Vincent's POV
I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed and changed into my pajamas before taking my phone to check what was in it. I was quite certain that it would have been Max who tried to factory reset my phone. But there was the slight possibility of it being someone else. When I started using Max's phone previously, I didn't bother with checking what was in it because I trusted Max and because I didn't think he would have anything serious on the phone. Anyway, I figured the best way to check why he had a need to reset the phone was to check all suspicious folders. I sat down on the sofa and checked the pictures and videos first to see if there were any embarrassing pictures or videos. Nothing weird was there to my surprise. I frowned at that for a bit before deciding to check the messages.
Since I bought the phone for Max when he joined the school only a few months ago, I was sure there wouldn't be that many messages. I didn't bother checking messages he wrote to his friends. I was looking for anything suspicious, until I came across someone named "Asshole Bully". I clicked the messages to that person and I frowned as I scrolled through it. Most of the messages were like "Let him go or you know what will happen" type messages. I frowned at that as I read through the history. There wasn't a single reply from that person to Max but there were several messages from Max to that person. Max always called the guy "Asshole, jerk or idiot". I went back to the first message Max sent to the person and it said "Meet me after school at 6pm sharp in our club VIP room. We need to talk."
I quickly checked the phone history and saw that the person named "Asshole Bully" called Max sometimes after he sent the messages. But the talk wasn't long. Should I call to find out who it was? Obviously it must be someone in the school if Max asked the guy to meet him after school. Also by "our" club, did Max mean the expensive rich kids' club he joined? Could the "Asshole Bully" be Cade or one of Luc's kids? It was likely.
Hesitantly, I called the number saved as "Asshole Bully". It rang for a while before a boy whose voice I immediately recognized as Cade answered.
"What is it pest?" He said viciously.
"Aren't you asleep yet? What got your panties in a knot this time?" He asked.
I blinked as I waited.
"Why the hell are you breathing into the phone? What do you want? Are you going to threaten us again? Go ahead. I don't give a damn now anyway." He said and cut the call with an annoyed "tsk". I stared at the phone, blinking hard.
What did Cade mean by threaten? How could an eight year old boy threaten a fifteen year old as intimidating as Cade? What was going on? Thinking back on the messages Max had sent to Cade, it did indeed look like Max had something on Cade. What was it though? I couldn't just call Cade and ask what it was. I frowned at the phone wondering if it would have any other clues. I searched all the messaging apps for the name Max called Cade but found nothing. Finally only the songs were left. What could possibly there among songs?
Without much hope, I searched through the music files and all audio files on the phone. Putting on the headset I listened to all audios that didn't look like it had a name of a song. In frustration I looked through the many songs he had as well. Most of it had the artist's name as well. I stopped when I saw a song named "Bully" without any artist's name. I stared at it. Was there a song named "Bully"? I pressed to play the song and was surprised when I started hearing a low sound.
It sounded like punching sounds. Did Max record evidence of Cade hurting other children? I sighed as I shook my head at the sounds. It sounded like a terrible beating. There were punching sounds, slapping sounds, crunching sounds and thunks. I heard the sound of wheezing and groaning of the victim. My god! What kind of child was that Cade? I was about to stop it when the sound of someone speaking stopped me.
"Not so tough now, are you Cade boy?" I heard a jeering voice.
"What did you think you were trying to achieve huh? Were you crying out for daddy's attention by creating problems at school? Tell you what? He doesn't give a damn about you. You are worthless. You are nothing but trash Lucas picked up out of pity. So tone down your crappy behaviour or you will regret it. How many times do I have to tell you to behave properly in school?" The man asked before the punches started again. I looked at my phone in confusion.
"Let him go! You might hurt an organ if you stomp on his stomach like that." I heard Chris's voice. He seemed to be crying.
"Ah..another trash bag." The man said with a deep sigh. I heard a grunt.
"Chris..leave. Please." I heard Cade's wheezing voice.
"No. I can't leave you." His voice was shaky and scared.
"Ooh? You can't?" The man sneered before there were loud noises and Cade crying out to stop. Chris was also crying or I think it was Chris.
"Let him go! Please. I'll listen to you." Cade told him.
"Huh? Are you ordering me, trash?" The man asked threateningly, before there was a crunching sound.
"Enough. You are not supposed to smash his face." I heard a woman's voice that sounded eerily like Mairi's.
"But him and these brats are pissing me off. Who do they think they are to act out like this? You should control this crappy behaviour better." The man snapped. There were whooshing sounds that eerily sounded like a whipping.
"Please..just let Chris go." I heard Cade sobbing.
"I will..if you promise to not get in trouble with the principal again." He told me.
"Why is dad not here?" Cade asked, sounding hurt.
"Hey! Did you really think Lucas would come here if you acted up like this? He has better things to do than attend to your whining. Just grow up already. I told you, he doesn't care. But if Lucas gets called into see the principal's office one more time, I am going to start by taking out your internal organs. Do I make myself clear?" The man asked him.
Cade didn't reply.
"I said do you understand?" The man screamed.
"Y-yes." I heard Cade's nervous reply.
"Good and you are not going to tell Luc about any of this like always. Say yes like a good boy." He told Cade.
There was no reply for the longest time.
"Hey bitch, were you listening?" The man screamed and I heard the sound of cracking whip.
"What are you thinking huh? You think your daddy would believe you over me? Try opening that little mouth and I'll show you hell." The man said and there was a smashing sound.
"Enough. That's enough. Cade..you need to stop this pathetic behaviour. If you think Luc would look at you kindly for hurting other children, you are very wrong. He has his principles despite being a gangster and one of that is not hurting innocent bystanders. Whatever your plan is, it hasn't been working. The more you rebel the more you walk straight into our hands. Stop crying for attention all the time will you? Are you that willing to get a beating straight from Lucas for the mere chance that he might figure something is up? You think you are smart but we can see what you are doing. It's not going to help. If you do this again one more time and the principal calls us, you will severely regret it. Just give up already. If you can't stand your reality there are other options to release your stress than hitting your school mates." The woman said.
I frowned this time. Since she talked longer, I suddenly suspected she wasn't Mairi but someone who tried to imitate how Mairi talks. However, her voice was still very similar to Mairi but I think she has a slight accent that Mairi doesn't. There was no reply from Cade for a long time.
"Let Winston and Georgie go. They can't take it anymore." I heard Cade's voice.
"We will decide that. Not you." The woman told him coldly.
"Please." Cade insisted.
"Look how the proud had fallen. We do help Winston, Cade. You should get this fact straight. You were born into this and you will live up to being part of us. Your only reprieve is to die. Do I make myself clear? The more you resist, the more difficult this is going to be for you. Instead, try de-stressing the way we do. We have given you so many options. We thought you were doing better but you keep acting up every chance you get. Just give up already. Where the hell do you get the nerve to act up like this from time to time? Why do you keep believing Lucas cares about you?" The woman asked.
There was no reply.
"Know your place. You are not Pietro blood. Lucas himself trained you to be what you are today. That must teach you something about your place in this family. You are just a fucking soldier like all others." The woman said and then sighed.
"I've had enough of your shit. You know what's coming up for all of you soon. Enjoy while you can. Next time you do this, we will convince Luc to send you immediately to..you know where. You don't want to hasten your punishment, do you?" The man asked him. I frowned. What were they talking about?
"Wait till you get home. There's something I have to show you." The man said and then there were clicks like a door was opened and footsteps.
"Oh hi! Were you able to talk to the children?" I heard a chirpy female voice that I knew did not belong to the principal.
"Thanks Alicia for allowing us some privacy to talk to the kids. They won't do this again." The woman said.
"Where..where are they?" The chirpy voice asked.
