She watches her mother's mouth move as she tries to get the words out, but it doesn't work. Her mother, still stammering, walks to the cooking pot and turns off the heat. Melody ignores her and continues to chop up her tomatoes, but this time around, she does them impetuously, in irregular sizes and when she is done, she dumps everything into a bowl and washes her hands in the sink. She turns to leave the kitchen, but her mother grabs her arm, stopping her. " Melody, what do you mean your debts were cleared?" Her voice is low, subdued. " How? When? By who? Duke?"Melody is so irritated that she shrugs her mother off and takes a step away from her. " You've said it already. Duke is a church rat and we don't have millions of dollars sitting in an account. " She fires. " Does it even matter? The thing is that I am not a debtor anymore and I am fucking happy about it. " " Who did it?" " The kind owner of Russell Bank, and he has become an investor who has invested twenty million do

33. Duke knows that she came here with some kind of trouble up her sleeves, but he didn't expect her to start with him being without a job. " Excuse me?" He asks. He is trying to cover his pain with a smile. " I demand to know why my daughter goes off every day, working hard, only to come back home to you – a full-grown man – who does absolutely nothing. " I'm trying so hard to get a job. " He defends himself. His voice is calm even though hers is threatening to pull out the roof. " Liar!!" She accuses him. " You are only here to drain my daughter of her wealth, I know this!!""That's not true. " He shakes his head. " Melody and I are trying our best to make this work for us. We are struggling now, but we are going to get better. "" When?" She laughs in annoyance. " When will things get better for you guys, Duke Xavier? Just when will my daughter stop feeding your lazy ass?!"He doesn't answer immediately because he tells his anger growing like a pot of soup that is boiling over.

" It's just going to be for a few days and I am going to be back. " He explains. She doesn't look pleased at all. Even if it's for a few hours, she doesn't want to be away from him. "But why?" She is very close to tears. " Why do you have to go?"" It's very urgent. " He doesn't say anything beyond that. She stops and bites her lips. " Is it your family?" She blinks. " I have told you before, I don't have any family members. " He pushes his hair back. " You are the only one who is my family. "Yes, he didn't tell her that his family was gruesomely murdered, he just told her that they don't exist. She stands up and puts on one of his shirts and wears it. It's bigger than her small frame and her hands are lost in the sleeves. " I'm coming with you. " She announces. " And don't even try to stop me. " " No, I'm not going to try to stop you. " He shakes his head. " But who the hell is going to run your business for you? Your investor has put a lot of money into it and I know that

If Duke is being really honest with himself, Melody is the first girl that he has loved with his whole heart. Yes, their union wasn't just too long ago, but he can literally take a bullet for the girl. And there is Renee, she is the closest thing Duke had ever had to love. She was this fragile girl who came into the army even when she looked like she didn't have any business in the place. She aced the tests, but couldn't keep up with the physical demand and that made her to be mocked and resented by many. He took it upon himself to protect her and became her only Friend. She picked up and she has made a good name for herself in the army. Last he heard of her, she was a captain. She was a sweet girl and gave him stress-relieving sex when they were in the army, but his priority has changed. Melody is now his priority. " Duke?" She repeats as if she can't believe her eyes. Before he could find his tongue and say something to her, she got up and jumped into his arms. He wasn't exp

Bloom follows her into the house. The men are walking out of the room with the broken television and he moves aside for them to use the door first. He follows after her, she is touching the new chairs and rubbing her fingers against each other. " This feels expensive. " She hums and looks at him. " Where on earth did Duke get the money to buy these?" " Insurance. " She reminds him. His answer doesn't make total sense, but as long as she doesn't push it, he is not going to have to give any further explanation. She drops her bag on the new chair and walks into the kitchen. He is still in the sitting room, thinking about the best way to bring up that " friend" of hers. She returns with two cups in her hands. The scent of coffee reaches his nostrils. " Coffee?" It's not really a request as she is already handing the cup to him. He thanks her as he takes it, but he only watches her sip from her cup. " So this friend of yours. " He hopes he isn't coming off as too weird. " What's bet