MAX POV“..... And make sure nothing goes wrong with those shipments, Mark. I'm trusting you on this." “Sure Boss. I'll go now." Despite not catching the enemy with the former plan, I had a business to run. I would have to figure out another way to deal with everything. So far, there have been no leads. Well, except the lead Zayne brought to me that has successfully caused a rift between us. He barely spoke to anyone around the house except Rose. When he was around me, he did just his normal work; nothing else.I still stood my ground that I won't let Zayne travel to Germany and even though Rose had come several times to speak to me about it, nothing would change.“Oh Mark, get ready to go to Germany with your men. " Zayne raised his head so quickly and looked at me.“We received leads that something is going on down there that could help us catch that woman so I'm going to need you to jump on it." The look on Mark's face changed and he looked very uncomfortable.“What's wrong, M
MAX POVIf it was possible for Zayne to jump on me and kiss me all over my face, he would have. As soon as I told him he could go to Germany, I saw the lines in his face ease out and he cracked a smile but comported himself.“Boss, thank you so much. I'll leave as soon as possible." He bowed and gave Rose a knowing look and wide smile before walking out of the room.“Did you see how happy he was?" Rose chirped.I rolled my eyes and he laughed. “Now that you and Zayne have finally won, how about you give me what I want?" “Okay, and what may that be?""A date… with you.. I want to take you out, just the both of us. Far away from Jason." I joked and she laughed. “I thought you liked Jason." “Of course I do, he's my son but he's had you alone for three years. It's time for daddy to have you all to himself." She blushed and I watched as her smile made her face a whole lot more attractive. “Set the time and place." Wow, I didn't think she'd agree so fast but I guess it works for me to
MAX POVI drove back home, the entire time my mind was being occupied by thoughts of what just happened. Who the hell was that? Or was I just overthinking things? No, it wasn't possible. My instincts have never proven me wrong before. I'm very sure someone was following me around. If that was the case, then I was going to have to tighten security. Right now, I couldn't tell if it was the Queen or one of my numerous enemies. The attack on Damien's pack hadn't been coincidental. Especially with what he found on that dead man's body.Since Zayne was no longer around, I had to call Maxine to watch Jason. Mark and his men would be there as well.“Maxine, where are you?" I heard shuffling at the other end before she finally spoke up. “Hey little brother. What's up?" I rolled my eyes and honked the car so they opened the gates. “Are you busy tonight? I'm going to need you to come over and help me watch Jason. Rose and I are going out." I was expecting her to ask for money or for me t
MAX POVThe way Rose kept looking over her shoulder as we walked out of the house, I was almost forced to go back and take Jason along with us but I had to be strong. Nothing was going to happen to him and I wanted Rose to feel safe. I opened the car door for her and that was when I remembered the flowers. I had come downstairs to carry them so I'd give her as soon as she came out of her room but Maxine had distracted me.“Well, these are pretty. " She picked them up and smelt that. “That's a good thing then. Cause they're for you." I stared at her face to watch her reaction.She looked at the flowers and then back at me.“You got me roses? Who told you I like roses?" Shit, way to break a man's heart. I should have known that my stupid theology wasn't real. Just because she was named Rose doesn't mean she liked roses. I should have asked Jason.She burst out laughing and I snapped out of my thoughts to look at her. “You should have seen your face. I love them, Max. They're beaut
ROSE POVI had been fretting out on whether I would embarrass myself on this date. It had been so long since I went on anything like this. My first thought was to call May over because she was the only friend i had and also the only person that would tell me what to wear because my wardrobe wasn't exactly dinner worthy. “Can't believe he finally grew the balls to ask you out. It's going to be so nice. I'll get you so dolled up he won't be able to take his eyes off you." May sounded even more excited that I was. It reminded of me of how we got ready together for our prom during high school. May had been by my side for years and I'd never be able to repay her for it. “Mummy looks pretty." Jason said with a large smile.“Yeah Rose. You look really pretty." I had never seen myself look so good since high school. May had succeeded with her plans because the look on Max's face when he saw me was priceless. “I noticed it was always about your mum? What happened to your dad? You never sp
MAX POVHeaven knows how pissed I was when my phone rang and interrupted our dinner.Rose was looking so hot from this angle and all I wanted to do was just to be here with her away from everything. She was a very ambitious woman and hearing her talk about what she wanted to do was just so captivating. She was the kind of person who would give the world to those she loved. I knew that the reason why she didn't want to go back to schollw as because of Jason. Jason would be taken care of, I'm sure of it but she needed to do something that would make her happy for once. When I got back home, I was going to start preparing for that. Normally I would have ignored the phone call but looked at the name of the caller so that I would shoot the person in the leg when I got home.But when I saw it was Mark, I quickly picked it up.“Boss, we picked up some suspicious activity outside the house. Three black cars are parked and they've been there for a while. Should we make contact?" What the h
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
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