"They have gone already." The woman said.
"I see..I hope they don't bother other kids again. It's a pity. The kids do so well academically. If this gets on their discipline record they might have trouble getting into a university in the future. We can't keep hiding their behaviour at this rate. The other kids are also children of well off parents. If their parents know of it, we will all face terrible back lash. Please express my concern properly to Lucas. I will send a report to him through the principal as well." The chirpy voiced woman said.
"Thanks Alicia. If it's at all possible..do you think you could omit the details and write that they challenged the kids to a duel? You know how harsh Luc could be with disciplining." The woman talking to Cade earlier said imploringly.
"Um..this is the third time already for me to change it." The chirpy woman said anxiously.
"Please..they are still kids. I promise you, this won't happen again." The woman begged.
I heard the chirpy woman's nervous laugh. "I am doing this one last time because it's Luc's kids and I don't want them to face Luc's wrath. So..um..fine. Just make sure this never happens again." The woman said nervously.
"I promise." The other woman said quickly. There was some whispering I didn't get before the recording ended.
I stared into space in shock at what I had heard. Cade and his gang of friends were being tortured by someone Luc really trusted. Those people had instilled fear in the kids and made them question how Luc would respond if they outright told him the truth. Cade was obviously acting out to get Luc's attention. But wouldn't it be easier to just talk to him? Why would they use such a round-about way to get Luc's attention? Maybe they feared for their life! The people who were threatening Cade and Chris sounded dangerous. On top of it, Max seems to know about all this.
Judging from how Cade responded to my call, Cade didn't know Max's number has changed. Also, it looked like Max had been threatening Cade that he would tell someone about his actions. Lars and Juan had told me that Cade backs off when Max talks to him. I had always had my doubts that it wasn't true because from what I knew of Cade, he wasn't the type to easily be intimidated especially by a younger kid.
I shook my head again at what I discovered. I wonder if Cade usually responded to Max with resignation. Why did he say that he didn't care anymore? What exactly was going on? I had to talk to Max in the morning. And before all that, I had to inform Luc about this immediately. I called Luc while pacing the floor of my bedroom. The phone rang and rang but he wouldn't answer. I tried again and again. Luc answered the third time. I could hear sounds like welding and steel clanging in the background. Where was he? I wondered. The background sound was very loud and amidst that I thought I heard a scream? I blinked as I waited for Luc to speak.
"Vince?" He asked and I found my voice.
"Luc..where are you?" I found myself asking him. He didn't reply for a while.
"Luc..there's something I have to tell you urgently. Can I meet you right now?" I asked him. Just then I heard someone exclaiming something in Italian and more screams. A man was talking to Luc suddenly and I heard Luc reply to him in Italian.
"Vince, I can't talk right now. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said curtly and cut the call before I could get another word in.
"Wait. It's about the kids.." I started but the phone was already cut.
I sighed loudly at it. Was this something I should keep from Luc until morning? I considered writing a message to him but thought against it. It wasn't something I should say in a message. I should tell him face to face and make him listen to Max's recording.
I walked back to bed uneasily. Sleep didn't come easily as I kept thinking over what I discovered and trying to determine whose voice was in the recording. The male voice sounded a bit like Kronos but that's insane. And the female voice sounded like Mairi but something was off. I woke up the next morning with a headache when James shook me awake, saying that he wanted to pee.
I looked at Juan sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed. Rubbing my eyes, I woke up and took James to the toilet. Once he was done, he wanted to rush back to bed. I let him go. But I took a shower first. By the time I came out someone was knocking on the door, asking us to get ready to leave. Juan was already up and taking out fresh clothes.
"Have you packed all your stuff?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I did the packing last night." He told me.
"Did you sleep well? How was your day yesterday?" I asked him.
"I slept well and it was okay." He said with a shrug as he quickly hurried to go to the bathroom. I went over to check on Max and saw that he was already in the bathroom. I heard a knock again on my door and opened the door to see James's nanny standing there.
"I came to help you out with the little one. Is he awake already?" She asked me. I smiled at her.
"No. He's still sleeping. Let me wake him up. Juan is in the bathroom though." I told her and she nodded.
"I'll take him to my room to shower." She replied. At that moment the butler also knocked on the door asking if our bags were packed to take them out. He also mentioned that breakfast was ready. I sighed. I wasn't in the mood to eat so early in the morning. I thanked him and told him that all our packing was not yet done. I went and woke up James. He kept pouting as I gave him to his nanny. The nanny laughed at his expression.
"He's not a morning person is he? Young master Nicolai wasn't a morning person either." She said fondly.
"You knew Luc's brother?" I asked him.
"I was all the Pietro kids' nanny when they were sent to the Ju Long household for martial arts training. But they were about 6 or 7 years old then and I was also just a teenager fresh out of high school." She said with a laugh. I smiled at that.
"What was Luc like?" I asked him.
"He was an exceptionally good and mature kid. I didn't have to do anything. He liked to do everything on his own and he is a morning riser. He made me feel ashamed to be his nanny because he wakes up a lot earlier than me. So long as I didn't do anything to set off his temper, he was an okay kid...Actually, he was difficult too because he asked complicated questions and gave grim stares when I can't reply. He was intimidating even then...in a different way though." She told me with a laugh.
"I know the feeling." I told him and she smiled warmly at me as she took James away. I liked her. I think I will take her as James's nanny to New York if I could.
"Dad, good morning! Where are we going today?" I heard Max's excited voice as he came into my room to see me.
"Good morning Max. Have you finished doing the packing?" I asked him seriously.
"Yes. I have. I am ready and packed to go. Can I go and see my uncles now?" He asked me quickly.
"Wait Max. I need to speak to you." I told him.
He hesitated and gave me a wary look.
"Can it wait dad? I'd like to have breakfast first." He said, a guilty look on his face.
"No. It can't wait. I have to talk to you now." I told him firmly and he pouted.
"Can you come with me to the balcony?" I asked him as I walked out of the room to the spacious balcony so that I could have privacy to speak to Max. Max followed, looking curious.
Once there, I gave Max a serious look and he looked guilty like he knew what I was up to.
"I am sorry for factory resetting your phone." He sputtered.
I sighed and rubbed my face. Thank god! He admitted to it so easily.
"That's not a problem. I got it back to what it was." I told him and Max looked up in alarm. He looked at me like I said I could do magic.
"Is there anything else you would like to admit to?" I asked him and he frowned at that, biting his lower lip.
"Max?" I asked him again and he looked at me.
"Why do you have to snoop into everything daddy? I need my privacy too. You can't just use my google account as you like." He exploded.
"Max you are just 8 years old. You don't own your Google account. I am the one who even opened it for you." I told him.
"But it's mine now and I gave my phone to you because I thought you were in danger. I didn't think you would misuse it." He said plaintively and I stared at him. Misuse? What kind of words was he using? Should I not have given him a phone with all features? I bought him one when he started attending his prestigious school in New York because everyone else in his class had one. Previously the phone he had was more like a walkie talkie kid's phone from which he could only call me or Jenna.
I was at a loss on how to deal with the "privacy" issue of an 8 year old.
"Son, what misuse are you talking about? Since when did you start having secrets from me? I bought you a phone because your friends had one. Even then, I told you I will be monitoring your use of the phone." I told him and he pouted, his lips extending almost an inch as he glared at me. I shook my head at that.
"Max?" I asked warily.
"You are just too old fashioned, daddy. Other kid's parents are not like you." He said and was about to run away but I grabbed his hand.
"Max I saw the messages you sent to Cade and I listened to the audio too." I told him.
"What messages! Let me go daddy!" Max screamed.
