Mason leaned on the railing of the balcony of his office in the base and stared at the utter darkness that had fallen on the woods in front of him. He inhaled from the cigarette he had in his hand and watched the cloud that left his mouth as he exhaled the toxic fume. His mind was a mess. He was tired. He had not slept from last night after he left Bella and he was exhausted especially after having a long and hard week preparing for the gathering.
The only thing he wanted at the moment was to go home, pull Bella in his arms, and sleep peacefully inhaling her heavenly scent. But she couldn't go home. After everything she had gone through to help him get Volkov, he had let that snake slip through his hands at the last moment. Now Volkov knew it was Bella who gave away his hideout and she was in more danger.
"Fuck!" he muttered under his breath and ran a hand through his hair as he took another puff from the cigarette and let the bitter taste somehow make him forget about Bella's sweet taste and help him to calm down and bear the torture of being away from her.
"You only smoke when you are so fucked up." Ben's voice came from behind him and a moment later he stood beside Mason and leaned his back on the railing. His hands were in his pockets and he crossed his legs and stared at Mason. He looked as tired as Mason. He had not left his friend even for a second alongside Rich.
"Dad is leaving to go home now." said Rich and stood on the other side of Mason and looked at his older brother with concern. "Why don't you go home? I'm sure Bella will need some comfort that only you can give her."
Mason took another puff and disposed of the filter of the cigarette on the ashtray of a garbage bin that was in the corner of the balcony. "Give her which comfort?" said Mason and leaned on the wall. "There is no comfort as long as that son of a bitch is alive somewhere out. He seemed already obsessed with her and now she will be certainly one of his main targets. I can't face her now after whatever she did to help me. The least I could do after what I did to her last night was to catch Volkov and fill her mind with relief. But I fucked up."
"You are expecting too much of yourself." said Rich and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You did your best."
"I should have tried harder." said Mason and shook his head.
"We will catch him." said Ben reassuringly. "He has no power right now. We destroyed his two main bases."
"All the Russians are supporting him." answered Mason. "He can easily get back on his feet."
Just then they heard knocking on the office door and they went back into the room. "Come in." said Mason.
The door opened and one of the mansion's guards walked in holding a food bag. Mason frowned. "Sir." said the guard and nodded for all of them and put the bag on the table in front of Mason. "Miss Bella has sent this package for you. She insisted I come here and give it to you. Marisa told me to tell you that Miss Bella has cooked it for you herself."
"Thank you, Malcolm. You can go now." said Rich and dismissed the guard as he saw Mason staring at the bag speechless.
"She is truly an angel." said Ben and licked his lips feeling hungry again. "No one cares for you as much as she does. Marry her before you do something shitty again and make her run away. Come on. Open it."
Mason opened the bag and pulled out a food container and a folded piece of paper on top of it. He quickly grabbed the note while Ben pulled the container toward him and opened its lid. Steam raised from the delicious-looking meat-filled donuts with grilled vegetables next to them and a fantastic smell filled their nostrils.
Mason unfold the letter and his eyes were graced with Bella's curvy handwriting. He smiled as he read a few sentences.
Eat something. You have to keep your strength. I said come back home fine, not on the verge of dying from starving yourself.
"UMMM!" moaned Ben as he ate one of the donuts. Rich too closed his eyes in bliss after the first bite. "Jesus, this is more than great." said Ben while chewing.
Mason quickly fished out his phone and texted Bella.
To Bella:
Thanks for the food. Have you eaten yourself?
He sent the message and hit the back of Ben's hand which was going to take another donut and glared at Ben. "They are mine." he growled. "Keep your nasty hands off. You had enough."
"Look bro, there is enough for the three of us." whined Ben and rolled his eyes. "Goodness, you are even possessive over the food she had made."
Just then Mason's phone vibrated and he got distracted. Ben and Rich used his distraction and both took another donut quickly.
From Bella:
Yes
Her simple reply hurt his heart, but not a second later another message popped in his inbox from her.
From Bella:
Take care of yourself.
He smiled down at his phone. She was worried for him and that was a good sign. He happily took one of the donuts and began to eat the delicious food.
*************************
The next morning came and everyone was in the dining room, except Albert, Mason, and Rich. Mason, Rich, and Ben had not come back home yet and Albert had left home again early that morning. Alex had left last night. His father had called him around 11 P.M and he left saying that he should take care of some matters about the gang.
Hunter yawned as he played with his pancakes. "God, why should we go to school?" he asked sleepily. "A crazy man is out there who is thirsty for our blood. School is not safe."
Eva shivered at his words and put protective hands on the little twins's shoulders. "Don't say it in front of James and Jordan." she scolded Hunter and Damien hit him on the back of his head. "And you will go to school, young man. Even if stone pours from the sky. Plus, there will be guards all around the school protecting you."
