Chapter 32 epilogue (Benjamin’s POV)Anastasia approached me after she gave her statement and it was obvious, she wanted to go home, but I wanted to hear the final verdict. I wanted to be sure for how many years we would be rid of this man that tortured my sunshine. The disapproval and annoyance were clearly written in her eyes when I shook my head, letting her know we are not yet going home, and pulling her to seat next to me.There was also this weird feeling in my gut once more, telling me that something big was about to go down in the court room, and I think I mentioned a few times already how much my gut feeling meant to me. Once or twice in my life I ignored it, and it was not a good turn of events for me after that. So, since the last time I ignored my gut feeling, which was at least ten years ago, I never ignored it, and I was most definitely not about to ignore it now. Something was about to happen; I just knew it.And guess what? I was right. A moment later as the thought en
Chapter 1 (Mandy’s POV)“Mom! Have you seen my baby bag anywhere? I think my contractions started! We need to leave right ten minutes agoooooo!” no I am not trying to prolong a simple word, another contraction hit me that is why the word is so long said.You might be wondering where the father of my child is, well, honestly, I have no idea who he even is. Now do not go assuming I am a light girl or whatever in that kind of way. No. far from it. My story is much darker than that.I was just another student, minding my own business on my way home. I was in school in the mornings trying to get my diploma together and, in the afternoon, I was working so I could help my mother with the bills. And for me that night was just like any other. I was just walking home after I finished my shift at the local lawyer office as a secretary. The fact that I managed to get this job while I was still working on my diploma for an administrator was an amazing opportunity and I held tight to it with both h
Chapter 2 (Malcolm’s POV) “Either you tell me what I want to know, or I will get it out of you. So, you actually have only one question to ask yourself. Do you like pain?” the man in front of me was pretty much shaking from fear and I could already smell he pissed himself. But scared or not, this people could be scared shitless and not tell you a God damned thing, so I was hoping this time it would be different and he would sing out the information I needed from him. Oh yes, you must be confused as to what is going on. So, you see, I was on my daily walk through London, just looking out for bad guys, or since I was a bad guy as well, for scumbags. I might be evil and a bad guy, but I was no scumbag. I never harm innocent and under no circumstances do I harm children or women. And this people I was looking for? They did not care who they hurt or kill, as long as they got paid for their job and sadly, there were too many people willing to pay for a murder of their sister, wife, mothe
Chapter 3 (Mandy’s POV)“Hey Mandy! Are you up for drinks later tonight?” I looked around and was immediately meet with warm eyes from my best friend Anabelle, “Sure, what time?” going out for drinks will do good for my fried nerves. And also, it might give me some new material for dreaming, so I will not be caught in this endless stream of Malcolm obsessed dreams.“Around eight in the evening like always?” that could work out. I put my daughter to bed around seven so I would have enough time to get ready. I really do have luck to have such good friends who take my daughter into consideration and adjust our weekly drinks so I can be present as well, “OK. You know that can work. But who is coming? Are we going to be as usual, or do we have some surprising guests?”Suddenly Anabelle became nervous, which is weird since she never gets nervous. She is the most straightforward person I know and that is the trait I love and respect most about her, but her sudden nervousness was scaring me.
Chapter 4 (Malcolm’s POV)Looking at Mandy’s shocked face was probably the most excitement I have gotten in the past few months or even years. I forgot how much fun it could be when people realized how much influence you truly have.Now I have to admit something. I never liked kids. They were kind of messy and you could not keep them in line. Now I do not mean army style, but just so they do not get in your way, and they can clean after themselves. But looking at the cutest face of little Sidney standing in front of me I could not help it. I liked this little monster already, which was completely fine with me since I liked her mother, and I knew if I wanted to have any chances, I should accept they come in a package deal.But the little monster seemed to have a little evil side to her, how do I know? A little evil or should I say more like mischievous spark showed in her eyes as she spoke, “I wish I could say it is nice to meet you as well, but I do not know your name now, do I? But y
Chapter 5 (Mandy’s POV)Let me tell you one thing. I am known as a nice person and saying no to Malcolm felt like I would be rude to him, and that just was not in my nature you see.I wanted to say no to him, but I could not. Something was stopping me. Do not get me wrong I was scared shitless to be alone with him but on the other hand it felt intriguing. It has been a long time since I was on a date, and to even be asked out on one felt empowering. And sue me but I wanted to feel desired and wanted again. I wanted to be wooed. All nine yards, I wanted it. Flowers, chocolate, picking up for date, getting ready, sweaty palms, nervousness, I wanted it all and somehow my gut told me Marcus was the right guy for all of the above. Even though he was a mafia leader his aura screamed gentleman. Do not ask me how those things go together hand in hand but in my book they do.But one thing was accepting the decision in my head, now I had to say it out loud, preferably before Sidney came back an
Chapter 6 (Malcolm’s POV)Getting ready for a man should be an easy task and it should not take much time, right? WRONG! I have no idea what was going on with me, no, scratch that. I had an idea alright. Ever since my eyes landed on Mandy all I could think about was her. And as I was getting ready for our night out with friends, I was only thinking about her and what she would think of my outfit and to be honest I was kind of losing my mind and making myself crazy with all this over thinking which was completely out of character for me.I wish still having an internal monologue about my obvious craziness when suddenly Simon entered my room, without knocking, like always, “What is going on man? Why are you still not ready? Usually, you are waiting for me in the lobby by now but tonight you are not even dressed.” Now how do you explain to your best friend and right-hand man that you have turned into a whipped pussy and the woman that turned you into it was not even officially yours yet?
Chapter 7 (Mandy’s POV)For fucks sake! How can someone be as stupid as I am? First, I spend almost a whole day with the man that makes me unnaturally nervous, just making my heart being more convinced that it might not be such a bad idea to fall for him. After he dropped me and Sidney at home, he left me standing there like an idiot because I received my first peck on the cheek from a man in a non-brotherly way. That I actually managed to make dinner and get Sidney ready for her bath was a real accomplishment today. And guess what I did after that? I sat in front of my wardrobe and just starred at all the clothes hanging inside, deciding what to wear for an hour! And when the doorbell rang, informing me that Anabelle was already here to pick me up I almost had a heart attack.I had to find an excuse as to why I am not yet ready even though my friends made their plans for drinks so that they would be fitting to my evening schedule with my daughter.But even as I was thinking about a r
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