"Max!" I said in surprise as I grabbed both his arms and turned him around to face me. I took my phone and showed him the messages I was talking about.
"What is this Max? What is going on between you and Cade?" I asked him. Max suddenly grabbed my phone and ran over to the balcony and threw it into the pool below. My eyes widened in horror. I was barely holding myself back from shaking Max hard or slapping him. It was only the fact that I would never raise my hand on a kid that stopped me.
"Max what have you done!" I asked him as I looked down into the pool. There were a few people in the area and it was brightly lit up. So I knew exactly where the phone fell. I had to go back and look for it quickly before the phone gets damaged beyond repair. I turned around and saw that Max was not there. I ran down to quickly take the phone out of the pool. I jumped into the pool to look for the phone but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find it. My eyes widened in despair. What happened to the phone? Where did it go?
"Vince? What are you doing in the pool at this time? Shouldn't you be packing to leave?" I heard Luc's voice. I pulled up.
"Luc..my phone fell into the pool. Please..I need to find it." I told him imploringly. Luc frowned and he asked guards to drain the pool. He came over to me to pull me out of the pool.
"Is the phone that important? I can get you a new one." He told me.
"Yes, Luc. It is important. There was something on it I wanted to show you." I started.
Luc scrunched his brows. "Is that why you called last night?" He asked me and I nodded quickly.
"Luc, where is Cade and his friends that hang out with him?" I asked him.
"They are in training. We have a training hub here in Sicily. Every year during their school breaks they are sent there. Why do you ask?" He asked me.
"What do you mean? Do we have a training centre here?" I asked him.
"No. The training centre is in Catania. They were taken there last evening." He told me and my eyes widened.
"You have to bring them back!" I told him and Luc frowned.
"Vince..Cade is due for phantom training at the beginning of next year. He is still not ready. The other kids are also up for Black Ops training in March next year. So breaks like this should be fully utilized for their training." He told me.
"What? They are already at that level? They have all already finished Fighting Dogs training?" I asked in shock and Luc nodded.
"Cade has finished Black Ops too last year." He told me.
I stared at him. "Why are minors undertaking military like trainings Luc?" I asked and Luc shook his head.
"Vince, are we going to argue about this? I told you, our lifestyle is different. They are my kids and they are royals. Their life will be in danger if they aren't trained. Stop comparing us with someone who grows up thinking their biggest worry is a pimple on their face or something equally inane." He said and I bristled.
I closed my eyes and stopped myself from starting an argument I knew I couldn't win. Besides, that would only serve to deflect his attention from the more serious issue.
"Luc, Max recorded an audio of two people beating up Cade in the school." I started but Luc intervened.
"Vince, there won't be a single person in his school who could beat Cade." Luc told me confidently.
"Of course..it wasn't someone in the school. It was someone you sent to the school when the principal called you about their misbehavior." I told him and Luc frowned.
"It's Mairi who goes to see them and no one else." He said.
"No. There was a man too and I am not sure if the woman was Mairi either." I told him. Luc looked at me as if he can't believe what he was hearing.
"Shh..don't talk anymore." Luc told me. I looked around. I didn't see anyone else.
"Luc but this is important." I started with a frown.
Luc gave me a grim look and I immediately realized he didn't want to talk about it in the open. I nodded to him and he walked away. I looked at him as he jumped into the pool that had little water now.
I went back in to the pool as well.
"Where was it thrown to?" Luc asked and I showed him where I thought it went. We could clearly see the whole pool now and there was nothing there. Luc checked the drainage areas as well. But it didn't look like a phone could go down those grilled drains.
"What are you guys looking for? It's already morning now and you two are the only ones not ready now." Kronos told us as he looked into the pool above us.
"Go Kronos. We will be coming soon." Luc said without offering any explanation.
"Can I help?" Kronos asked.
"Yes. Ensure all kids are ready and everything is in order for us to leave soon. And yes, Zoel and Lana should be here shortly. Keep them out of my hair until I seek them out." Luc told him.
"Zoel is going to be here?" Kronos asked.
"Yes. They will accompany us throughout the trip." Luc said, continuing to search for the phone.
"Cool. I didn't get to meet her the last time as well. Can't wait to see her." Kronos said as he quickly left us alone. I blinked after him. He knew Zoel?
"How does Kronos know Zoel?" I asked Luc when he left.
"Kronos was first of the Blood Phoenix fighters to be taken as an offering to my mother because he is blonde and blue eyed. But she discarded him because Zoel and him were getting too close for her comfort." He told me and my eyes widened.
"In that case, wouldn't Zoel's presence cause any problem with Roma?" I asked him.
Luc looked at me.
"They are here to create drama. It's the best way to keep everyone else from poking their nose into my business." He said and my eyes widened. He could be really cold sometimes.
"But I thought you cared about Kronos and Roma's relationship." I told him.
"If this could break them apart, they are not worth being in a relationship." He said with a shrug. I just stared at him. Sometimes the way he thinks scares me. He looked irritated as he looked around the pool.
"You are sure your phone fell in here?" Luc asked me.
"Actually, Max threw it into the pool from the balcony." I told him and he stared at me. He backed away to look at the balcony and then climbed out of the pool, helping me out as well.
"You are sure you saw it fall into the pool?" He asked me again and I nodded. Luc sighed loudly but he dragged me along with him upstairs to his room. The moment we were inside, Luc turned towards me.
"Explain everything from the very beginning." He told me. I stared at him speechlessly for a bit before I started hesitantly explaining everything that had happened with Max. When I finished, Luc rubbed his face.
"Did you see anyone around the pool when you went there? Please try to recall." He told me and I frowned as I shook my head.
"There were people..but I don't remember who they were. There weren't any people I know." I told him.
Luc sighed. "I can ask for CCTV footage but that will make people suspicious. Let me see what I can do." Luc said.
"Luc, can you maybe use Inci to get the data you retrieved for me last night?" I asked him.
"No. I didn't ask Inci to store it because I didn't want to probe into your personal stuff." He told me and I blinked. Well, that was a surprise! I didn't think he would give me personal space when it comes to anything in the IT domain.
"But I can see if I can get into Max's account and retrieve that data." He said and I watched as he asked Inci to run several searches together.
I stared at Luc.
"Luc, do you believe what I am saying?" I asked him and Luc stared at me.
"It's difficult to believe. But since it's you, I will believe you. You said the voices could belong to Kronos and Mairi. If that's the case, it's not good." He told me with a frown.
"Just wait a second." He said as he called somebody.
I listened to him talking in Italian to someone. I knew enough Italian to only know someone was talking in the language. Luc's voice was curt and I felt like the other person objected, because Luc frowned and his voice was cold before he said something with finality and then cut the call.
I stared at him.
"I asked Paulo to send the kids in training to our camping site tonight. I don't want them under anyone's command other than you at this moment." Luc told me.
"Vince, I think you should leave discussing what's going on between Max and Cade to me. I will talk to Cade to understand what's going on. I don't want you antagonizing Max at the moment. Right now, I don't want him to think you give precedence to any other children over him." Luc said. I looked uneasily at that.
"Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk about. You know, Juan.." I started but stopped at the ping sound on Luc's phone. Luc consulted the phone and I watched as a he pressed something on his watch. A hologram image popped up.
"Good morning master Lucas. The three search results are ready." Inci said and then three windows popped up. Luc used his two palms to expand it and to my shock the hologram widened.
"Accommodate current setting and stack." Luc said and my brows widened as only one window remained at the size Luc set for it. Luc frowned at the first one he saw.
It said "Permanent delete completed at 6:03 am. No files found. Recovery procedure failed."
"Did you ask to delete anything?" I asked wondering if Inci had malfunctioned.
"Inci is saying someone had permanently deleted the files." Luc told me.
