FALLING FOR THE DON: A DANGEROUS AFFAIR

Bad company

LILLY'S POV

Going home from Bali was nerve-wracking, Not only because of what had happened to my apartment but also because I knew my landlord was furiously awaiting my arrival. I knew that all this was somehow going to end up being my fault. It wasn’t like I could explain myself to the landlord and make her understand that Max was the one who had gotten me in this situation because then she would ask why I was still with him if I knew he was in trouble and associated with dangerous people.

Of course, she asked me where I was when this happened and even asked me why I hadn’t told her I would be leaving. The only excuse I could come up with was that the trip was a last-minute thing and it was an emergency.

I was a little upset with Max for what had happened to my apartment but at the same time, I didn’t want to keep bringing it up. He regretted the fact that this had happened to me and he also felt like this was all his fault so I had to give him some grace because of that.

After returning from our trip I started packing my things in preparation for the move. Max had taken on the responsibility of getting me a place to stay and he told me that he had already found a place for me. it was all happening very fast but I didn't have any complaints about that because I kept feeling like these people that had broken in would come back to finish the job. The landlord also couldn’t wait for me to leave because she was now convinced that I was involved with some bad people. She even thought that I was either selling or taking drugs and because of that, I couldn’t have any visitors while I was here.

That is why I was startled when I heard a knock on my window. I opened the curtain a little bit to see who was on the other side and was shocked to see Max slouching looking as if he was about to drop to the ground.

“What the hell happened to you?” I asked him as I ran out of the house to where he was. He was now lying on the ground blood spilling out of his mouth. Every inch of his body was covered in blood, I couldn’t even figure out where he was wounded

"What happened….Max… please talk to me” I pleaded, tears streaming down my face. I had never been so scared in my life and I didn’t even know what to do. He had been okay a few hours ago when I spoke to him.

“Ph…pho..ne” he finally managed to say.

“My phone, I left it inside,” I said holding onto his face and fighting the urge to open his eyes so that he could look at me.

“Mine…” he said and then the phone vibrated

“Hello,” I said in panic

“Lilly, I will send you the address right now” Luca sounded like he was in a rush or something. I couldn’t understand what was going on. Why was he sending me an address when Max needed a hospital?

“Come on Max, I will call the ambulance” I suggested and he opened his eyes and shook his head weakly.

“No…” he argued with a with a weak voice.

“I don’t understand you, you are dying and yet you chose to come here. Why didn’t you just go to the hospital?” I asked him frustrated by the fact that I was the one who had to deal with this crap.

“Lilly, no doctor,” he said coughing up some more blood.

“Then what must I do, I would take you inside but my landlord won’t have that. I don’t know what to do,” I said running my fingers through my hair in frustration.

“Let’s go..” he said lifting his head as if he was about to get up but he was weak. He managed to take out his car keys and then placed them in my hand

“What? Max I can’t drive, I have never driven a car in my life before!” I exclaimed as I tried to put the keys back in his pocket but he was now unresponsive.

For a moment, I panicked thinking he was dead but I noticed that his chest was still rising showing that he was still alive.

I knew that I couldn’t take him to my apartment because that would not only get me evicted with immediate effect but the landlord was most likely going to call the police if I did. What explanation would I give if I was asked what happened to Max? Luca hadn’t even said anything to me when he called, he had only told me to drive to the safe house as if I even knew what that was. That wasn’t even the concerning part about this, the concerning part was the fact that Max had a safe house. This alone spoke volumes about the kind of man he was.

I struggled to place him at the back of his suburban and then got into the driver's seat. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for whatever was going to happen after this. Tears streaming down my face once more, I started the car. I had only learned the basics of driving a car after I finished high school but I had never really gotten behind the wheel. Now that I was, this was the scariest thing that I had ever done.

I started the car and started driving slowly. I have never been so scared in my life, my greatest fear was that I would crash this car and end up killing Max. What would they do to me if he died in my hands?

A fact that I had to face and make peace with was that I didn’t know the man who was in the back seat of the car. It was the same man that I had fallen in love with and yet right now I felt like he was just a stranger to me. Was this the life that I wanted for myself? Was this what I signed up for when I agreed to be in a relationship with him?

After what felt like an eternity I finally arrived at the safe house. It was a secluded house that was literally in the middle of nowhere and I knew that if anything happened to me here no one would know how to find me. I hadn’t even told the landlady that I was leaving, I hadn’t even told my friend that I was going away with Max.

“Get…" Max whispered in a strained voice.

“Get what?’ I asked him as I ran out of the can and got to his side.

“get me a wheelchair….I can’t walk" he said and I looked around to see if there was one close by.

There was no wheelchair anywhere close by so I ran to the door and keyed in the pin code that had been sent to me and the door unlocked. The wheelchair was set next to the door as if it had been placed there in preparation for this moment. I didn’t he time to take in the inside of the house because I was rushing to Max but I did notice that there was a first and kit that was set next to the wheelchair.

I quickly ran back to Max and helped him on the chair. He was so heavy, even though he was trying to help ease the burden he was still very heavy and I almost fell with him while helping him to the chair. When I finally managed to get him outside of the car, I failed to place him on the chair and instead dropped him next to it. He groaned in pain and I mumbled a sorry. Tears streaming down my face and feeling defeated and useless, I helped him up and finally managed to place him on the chair.

I then wheeled him into the house and now I had the hard task of putting him in bed. I only had one thing to be grateful for, the one wasn’t a double-story house. I walked around the house to find a bedroom and located it at the end of the hallway. It was the only bedroom there was. The house was big and although there were two other doors, they turned out to be the office and a gum room.

I walked around the room and took it in. It was a beautiful modern room that had minimal decorations. It was clear that it was meant for Max because of the colors. Thinking of Max made me drop on the bed and I started sobbing. What if he didn’t me it? What was I going to do?

I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a man who was possibly on the verge of death and the only thing I had at my disposal was a first aid kit. I didn’t even know what was wrong with him. I knew he was wounded but I couldn’t figure out where he was wounded because of all the blood that was covering him.

“This is not the time to be breaking down” I whispered to myself.