Duke and Melody are in the living room, watching the television. They have had very little to do and so they are passing time by watching an episode of why women kill. Melody feels like the couch isn't comfortable enough for her and so what she does is put herself over him so that he holds her like she is a baby. They are like that when they hear a knock on the door and they turn to each other. " Are you expecting someone?" She asks. " I never expect anyone, are you?""No." She shakes her head negatively. " Let me get it. " She stands up and he walks to the door. Logan is looking at the front yard covered with well-mowed grasses and turns back to the door. He takes a step back when he sees that it's Duke who has answered the door. " Hi. " Duke's voice is cheerful and he has a beautiful smile on his face. " How can I help you?"Confusion sweeps Logan's face as he tilts his head to the side. He can't understand why the guy who came to his office and threatened to kill him is all
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
When Melody gets home, Duke was not expecting to see her. Usually, it's till nightfall before she comes back when she goes to see her family. He has just made himself ramen and is in the kitchen when she walks into the house. "Hey, you are back so soon. " He stands up to walk to the front to hug her, but he notices the distant look in her eyes. He kisses the side of her face, but she doesn't even notice. She has her bag in her hand. " Hey, babe? Are you okay?" He holds her shoulder. She blinks and looks at him. " Logan Russell is a Mafia. " She tells him. Duke looks back at her. Of course, he knows, but he can't behave like he knows or she is going to freak out. This has to be news to him too. " Really?" He tilts his head like he doubts what he has said. " Who told you that?"" My grandfather. " She says. " He thinks that I am going to get in trouble."" No, you are going to be fine. " He waves off. " Duke?" She sighs. " Do you know what these Mafia guys do? They kill people,
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.
The look in Duke's eyes is something that she has seen before. His eyes are dark and for the first time, she dares to say that she is scared of her husband. She reaches out and touches his face again. It still feels like Duke, but where did Duke go?"Duke, promise me that you are okay. " She begs. " What happened in here? What happened to you?"He sighs and looks down and then back at her. " I'm not fine, no." He says. " I'm in a really dark place. "" Can you tell me about it?"" Some other time, but not right now. " He shakes his head. " But I need you to do something for me. " She nods. Anything to help him, anything that will make him feel better. " What do you want me to do?" She asks. He is more occupied with taking off his jacket than answering her question. He dumps it on the ground and holds her hand. He takes he to the wall and then puts both of his hands on the sides of her head. His face is dangerously close and she has a clearer view of his eyes and what she sees se
" 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
Her mother stops with her hand going under her elbow, the cringe on her face shows that she has just found out that wasn't supposed to say that. The only reason that she said it in the first place was that she thought that maybe Duke mentioned it to Melody, but now she can see that she has put herself into trouble. The wild look in Melody's eyes pushes her so much that she wants to run out of the room. Melody stands up slowly and walks toward her with her eyes looking like they have settled on a prey. " Mum, what did you just say?" Melody asks. " Um, what?" She laughs, trying to hide her fear. " I didn't say anything. "Melody grabs her mother's arm so roughly that she yelps in pain. Melody's fingers dig into her skin. " Ouch, you are hurting me. " She winches and tries to snatch her hand back, but Melody has an iron grip. " You slapped Duke?" She demands to know. " Answer me, right now!" " Let go of me, you silly girl. " She yells at Melody. " Or have you forgotten that I am
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
Tonya is finally going to go home. After a few months of hiding away in an orphanage, she is finally going back home to her family. Duke being too busy with the new government, won't be able to take her home. Eden is given this task and she is the best option given that Tonya is closest to her. So with a huge number of military escorts, they are on their way to Padre island. Eden is sitting beside Tonya in the private plane. Tonya is asleep beside her and she has her head on Eden's lap. Eden gently strokes her head as she keeps her eyes on the white clouds. She has recovered over the week, but she never attended Ansel's burial. The plane has a limited number of passengers, but it's full. She and Tonya are the only civilians here and Eden feels safe. None of the soldiers here are corrupt, all the corrupt ones have been sacked and it was like a cleansing for the whole army. The pilot soon announces that the plane is getting ready to land, and they have come to their destinat
Mister Jimmy looks scared, but he manages to keep himself composed. Eden still has the gun pressed on his head. " That's a very complicated question, do you want to sit down?" He offers. "No." She grunts. " Get talking."He glances over to his son's wife who is totally horrified. "I'm going to call the police!" She screams as if Eden is supposed to scare off the police. " Yeah, you do that." Eden scoffs. " Your father-in-law is supposed to be in jail anyway." " Miss Eden, if you can just tell me what this is about." He begs. " We don't have to settle it this way." " You heard my question, start to answer!" She fires at him, she is losing her patience little by little. "Okay, okay, okay." He gulps down the air. He looks at his son's wife and gives her a nod. She reluctantly goes up the stairs and they are left alone. She lowers the gun and he breathes out in relief. " I'm not dropping this for too long if you don't start talking." He nods and adjusts his seat. " Miss Eden