"Inci trace the user who deleted the files." Luc said and the window blackened. Luc used his hands to move onto the other window.
"Luc what files were deleted?" I asked curiously.
"All files on Max's phone." Luc said and my eyes widened. Luc calmly proceeded to check the security camera footage Inci hacked into. As we checked we saw that the time between 5:50 and 6:10 were missing. Luc's lips pursed before he brought up the last screen. There were times of login and names. Luc frowned at the names. It included Jared who went into the security room at 6:15. Others were all names I didn't know.
"Trace completed." I heard Inci's voice. I watched Luc go back to the window and he almost cringed as he saw the name there: Titan.
Luc frowned at the name. "Trace identity, Inci." Luc commanded and we watched Inci go into search mode.
"What's going on Luc? Can Inci trace Titan's real identity?" I asked him.
"Maybe. Maybe not." He said and I stared at him.
Luc smiled at me. "I have a little circle of friends I play games with. You could say they are the best hackers and programmers in the world currently. Titan is one of them. So, I am not sure if I can trace his or her real identity but we can give it a try. It could take days." Luc told me and I bit my lips.
"But why is a hacker of that caliber interested in my phone and he or she must have done it in the last half an hour too." I said and Luc nodded, deep in thought.
"I have my suspicions on who Titan could be. But let's not speculate. Either way, people very close to me are linked in this because someone obviously deleted the security footage. Even a hacker could not have hacked into that server without alerting several people including me. So, whoever deleted the security footage is one of us. Now, the question is how did Titan come into this? Was Titan the one who took your phone? For a hacker to do it this fast, they probably should have either access to the phone or the account. But it is possible for a hacker of Titan's caliber to hack remotely to a phone with little security like yours. But the question is, what would be the motive for Titan to do it just now instead of anytime before the events that transpired with Max? " Luc pondered and I stared at him worriedly.
Luc smiled at me then and rested his hand on my head.
"You don't worry over this. Leave it to me. I will find out what's going on. You just focus on bonding with your son." Luc told me and I frowned.
"You are okay to leave it at this? Aren't you nervous about enemies being too close to you?" I asked him. Luc smirked at that.
"Let them play right into my hands. They don't know who they are dealing with. Why would you think little game makes me nervous? This only excites me." Luc told me.
I frowned at him.
"I worry though. Don't get yourself injured or killed." I told him with a pout and Luc hugged me.
"Don't worry about me. Focus only on Max for now and telling him about the truth." He told me and the gloom descended on me once again.
"Luc, I know you said you would talk to Cade to find out what's going on. But let me talk to Max too. Cade couldn't know Max's motives. I need to speak to him to find that out." I told him. Luc frowned at that.
"Fine. If you insist on doing that, it's your right as his parent. But I think it will be advisable to not pressure him. You said he didn't react nicely to you trying to demand an explanation from him earlier. If you have to talk, be gentle. Since you have big news to tell Max, I think you should be cautious about creating a rift between you. Leave the other boys alone for now and focus only on Max. For now I think you should even distance yourself from James until everything is resolved between you and Max." Luc told me.
I bit my lips nervously at that. He made it sound very easy but it wasn't. I couldn't walk on eggshells around my son because of the truth I had to disclose to him later. I know Luc is just offering the clever solution but I didn't want to be political with my son.
If Max did something wrong, as his parent, he'd need a scolding whether it would create a rift between us or not. I was his parent. I needed to guide him and protect him. Also, I didn't agree about keeping my distance from the other kids simply to win favour with Max. I've made up my mind to adopt James and Juan. They needed me too. I sighed. This just kept getting more difficult. Besides, I could maybe distance myself from James by letting his nanny handle him most of the time but Juan didn't have any other place he could stay. I had to talk to Luc about it.
"Luc, actually about Juan.." I started.
"Oh yes..Juan. We need to send potential threats immediately back to New York. Thanks for reminding." Luc told me.
"Huh?" I asked but he got a call then. What did he mean by "potential threat", I wondered.
"Get changed quickly Vince. They have already taken down everyone's luggage except yours. We have to leave soon. Make it quick. I haven't even showered yet. See you in five minutes." Luc said as he rushed me out of his room through the linking doorway.
I quickly changed from my wet clothes and finished the rest of the packing. I blinked when Luc came into the room, freshly showered. Did five minutes pass by so quickly? I wondered.
"Keep the wet clothes. The servants here will wash it and send to you if you can't discard it." Luc told me as he called in a servant. I watched him take my luggage with one hand and grab my hand with the other as we quickly went down the stairs to where everyone was gathered.
"Get something to eat quickly Vince." Luc told me. I was dazed by how much I've learned about betrayals and secret ploys against us in just a few minutes? How could Luc go on as if nothing happened? I looked at everyone rushing around. The pacing of Luc's world was too fast, it gave me whiplash.
"Sir, I brought you some breakfast. Please make it quick." One of the maids, brought to me a small bowl with yoghurt and cereals. I rubbed my throbbing forehead and decided an empty stomach wouldn't help. So, I sat down and tried to have breakfast while ignoring the rushing of people around me. I just needed a little moment to catch my breath quite literally but seeing people hurrying around wasn't helping me.
"Sir, master Luc is looking for you." One maid rushed over to me. I sighed. I hadn't been able to eat more than a few spoonfuls of breakfast. I finished eating quickly and went over to the buffet counter to grab some granola bars. I thought I could eat on the bus.
"Sir, hurry." The same maid insisted and I stifled a groan, before rushing out to the main driveway. Everyone was waiting in the driveway with their backpacks. I looked for Max there and saw him holding Ryuu's hand. He looked at me warily and moved closer to Ryuu when he saw me.
I sighed as I looked quickly for James and Juan. Juan was carrying James who had gone back to sleeping against his chest. Among the others gathered, I could also see the Ju Long sisters Lana and Zoel wearing black leather jackets, black jeans and boots. They looked good as always. Zoel was play fighting with Kronos. Lana stood there just smiling at them, while Roma looked horrified as she carried her baby. I blinked in surprise as Zoel threw Kronos over her shoulder and slammed him down on the driveway as she quickly lunged and pressed her knees into his chest.
"Okay. I surrender." Kronos said and Zoel laughed.
"You wimp. Fight like a man!" She told him elbowing his stomach hard as she helped him back on his feet.
"Don't you just hate it when women try to be men?" I heard a taunting voice from behind us and my eyes widened as everyone turned to Rei who was chewing on a granola bar. Beside him, Alex who was chatting on his phone.
"Dude, you are an insult to men if you get defeated by a woman." He said as he looked at Kronos and then turned to stare at Zoel from head to toe.
"For someone who likes to pretend to be a man, you don't look much like one." Rei sneered at Zoel. Zoel's eyes slanted at that and then turned to a smirk.
"Under which stone did you find this cave man?" Zoel asked Kronos as she approached Rei, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"Ah! I see you've already acquainted yourselves. It's difficult for Rei to keep his dumbness to himself for more than a few seconds. So excuse him." Luc said as he walked over to us.
"Zoel Ju Long, meet the cave man Rei Kozue Yasuhiro from CIA." Luc introduced him and Rei looked surprised at him.
"I am from FBI." He insisted.
"Tch..who are you trying to fool?" Lana asked as she gave Rei a disparaging look.
Rei looked her up and down.
"Who is this?" He asked Luc.
"This is Lana Ju Long." Luc said and then glanced at Alex.
"The gentleman beside the caveman is Alexander Starling De Grant. Alex had quite the torrid affair with your sister Lorraine, right Alex?" Luc asked with false pleasantness. Luc could be so savage. Was this an introduction of strangers or enemies? Obviously it was the latter.
