How long should my chapters be? 1000 or 2000 or 3000 words?
Sang
Sean forced me back on bed rest until the next morning. He argued and I argued. It took an hour and for Owen to intervene before it got settled. I showed my boys how much I changed and how I was no longer a pushover. I should have taken a picture of their faces when I yelled at Owen. They had a lot of respect for him even if they no longer use formalities.
I am up at 6 o'clock A.M. before anyone else even begins to stir. I needed to organize our trip up north. I didn't need to warn Rocky, he would accept me any time anywhere. However, a jet would get us there quicker than a commercial airline. I also needed to warn Aleksandr, Agatha, and Alec of the new development. I put in a call to Aleksandr and he picks up on the third ring.
"Привет," (Hello) Alec answered the phone.
I inform him, "Это я. Изменение ситуации." (It's me. Change of situation.)
"SANG! Agatha, Aleksandr, come here!" Alec yelled.
I cringe at his level of noise, "It's me. I got out, but the idiot fathers lost my children."
"What?" exclaimed Agatha.
"I can kill them for you," Aleksandr offered.
I look grim, "Volto has them. And no you cannot kill the fathers of my children."
"Not even a little?" pouted Aleksandr. He can be such a child sometimes.
I shake my head, "Nope. I need a jet to Chicago."
Agatha takes over, "Why?"
I tell her, "I think that is where Volto will be. I'll ask Rocky for help, but your jet is still here."
Alec replies, "Take the jet to Chicago, but there is no pilot."
I grin, "It's time for me to practice my piloting skills!"
"NO!" they all yelled.
Aleksandr reminds me, "You have crashed two planes with your skills. Get someone else to pilot."
I pout, "Really?"
I can practically hear Alec's frown, "Yes, that is our only condition."
I give up, "Fine. I'll most likely use the jet to return to Charleston with my babies. If it all goes well, I might pay Ryder a visit in L.A."
Agatha confirms, "Fine take the jet. When you come back to Charleston, call us and we arrange old pilot to give jet back."
"До свидания," (Good, bye.) I said.
Alec adds, "Будьте в безопасности, Sang." (Be safe)
Aleksandr comments, "Звоните нам с новостями. Мы будем стараться, чтобы помочь лучшее, что мы можем." (Call us with news. We will try to help the best we can.)
Agatha finishes the conversation, "Люблю тебя." (Love you.)
"Люблю тебя." (Love you all too.), I say finally.
I end the call and turn around to see the entire Toma Team in the kitchen. Raven is especially speechless I think. I see the rest of the Blackbourne Team is awake. They are also shirtless. Stop it hormones! I am supposed to be mad at them, not thinking about how lickable their abs are. Bad Sang, bad Sang!
Corey stutters, "Sang?"
I smirk, "In the flesh."
"I thought you were kidnapped," said Marc.
I shrug, "Well, I unkidnapped myself. What are you guys doing here?"
"We should be asking you that question," states Brandon.
I walk over to them, "I escaped, but got shot. I got here in time to pass out. Sean fixed me up and informed me that the idiots lost my children. I am simply planning how to get to Chicago where Volto is keeping my children."
Raven finally recovers his ability to speak, "Who was that?"
I smirk once again, "That was Aleksandr and Agatha, the head of the Russian mafia, with Alec, their Second-in-Command."
Everyone turns to Raven and Nathan asks, "Is that a bad thing?"
Raven replies, "Mother Russia has strongest live and weakest die rule. They are the strongest and most live in fear of their name."
North scowls, "Are they dangerous to be around?"
Axel looks around and answers, "It depends how you see it. Their first born and heir, Alexei, killed his first man at the age of five. They will kill without a second thought and will torture you slowly if you betray them."
Gabe questions, "How do you know?"
Brandon shrugs, "We asked Raven when we got home last night."
Owen talks to me over everyone, "I assume you have a plan, Sang."
I smirk, "Of course I do."
