LOGINPOV: (Xavier)A few minutes later after that, I packed the baby's extra clothes into a dark bag as my hands moved fast. I checked the hallway through the small crack in the door and I saw two guards standing outside, but I did not trust their faces anymore."We can’t stay here, Xavier," Nichole whispered from the bed as she clutched our sleeping daughter against her chest. Her face was very white, as her voice shook. "They will come back and they will try to hurt her again."I walked over and touched her soft hair. My heart felt heavy because leaving the hospital was a big risk. The baby was only one day old, and Nichole was still very weak from giving birth. But staying in this room meant we were sitting ducks for the harm to come."I know," I said as I looked into her scared eyes. "We leave tonight and we would not wait for the morning."Nichole nodded her head as she swung her legs out of the bed slowly, holding the baby tight and winced from the pain in her body, but she did not
POV: (Xavier)It has been two days now since we got back to the hospital. The room was quiet and my new daughter made a soft, sweet sound against Nichole’s chest. The small baby felt like a tiny bird, warm and very light and Nichole held her tight and did not look away from our baby's face. My baby was tired and her eyes were wide open.I stood by the window, my body tense like a tight wire as I looked at every corner of the room. I looked at the shadow behind the door. I could not relax and my jaw hit hard against my teeth.Earlier, I had ripped the small red tracking chip from the plastic baby basket and broke it with my boot. My heart was full of cold, dark anger because the syndicate had ruined our happy day and we were not safe here.The door opened and Nichole's friend Elena walked in. Her face looked old and full of worry as she walked straight to the bed and looked at the baby, then she looked at Nichole's worn out face."Are you okay?" Elena whispered with her voice thick a
POV: NicholeWe are heading to the hospital already as the third contraction bent my body in half and my fingers dug deep into the leather of the front passenger seat. I did not scream. I just forced the air out of my teeth in a sharp hiss.Xavier hit the gas pedal and the SUV jumped forward onto the wet asphalt of the mountain road. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He looked at the rearview mirror every three seconds."We will get there soon,” Xavier said.Then suddenly, a black sedan turned behind us at the crossroads which had no license plates."Keep driving please," I said as another wave of pain squeezed my lower back. I grabbed his right wrist and my skin was wet with sweat.In the backseat, Nurse Anya sat perfectly still with her blue medical bag resting between her white shoes. Her face was blank and calm. She did not look at the window but rather kept her eyes on the digital timer in her hand."The contractions are three minutes apart, Nichole," Anya said wi
POV: Nichole(Nine months Later)I pressed my right palm against my stomach and the baby kicked hard beneath my skin. I am nine months pregnant now and my body feels very heavy and slow.Xavier sat next to me on the wide wooden bench by the glass window. He reached out and placed his large hand over mine. He did not speak but his eyes moved constantly, looking across the open lawn and the iron fence at the edge of the property. The trees stood still in the gray afternoon light and the Vance Tower was miles away. Raymond lived there now as he held the keys to the office. We lived in this house on the hill.Xavier stood up and walked to the front door. He checked the deadbolt lock three times and he pulled the thick brown curtains shut, blocking out the light from the yard. He kept his security radio on his belt which the small green light on the radio flashed every five seconds."The guards are at the outer gate," Xavier said a he looked at my stomach. "They will stay there all night."
POV: (Xavier)When we got there.I kicked the metal door and the lock broke with a loud bang as rain rushed into Raymond’s old office, and wet mud covered the floor. Outside, the headlights of Rex’s car cut through the dark night."We have twelve minutes," Rex shouted as he shined a bright flashlight on the peeling walls. "Pendelton’s guards are coming!"I dropped to my knees by the old water heater and my back hurt from the fight at the warehouse, but I did not stop. I dug my fingers into the wet dirt behind the tank and my hand hit a small box. I ripped it open and pulled out a heavy brass key."I have it," I said as the loud crash shook the room. The front window shattered into a thousand pieces of flying glass and two black cars blocked the alley outside. Three men stepped into the rain holding short guns. They wore the dark uniform of Pendelton’s private security."Drop the key, Vance!" a man yelled through a loud megaphone. "The board owns this property now!”"No, they don't,"
POV: Xavier“Fuck I'm finished” I proclaimed leaning hard against the wall.The heavy wooden door of Room 412 clicked shut, and the sound felt like a prison lock.I stood in the sterile, white corridor of the hospital wing, my back pressed against the cold plaster wall as my shoulder blades burned where Mira’s iron bar had struck me, but that physical ache was nothing compared to the hollow pain freezing in my chest.‘I’d lost her,’ I thought, staring down at my hands. My knuckles were still split from the warehouse fight, stained with dirt and old oil from the docks. ‘I killed the only clean thing in my life because I was too weak to tell her the truth before my enemies did.’"Xavier," a voice called me from the end of the hallway. I looked up and it was my mother who was walking toward me, her left arm wrapped tightly in a white surgical sling. Rex walked a step behind her, holding a thick leather folder under his arm and their faces were both tense, but still carrying the adrenal
POV: Nichole"Step back and let her speak," Xavier commanded, his arm like a solid wall between my side and the sea of microphones waiting at the bottom of the Vance Tower steps.The wind blew the heavy rain across the concrete, but the crowd of fifty reporters did not move. Their camera flashes fi
POV: XavierThe next day…At the court."Stand aside," I said, my voice cutting through the quiet lobby of Vance Tower.The head of security stepped back, his hand dropping away from the electronic turnstile. He looked at the thick stack of federal commerce injunction papers in my left hand, then
POV: NicholeAfter that night, the next day…."You are sitting in my chair," Beatrice said as she slammed her designer leather bag into the marble table in front of me.The expensive café was full of quiet socialites and the sound of porcelain cups, but Beatrice did not care about being loud. She
POV: XavierA heavy engine roared near the quiet pier at midnight and a large black truck drove through the rain and stopped by the fish warehouse. Mud splashed across the side of the vehicle.The door opened and Rex Vance stepped out into the downpour. He did not wear an expensive suit like the of