Alex scowled at the introduction as he looked up from his phone to glance at the Ju Long sisters.
"So this is the man who had a messed up relationship with our little sister." Lana said as she exchanged glances with Zoel and then looked at Alex. Alex looked uncomfortable.
"I wouldn't say it was a relationship." He said tersely.
"Obviously..." Lana said derisively.
"Oh and the twin of the caveman is Ryuu Katsu Yasuhiro." Luc said as he waved in Ryuu's direction. I was surprised he spared insulting Ryuu. Judging from the glance he gave to Max, it was probably for his sake.
"And the little one beside him is Max who is Vincent's child. Since he is new here, I would like you all to ensure to be nice to him on this tour so that he takes back good memories from it. Otherwise I'll have a lot to say to you." Luc said with a small smile at Max. Max smiled brightly at him. I could tell the slight threatening tone to his last words. Everyone else automatically smiled at Max too. It was odd but Max didn't notice the threat in his voice when Luc said the last sentence while everyone in his gang did. When Luc asked everyone to get on the bus, Rei gave him an askance look.
"What the hell's with that introduction? I don't know 95% of the people here. Why don't you tell me their names as well?" He asked. Luc gave him an icy stare.
"Does it look like I am dying to introduce everyone to you, uninvited pest?" He muttered to him before he completely gave him the cold shoulder and went into the bus. Rei's face flushed as he scowled at Luc's back. I sighed. Of course Luc only introduced those whom he wanted to introduce and I was sure it wasn't for either Rei, Ryuu or Alex's sake.
Soon, everyone was getting into the big bus waiting for us. I went over to Juan and took James into my arms. I looked to Max as we climbed into the bus, but he sat down beside Ryuu. Ryuu gave me a reassuring nod and I nodded back reluctantly as I sat beside Juan on the opposite side. Luc sat at the very back with Ulrich and Nuto. Rei and Alex sat together and just opposite them was Lana and Zoel who seemed to be giving them deadly stares. I turned away and tried to tell myself that things would turn out okay. It had to. I gave one last look at Luc who smiled at me while Ulrich and Nuto talked on his sides. Nuto glanced between me and Luc and I turned around quickly.
Haa! It's ridiculous sometimes that I couldn't be open about my feelings with Luc when he was my husband. But, I had to make compromises until we could tell everyone about our truth. I glanced at Max who was happily talking to Ryuu who looked down at him with pride. Ryuu's presence was giving Max an opportunity to unfortunately hide from me. I sighed.
I had to talk to Max about his behaviour earlier and also ask him why he kept threatening Cade. I also want to know what Max had been telling Cade to threaten him. Surely, Cade wouldn't be worried about Max showing the audit in Max's phone to Luc, since Cade was misbehaving in the first place to get Luc's attention. It was more likely that Max was threatening Cade by saying he would tell his torturers if Cade misbehaved. In that case, Max would know how to identify those people. I shook my head. I really had to talk to Max quickly.
I know Max could be very judgmental. He hated bullies and unfortunately like most of the De Grant family, I've found that he also dismisses the circumstances surrounding a person's actions when judging them. He enjoys seeing a bad person suffering like almost everyone in the De Grant family. I hated seeing people tortured no matter how big their sin. I understand the eye for eye principle can give relief to victims but I believe forgiving is better.
I believe in humane punishments that preserved dignity of people. My family of course makes great speeches about it too. But obviously they never believed in it because they are almost always behind every torture regime to criminals. There were several people in my family like Uncle Terrence who tortured Luc when he was fifteen. They got a perverse pleasure from torturing criminals. Some even go onto develop it as a compulsion to sleep. Worse, they feel very proud of it. I shivered at that. How could someone be so proud of hurting someone subdued? Weren't the criminals already suffering from isolation and restrictions on movement like handcuffs and chains? What need was there for ritual torture when the criminals were subdued? My family justifies their craziness by saying it's necessary for interrogations. Even if someone died in the process they could just take it like a breeze because in their mind, the criminal more than deserved it.
I glanced at Max. I didn't want my son to be like that. He was also one of those people who saw things morally in black and white. Even as a kid, he loved it when the villain was killed brutally. I always prevented showing him anything with violence but movies and shows depicting violence was everywhere. Eventually, he had watched a popular movie from a friend's home and before I knew it, all he wanted to watch were movies where heroes killed villains. I guess it's just how the world is..hail the hero and butcher the villain. I am not saying villains should be glamorized or that they should not be punished for their actions and violence. But ignoring the fact that they are also humans like us, desensitize us to cruelty. Some might say they don't deserve fair treatment but I believe, even the worst of us deserve humane treatment. Justice shouldn't be a show of brutality and cruelty. Justice should be fair.
There is no such person as a hero and there is no such person as a villain. Everyone is a mix of good and bad. It's when the bad gets out of control that they could be villainous. But surely, even such a person's causes needs to be understood. That person might be beyond saving at that point but if the root cause is addressed, surely, there would be lesser people like that in the future.
I worried over Max especially because I wondered how he would react if he knew Luc was a gangster. I didn't want Max to think Luc was a villain. So, the presence of Alex and Rei around Max made me very wary because they believed Luc was a criminal who should be brought to justice. I knew I would have a difficult conversation with Max and that unsettled me.
Actually, rather than a difficult conversation, I was scared of losing Max forever if I tried to explain things to him when he wasn't mature enough to understand all these morally complicated issues beyond his age. Honestly, what should I do? I feel so conflicted and scared. Nobody could understand my stress. I didn't want to lose Max not just because I didn't want to lose my son. But it's also because if I lose Max, he would grow up in an environment where his current moral beliefs would be reinforced.
Look at how much Max changed just by spending a few months with rich kids. He had never behaved rebelliously with me before. I know I can't just blame his behaviour on peer influence but I feel like my control over Max is slipping. I have a role in moulding his mind and beliefs but I feel at a loss now because there were too many competing forces with me.
Everyone keeps urging me to immediately reveal everything to Max. I know lying is bad. But is saying the truth always the right thing to do? But then, I knew my current state of mind was not fit enough to contemplate that question without bias. I was scared and I was insecure. Just until a few months ago, my life was peaceful. I had little to do other than work and come home to Max. I spent all my time with my son out of work. I didn't even consider dating or giving any time for myself. There was little to think about. But ever since the day I met Luc again, my peaceful life had gone down the drain.
It felt like I was asked to run at the highest speed on a treadmill when the only exercise I did previously was take a relaxed walk to the shopping centre on the weekends. My life is a mess. I knew Luc woke up the me that was ignored and slumbering all the time. A dream I thought was impossible had suddenly become reality. I am still fighting disbelief over the fact that I was married to Luc. It all just happened too fast. I know I worked hard for it but even when I know I have his heart I feel restless. I feel like I had forced Luc to return my affections somehow. His assurances only relieved my anxiety temporarily because there were too many people trying to break us apart. I feel myself panicking with fear at the thought that I might be forced to leave Luc in a short while despite how much he cared for me. What if our time together would be cut short? I am yet to show any improvement in the Fighting Dogs trainings I was undertaking. What if the only time I could have with Luc is this one month? If that was the case, I don't want any ugly reality to mar the memories I share with him. I want to be selfish and take everything I can from Luc's affections so that the memories would help me live a life without him.
The very thought made tears stream past my eyes. I can't lose Luc, I thought my heart squeezing in distress. I will have to work harder and push myself to exert effort over my physical limits. I couldn't harbor a single fragment of failing because I wanted to be with Luc. It made me recall my conversation with Luc in the cottage. He thought I was hesitating telling Max about the truth because I was scared of being myself and accepting my gender. He wasn't totally wrong. But my reasons were more complicated than just that.
