaching but I thought it was sure one of the girls or maybe Andrew, so I stayed put and did not even turn around to see who it was, a big mistake.Next thing I know someone was h
Chapter 22 (Andrew’s POV)The thought of pinching myself and seeing if I was even awake crossed my mind, but nothing felt as good even in dreams as Loraine felt in my arms. She said it. Those fears I had for the past few weeks since I realized I fell for this woman melted away like ice cream on a hot sunny day.Now the only thing left was for us to deal with Rodriguez once and for all. But that was not mine decision, I stopped kissing her and moved a bit away but still kept our foreheads pressed close together, “Are you ready to deal with the demons of the past?”She gave me a nod which was a bit hesitant, but honestly if I was in her shoes and had to deal with someone like Rodriguez, I would be hesitant as well. I took one of her hands in mine and gave her a squeeze to show her that she was not alone.As we rounded the corner, I could not help it but look around and once again it surprised me how self-assured the man really was. He took only five men with him and all of them were in
Chapter 21 (Loraine’s POV)How could he do that? If I had to guess, from what I saw in the office I would say Andrew knew about my past and he knew it well. So first of all, he was hiding the fact that he knows about everything from me, or maybe I can find an excuse for him and say he just found out, but I doubt that since he has been a bit weird for the past few weeks and especially today. But I am willing to tell myself anything to feel a bit better, and right now I needed to believe Andrew did not betray me like everyone else in my life did.At the moment I was sitting by the river that was right next to the club, and yes, I know I did not go far from everything, but it was far enough that Rodriguez would not think I came here, he probably thought that I ran away already like I always do when he finds me, but this time was different. I had friends, I had a job that I liked, and I hope they cared for me as well. I had a good life, and I was actually looking forward to the future. I
Chapter 20 (Andrew’s POV)The moment Loraine barged into my office I knew something was going to go awfully wrong and as usual I was proven right when the asshole opened his mouth.Thankfully me and Malcolm seem to be on the same page because when Loraine ran out of my office as if she was on fire, we both jumped to our feet, but since I was in my usual seat and Malcolm was right next to Rodriguez, he was the one that landed a solid punch to his face and probably broke his nose in the process judging by the crunching sound that could be heard, “You idiot! You just broke my nose! What in the ever-loving hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea who you are dealing with? I can have you erased from the surface of the earth in a moment!” technically, if we were not who we are, he would be right, but since we were one of the strongest mafia organizations in the world, well, sadly for him, he was wrong. Sure, we were operating on legal grounds, but that was actually a plus on our side, b
Chapter 19 (Loraine’s POV) Something did not feel right. I could not put my finger on it, but my gut was telling me to go back to the club. Why? I had no idea but the opportunity to do so presented itself when Mandy asked me to put the car keys into my purse, because I was the only one that remembered to take a big enough purse to put in my wallet, phone and all the girly necessities but still had some space to put in the keys as well. Now I just had to come up with a plan to get away from them with a believable excuse, ran to the parking lot and drive back to the club so this awful feeling would go away. Even if I drove for nothing, I would still feel better if I followed my instincts and honestly, I doubted my gut was warning me for nothing. I know to some people it might sound stupid to follow your gut or your instincts, but those two things saved me more than once in the past years while I was being on the run. So, there was no way I would ignore it. As we walked around the sho