WARMING UP THE BILLIONAIRE'S COLD HEART

THE TRAGEDY

Amelia held the basket filled with the sailor’s lunch and informed Connor that she was going on the delivery to the sailors but he dropped what he was doing to help her out instead

“Why don’t you let me take it this time? You took it to them in the morning” he said approaching her

“No, it’s just around the corner, you should just stay here instead, I will be back soon” she refused and head for the door

“I don’t know why they can’t walk to eat at the bakery, I really don’t like this stress you are going through to deliver every meal to them, they have legs and it's working perfectly” he pouted

“by chance are you jealous? do you think someone will snatch me from you?” she teased him

“I trust you and that’s all that matters, you won't follow someone else since they are not Connor Owens” he replied with a bright smile which she returned cheerfully

“I’ll be back soon so just take care of what you are doing and wait for me” she said opening the door while Connor moved closer to the window to watch her go

The afternoon shone beautifully on the not too busy street of Prattville on a certain Saturday as people walked either in groups, pairs or alone down the slightly slope road in front of Happy Bakery. Connor Owens watched as the people chatted and laughed while passing and could only wish his own companion was there with him, the bright star but since she went out on a delivery, he has no choice but to wait till she's back

He folded his hands over his plain white shirt and black checkered trouser while enjoying the cool dry breeze accompanying the mild hotness of the sun, his black apron hugged his waist as if they came with his body as free accessories from heaven. After having his fill of passerby’s parade and the soft falling of leaves, he finally closed his upturned eyes with slightly brow eye color and inhaled the fresh air blowing from the tree planted by the side of the bakery

“This is a perfect weather for breads and some cold chocolate” he muttered before opening his eyes sharply, his brain knocked a reminder into his head at the thought of bread

He ran inside the store to pick up bowls which he placed on a metallic cart with a tray like surface. He went around calling the names of the recipes as he picked them up one by one dropping them on top of the cart

“King Arthur’s all-purpose flour, yeast, honey, salt” he mentioned picking him into the cart and wheeled it to the processing room.

He brought out his jotting note which contained the recipes of different bakery products that he had learnt. After a few page flips, he finally got his destination where he wrote the process and additional tips of how to make baguettes, the only bread proving difficult for him.

He could bake all sorts of bread excellently except this particular bread and this is famous bread among the sailors who stops at their bakery to eat bread whenever they are around.

He began to follow the additional tips and finally finished the proofing and sent the bread into the oven for baking. The bread finally was done after several minutes and he brought out the tray using the heat pad gloves.

“Oh goodness, I made it this time around, it's a success” he muttered with love in his eyes at the sight of the beautiful piece of art lying in front of him

“I did it! I can make baguettes now” he jumped up ecstatically round the bakery at the success of his first well-made baguette bread. Of course bread baking was what he was good at but this particular bread never cooperated with him and now that he finally got the trick, he was more than happy and he couldn't wait to show it off to Amelia

He lifted his eyes to see his bright star, Amelia running towards the bakery with her hands up in a wave through the glass door at the bakery’s entrance

“I can’t wait to show this off to her, she will be so happy to see me make it successfully” he said joyfully as he picked the tray to run towards her and show her

“Connor! Connor!! Connor!!” she called out as she ran towards him in fear and he was also eager to meet her

Bang! Bang!

His feet stopped at the sound of gunshot and he wondered what was happening for gunshot to be heard in the broad daylight, before he could blink his eyes, another sound came piercing through

Bang!

The gunshot from nowhere sent her flying before she landed on the ground, blood seeping out of her chest through the wound. His bright star dipped and went dim in front of him that instant, Amelia fell to the ground covered with blood right before him and he didn’t know when both the tray and bread parted ways with his hands, he was shocked at whatever was happening in front of him because he was still trying to process what just happened

“Ame… ame.. Amelia” he repeated in a murmur before he yelled at the loudest volume of his voice when he saw her blood flowing on the ground

“Ameliaaaa!!!!!” he roared and headed for the door when a hand dragged him back into the bakery

“You must never step outside, it's so dangerous for you to go outside this moment” the voice said to him before grabbing him tight in order to hold him back because he was struggling to break free

While he was struggling to break free from the hold, he saw the back of a huge man made of muscles, his back was as wide and bulky like a well-built clay oven, as he was about to disappear through the corner of the street, the wind blew up his brown shirt and exposed the scorpion tattoo peeking just at the elbow side

"Let me go! I have to go outside" he yelled so loud as he watched the man disappear but his neck was hit with a hand which made him pass out into the person's arm

That was the last thing he saw at the bakery before he passed out.