I frowned at that as I tried to ask myself why I thought it was so complicated and bring some semblance of control over my own emotions. I collected myself and rested my forehead against the window of the bus. As the greenery rushed past while the bus drove, I silently contemplated the answer to my question. A lot of things popped up in my head. I spent time just organizing my thoughts in my head in silence until I knew exactly what it was.
I hadn't always been secretive about my gender to Max. Indeed, it wasn't me who made a secret of my gender or my relationship to Max. It was what my mother did on Max's birth that forever forced me to alter the truth. I couldn't stay with Jenna if I showed any signs of competing with her as a mother. As Max grew, he identified me as a man based on what I wore. When Jenna gave birth to her own child and started ignoring Max, it was at that point that Jenna lied to Max and told him that I was his father. I played along because it was the only way I could maintain peace with Jenna and have my son live with me. I always feared Max would be taken away from me if I upset Jenna because even until then Max's birth certificate stated Jenna and her husband as his parents. I only got the chance to change that when I moved back to New York with Max. If the incident of the attack on Jenna's house did not happen, even that wouldn't have been possible.
I suppose it was that time that I actually had the chance to turn things around and admit the truth to Max. But Max was suffering already from Jenna's willingness to sacrifice him over his baby sister. I didn't want to complicate matters. So, it was at that moment that I decided to delay telling Max the truth about me until he was old enough to understand it. I was also scared of Ryuu taking Max away from me even then. I guess I didn't have to time to think much, even then because I was on the run from Belle's guards who were out for my life.
Then, Luc entered my life and suddenly I realized I had a chance of making my dream come true. The moment I realized I wanted Luc for myself, everything else in my life went out of my control. I wasn't able to communicate as often as I did with Max. Actually, I could barely communicate with him during the time I was taken in as Luc's prisoner. Immediately after Luc started trusting me, I met Luc's children. I loved children and I always had a place in my hurt for people suffering through something difficult. It was like my soul was calling out for me to help all the people around Luc, including his children. I was swept away by everything else, while I barely remembered Max. I called him from time to time but it wasn't enough to know what was going on in his life. It wasn't enough to understand how his environment was changing him. My life was just hurtling out of control when suddenly Alex, Ryuu and Rei stumbled into my life.
Finally, I was having the break I wanted with my son and yet, I feel pressured to ruin it. I needed time to catch up with my son for all the time I lost with him because I suddenly decided to get a life for myself. I needed him to feel comfortable with the changes in me before I shock him with the truth. But it felt like a gun was pressed against my temple. I feel agitated. I knew Max's personality. I feel like I would lose Max too if I came out with the full truth.
But unlike Luc with whom I at least contemplated being away from, I couldn't even imagine the possibility with Max. He was my son. The thought of him leaving me felt like someone pulling out all of my internal organs at once. It took me back to the despair I felt the morning I woke up after losing consciousness while a C-section was performed to give birth to Max. I still remember how it felt like to not see my child and how I screamed and howled for days on end begging to give me back my baby. The pain from the surgery didn't compare at all to how it felt like to lose my child. I can still hear my screams echoing in the small basement. Even when my head hurt from the echoing of my screams, I couldn't stop myself from screaming more. The thought made me search anxiously for Max.
I shivered in relief seeing his resting against Ryuu's chest. Ryuu had draped one arm over his sleeping body protectively. I could tell Ryuu cared for Max but what was he like as a parent? Knowing his family, they spoiled their children like crazy. I don't know how Ryuu turned out to be so nice but Rei definitely was the perfect example of spoiled brat. I didn't want that to happen to Max. I didn't want Rei anywhere around Max either. I am sure he wouldn't care about filling his young brain with hatred for Luc. That could make Max force me to choose either him or Luc. I couldn't take that chance.
What could I do now? I honestly feel sick. Was I just delaying the inevitable by delaying the truth though? I intended to tell Max about the truth when he became a teenager but Luc was right. I couldn't delay it that much. However, I couldn't help but hope that I could avert a certainly bad outcome by giving Max time to see and understand things for himself. If Max starts liking Luc and his children, he's unlikely to be so harsh on them when he finds out the truth. But if he knows the truth too soon he is likely to be judgmental and force me to choose between him and Luc.
I really, need time with him, no matter what anybody says. What if someone exposes the truth before I tell him though? I guess I will have to take that chance. The truth couldn't come out before I at least know that Max wouldn't be so judgmental about it. Besides, I need to teach Max some lessons on people and empathy before that. I glanced back at Luc who was now alone but appeared to be working on his laptop and then looked at Ryuu. To my surprise he glanced back at me. No matter the pressures, as a parent, I felt the right thing for Max was to delay the truth until I see for myself that Max was ready. I wasn't just going to drop a bomb on my child just because it's the truth. Max was not ready for the truth yet and Ryuu and Rei hasn't proved enough that they are worthy of introducing as Max's family either.
It was good to finally have some clarity over my confused emotions without feeling like I was being selfish. I've been feeling guilty thinking that my desire to delay the truth was only stemming from fear of losing Luc. But with some proper reflection, I can now understand why my gut feeling was to delay telling Max the truth. I would explain my decision to both Luc and Ryuu. They may not agree with it and even Max may not agree with it, but the time I get to spend with Max meanwhile was going to be worth it to instill some values in Max that could hopefully broaden his mind enough to deal with complex dilemmas in life. Sure, it cannot be done in a few days but at least I've got to try. To begin, I need to resolve what's going on between Max and Cade. I didn't know when I drifted off to sleep until I woke up with a start when someone grabbed me in my sleep.
I jolted up in my seat and turned to stare at Luc with his hands around my waist.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"You were about to fall off your chair." Luc told me. I blinked owlishly and then realized James was missing. In fear I immediately checked between my seat and my legs. Luc laughed. I glared at him.
"Where's James?" I asked him and he smirked.
"Check the bus!" He said and I stood up to see we were alone.
"Where did everyone go?" I asked him.
"They all went down to see the Alcantara Gorge." He told me.
"Why did they leave us?" I asked him, blinking slowly.
Luc gave me a dour look. "Can't you figure? I asked them to let you rest and volunteered to look over you." Luc told me and smirked.
"So now..why don't you give me my reward?" He asked me.
"Huh?" I asked uneasily as Luc leaned in, pressing his palm against the window on my side.
Just then we heard the sound of someone entering the bus. I pushed Luc away instinctively fearing it could be Max, as I stood up immediately. Luc got out of his seat and stood up with an annoyed expression.
I was surprised to see it was Alex who came into the bus. He paused as he looked between us and his eyes went frosty as he looked at Luc.
"What are you doing here?" Luc asked sourly before I could make my mouth move.
Alex ignored Luc and glanced at me. "Vince, I need to speak to you." He told me.
"Later! Now go away!" Luc said rudely. I looked uneasily at Alex who scowled at Luc.
"It's about Max and us." He told me and my eyes widened. I got out into the walkway isle of the bus and Luc hugged me from behind.
"Don't go!" He told me. Alex looked annoyed now as he grabbed my hand and jerked. Suddenly I was caught up in a situation where Alex was tugging my right hand and Luc was grabbing onto the other.
"Wait guys!" I said in alarm.
"Let him go asshole!" Alex said threatening as he moved forward. Luc moved forward as well and shoved Alex, pushing against his chest.
"Who do you think you are to touch my Vincent? Let go of his hand before I make a cripple of you!" Luc threatened ominously.
"Alex, please go out. I'll come down and meet you!" I told Alex pleadingly because I could tell Luc would snap any minute now. I pulled away my hand from Alex as well.
Alex gave me a peeved look before going out. I turned around to look at Luc.
