The elevator ride was quiet. Solomon kept looking back at me, wanting to ask, but he didn't say anything. I was in my little world. Full of heartbreak. My heart is broken not once but twice, but this second time in love, I mean it. Don means everything to me, and if he already has someone somehow hidden away by Eddie, then this main character of my story has somehow become a minor character.I sigh.I clench my fist and hold it against my heart. I needed to be more persistent to take Don out of that place, but he insisted on staying until he found where the woman was.This mystery woman. I'm curious about who she is and why she is so important.I had questions to ask, yet I had only one answer.The elevator dings and opens. I went out first, and then Solomon was behind me. I watch the workers and men of Eddie doing their job as Solomon leads the way to the jet."Stay here. I have to do a quick run over to that trailer."I didn't answer but sat on a cargo box. Waiting for him to leave,
"His mother?" I say, astonished. Shocked that Don is working for Eddie is for his mother."Yes." Solomon sat back down on his chair."Why does Eddie have his mom?"Solomon stays quiet.I'm so fucking piss that people will just leave me in the dark. "Solomon, I swear you better fucking-""She's sick, and he needed the money."I thought being in the marine, he would get compensation. At least I know of. I have no clue. I let my body cool as I ask. "How sick?""Very sick. She has Alzheimer's ." I watch the man rub his face in despair and sigh. The twins behind me are in silence."She means that much to you," I say."She wasn't just Don's mom but all of us," Solomon replies. "When we first met Don, his mom was when we were kids. We all have messed up life; Mordecai had that funny uncle, and I don't mean a comedian; Tech used to steal for his dad and got beat up for being too weak, and the twins had drug addict parents who don't give a fuck about them and me," he chuckles and continues. "
"Come on, Solomon, let me go with you guys," I whine and beg Solomon for the hundredth time. We had arrived hours ago, and Tech had rented us a house across the street from Eddie's summer home. Solomon, the twins, and Tech are on the tablet screen discussing the plan to save Sarah while I make food for them. Tech had Someone deliver groceries early on enough for a few days. He had everything prepared before we even arrived.He wants to tell me I can't join him and the twins to rescue Sarah. I wanted to take part in this mission. I felt guilty towards Don because he accepted working for Eddie because of his mother, who is held captive. I never knew Eddie could stoop down low like that, using a human being as a person's weakness. That lets me know how much of a monster he is.Leo.My mind thought of my son, who shares the same blood as Eddie running through his veins. Calling Eddie a monster means Leo is a spawn of a monster. I never see Leo that way because he is also a part of me. My
I shift to the right side of the bed and then, in seconds, turn to the left. I kept at it for a few minutes until I rose from the bed, shaking my leg and biting my lower lip."How long do I have to wait here?" I mumble to myself. Solomon and the others had only left thirty minutes ago and half an hour before the deadline.I glanced at the square device that Solomon gave me in case one hour was up, and I pressed the button to contact Tech.The nervousness and restlessness are more considerable than waiting patiently for them to return. They are professional, but what if something happened? I can't just sit here and be worried. These are Don's most trusted friends, like brothers from another family. Since all of this has happened because of me, I'm doubting that I make things right.But how do I do it?I can't take down one of Eddie's men. I'm familiar with handling a gun, but if I were to go up against one, I would be fucked.I shake my head. "No time to be a wuss, Claire."I approache
"Don?" What is he doing here? "What are you doing here?" In the dark, I could see his blue eyes darken as he asked me that question. Before I can open my mouth, we both hear the guards coming from inside the house. Don put me down and grabbed my hand, leading us somewhere to hide. He found the shed and had us both inside. He pulls me close against his chest as my ear is pressed to hear the sound of his beating heart. "Have you seen her?" Says one guard as they are close to the shed. Don and I stay quiet. I feel his movement, grabbing something behind him, positioning himself to shoot anyone who finds us here. "No, but if Mr. Petrograd finds out we lost her, he will kill us all." "I don't see why he is obsessed with her even before she was the boss' fiancé." "Shhh...shut your damn mouth." Says a second guard. "There are stories about Mr. Petrov before coming here to America." "Like what?" "These are just rumors, whether true or not, but he once blackmailed his country's govern
Upon entering the house through the kitchen door, Don and I made our way to the door that leads to the basement. We ran to the bottom until we found the apparent vault door."Is this it?" Don approaches the door and touches it."Yes, I heard one of Eddie's men talking about a woman staying here and figured she could be your mom." I stand next to him. "Eddie got mad at me for asking about this and figured that his reaction tells me he is telling the truth."I advert my eyes on Don and see his jaws clench and his eyes darken. "Don, why does Eddie have your mother? All I know is he only has her to take leverage on you, but this has gone too far to use a mentally unstable woman."His hand was then made into a fist. He put down his hand and turned to face me with a worried expression. I'm not too fond of how he looks at me like that because I feel he has something to tell me—something else he has not told me about."Is this another secret?" I ask.Don nods and says, "Yes.""Should I be wor
Entering the large vault inside, what an ordinary bedroom would look like. It was tidy enough for a woman in her late 40s or early 50s to tidy enough to fit her personality. On the walls are paintings that show off her creativity."M-Mom," Don stuttered, too shocked.I hear her call out to her in a sorrowful tone as my eyes travel to the woman sitting on the chair leaning forward, making her hand gently stroke moments with her brush as she paints on the unfinished canvas. This woman's poster shows off how elegant and refined she is, her long dark brown hair in a long braid draped over her shoulder as her eyes are focused on the painting, unaware of our presence.In the corner of my eyes, I see the heart monitor and the IV drip with the wire and tubes connected to her.After she leans back to check her painting, she suddenly notices us and flashes us with a smile. Her dark, soft eyes met mine. "Hello, may I help you? Are you the new nurses?"I glance at Don and find him grinning; his e
"CJ. CJ. CJ? Where are you, my cute apo*?"I giggle softly while I hide under the table as Naynay searches around the kitchen. She looks at her feet and walks around, hearing her opening cabinets. I giggled some more until she stopped, and I covered my mouth from laughing."Where could that little one be?" She says in playful confusion. "Could she be in the closet? Or in this bag of rice?""I'm here!" I announced to her in a loud voice."Oh! I hear her but don't see her."I crawled out of the table and peered at her as she opened the upper cabinet. "I'm over here, Nay nay!"Naynay turns and looks down with a surprising look. "Oh! There you are. I didn't see you there."I ran to her from under the table, and she picked me up. The feeling of love coming from her always warms my heart. Although his skin was wrinkly and she smelled like crushed roses, it didn't matter that her warmth would be the same forever. I miss this feeling.Suddenly, the feeling of my grandmother's warmth turns we