He leans against the counter, "What is it then?"
"Why should I tell you? You aren't coming with me," I retort.
North intervenes, "Yes, we are Sang baby."
Viciously, I turn around and shove him, "You lost any right you had to call me baby when you left me in that damn hospital alone."
My outburst had caught the attention of everyone else in the group. Last night, I had been mad at them for losing my babies. That didn't mean I had forgiven them for abandoning me at the hospital. Family makes choices together and they excluded me of the choice for my future. That made them no longer my family.
Gabriel recovered first, "We did it for your fucking protection. We thought the asshole Volto would leave you alone."
I snark, "Well, that worked out so fucking well."
Kota, "Calm down!"
I turn on him and Marc mutters, "Never ever tell a woman to calm down."
I stalk towards him, "Calm down, calm down. I will not calm down. My children are missing, kidnapped by a sadist bastard that has been obsessed with me for over seven years. So, no you cannot tell me to calm down, Dakota!"
Corey whispers to his team, "I never understood why women got so bad when we say to calm down. It's good advice."
Brandon rolls his eyes, "Idiot, women don't appreciate when we say something obvious like calm down when they are annoyed for a reason."
Still pissed, I walk over to Raven, "Мне нужен пилот." (I need a pilot)
Raven asked, "Зачем?" (What for?)
I growl, "Чтобы пилот проклятый струи" (To pilot the damn jet)
He shrugs, "Спросите у команды Блэкборн." (Ask the Blackbourne Team)
I grumble under my breath, "Betrayer, throwing me to the dogs. I'll get you back."
Raven visibly pales, but stands his ground. Gabriel screeches, "For the last time, stop talking about me."
The usual joke gets laughter all around. It's not the words, but the tone in which he says them. It gets me still after ten years. A rare smile comes over my face as I admit to myself how much I missed this. I love my children, but I love my boys too.
Corey questions me, "What were you asking Raven?"
I sigh, "I need a pilot for a jet."
Brandon frowns, "You don't know how?"
I grin crazy-like, "I do, but after my last attempts, I am forbidden to try.
Sean says hesitantly, "What were your last attempts?"
I phrase the next part carefully, "I have creative methods for air evasion."
"What happened, Sang?" cuts in Axel.
I look away, "I may have crashed two of their jets and a couple others."
Corey adds, "What others?"
I smile again, "I needed to get out of Germany after a run in with the police and I stole one. The other time was in Turkey and the time before that was in the US. I am very good at evading their fighter planes. I am also very good at crashing them because I literally don't know how to break."
Luke laughs, "Wow, Sang. Just wow."
I grin even more, "I still need a pilot. Do you know one?"
Nathan answers, "I know one, but for me to contact them, you need to let us nine come along."
The smile drops from my face, "No."
Nate crosses his arms, "That's my condition."
I start turning to leave, "I guess I will just pilot my own plane."
"NO!" yells everyone, moving forward to stop me from leaving.
I sigh, "Fine, Nathan. Call your pilot and all nine of you can come. Just when we are there, follow my lead and stay close. Half of the mafia will try to kill you."
Silas frowns, "Why?"
I grin once more, "You look exactly like my children. Everyone loves them, and knows they grew up without fathers. You guys look like the fathers who abandoned the Phantom bunch as we are called. It won't go over well."
Sean gulps visibly, "We'll be fine."
I roll my eyes, "Ok, I still need the bloody pilot."
"Bloody?" Owen asks.
I shrug, "I picked it up during my stay at London."
Nathan tells me, "I'm the pilot. Let's go."
I stare at them for a second, "Seriously?"
North grunts, "Let's go."
We say bye to the Toma Team. Despite their protests about wanting to come, I wouldn't let them. The Blackbourne Team already bullied me into bringing them along, but the others have no leverage. Ha!
