MAX POVI showed Rose around the house and told her to make sure to keep the door locked at all times. When I turned around to look at her, something nudged in my heart about leaving her here alone and I just gave in. She might get attacked here and I might not have noticed that we had been followed because I was too distracted. Regret isn't something I like to feel so I did what my brain told me to. “Rose, how about we go bring everyone here together?" She offered me a smile and ran to me, gripping my hand. As we sat in the car, I saw her playing with her fingers and having a huge smile on her face. “You gonna tell me the inside joke or you just gonna keep smiling like that?" I teased her and she laughed out loud. “It's not an inside joke. It's nothing. I'll tell you later." “No way in hell. Tell me now."She leaned over and whispered.“I'll tell you when you come back from the rats." I burst out laughing and gave in. As I approached the house, I noticed the cars from a distan
MAX POVI went back into the room to see my family. Something kept telling me that I was making a mistake.But I had already made the order and there was nothing I could do. “Hey Daddy." Jason came and hugged my legs and I carried him up. “Hey, how are you? Why aren't you asleep? You have school in the morning, Champ." He rested his head on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my neck. Those little hands.“You weren't home yet. I couldn't go to bed without seeing you yet." He whispered in my ear.I rubbed his back. “Well, I'm here now. You can go to sleep. I'll tuck you in with mummy." “No, I don't want to sleep yet." He wrapped his hands harder around my neck when I tried to mouth him down.“Seems like someone is on daddy duty." Maxine joked from the couch and I rolled my eyes and ignored her. I went to sit beside Rose on the chair. Jason rested his head on my chest. I knew he would wake up when the shooting started but I still wanted him to get some sleep. “So how was your
MAX POV“Have they made any movements?" I asked Mark as I walked out of the house and locked it.“No Boss. Right now, we can't make any movements because of the bombs." He showed me the footage from outside the gate. “Let's go see what they want." I moved but Make grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Boss, they have bombs. Don't you think that's what they want? To threaten us with bombs and then they'll ask for you to come with them?" If that's what they wanted, then so be it. Let's end this thing once and for all.“Let's go, Mark."Anything to lead their attention away from the house. The guards opened the gates and I walked out of the house and stood right in front of the gate. There were four of them carrying bombs strapped to their chest. From the structure of the bombs, I knew the intention. The type of bombs they carried were the type that would wipe out everything within the area in which it detonated. The surrounding areas might be affected slightly but the impact would m
MAX POVThe second man dropped to the ground as soon as he handed me the second letter.I didn't even know where the bullets were coming from because I was sure that no one that was present was shooting. “Did you like the surprise? There's more where that came from.Now, on to the next lesson.Also, there's one last surprise." My patience was slowly running out and there was nothing I could do about it. I stormed away angrily and Mark followed me into the house. I threw my gun in the bed and paced. “What the fuck is going on, Mark?! This bitch is fucking pissing me off and there's nothing I can do about it because I don't want to put my family in danger. Else I would have shot each and everyone of them since. " There had to be something I could do to fix things up. This was the first time I was letting a threat go this far with me. All those other times, I didn't have Rose and Jason so it was easy for me to put myself on the line. Right now, I first had to think of them before
ROSE POVJason was the one that woke me up the next day. He tripped over my leg while getting out of bed and I don't know where my fast reflexes came from but I was able to catch him before he toppled over. “Hey baby, be careful. What do you want?" He placed him back on the bed and he scratched his eyes and leaned on my chest. “I wanna go to daddy." I should have known. Jason didn't like It when Max wasn't around him. Max was the last person he wanted to see when he went to bed and the first person he wanted to see when he woke up. I had heard Max come in last night but pretended to be asleep because I didn't want him to know that I couldn't sleep with all the noise. He'll just feel bad and I didn't want that. He had done more than enough for me last night and I hadn't even thanked him for it yet. Maybe I'd tag along with Jason so I could see him and speak to him. Last night, he had been a little off after we came back. It was quite obvious that something was wrong and he didn't w
ROSE POVI left Max after his phone kept blaring up and interrupting our makeout session. The fact that he kinda forgot I was even there as soon as he picked up the call let me know that he was really busy. Jason's voice could be heard from here since he was laughing loudly. He was sitting on the couch with Uncle Mark who had two men behind him.As soon as he saw me, his smile disappeared and he stood up and stepped away from Jason.He gave me a small bow before standing off to the side. I was beginning to think that maybe he didn't like me but I didn't want to jump into conclusions yet. Since it was the weekend, maybe Jason and I could spend some time outside together. “Hey Jason, what do you say to a day at the park and some shopping? " He dropped the pillow he was wrestling and slowly turned to me with a smile. He happily nodded his head and got down from the chair. Mark cleared his throat and took a step forward. “Ma'am, you have to let Boss know before you leave." Of course,
