LOGINACEI arrived at the address a few minutes later and discovered that Malik was indeed admitted in the hospital but he was no longer there by the time I arrived.He ran away and left a note for the nurse at the reception.“He told me to give this note to anyone that comes looking for him,” the nurse explained.“Was that the only thing he left?” I frowned, trying but failing to hide my agitation. It was a pure struggle trying to keep myself from taking out on the nurse.“Yes, he said you should call the number in the note,” the Nurse repeated.“Alright,” I dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the counter and left.“I sent you a text, see if you'll find anything about that number…ASAP,” I instructed Bee overthe phone while heading to my car.“Where to boss?” My driver asked and I gave the address of Hope’s location.With the games surrounding Malik and Salvatore, paying attention to the reporter issues in the villa was difficult.Bob and some of the men had managed to bring Mason back to th
HOPEHe released me from the hug and we both turned to look at Maria, who was still standing where I left her.The expression on her face morphed from the looks of surprise, anger, disappointment to what looked like an impression.“Well played Hope. Ace Mason, I almost had your little girlfriend all over me. You should have waited a little bit longer before crashing the party. Why did you have to ruin it before the good part even began?” She said and confidently walked over to the bed and sat.The sweet, bubbly Maria I knew disappeared. In her place, I saw a venomous looking woman… a typical reflection of her father.“Don't tell me you fell for my woman already? I could leave and you get to finish what you were about to start,” Ace said, even though I knew it was a joke, I wondered how he'd love watching me and Maria get down to it.“Hope, are you okay with that?” Maria looked at me and I smiled without responding.“Bitch!” I heard her say. “You could have asked for a meeting if you w
HOPEI spent the night with Ace in the mansion. The recent events took away most of our time together and also from work at the enterprise.I even started getting weird looks from employees at the enterprise, because I skip work more than everyone else and still waltz in whenever I wanted as if I owned the place.Not like I blamed them, but they should try living in my shoes for a day, maybe their opinions would change.I had fun with Ace like it was our first night together. We both basked in each other's embrace until we left for Mexico.Visiting the vibrant country was always my dream, and finally we made it.Sitting at a rustic wooden table in a Mexican cantina, eyes drifting from one local to another trying to catch a glimpse of our star of the entire trip.The walls of the cantina were painted in bright colors, with festive paper decorations hanging from the ceiling. A mariachi band played in the background, and locals laughed over tequila shots.A friendly waiter brought out ch
ACESalvatore had the audacity to step back into my city.He didn't just step in, he crossed a line and lingered where he shouldn't have stepped foot. He kept testing boundaries I had already made painfully clear the last time we crossed paths.When he kidnapped Hope, I gave him one warning. One. Leave my territory and never return, or I would end him so completely there wouldn’t be enough left to bury.And now he was back. There could only be two reasons for that… either he thought I was too soft to threaten him, or he was too careless to recognise a real threat.I stood in my office with my palms planted against the desk, staring at nothing while the implications settled like poison in my bloodstream.Malik. He was connected to all of this, but I couldn't make sense of any of it.“How long do you think Malik and Salvatore have been in touch?” I asked no one in particular, but Bob shifted from one foot to another scratching his head like the question was directed at him.The connect
ACEOn the drive back to the mansion, my phone lit up and Cameron flashed across the screen, which was weird. He never calls me and if anything… he always texted.After a few moments of hesitation, I finally picked up.“The villa was discovered,” Cameron said over the phone, sounding distressed.“I was about to get groceries and as soon as I stepped outside, I was swept up by reporters. I managed to get away from them, but I don't know how the information leaked. It's a matter of time before the world discovers your father's illness,” he said and hung up.I had no idea what I expected to hear from Cameron, but it wasn't that.As I drove, I thought about going to the villa, but that would only fuel the rumour. Sitting and doing nothing wasn't an option either as Mason, currently wasn't safe in the villa. The attention of the reporters needed to be diverted and then we could sneak Mason out.“What's up Ace?” Bob interrupted my thoughts train when I didn't say anything after the call.“
HOPEIt was finally time to settle the score with Malik. Ace and Bob led me to the warehouse where Malik was being held.“Are you sure you want to face him now?” Bob asked and I looked at the spot where Malik shot him. “Yes, you went through a lot to make this possible, I can't keep putting it off,” I replied, hoping that my voice sounded more confident than the way I felt inside.It was over a week since the incident and Malik had been locked up the entire time, only having contact with the men that dropped off his meals.I sighted Malik tied to a chair, looking all dazed staring at nothing as soon as Bob lifted the warehouse door.He probably thought it was someone dropping off his meals again as he didn't flinch or move at the sound of our footsteps.I carefully walked around until I stood directly in front of him, my shadow looming over his head until he finally looked at me.“Took you long enough to show up,” he said, with a glimmer of hope lighting up his eyes.“You look and sme
HOPEI sat in a van with a few of Ace's men, waiting to hear from Bob and his crew.They were directly engaged with Malik and the agents and all I wanted was to join them, but Ace insisted that I stayed with the back up.As I sat in the van, my entire body was tense and restless. I couldn't stop th
ACE“Bob, did you find Malik's whereabouts?” I asked Bob as soon as I met him in the driveway of the company.Hope kept acting up and it was becoming exhausting.Maybe I shouldn't have trusted her with anything so soon.“According to the cameras, he's probably at the bureau.”“Good, Hope won't go t
HOPEI sat by the window in a run down library somewhere in the city waiting for Malik.We usually met somewhere open, but for some reason he chose this place. It was perfect for me, Ace had one of his men somewhere around the corner.I stared at the children's book in front of me… the evil tiger a
ACE"I don't want to hear it. I'm not sure, I want to know," Hope kept repeating while her head was buried on my chest.I rubbed her back with one of my hands while the other massaged her head slowly. I could only imagine what she was going through, facing a truth like this one.It was important th







