•Roxie's POV ~
"It's such a surprise, this visit from you." Apricot tells me as she leans back in her chair.
"Yeah well, I didn't walk all the way over here to see you for my health." I say, while crossing my arms over my chest.
She raises an eyebrow, "Why did you come then?"
I walk closer to her but not too close, "Look, I'm not a terrible person. I can see that you need help. I haven't forgotten all of the things that you've done but it's clear that you're unstable."
"Yet, you came to my room all alone." She points out, tilting her head to the side and looking towards the door.
We both stay silent for a few moments as I carefully watch her. Slowly, she begins to stand up, making me cautiously take some steps back.
She takes one step forward and that's when I notice the chain that's around her left ankle. It's a short chain so even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to get to me because it would hold her back.
"So, what are you trying to say?" She questions, moving her unbrushed hair out of her face.
"I'm willing to try to get Damon to agree on letting you get the help that you need." I say, as she narrows her eyes. "Your baby will be fine here while you get professional help."
She tries to lunge forward but the chain on her ankle stops her, "I don't need professional help!! There is nothing wrong with me and I definitely don't want you anywhere near my baby!!"
I stay silent and watch as she begins to cry. This doesn't look like she's acting anything out at all. She truly believes that there is nothing wrong with her. Everything that she has ever done, she doesn't seem to think that it was wrong.
Everything that she did, she did it out of pure jealousy and hate of Damon not choosing her. She's obsessed with him and seems to think that it's normal behavior which makes me question, what exactly has happened to her in the past that made her become the way that she is?
I let out a sigh and cautiously take a step forward, "Look, I know that you don't like me and believe me, I don't like you either but if you care at all for your baby, you'll accept my offer."
She wipes away her tears that keep flowing down her cheeks and looks up, "You can't take my baby away from me."
She spoke so sadly to me, it almost made me feel bad for her... almost. I haven't forgotten that she took our baby away from us and I never will.
"If you decide to get help and get better, I'm sure you'll be able to see your baby again. I'm not a monster Apricot. I would never purposely want to tear your child away from you but if you refuse to get help, you'll be putting that baby at risk and eventually, he or she will be taken away from you regardless." I finish saying, making her brows furrow together and her eyes drop as she thinks over my words.
As she gets lost in thought, my eyes roam around her room. Her bed is neatly made, making it look like she hasn't been using it too much. There's a couple of things thrown on the floor and her breakfast is sitting on the bedside table untouched.
"Okay." Apricot murmurs quietly, causing my attention to turn back to her.
"You're agreeing?" I ask in shock, not sure that I truly believe what I heard.
She slowly nods her head before looking up and placing her hands on her stomach, "This is my baby."
Her tone sounded territorial, almost like how she used to sound when she said that Damon was hers.
"Your baby will be here when you're all better." I assure her. "You should eat, if you don't then you're just starving your baby."
She glances at the most likely cold breakfast on the bedside table before someone knocks, making me turn around.
"Ms. Montez." Abbey looks at me in shock with a tray of food in her hand. "It's not safe for you in here."
She quickly walks in and looks me over, probably checking to see if Apricot hurt me in any way.
"I'm fine, Abbey." I place a hand on her shoulder. "I was just having a chat with Apricot. I'm leaving now."
She sighs and gives me a nod, letting me walk past her. Before I completely walk out of the room, I turn my head around to see that Apricot quietly accepted the lunch that Abbey had given her.
Some time later, Damon called a meeting for everyone in the conference room. I look around the huge room and take notice of everyone who came.
Val, Enrique, Jax, Axel, Ness, Theo, Marcus, Kole, Lucky and a whole bunch of Damon's guards. Lily is seated between Damon and I at the head of the table.
"Are you waiting on anyone else?" Val asks Damon, causing everyone else to quiet down.
Just then, the door bell rings out, making Damon stand up from his chair, "Yes, I am."
He leaves the room and re-emerges minutes later with a beautiful young girl. She has dark brown hair and is wearing a short black dress. It takes me a few seconds but then I remember how Damon told me about Luciana and I realize that this is her.
"For those who don't know, this is Luciana Rodriguez. She's the daughter of Andres Rodriguez, Colombian Mafia." Damon speaks before everyone looks to the girl. "She's going to be living here from now on. Why? You don't need to know that yet."
He gestures to the table and she walks over to an empty seat next to Axel. I notice him watching her, his eyes traveling all over her before he blinks and rolls his eyes, turning back to Damon.
"Introductions will be made later. Right now, I called everyone here for a reason." Damon says, his voice commanding the attention of the entire room.
The only one who isn't paying attention is Lily because she's busy playing a game on the iPad that Damon got her.
"Not so long ago, my parents informed me about the Russian Mafia. The Ivanov's murdered my mothers brother, my uncle Felix." Jax and Axel both visibly get tense by what Damon said as my brows furrow. "After they did that, they went into hiding. Many of you know already that the Russians are extremely good at staying hidden. There are rumors going around throughout the other mafias that they're coming out of hiding soon." He looks at everyone who's scattered around the room. "From this moment on, I want everyone to have a bodyguard with them. If you're going out in groups, your bodyguards will go out in groups also. I want double security around the entire place twenty four - seven. Your bodyguards will also be your personal drivers."
Axel barely raises a finger and asks, "So, does this only apply to the girls?"