MAX POVZayne and I had been on the phone for hours, talking about his findings.I had told him what had happened the other night and he wasn't surprised.“Boss, worse things are happening over here. It's not even safe to walk in the streets at night because you don't know if you'll get picked up.More people have gone missing in the last week and the government is thinking of taking harsher measures against this woman. They don't know it's a woman and that she has nothing against them. They think it's some human trafficking ring that's taking the kids. The police here are as good as useless. I was actually thinking of going undercover. I'd plant myself in the streets and walk around to make sure they picked me up."Everything he said had made sense up to his point.“There is no way in hell I'm letting you join a gang you know nothing about. It's annoying enough to send you to Beline all by yourself, I'm not letting you do anything more stupid. " He didn't argue because he knew I wa
ROSE POVI didn't even know when I had fallen asleep but I knew I didn't bring myself to bed. The first thought that came to my mind was for everything that happened to be a nightmare but the moment I looked beside me and saw neither Max nor Jason, I broke down in tears. It was all my fault. Everything that happened and there was nothing I could do about it. I just had to hope that Max found him as soon as possible before something happened to my baby. I got out of bed so I could go downstairs and check on him. He'd have made progress, I was sure of it. As I opened the door to the office, I was surprised to see Zayn standing there with Mark and Max. They all froze when they saw me and Max came around the table to give me a hug. “Are you okay? Are you hungry?" I didn't care about food or anything right now. “Have you found him yet?" Zayne opened his mouth and closed it and Mark didn't bother raising his head. I looked at Jason who held my shoulders and brought me close.“Rose, y
ROSE POV“Max …”“Mark …” The both of them had stared down the other as they finally led unto a conversation for the first time in more than half a year. The tension in the string of their perceived lingering resentment, that reproached each other’s presence, told so much in the tone they used to address their personas.“Come here ol’ friend. You know retirement’s really taken its toll on you …” Max couldn’t even manage to flinch fast enough and dodge a false jab that a mafia boss in a wheelchair had led to his face.“I heard you saved my life?” Max no longer doubted what we had made him believe. He was well inclined to still hold his drawbacks to be exclusively confirmed from the source.“I heard you weren’t able to figure it out in six months … I mean six months really, former mafia boss Max, really.” Of course, Mark mocked him. Really, I mean it.“I’m a little rusty and a lot busy so … let’s forget about that. Mark, you never told me you’re …” Max made to question his ever keepin
MAX POV Rose had begun a series of reveal that rooted from the last heart-spiking moment that I had experienced during the candle light ceremony some months back in our former city.“Well, you know that the mafia bosses’ wife shot you in the chest and when you woke up, I hugged and told you that everything was alright.” She recollected back to a memory that I could clearly remember as if it were yesterday.“Yes, and I had no doubts, didn’t question anything that you said either.” I recalled back to how she had rushed to hug me after tapping her feet against the floor and for a prolonged period of time. I knew that she had held her two arms against her face, Mark wasn’t there and Zayne held May in his arms as the three of them came to embrace my coming out of the theatre.“Yes, well there was more to the story that none of us wanted to bother you with.” I couldn’t believe it. Something that far back they hadn’t deemed it fit to tell me since then. Even though I didn’t know of the bi
MAX POVIt has been several months since we moved to this city. Rose and I have seen the best of it, although the first several months were hard because I had to heal from the surgery, it still didn’t stop me from making the most my hands especially a I started an online retail business.Rose finally gave birth something two months ago. That’s, if I was to calculate correctly, then the day she took in for Damian was when we came back from date night, high as can be and unto greater heights when I took her entire to a second haven.Of course, she still had to continue going to college but the shared assets from my mafia business that I received as compensation took care of that, and even afforded me enough to start up a new means to broaden my already started business.“Would you stop spacing out, Max?” Rose wouldn’t let me live it down that she got to drive to the grand opening.As a gift for just being who she is to the college’s community and her outstanding first-class degree, she
