Deadly Mafia Bonds

Chapter 4 - Rules

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Miranda

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“Oliver? This is a surprise. We didn’t know you were going to be joining us. We-”

“Have there been any developments?” he rudely cuts me off, with an unsettled look on his face. God, I hate this child.

“Developments?” I ask, confused as to what he’s talking about.

“With Caitlin. Have you found anything?” he clarifies through a clenched jaw, instantly turning my expression into a perplexed one, taken aback by his unexpected and unappreciated concern. I would love nothing more but to tell him to get the hell out of here and mind his own business, but I know better. “No, not yet, but our people are on it. Thank you for your concern.”

“Excuse me,” he mutters, his tone impatient with a disgruntled expression, before taking out his phone as he hurries towards the exit. Huffing, I involuntarily lean on the counter, crossing my arms over my chest while watching him retreat. Just then, Carter comes in, and

I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it. “We have a problem. Oliver’s having his people look for Caitlin,” he whisper yells, rushing towards me, looking spooked.

“What? Why? No one asked for his help.”

“I know… he says he wants to help. I tried telling him we have it covered, but he just won’t back off.”

“Dammit! Carter! We don’t need this.”

“This is not my doing; I didn’t even know he was coming here until a few minutes ago.”

“I know, and I’m not blaming you; I’m… frustrated, okay? Since when does Oliver care about someone other than himself anyway? This is a problem, Carter. You need to do something.”

“What? What can I do? You know I don’t control Oliver.”

“I don’t know, Carter! Just th-”

“Is everything okay?” the words die in my throat as I freeze on the spot, hearing Clint’s voice as he walks into our view.

“What’s going on?” he asks again, advancing toward us, and I quickly turn around, gulping, frustration clearly visible on my face.

“It’s this whole situation, honey. I know we are supposed to stay strong for her, but with every lead that turns into nothing… it becomes harder.”

“I know, honey,” he says, pulling me into a hug, “we’re going to find her,” he reassures, but his tone betrays him as it reflects nothing but gut-wrenching fear. A message comes through on my phone, and we pull back. I look at it, Clint looking at me expectantly, but my fingers take on a life of their own, putting the screen to sleep in panic. “What is it?” he asks, trying to take the phone from me, so he can get a look, but my grip tightens, causing him to frown at me. The message is from Declan. I can’t have him look at it. “What’s wrong?” he asks, and I open and close my mouth, not sure what to say, but just then, Oliver comes rushing in, forcing his gaze away from me. He announces he might have a lead, and my heart stops, the phone no longer my biggest concern.

“My people found some guys who said they gave her a lift last night and dropped her by the Ace of Spades. She told them she was staying in one of the houses behind the club, but she was obviously throwing them off. I had my guys going door to door to all those surrounding houses, just in case she went to one of them, but no one’s seen her. I’m now awaiting footage from the Club’s cameras to see if there’s anything that might help.”

“Thank you, Oliver. That’s the first news we’ve heard since,” Clint says before taking out his phone and stepping away from us.

“Who are you calling?” I ask, following behind him. “Declan. So he can explain to me what the hell it is that he’s been doing. How is it that Oliver, who just found out, has already gotten a lead while he’s been at it all night but found nothing?”

“s**t!” I mutter under my breath as he walks away, placing the phone on his ear.

“Oliver? Can I get you anything?” I ask, turning around to face the infuriating bastard who's busy ruining my plans.

“No, thank you,” he declines and walks out to the terrace. I glance at Carter, who’s also looking at me, before turning around and walking to the kitchen with him following closely behind. As soon as we walk inside, I take out my phone to look at what Declan sent.

“s**t!”

“What? What is it?” Carter asks, walking around the island as I look at the phone, frowning, and I show him. It’s a photo of four men, and one has a girl in his arms. We can’t see their faces, but we can see enough to tell that the girl he's carrying is Caitlin.

“Who are these men? Is she dead?”