Just then Bella walked in. Her face was dull and lifeless. She was in a black satin silk blouse and blue jeans. There were dark bags under her eyes, indicating that she had not slept last night well. She had not even eaten dinner last night. "Hi." she greeted in a low voice and sat next to Alison and put her bag on the ground.
"You look like a mess." said Hunter and pointed to Bella with his spoon.
Bella chuckled. "Thanks for mentioning, Hunter." she said and filled her plate with a piece of toast and fried eggs.
"Have you slept last night at all?" asked Xander.
"I'm fine, guys." said Bella. "Don't be worried for me."
Just then her phone began to ring. Her eyes grew wide and her heart began to beat faster as she thought it must be Mason. She had waited for him to call all night but never once did he call. She quickly pulled out her phone from her bag but sank in her chair when she saw an unknown number. She groaned and pressed the green button. "Hello?" she asked.
"This is Arabella Harris?" asked a woman on the other side.
"yes." answered Bella. Now every eye in the room was on her. "What can I do for you?"
"Hi. I call from New York Presbyterian Hospital." said the woman and Bella's heart skipped a beat. Surely if something had happened for Mason, she would have known before anyone would call her from a hospital, right? They would have called his family first. "Do you know Mr. Jefferson Black?"
Bella frowned. "Yes, yes I do." she said confused. As much as she knew, Jeff must have been in London.
"Well, sorry to inform you but he has been admitted to our hospital after an accident." said the woman. "He was whispering your name over and over and when we searched a bit we found you are in New York and found your number. Can you please come here?"
Bella was on her feet in an instant. "I will be there shortly. Thanks." she replied and cut the call and grabbed her bag.
"What's wrong?" asked Eva worriedly. "Who was it? why are you pale?"
"It was from hospital." answered Bella. "Jeff is admitted there. I should go."
"Who the fuck is Jeff?" asked Xander.
"Bella, wait." said Damien and grabbed Bella's hand. "Where do you think you are going? Have you forgotten about Volkov? You can't go without guards."
"I don't care." said Bella and tried to free herself from Damien's tight grasp. "Jeff is my ex-boyfriend and friend. I should go and help him."
"Okay, we will come with you." said Xander as he stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of his seat. "And there is no other way. So please don't protest."
"I will come too." said Hunter and stood too.
"No. you will go to school with Alison." said Eva firmly and looked back at Damien and Xander. "Take guards with you as well."
Xander nodded and tossed Damien his jacket and they walked out after a panicked Bella.
In less than half an hour they were at the hospital. Bella quickly walked to the reception. "Hi. I'm here for Jefferson Black. He had an accident." said Bella hurridly.
"Okay, wait a minute." said the nurse who was a girl, without looking up.
Damien slammed his hand on the counter and both Bella and the nurse jumped startled. The nurse looked up and shrank back a bit at the sight of two tall and scary-looking boys with so many tattoos on their bodies in front of her. "My sister is worried sick." growled Damien lowly. "The least you can do is to quickly guide her to her friend's room."
The nurse gulped and quickly went to her computer and searched the name she had heard. "Jefferson Black. Second floor, room number 250." she said and looked at Damien and Xander fearful.
"Thank you." said Bella and walked to the stairs and ran up to the second floor followed by the twins. Just as they reached room 250, a doctor who was a middle-aged man came out while giving orders to a nurse.
"Doctor!" called Bella and the doctor turned to her. "How is Jeff? What has happened for him?"
"Oh so you must be Bella." said the doctor with a smile. "Are you his family? His wife?"
"She is not his fucking wife." snarled Xander with a clenched jaw.
"No, I was his girlfriend." said Bella quickly. "I'm the only one he has here. His family lives in England. Please tell me how is he."
The doctor glanced at Damien and Xander's angry faces fearfully and looked back at Bella and cleared his throat. "Well, his car was hit by a truck." explained the doctor. "But don't be worried. He is fine. He had a minor concussion, and a dislocated arm, but other than that he is fine. He should be here for at least a day until we can release him."
"Can I see him?" asked Bella feeling bad. She and Jeff might have been ended their relationship but he was a good man. Although he is a bit of a coward. snapped her conscious,
"Yes. You can." answered the doctor. "But he should rest as much as he can. Don't push him too much. You should be important to him. He was calling your name constantly when they brought him here."
"Thank you." said Bella and blushed a bit. The Doctor nodded and walked away.
Bella grabbed the door handle and was about to go in but Damien stopped her. "Are you sure you want to see him?" he asked. "Mason won't be happy."
"Mason will understand. Don't be worry." she said dryly and gently pried his hand from her arm. "You two stay here, okay?" she said and walked in.
"I don't fucking like this." groaned Xander and plumped himself on a chair in the corridor and ran a hand through his hair. "We should have not let her come here. She fucking blushed right now, did you see that? Mason won't like it a bit."
"We couldn't stop her." said Damien and sat next to his twin. "She is already under enough shit. I texted Mason. He is on his way here."