"You will not go!" He ordered me and I gave him a tired sigh.
"He wants to talk to me about Max. Be reasonable!" I told him and his eyes glowered at me.
"He can say what he wants in my presence." Luc told me.
"Why? Don't you trust me to be alone with him?" I asked him.
"Tch..you are so oblivious sometimes. Why aren't you getting it that I want you to be with me right now?" He demanded and I frowned.
"I don't get you." I said tiredly.
"It's my time with you. He should just scram instead of interfering us." He said and I blinked.
"He's just waiting outside though." I said, not understanding why he was making such a big issue of it.
"Then ask him to leave or I could just bury him there." Luc said irritably.
"Stop threatening him like that!" I said before I could stop myself. I guess the fact that Alex is my real brother does linger in my mind even though I didn't disclose it to anyone else.
"Huh? You would take that tone with me over that asshole?" Luc asked in surprise.
I rubbed my face. "Luc please..you are just being childish right now." I told him and his eyes went cold.
"Great! I guess I am being childish since I waited for you to wake up for over one hour and am upset because some annoying prick decided to interfere the moment you woke up." He said and I looked at him irritably.
"I can't believe you are irritated because he interfered a kiss..you who don't even like kissing in the first place!" I said with a shake of my head as I tried to lean in to kiss him to mollify him. But he pressed his hand on my chest. I looked up at his frosty eyes. He looked really pissed, I thought in surprise.
"You are right. What in the world was I thinking to try to kiss you? The morning breath stench would have killed me. Thanks for reminding me." He said coolly before just walking away.
My face reddened. Does my mouth smell like morning breathe stench? I wondered as I tested it. I wasn't exactly asleep for that long and I always keep my mouth clean. So of course it wasn't something to warrant that kind of comment. I sighed. Luc just butchers people to crumbs with his words when he is really angry! I thought as I let him leave the bus without trying to stop him. I knew that right then, there wouldn't be anything that could cure that foul mood of his.
I felt bad as I walked down to meet Alex.
"I am glad you sent him off. I thought you were too smitten with him to teach him manners." Alex told me with a pleased smile.
This wasn't about teaching manners! I thought but didn't reply.
"What did you want to discuss?" I went straight to the topic.
"Wow..you went straight to the topic without even asking how I was doing." He said.
"Alex..I really don't have the mood for pleasantries right now." I told him.
He shrugged. "Okay. If you say so. I just wanted to tell you exactly why I came here with RuRi." He said.
I was surprised he still combined the twins names and called both of them "RuRi".
"And why is that?" I asked him.
"Well, I've come to know the truth about you and me when my father died." He told me and I went still.
"I was very upset when I first found out but once I thought over it, I understood why no one told me the truth while the bastard I called "father" was alive." He told me.
I took a deep shuddering breath. "Who told you?" I asked him.
"My mum did. Then I visited aunt..I mean Anya mum and confirmed it." He said and I could tell he still had trouble calling my mother "mum".
"Well, I am glad you know now." I told him and Alex looked at me.
"How long did you know about it?" He asked me.
"It wasn't that long ago. Maybe a month." I told him and he sighed.
"Vince..it honestly comes as no surprise to realize you are my younger brother. I've always instinctively felt protective over you." He told me and I looked at him uneasily. I didn't want him to develop the over protectiveness he had with Anna over me.
"You don't have to protect me." I told him quietly.
"No. I do. You are getting along with dangerous people. As your brother, I can't just ignore that. Anna died because I just let her leave and cut her out of my life out of anger. I regret it so much. It's not going to happen with you so long as I live. Even if you are in love with the most hateful man I've met so far, I am not going to let anger get the better of me and leave you alone. I will protect you and Max." He told me and I felt a sense of threat from those words.
"Alex.." I started warily but he stopped me.
"Aunt..I mean Anya mum told me everything about you and how you suffered because of her stubbornness. I understand you want to be with the first man who showed you some kindness. But someone like Lucas is not capable of true kindness, Vince." He told me and I backed away from him.
He saw that and backed off. "Don't run off. If it disturbs you I won't talk about it again." He told me gently.
"What do you want Alex?" I asked him.
"Vince, you need to take Max and leave this dangerous place immediately. I came here with Rei and Ryuu to warn you of it. Aunt Seraphina has replaced my father as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in the US Department of Defense. You know how she is on cracking down on criminals. I can't tell you more. You just have to get away from Luc. Max is in danger. If you care for your son, you have to leave soon. You could either do it yourself or.." He didn't finish as he stared at me grimly.
"Or what, Alex? Are you here to spy on Luc?" I asked him.
"Of course and I bet he knows it too. But I have my personal reasons for coming here as well. I want to meet your son. Ryuu told me you are going to tell him the truth soon. I thought I should be here when you tell Max the truth so that Max knows that his family cares for him." He said and my head throbbed badly. I rubbed my forehead subconsciously. Just when I thought I had some semblance of control over my life, this had to happen!
"So you also want to pressure me to tell the truth to Max?" I asked him.
Alex stared at me. "No. Actually no. I think you should tell him the truth when you are ready. But I also don't see any reason why you should continue to delay the truth. My bigger worry is that you and Max are in danger. You need to leave Sicily. Max could continue to have his holiday in Ryuu's ancestral home in Paris. It will be very safe." Alex told me.
"Alex..I can't just run off with Max. I have other children." I told him and he stared at me.
"You mean the boy you were holding in the bus?" He asked me.
"Yes. He's one of them." I told him.
"One of them?" He echoed.
"I can't leave Luc." I told him firmly.
"Even if Max gets caught in the crossfire?" Alex asked me.
I hesitated.
"Vince, do you doubt that Max will get caught in the cross fire? It would be full on war between the Pietro family and De Grant family. Please, stop thinking like a lover boy and for once act like a responsible parent." Alex said and I looked at him wretchedly.
Why was everyone telling me what to do?
"I told you..Max is not my only child." I told him.
"But Max is your only child of De Grant blood. He is the heir to Ryuu's empire. Your other children don't even come close in importance to Max. He is your blood. Why are you thinking of other children at this moment?" He asked me.
"If it's war, it wouldn't matter which family you belong to. Max has De Grant blood. Luc's children are considered Pietro blood. I care deeply for them too. I promised James he would be my son. Besides, this isn't something I can even contemplate because Luc is my.." I stopped there.
"Your what? Your fuck toy?" He demanded angrily and I bristled in anger. If I was the type to slap people, I would have definitely slapped him.
"I won't leave." I said with finality and Alex frowned.
"You would put Max in danger because of your stupid lust over Lucas?" He asked.
"Stop talking about things you don't know!" I snapped angrily.
"Your so called other children will be fine here because they are with their family. Max and you cannot stay here. You both could be attacked or used as a pawn. Why can't you understand this?" He asked me.
"Luc will protect us." I told him.
"Yeah? Where's he now? I could just knock you unconscious and take you away right now." He told me. I just stared at him. I didn't tell him that Luc had a GPS tracker on me.
"Alex, I can't leave." I told him softly. How could I leave Luc when I was his wife?
"Tch. You are stubborn. That's fine. I am stubborn too and I've decided I would stick with you and Max." He told me.
I frowned at that.
"Just so you know, I will do everything and anything to break the toxic hold Lucas has on you. We know you want Max to bond with Lucas and his children. But just so you know, so long as the three of us are with Max we won't let him get anywhere near Lucas or his children." He told me.
"Then I guess I will have to convince Luc to kick you all out. I don't think that will be a hard conversation." I told him.