“I don’t know. Stand by the door and tell me when Clint’s coming. I need to call Declan.” I instruct, and he quickly walks to the exit. “Dammit!” I curse, frustrated, as Declan’s phone keeps putting me on hold. “I can’t get through to him.”

“He’s probably still speaking with Clint; just give him a few minutes.”

“I don’t have a few minutes. If Oliver gets hold of this footage, it’s all over for us. You need to do something about this, Carter. Oliver needs to be stopped.” I tell him through a clenched jaw, agitated to the point of busting.

“f**k! I’m going to try, mom, but he’s so bloody determined for some bloody reason,” he replies, running his hands over his face in frustration. Both of us are anxious right now.

“Why? Why is he so determined, anyway? I’ve never seen him even talk to Caitlin.”

“I don’t know. I just wish I hadn’t told him,” Carter replies, massaging his temples, but my eyes widen as realization dawns on me. Caitlin got pregnant because she slept with someone at her party. Oliver was there.

“Carter,” I call him to get his attention, and he looks at me. “What if he’s the father?”

“Of what? Caitlin’s baby? No way. Oliver doesn’t even like Caitlin; she’s not his type,” he replies, scrunching his face.

“To date, maybe, but what if he slept with her that night? What if he’s the father, Carter? Don’t just dismiss this. I’m doing everything I can; you need to do everything you can too. Talk to him, find out. And while at it, stick to him like glue and get him to tell you everything he finds before he acts on it.” I pick up my phone to try Declan again.

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Lucah

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“What? What’s wrong?” my sister asks, sitting next to the girl as I walk inside the room. “I’ve just gotten word that people are looking for you.” I speak, looking at the girl, “at first, it was the cops, and they got the footage of Zach and the guys when they were taking you to the car. But after that, people who weren't the cops came looking for the same footage, but they didn’t find it as it was mysteriously deleted. I don’t know what you’re into or who you are, but I know only dangerous people have that kind of people working for them. You're not going to be part of it. Pack your things; we are leaving now,” I say the last part, looking at my sister.

“Lucah!” she exclaims, with an incredulous and disappointed look in her eyes.

“We are leaving, Luna. Pack your things.” I glance over at the girl to see tears coming out of her eyes and walk out of the room.

“What is wrong with you?!” Luna shouts, following behind me.

“She’s not our problem, Luna. I reply, not looking at her, taking out my phone to notify my pilot that we’re leaving, but she snatches the phone just as I start to speak.

“She has no one, Lucah; her stepfather wants to take her baby away. We have to help her.”

“We don’t have to do s**t!”

“What’s gotten into you?! I don’t even know who you are right now,” she says, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. I sigh, my heart clenching over the hurt look in her eyes.

“Look,” I softly say, taking her hands in mine, “I will pay for the hotel. She can stay here for as long as she needs until she figures out what to do. But, Luna, it’s obvious that this girl is mixed up with some dangerous people. We-”

“You aren't concerned about how dangerous these people are, Lucah! We both know who the dangerous one is here, so don’t try to act like you’re afraid,’ she says, cutting me off.

“Fine, I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I have to go around involving myself in things I shouldn’t. I’m not enjoying this, Luna. But someone has to make the tough decisions, and that someone is me. We were leaving the day after tomorrow anyway. What were we going to do with her then?”

“We can take her with us!”

“What? No!” I let go of her hands, “that’s definitely not happening.” Is she out of her mind?

“Please, brother,” she says, grabbing onto my arms, “do it for me, for my sanity, please.”

“Luna, please, let go of me. I’ll do anything for you, and you know that, but I won’t do this.” I tell her, removing her hands from me.

“Fine, then I’ll stay,”

“That’s not happening. We are leaving. I will carry you to the jet myself if I have to.”

“Then, I’ll keep coming back to look for her. Don’t you see, there’s a reason why I wanted to come here all of a sudden? There’s a reason why we found her. You said it yourself, the people who are after her are dangerous, which means only we can help her. I will never rest not knowing what happened or where she ended up, Lucah,” she says, taking my hands again, the tears that have been threatening to fall finally falling, causing my heart to clench again. I can’t stand seeing her cry.

