Chapter 25 (Mandy’s POV) Well, if you told me yesterday that Malcolm would leave everything to be with me and Sidney for her birthday, I would laugh at them and tell them they were crazy but looks like even such crazy things were happening. Because right now Malcolm was in our house playing with Sidney her favorite game, Activity, and making sure she was so in the game she would not realize I was still putting the finishing touches to the cake I was baking almost whole day long. As I was in the kitchen I was listening to their conversation without their knowledge, and I must admit it was kind of interesting.“So, what do you think about my mother? and I want and honest answer mister!” Sidney asked Malcolm and I was barely managing to hold in my laughter. She could be such a little boss lady. But I wanted to hear Malcolm’s answer and I could not ruin my cover that I was baking the cake in the kitchen.“Well, I like her, but that is no secret, so be honest and tell me what exactly you
Chapter 26 (Malcolm’s POV)“What do you mean you can not find him?... I do not care how, but I am giving you one week to find where he is hiding and bring him to me! … I do not care!”Can a man trust anyone these days? I am sure you are wondering what was going on. We had someone collecting money for us for the last year since I took over the “throne” of mafia empire. And for the first time since he started working for us, he disappeared. Without a trace and with our money or to be precise, with profits from all our businesses.I was on the phone whole day long already, so I was kind of getting tired of everything. I needed a drink, “Simon! Prepare our car! We are going to the club for a drink.”There was at least one man whom I could trust in all this mess. In moments we were on the road and headed in the way of the club. Mandy was off today so I was not worried about running into her and I could talk about everything what was going on with the club and the business.As we arrived fi
Chapter 27 (Mandy’s POV) My day was supposed to be spent laying around the house and thinking about nothing but refiling my glass with wine and reading a good book, but somewhat in the middle of the day, when it was most definitely still too soon to start drinking, Anabelle called me, “Hey babes. I have a lazy day, there are not many customers, and I was wondering if you would be so kind to come keep me company even though it is your free day?” I really want to say I was surprised by her call or her offer to keep her company but that was just the way we were. When one of us was free we always made our mission to bug the other one. From all the girls I got along best with her so there was no surprise we were together whenever we found time. We were friends even before our group of friends came together to be the way it was now. At the beginning it was just me and Anabelle and sadly both of us kept to ourselves because our pasts had many secrets, so it was easier to stay away from anyon
Chapter 28 (Malcolm’s POV)“Would you stop with this pity party and start doing your work already? I get it. You are hurting, but that does not mean that world stopped turning for fuck’s sake!” yeah. I knew my best friend was right, but still, I could not get myself to do anything. I was a shell of a man I was a week ago, and I could not even believe that it has already been a week since Mandy walked out on me and our relationship. I had no idea what to do with myself honestly.“Simon, stop being a pain in my ass and leave me alone. I will get back to work soon. I just need a moment.” And I meant it. Today would be the day when I accepted my failure and start working again. The pain would not go away that much was clear, but I knew Simon meant well. These past few days all I did was drink myself into oblivion but even that did nothing for my sanity, because it only pushed me closer to all the memories and thoughts about me and Mandy. I wanted her back and I wanted to prove to her that
Chapter 29 (Mandy’s POV)Something was going on I was sure of it. Sidney was avoiding me and spent a weird amount of time outside in the past week.It has been two weeks since and Malcolm parted ways or to be precise since I broke things of with him and walked away from everything that we could become. If I said things were getting better or easier, I would be lying. But at least I managed to put in my resignation even though Andrew kept calling me and leaving messages on my voice mail to call him back because he was sure we could find another way, that we could work out everything. But I was not ready to face him or any of my friends honestly. So, this past two weeks my phone stayed unanswered, and I was not responding to text messages either. I just wanted to be left alone.Now back to Sidney, she was usually a quiet child, liking her peace and quiet. Usually, she would be in her room or in the living room, drawing or writing. She learned to write and read at an early age, and she
Chapter 30 (Malcolm’s POV)The plan was in full force. By a huge miracle I managed to convince Sidney to help me out. Well, I managed with Anastasia’s help. Because she was still better with words. I knew I loved Mandy with my whole heart and even more, but I wanted her to be the first person to hear those words from me. She deserved that much. But first I had to convince her to listen to me, and for that we came up with a brilliant idea. Well, once again it was not so much my work than it was girls’ brilliant minds that came up with the idea. They would pretty much barge into her house, since she was being absent for the last two weeks and would simply demand for her to go into the bedroom and then she would be at their mercy.We were playing on the cars of her being a good friend and we all suspected she felt awful for ignoring everyone for the past two weeks and since she felt so awful, she would not dare say no to her best friends. I know we used a manipulative approach but what o
Chapter 31 (Mandy’s POV)No. he was crazy. He was definitely crazy. How could he even come up with an idea to give me a third of a club? I was ok with him signing it all to Andrew, because honestly, I missed working at the club and I missed the girls even more.But what he did just now was pure evil. He put me into a really hard situation. If I accepted the offer and signed the papers in front of me, both me and Anabelle get a part of the club, and I knew how much Anabelle wanted to be a businesswoman and this way she would get to be a businesswoman in a place where she loved to work. But if I did not accept the offer, Andrew would become the sole owner of the club which meant I was robbing Anabelle of her chance to get what she always wanted.And somehow, I knew, Malcolm realized my weakness a long time ago. No matter how awful things would be for me I would always make the one thing that would mean my friends were happy. I was thinking about all the options when Malcolm suddenly too
Chapter 32 epilogue (Malcolm’s POV) “Sidney, we need something else for your mother’s birthday. We can not give her just a bouquet of flowers. She deserves more.” Sidney looked at me as if I ate her favorite ice cream and believe me the look, she had would be enough to bring a lesser man to his knees. Thank God I was in her presence for as long as I was and was slowly starting to be immune to her evil stares, still she was my favorite monster and many times I budget and gave her what she wanted. I knew I was spoiling her, but I could not help it in all honesty. She had me wrapped around her little finger. “Listen to me mister, there is no way in hell that her present will cost more than mine that a few months ago are we clear?” I could not help it but chuckled at the little bossy monster with her hands firmly placed on her hips and throwing a glare at me. But this time she would not win unfortunately. “What if I told you that I already have a present for your mother, and sadly it is
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