"You can do that. But the day we leave is the day we tell Max the truth. Exercising Ryuu's right as Max's father, he will take Max from you because you are just being dumb here. I am sure you understand how a custody battle between you and Ryuu could go. So long as you live with Luc, you will lose Max. Keep that in mind, little brother. We hate to use this last resort but if you push us, we will shove as well. It's only for you and your son's safety." He said and left me alone, fighting tears at how hopeless it was to try to gain any semblance of control over my own life amidst the bull headed minded men I was surrounded with.
I felt someone behind me suddenly and whirled around in fear. My eyes widened when I saw Luc standing there with a cup of juice and something in a bag. He frowned as he came forward and rubbed the palms of his hands against my wet cheeks.
"Who made you cry? Was it that Alexander bastard?" He asked angrily.
"No..I just..got something in my eyes." I said quickly and then stared at him. Luc looked suspicious but he didn't press further.
He came back, I thought in surprise. For someone who could sulk for ages he rebounded quickly this time.
Luc stared back at me. "I got you food." He said, putting the bags in my hands.
"Th-thanks." I said, rubbing my nose with the other hand. Luc narrowed his eyes at that as he looked at me carefully.
"I thought you wouldn't talk with me for a while." I told him and he bit his inner cheek at that.
"Yeah? I thought so too. But then I remembered you didn't have much time for breakfast. So, I decided to check if you were ready to apologize." He said and I stared at him.
"Am I the one who has to apologize?" I asked him as I took a sip of the smoothie that looked purplish pink. It tasted like a mix of berries.
"Of course." Luc told me.
"What about your apology?" I asked him.
"I don't do apologies. If you like apologizing so much, you can apologize for me too." He said haughtily.
A reluctant smile curved my lips at that, despite the despair I was feeling.
"Okay then. Here's your apology first..." I started and Luc frowned.
"Why does my apology come first?" Luc demanded.
"Does it matter? You like being first after all." I told him and Luc blinked at me, looking unsure how he should respond to that.
"So well here goes. Vince, I am really sorry for getting angry and running off my mouth with you. Please forgive me. And I say..no problem Luc. That's just you being you. Obviously you are here because you knew you were being stupid.." I said.
"Hey! I am not stupid or childish." Luc said, poking my cheek.
"Of course you aren't. You just didn't like being interfered." I told him and Luc grumbled to himself.
"Where's your apology?" He asked me.
I bit my lips at that. "Okay. Luc, please forgive me for upsetting you. I was just a bit embarrassed at getting caught in a compromising situation." I told him.
"Is that it? Where's the part about snoring and drooling on my shoulder for an hour?" Luc asked grumpily.
"Okay..I apologize about snoring and drooling on your shoulder." I said nervously checking his sweater for any drool spots. But he was wearing a black sweater. So it was hard to tell.
"What about defying me?" He asked me.
"But..it was warranted." I insisted.
"I thought we decided on the power ratio. You have to obey me." He told me and I sighed.
"Fine. I am sorry for defying you against my promise." I told him.
"Also ask forgiveness for not giving me the opportunity to discuss the app status with you." He told me.
"What?" I asked in surprise.
"Why else did you think I decided to wait for you until you woke up? You didn't think I found your sleeping face cute did you?" He asked me.
I couldn't help but laugh at that. "So mean!" I said and he hugged me from behind.
"Do you want to discuss the app now?" I asked him.
"Too late. The kids are on their way back. We'll see them on the trail anytime now." He told me.
I pouted. "Sorry. I must have sounded like a fool when I said you were irritated about being interfered in the middle of a kiss." I told him.
"Hm..I don't like being cut off in the middle of anything." He said and I stared up at him.
"Would you have kissed me?" I asked as I chomped on the burger he got for me.
"Maybe..I don't like planning these things." He told me.
"Vincent, you can feed me that burger if you want. But you'll have to take out the onions." He told me and I gave him a look.
"Why can't you just say please?" I asked him.
"The word doesn't suit me." He said sulkily.
I couldn't help chortling at that. But I didn't scold him for that. I find it funny when he behaves bossy at times when he needs something.
I fed pieces of the burger to him. He must be pretty hungry to eat a burger because he usually completely avoided any junk food, I thought. I offered him the drink as well and he drank from my drink. I smiled at that as we contently finished the food while I told him about what Alex said regarding aunt Leia and Max being in danger. Luc reassured me by telling me that no harm would come to either me or Max so long as we stay within Blood Phoenix protection. He seemed to believe Max would be in more danger out of Blood Phoenix if his mum was after me and Max. I didn't know what to think anymore. But I chose to trust Luc.
"Luc, I am scared of what's going to happen." I admitted finally. Luc kissed the top of my head.
"Don't be scared. Just leave the worrying to me." He told me.
"But I can't leave it all to you. I have my own worries." I told him.
"Then let me kiss it away." He told me, pressing kissed all over my head and making me laugh.
"I love you." I told him warmly as I looked up at him.
"Hm.." Luc said with a smirk.
"By the way, I decided after a lot of thought that I would delay telling Max the truth as much as I can." I told him.
"You said, you thought this through?" Luc mused.
"I did." I told him as I looked behind to meet his eyes.
"And you are not going to tell me these reasons?" Luc asked me.
"Probably not." I told him.
"Hmm..I think it's a bad idea. But if you say that's what you want to stick to, I don't mind. No matter how it goes, you can count on me to be there for you." He told me.
"Thanks." I whispered, my voice breaking at that. Just then I started seeing the heads of the guys returning. I already missed being in Luc's embrace. I turned around and surprised Luc by kissing him straight on the mouth. It was so ridiculously clumsy.
"Sorry." I mumbled, my face going red. Luc laughed but he lightly kissed back on my mouth.
"The kids..they are coming now." I told him, unwilling to move away from Luc's arms.
"Hm.." Luc said as he also looked seriously at me for the longest time.
"I don't mind staying like this." He told me. I smiled.
"But we can't." I said as I gently pulled down the linked hands against my stomach and slowly pulled away just when the sounds of the kids reached us.
I moved away to discard the bag and the empty cup. I watched Max excitedly run over to Luc and tell him about all he saw. When I saw him like that, it reminded me of Max's real age. Despite behaving like a much older kid, he was still an 8 year old wanting his elder's attention. I walked over to Max. He saw me and hesitated before running off towards Rei. I sighed. He was hiding from me.
"Everyone. Get back into the bus. We are now going to go to our fishing stop and then will be going directly to our camping spot where we will spend the rest of the night." The driver told us. The kids were buzzing with energy as they climbed in. Even Juan looked to be in high spirits. I looked around for James and saw Ryuu carrying him in a baby carrier. James was hugging him tightly. He beamed when he saw me in the bus. Ryuu removed the baby carrier and gave James to me.
"Sorry. Was he very heavy?" I asked him but Ryuu smiled.
"No. He was fun to carry." He told me to my surprise.
"Ruu anki is vely nice Daee." James told me as he sat down on the seat beside me. I put on his seat belt. I glanced to check on Max. This time, Max was sitting with Rei.
"Ryuu, do you mind keeping Max beside you?" I asked him. Ryuu raised his eyebrow at that.
"It's fine if he is with Rei." He said and I sighed. I guess there were just things I couldn't control. The earlier I admit that, the easier life would be for me. I guess I would just have to hope Rei wouldn't open his big mouth and spew words of hatred. He seemed to be too busy checking out the Ju Long sisters to do anything else.
Alex came and sat beside Ryuu at that moment. The bus started again and I promised myself that I would talk to Max in the camp about what's going on between him and Cade. I suppose Cade would also be joining us in the camp. I hoped the kids made peace before we leave the camp. That reminded me about what Luc said about Juan. I should ask Luc about it again.
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AN: Please vote and or comment if you liked this chapter. Pic of Lana Ju Long on top.