Damon raises an eyebrow at him and crosses his arms over his chest, "Did you not hear the part where I said, 'everyone'? Do you think just because you're a guy that you're somehow immune to death and females aren't?"
A small laugh catches everyone's attention, making us all look over to Luciana, who quickly clears her throat and looks down to the table.
"Everyone is getting a bodyguard!" Damon speaks louder, keeping his eyes on Axel.
He calls over Mark and Daniel, two of Damon's guards. They both instantly walk to the head of the table with us and stand with their hands in front of them.
"Mark, you're going to be Lily's bodyguard. Daniel, you'll be Roxie's bodyguard." He looks at them with a hard expression. "You will both guard my girls with your life, capisci?"
They both nod their heads before he assigns bodyguards to everyone else.
"Why do we all need bodyguards, though?" Axel questions, making Damon sigh in frustration. "Nobody messes with us. We're one of the most feared mafia families in the world. The Ivanov's should be scared of us."
"It's not about who's scared of who. It's about protecting my family! Just because we're one of the most feared mafia families doesn't mean that I'm going to let my family walk around without protection." He says, annoyance visibly clear in his voice. "Are you really that stupid to think that the Ivanov's won't do shit just because we're the Knights or do you just like to play dumb!?"
Everyone stays silent, not wanting to speak up and anger Damon. Luciana bites her lip while raising her eyes to look between Axel and Damon. Ness has her left hand placed under her chin, seeming to be in deep thought. Jax's phone vibrates, causing him to grab and check it before the corner of his mouth tilts into the smallest hint of a smirk.
Damon shakes his head and walks forward, gaining my attention again, "From now on, you're no longer allowed to be involved in anything regarding this mafia."
Axels mouth parts slightly and he abruptly stands from his chair, "What?! You can't do that, Damon!"
"I just did! Sit your ass the fuck back down!" He points to Axels chair, anger radiating off of him.
Lily looks up at his raised voice and I reach out a hand to grab his own. He slowly starts to calm down and then he looks at all of the guards before telling them a few more things and then dismissing them.
Now that it's just the closest family and Luciana in the room, Damon gently pulls me to stand up beside him.
He places his hand around my waist as everyone looks to us. Lily has now put her iPad down and has her attention to us too.
Damon speaks up first, "Two weeks ago, I took Roxie out. She didn't know where we were going or what was happening. When we got to the location, I surprised her by proposing."
Shocked faces show around the table along with happy faces. Val is wearing the biggest smile on her face and Ness has a hand over her mouth.
"You're lying! Let me see!" Ness says, while jumping up from her chair and running over to us.
I laugh as she grabs my left hand and looks at the ring on my finger.
"Black? Really, boss?" She questions, trying to be serious but the smile of excitement never leaves her face.
"I love it." I tell her with a shrug of my shoulder. "It's unique and I've never seen anyone with a black engagement ring before."
She nods her head and goes back to her seat, a smile still on her face. Now, it's time for us to tell them about my pregnancy.
Speaking up, I say, "We have something else important to share with you all." They give us their full attention again and I take a deep breath. "We're going to have a little baby in the family."
Their mouths drop open and Ness jumps up from her chair once again, "YOU'RE FUCKING LYING!! LET. ME. SEE!!"
She runs up to us again and lifts my shirt up halfway, careful not to show my breasts.
"V!" Damon angrily says, while grabbing my shirt and pulling it back down.
"I can't believe you're going to have a baby!! Oh my god, this is so exciting!!" She yells, not being able to contain her excitement at all.
She happily speed walks back to her chair as Jax raises an eyebrow at her.
"I have one more thing that I want to say." I tell them, causing them to look up once more, including Damon. "I want to get married in a week."
Once more, their mouths drop open.
Damon turns his whole body to me and holds my face in his hands, "In one week?"
I nod my head, slightly nervous, "Yeah but if you don't want to... I mean, we cou-"
He cuts me off with a kiss. It's not a fast and dominating kiss. It's more of a slow and passionate kiss filled with love, making my heart warm.
When he pulls back, he places his forehead against mine, "I'll marry you right now if you want to. I don't care about anything else. I just thought that you might want to plan everything. Have the whole wedding experience."
I smile and shake my head, "That stuff doesn't matter to me. Also, I wanted to get married before my baby bump starts to show and I don't want a big wedding either. I just want it to be us, you know?"
I gesture my hand around the room at everyone, showing him what I meant. He gives me a smirk and kisses my forehead.
Suddenly, the door flies open, causing everyone to look and Daniel runs into the room.
"Boss! We have a problem outside!" He says, making everyone stand as Damon tenses.
"What the fuck is it?!" He questions, already making his way to the door.
"Intruders." Daniel says, and my heart picks up speed.
Not even a second later, gunshots are heard from outside. Damon immediately runs out, the boys and Ness following quickly behind as I grab lily.
I don't want Damon to go, I really don't but I know that he needs to. He would never leave his men out there while he stays hidden safely inside. That's not who he is. I just hope with everything in me that he'll be safe and nothing bad will happen to him.
♾♾♾♾
Happy 18th birthday to Kaira!!🥳
Hope you're having an amazing birthday so far! Thank you so much for reading my book! Sending much love & wishes from Author Lynn!🖤
Wish her a happy birthday!🥰🎉
Had to steal this from @HarlowsCandle.😭😂
I'll see you guys in the next chapter but before I go, Gimme Kiss!😘