“I’ll get her a place to stay. I’ll ensure they’re taken care of until she can get on her feet, but we can’t take her with us. She’s a person, not a pet. We can’t just take her; besides, you know our family. Our lives aren't exactly danger-free either.”

“But we have each other. We look out for each other; she’s alone. We’ll be on the other side of the world. What if these dangerous people find them? Plea-” Luna stops mid-sentence, her eyes trailing to the door, and I follow them.

“Please don’t leave me,” the girl says, advancing towards us, holding her baby close to her chest, “she’s right; they’ll find me. There isn’t a place they can’t reach here. Please, help me.”

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Oliver

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“f**k!” I throw my phone on the seat beside me before leaning on my knees and taking my face in my hands.

“You okay?” I hear Carter asking, but I ignore him.

“Oliver?” he calls out to me, and I sit upright before leaning back, running a hand through my hair in frustration. “The lead went cold. The footage has been lost.”

“What? How?”

“Some story about their systems crashing. This is a f*****g nightmare,” I mutter the last part to myself, but judging by Carter's sudden inquisitive expression, he heard me.

“Her father’s people are doing everything they can. I’m sure Declan will come up with a new lead soon,” he reassures, but it means nothing to me. Their security people were notified minutes after she ran away. They have been searching all night but haven’t come up with a single lead yet.

“Please, he’s f*****g useless,” I reply, picking up my phone as the driver opens the door for me. We step out of the vehicle and walk inside the hotel. The Hoults offered me one of their guest rooms, but I declined. I can’t stand being around them any longer than necessary, not after what they did. Because of them, Caitlin is in the wind. As soon as we enter the suite, I head straight for my liquor and pour myself a big glass, doing the same for Carter.

“Thank you,” he says as I hand him the alcohol. We proceed to the sitting area.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Mmh,”

“Why are you so bothered by this? I mean, it’s not like you and Caitlin were friends or anything.” Carter asks, looking me in the eye as I take a seat across from him, “look, it’s crazy, and I said as much, but you’re being weird about this whole thing, and people are starting to come up with some pretty crazy theories.” He adds, shrugging his shoulders while crossing his leg over the other.

“Like?”

“Like the possibility of you being Caitlin’s child’s….”

“Father?” I finish the sentence for him, seeing how he had to pause and sip on his drink before finishing it.

“Are you, man?” he asks, taking another sip of his whiskey.

“I am,” I confess, and he almost chokes on the liquid, his face immediately turning pale.

“Wha-what?” he asks, setting his glass on the table, “you are the dude, she can’t remember?”

“No, I’m the dude whose face she can’t remember. She remembers me; she just doesn’t remember my face.” I rectify, not liking the way he’s making it sound.

“Why? I thought you didn’t like her.”

“Seriously?” I raise my eyebrow at him with an incredulous look in my eyes. Do I like every girl I f**k?

“Fine, stupid question,” he says, raising his hands in surrender, “I’m just shocked; I… Why didn’t you come forward then? Why did you deny her even after finding out she’s pregnant, especially knowing it meant your son being given away for adoption? I mean, you want your…” He trails off, probably seeing the expression on my face, “You wanted the child to be given away?” he adds, sounding more like a statement than a question.

“My father and I are tight; you know that. And part of what makes us so is the trust he’s placed in me. He doesn’t interfere with how I live my life. He trusts that they brought me up well enough to enable me to make my own decisions, but even so, there are rules. And the number one unnegotiable rule is never to impregnate out of wedlock. I hate it cos I know it’s not even about him wanting me to do the right thing but about him wanting to fix his mistakes through me, but there’s nothing I can do. He doesn’t have many rules, but he doesn’t compromise on the few he has. If you break it, there are consequences. If he were to find out, he’d force me to marry her, and there's no way in hell I’m letting that happen.”