At an incredible speed, we make our way to the private airfield where Aleksandr's jet is. The boys are talking and teasing, trying to draw me into conversation. I remain as silent as North, wearing an identical scowl. It really wasn't on purpose, but now I guess I know how North feels all the time. The flight is supposed to take an hour and a half. I still needed to brief them on how it was going to be in Chicago. The boys probably know nothing about it.
As we arrive, I run into the Russian attendant, "Я беру струю и у меня есть разрешение Александра. Вы все свободны делать, как вы, пожалуйста, пока мы не вернемся. Когда мы вернемся, этот самолет должен вернуться в Россию. Понял?" (I am taking the jet and I have Aleksandr's permission. You are all free to do as you please until we return. When we come back, this jet is to go back to Russia. Understood?)
"Да", yes is the answer as they quickly leave.
Once everyone is settled in and we take off, I turn to the boys, "I need to brief you on what to expect in Chicago."
Sean shrugs, "We know how to do this. We've done missions like this before."
I give him a dubious look, "Have you been to Chicago?"
He shakes his head, "No."
I frown, "Chicago is a special case. It is different there. We don't have the most gangs, that's L.A., but the gangs are the most violent. It's the 'I'll kill you and your family if you mess with me' type."
Owen nods, "I see. Tell us what you know."
I start, "First off, if you see something bad happening, leave it. If someone calls for help, don't go help. Don't get the police either. It won't help."
"Why not?" asks Nathan through the headset.
I explain, "There are a fair amount of violent gangs there. The police is basically a legal gang. The government in Chicago is corrupt and so are some cops. If the cops are by chance not corrupt, then they believe everyone else is a gang. There is a tiny amount which are good, but don't count on it. In Chicago, it's you first. Seem scary and no one will bother you. You don't help others. Don't make deals, don't believe anyone. Assume everyone is to get you. It's not paranoia if someone is out to get you."
Silas shrugs, "Why the need for this explanation?"
I look at him, "I have lived in the criminal world. It's different than the games you play in. Right now, North would get recruited. Sean, Gabriel, Victor and Luke would get killed for their money. Owen will get targeted but not as much because of his posture it appears that he spent some time in the military. Nathan and Silas would get recruited or avoided like North. Kota would be appraised like the smart guy and kidnapped for potential hacking skills. That's what you look like to a regular gang member."
Kota tries to understand, "It's like a perpetual state of violence."
I nod, "Yep, someone is shot in Chicago and around it every 4 hours and 58 minutes while someone is killed every 24 hours and 49 minutes. Another good thing to know is that we hate outsiders."
"What do you mean?" Sean questions me.
I make gestures with my hands as if to improve my explanation, "People from Chicago kill each other, but if an outsider kills one of us, everyone wants to kill the outsider. It's like a violent sibling relationship. I can talk shit about my sister, but if anyone talks shit about her, I'll hurt them. Same idea. People from Chicago can kill each other, but if you are not from me, go to Hell."
Victor adjusts his glasses on his nose, "I get this, but who are we going to see?"
I smirk, "The mafia of course."
North chokes on the water that he is drinking, "You want to go see the mafia."
I nod furiously, "Yep, the mafia in Chicago is the best. Even the police only gets rumors from it. We call it the Chicago Outfit, but it's a rather funny name for a mafia."
"No shit," comments Gabriel.
Owen asks, "Is Rocky the head?"
I shake my head, "No Rocky is in charge of the strongest gang in Chicago which gets him pretty involved in the mafia. It's his brother who is in charge, Ace. Ace is attached to my kids and so is Rocky."
Luke frowns, "But you said those people hate us."
I smile, "Yes, I am hoping to clear that up, but or else I hope you are armed. Another rule for Chicago always go places fully armed. A last note is that Rocky might say some things about me, but you can ignore them he is married."
Kota frowns, "What sort of things?"
I wave at them dismissively, "A lot of things. Ready for Chicago!"
"Not really," mutters Gabriel.
I smirk again, "Doesn't matter 'cause we're nearly there."
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Word Count : 2350