Now that he has sent the gun in her hand he knows that she isn't joking. His hands are raised in surrender as he backs away into his seat, the one he was sitting on. Eden has managed to cut the tape around her hands and now she is the one with the gun. " You know that the other guy is just outside, right?" He reminds her. " I could whistle right now and you are done for."" Go ahead, do it." She dares, poking the gun against his forehead. " If I don't blow your fucking brains out." He laughs, he behaves so much like Ansel that it kind of creeps her out. Eden has her eyes on him and her ears opened to listen whenever someone walks in. Felix's eyes are boring through her, he is like reading through what is going through her mind. " I get it now." He sounds defeated. " You are a lot smarter than we thought."Eden tilts her head, it's now her turn to smile at him. " It took you a while to get it right, didn't you?" She mocks. " I see what's going on here." He nods. " Your brother
Eden is on the ground, her eyes are shut and she has no consciousness of what has happened to her. The one who has hit her looks up as Ansel stares at him. " I'm sorry, boss." He apologizes. " She was going to cause trouble for us."The other one appears from the front door, he looks at his partner. " It's a good thing you got her when you did, Nate." He nods at him. He who she just entered now is Felix. He has worked for Ansel for a long time and even with his father before. He is close to Ansel and unlike the rest, he has a way to get Ansel to listen to him. " Felix, you got him up to it?" Ansel turns to him, not very happy. " I told you I was going to handle it."" I'm sorry, but you could have taken care of her if you wanted a long time ago." Felix looks down at her. " The fact that she is still alive is enough to tell that you needed a push."He looks at Nate, who looks as if Ansel is going to kill him for what he has done. " Tie her up with duct tape." He instructs. " The
**BREAKING NEWS**** The whole country is in a state of confusion as much evidence has been released against the president and some members of the government and top military. He has been forced to resign and the vice president has just been sworn in.**** Many arrests have been made to link some top businessmen that have been in dubious dealings with the president. **Eden is watching the news from her bed. She takes the remote and turns the volume even higher, she wants to hear all she can. Duke wasn't kidding when she told him that there will be a cleansing. It has been just a few days later and it has come to pass just as he had promised her. She sits in her bed, biting her nails as she tries to concentrate on the images on the screen and what they are saying. ** The new president, as an act of transparency, has released the names of those arrested.**Eden holds her breath as the names appear on the screen. The military officers first, there are a whole lot of them, including
Eden can't believe that this is about to happen. It feels like she has just heard that the rapture is about to come. " When was this decided?" She asks Logan. " I don't know. " He answers truthfully. " Duke just told me what I have told you and that's all I know."Her heart is going crazy. Yes, she wants for the evil among Mafia to end, but she doesn't want Ansel to go down with them. " I have to tell Ansel." She says to herself. " I can't let him fall with the rest."She is already walking away when Logan catches her hand and stops her. "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that." He apologizes. " So you expect me to stand still and watch Ansel get destroyed?" She is agitated. " Let go of me!" She is pulling attention towards them and he has no choice but to pull her to a secret part of the building. She shrugs him off violently. "Listen to me, you have to listen to me." He implores her. " We both should be grateful that Duke saved us from getting caught in the net. Telling Ansel
He was going to be here tonight, she knew and had prepared for that. He has been ignoring her all these weeks, but she hasn't done anything to get his attention. She didn't come here with the intent to get to speak to him, no she came for the meeting and she was going to leave afterward. Now he has entered the room with a lady she has never seen, and she is trying her best to keep cool with it. It would have been better if that was just it, but that lady was having her hands all over him and she started to find it hard to breathe. She didn't take herself to be a very hard kind of person, who gets jealous easily, but here it is. She struggles not to let her jealousy show as he walks to the table. He has a blank look on his face and acts as if Eden is not in her seat. The lady on the other hand seems to be so drilled that she can't stop smiling, it's like this is the best thing that has ever happened to her, this was the sole reason for her existence and coming into this world.
After a long drive, Duke returns home. It's kind of a relief because he is living alone, without those soldiers around to scare him anymore and it comes in quite handy now that he has his own tiny family. He steps out of the car with the crunchies and walks to the house. " Hello, I'm home." He announces loudly. Melody appears from the kitchen with a spatula in her hand and an exhausted look on her face. " Oh God, your back." She wipes sweat from her eyebrow. " Didn't know you would be back so quickly."" I had luck on my side, I found it." He lifts it up for her to see and her face lights up in delight. They walk towards each other and he gives it to her as she places a kiss on the side of his cheek. That was a tease, she kisses him on his lips and he giggles, he is delighted. " I would go out and scavenge for other crunchies if you would kiss me again." She laughs, he is funny when he wants to be. "Oh, I won't do that to my husband." She shakes her head. " But here is anot
Eden hasn't been confused like this in a long time. Ansel hasn't called her since he asked her to leave his house and also she has been too scared to try to call him too. That doesn't mean that hasn't been thinking about what happened in his house, the confrontation, and how she blurted out that she loves him. She might have imagined it, but it's possible that he got kind of scared about what she said because then he refused to speak to her again. Ansel might be madly crazy, but she didn't lie. It might have been just sex and fooling around for him, but she fell for him a long time ago. That's why has ignored every sign that proved to be a red flag in him. She is still hoping that he is going to give up his bad side. She doesn't want to think of him ending up like the bad guys in movies, she hates it. This had led her to some kind of depression and that's why she is still in her room when it's almost midday. She hasn't gone out of her room and she has canceled all meetings tha