ROSE POV“Now we call on this year’s valedictorian to give her opening speech.” The vice chancellor had called me out to give a speech that he only told me about the day before.Of course, I didn’t know what to do so I had set myself up to bring up empty noted and wing it on stage.“Good day all of you, humble alumni like myself, able cohort of this humble institution and people who … oh who am I kidding.” I threw the notes to the floor. Most of the guests were surprised by how fast it took me to give up but for someone that had given birth twice, it wasn’t soon enough. Making up words as I went on was hard especially as I tried to piece them through to a structured form that would please the greater share of masses I was meant to lie.“Well the truth is this, VC Gayle, over there, Vice Chancellor Gayle everyone, give him an applaud please. He’s been the best and only VC that has been with me since my first year, and he’s leaving with us, who would figure.” He had actually stood up
MAX POVI wouldn’t tell Rose, but I was the one who encouraged Mark to leave. It hadn’t been the first time that I caught his gazes fixated on her. Earlier, I approached him to inquire more unto the truth that I knew had confronted me. He had told me of his true feelings and that was when I informed him of my plan to move from the city, away from the mafia group with Rose.“He said he’s not going to come back Max.” Rose had been worried about him and I could sense that much but there was little I could do since I was alright with his decision from the onset.I stretched my hand to her chin and climbed it till her disgruntled expression met with my gaze. “It’ll be alright Rose, he’ll be just fine. That much is obvious in how well he handled my business affairs. Besides, I’ll drag him to the christening if I have to.” “I guess you’re right. I don’t know why I was worried in the first place.” She had finally calmed down, although leaving me behind to enter unto the chatter in the main
ROSE POV I couldn’t easily comprehend the threshold of what I had been made aware of, but I could decrypt the greater part of it.Then, I noticed the side-eye that Mark shot at me. This hadn’t even been the first time that I caught on to his glaring attempts, but since we were about to bury our loved ones, I felt we should bury our grievances.The slow steps he had been making in an attempt to leave the ceremony intensified as he finally made his way out.Of course, I adored the way they had been throwing shades off the mystery at hand, but I also didn’t want to have Mark to miss the ceremony and the way he had been earnest in his attempted escape, that has almost become the case.“Mark! Mark! You can’t just leave yet, we haven’t even started the ceremony proper.” I called out to his leaving while taking notice on whether they had started without us.“I’m just going to get some water.” He tried at another flimsy excuse, the last one had been caught up to but he still persisted.“That
MAX POV I couldn’t even fathom the vigour that Rose mustered to speak down on my former clan elders. The tone and words she used to carry her lashing out on them made all that I had since said into some form of pleasantry.“I don’t know what to say Rose, that was …” I had been at a loss for words, the woman I loved just excused the extremities I had been tolerating for so long so effortlessly. “They might be back with another comeback to lift their defaced pride up a little so we better be done by then.” She had still been the same, always as careful as she was fidgety with a gun when she even managed to be that daring to someone.“Max, would you do the honours?” Zayne had finally invited me to do the honours, of which I was ever willing. “Rose, can you accompany me?” I needed rose by my side if I was ever going to say good bye to Jason and her mother forever, at least accept it.I then saw to Mark’s subtle leaving the funeral ground, making glances at Rose in that stead.“Mark
ROSE POV“Max, let’s hear them out first.” I tried to rush into a consensus that would finally cease the storming tides of Max’s raging tempest.He wouldn’t relent in his unjust spouting of bickering as he only manged to scald his clan elders with words that wouldn’t even be professed to an ugly blind date. “This girl has seen the death of her mother. Because of her, your child met his end. As a Mafia boss, haven’t you heard what people are saying about you? Your Alpha Lord title is hanging by a thin pluck of dangling thread and we haven’t even come to how all this is affecting the clan ...” The impetus they unsheathed to spout the gallery of composed backlash at my person was appalling. I calmed myself and chose to regard them with rationale. I wasn’t going to jump at all their defacing and answer to it using the vigour that only my husband was known for. Alas, I wished the same could be employed by Max.“I want to stop you there right there. First of all, I am no longer a mafia b
MAX POVRose had actually taken in and she wouldn’t even tell me of when it had happened. I was beyond jovial and had a million and one question to ask but our gentle march to the ceremony had me literally unable to utter a word.As we walked down the red carpet that had been set up in the scenic funeral setting, my gaze only fixed on her abdomen as I couldn’t even recount to when I pumped a child into her. “You’re here.” Zayne said as he opened the floor to where we were meant to settle for the ceremony.He had gone all out with the preparations for the ceremony so much so that he had even invited the elders from my clan who all wore their judgemental and worst disgruntled frown.“What are they doing here?” I couldn’t stand their presence because of how persistent they had always been in their revolt against Rose’s and my union.“What are you people doing here?” I directed at them with little regard in my tone.“Max, you have to calm down, they’re only here for the candle light cere