A strange surge of relief coursed through Rafael. He felt all over the place without his dad around. Not being able to get to his dad before he went in for surgery bothered him a lot, wondering if he would never see him awake again.
"Whoa! Two good news right as we wake up. Dad is up and Lucas de Mello is dead! It was a mistake to have spared him when he cheated on us. I must be the fool to have told dad to spare him for Alisha's sake when I was with her."
He squeezed Ruhi in a tight hug, feeling much better when she reciprocated his hug.
"Is dad completely fine? No complications anymore right?" She couldn't help feeling bad for Alisha's dad. He had been fighting death for weeks before finally giving up.
Rafael didn't agree with her. He believed it was long overdue and regretted putting Ruhi's life in danger. Every time his eyes fell on the scar on her shoulder from the bullet would and surgery, he felt like a failure. His memori
"I didn't get a good look at him. Must be some rich dude you saw on the news.""He does have that important person type of aura," Ruhi said, still thinking hard."Who cares? He's a douche if he runs people over and is unapologetic. Unlike Uncle Tony HERE!" Anna screamed and ran into Antonio's arms when she turned around and saw him in the hallway."Dad, why aren't you in the bed?" Ruhi scolded him before giving him a hug as well."All my kids forgot about me, so I thought of driving myself home. Where did the jackass go?""The jackass got delayed because of a meeting," Anna replied."I'm here!" Rafael wrapped his arm around Anna's neck, strangling her for calling him names before hugging Antonio. "Stop being so dramatic dad. Let's get out of here."Placing a kiss on Ruhi's cheek, he called Aaron and went tolook for him when Aaron didn't answer his call. Antonio couldn't help asking business-related questions to make sure Anna an
"Wait, what?" Anna grabbed Rafael's phone from Antonio's hand."Oh, my god! It is him. You mean, my supposedly dead dad wants to claim me as his daughter after twenty two years? I don't know what to say. Where was he all these years?"She pulled out her phone to show the pictures of some old photos that she got scanned and saved in her gallery. Swiping throughpictures of when her dad was in his late twenties and posing for a family photo while holding her in his arms, she was baffled how she didn't pay attention to the man who ran into them at the hospital.Ruhi moved closerto look at the Indian woman the capo got married to."He might have presumed you were dead too. Rafael and Ruhimade these connections only a few days back and we weren't even sure. And Dylan found out from our conversations... wait, where's that darn monkey Eva used to carry everywhere?" Antonio remembered only now that Dylan bugged the stuffed toy."Gone... To
After a few more minutes of fumbling around, Ruhi came out with four drinks on a tray, with no alcohol in hers. She was profusely sweating and breathing in shallow spurts."Are you okay? No more drinks for you." Rafael snatched her glass away and pulled her into the space next to him, wrapping his arm around her and trying to calm her down.His touchfelt so warm and comforting,she was temptedto just snuggle up and forget about the rest."I'm fine, just a little tired. Maybe we should all go to sleep after finishing these drinks."She hoped they did not show any effects from the pills right away because she was sure one of them would fall asleep first and alert the others. If only it was as easy as they showed in the movies, where people just fell like flies after taking a sip.Antonio yawned, looking tired."Right, I better go to bed early." He downed the drink, not wanting to know how terrible it tasted, and go
Ruhi's eyes were wide open in fear as she turned around to see the source of that deep voice. "G-Gus...???" He looked even more intimidating from up close to her. She immediately reached for the door to open it, but hehad locked it from his sideandfloored the gas to take off at high speed. Making a sharp U-turn at the divider, he almost flung Ruhi over the dashboard. "I don't like to repeat myself. Put that damned seatbelt on." "W-where are you t-taking me to? My bag is still on the sidewalk." Her eyes were locked on the deep scar that ran from his temple to the earlobe. She saw that they were going in the opposite direction from where the San Francisco International Airport was. Banging on the glass window and looking back at him, she askedagain, "Where are we going? Are you mistaking me for someone?" His lips sealed into a thin line when she tried to open the door again and didn't put herse
"Two days... I'm not home for just two days and you manage to shoo your wife away?" "Dad, please. Let me focus on looking for her. I don't need your lectures and speechesright no---" "Look for her? She will choose to live with her kidnapper rather than you. What makes you think she will want you back in her life?" Antonio flashed a deep disapproving look while Rafael's jaw was clenched and his fists were balled up as he tried to control his anger. "At least admit it to yourself, Rafael. This is not the time to let your ego flare up. Do you think someone as sweet and kind as Ruhi would take such a big step on an impulse?" "She's sweet and kind, sure, but this was such a stupid move. We talked about Gus loitering outside our house just an hour before she took off. What was she trying to prove by putting herself in danger? Why couldn't she---" "You asshole!It's not about proving anything to a fool like you. She left beca
Ruhi was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected hospitality she received. She was praying to not be thrown into the basement like how Lucas de Mello's man was;gagged and tied up, bloody and beaten to death.'What did the capo want from me? Revenge?' She wondered.She was sure he knew it was Antonio's men who shot him and killed his wife. But he did not mistreat her the way a vengeful personwould.She was starving when she woke up from her long blackout and stepped off the plane. He drove her to a two story house tucked away in the mountains. With well maintained garden beds and cozy rooms, itwas a beautiful home both inside and out."You must be hungry. You can shower later if you want to eat first."He left afteraskingthe tattooed man to take her to the dining room when she said nothing. Shewas busygawking at how cute the place looked. It wasjust the way she had imagined her future home to be d
The door creaked open, and Ruhi heard heavy footsteps approaching the bed as she waited inside the bathroom. She was glad she put the diary back although she was sure the person in the bedroom was mostly Zack, not Gus. Gus had a stealthy style of walking, and she was doomed if it was him, because he wouldn't just look under the bed andleave.When the sound of the footsteps receded and the door closed, she climbed up the toilet tank to peek outside the window. The same patrolling man was still guarding the area. She hoped he took turns and stood somewhere else for the next one hour.Walking back to the bedroom quietly, she waited for Gus to assume she ran away. It would be much easier for her if half the men were looking for her somewhere else and didn't guard the exits.Without her phone or access to the internet, she had no idea where to go, even if she happened to escape successfully.Tired of waiting and letting her thoughts run crazy, she op
"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k