****

Richy and Rollins were informed about what happened and they went straight to the police to report before heading back to the bakery, the police came along with them and just as they confronted them at the inn, the sailors opened fire on both the police and the parents, it turned out they were mafias in disguise and not sailors like everyone thought. They were in town to retrieve their boss’ money from one of the rich men staying there because he robbed them of it after buying drugs and refused to pay the money. It was the rich man’s corpse they dragged out of the inn to dispose in the sea when Amelia saw them, she thought no one saw her but one of the men was passing through the balcony of the other building and saw when she gasped at the sight, she delivered the bread and went out of the inn while running to inform Connor so he shot her instantly to keep her mouth shut, he could not afford their secret being let out

“Why did you shoot the poor girl? She should have been threatened not killed” one of them confronted the killer and he scoffed

“Have you forgotten the rules? Erase any witness or evidence and I did just that, why should she be an exception?” the man said without remorse

“But still, you wasted that kid’s life, her father has been nothing but nice to every sailors that come here, what the hell did you just do? Do you think with your ass? Why are your damn wretched hands faster than your dim brain? you shouldn't have shot her no matter what!” one of them yelled at him

“Do you want to lament here or move on? I can hand you over to the police if that's what you want” the man asked packing up his bag amidst all the scolding

“What of the kid? Will you leave the bullet in her body? you know it can be traced back to us right?” one of them asked from the side of the room

“Trust me, it has been removed and she has been discarded so you need not to worry” the man replied slinging the bag across his shoulder before the sound of the siren blared through.

"The police are here so you need to take cover" one of the men announced and everyone scrambled to take cover before the killer stepped outside and opened fire on everyone to their surprise

"he's a nutjob, he's not supposed to open fire" others cursed before moving out with him and they shot their way to shore

They opened fire on the police to have their way through the bakery and ran to the deck, escaped with the ship they brought and left Prattville with immediate effect.

For days, both men were in grief of losing their children, Amelia’s dead body was not even found because she was taken away so as to remove the bullet which could serve as evidence and someone else took Connor after knocking him out at the bakery when he witnessed the scene.

The police tried their best to search for both kids but gave up after months of trying, Rollins finally closed down the bakery permanently and left Prattville after three months while Richy vowed to stay there forever in case his son comes back anytime.

“I’m so sorry we had to part way like this, I hope we can see again someday” Richy said as Rollins got into his car

“We were both dragged through the pain of losing our children, what more do I have to do in life? But still I can’t live miserably for the sake of my daughter, I’m going to find her killer no matter what and make sure they face jsutice” Rollins replied clenching his teeth and fist

“I don’t even know if my kid is dead or alive but I will search for him with all it takes” Richy remarked

“Let’s both try our best to stay safe and alive until then, I know we will get to the bottom of this someday” Rollins said and they bumped fist

“I really miss the sight of the kids, there were always so happy and full of fun, always around each other like leeches and do that what is required of them without anyone having to push them, this is such a pain” he said scanning the environment with a sad expression

“I’m just glad we allowed them to enjoy the little time they had with each other, that was the best thing I could do for my boy and I’m glad I didn’t make him have that regret” Richy added with tears laced in his eyes

“I hope they rest peacefully and beautifully anywhere they are, we will fight this fight on their behalf” Rollins remarked before he entered his car and zoomed off

“to that assassin, don’t you ever rest wherever you may be because I’m going to find you and kill you for what you did to our kids, I swear it” Richy muttered as he watched his friend’s car disappear in the distance.

The revenge journey he was about to embark on, he doesn’t even know where to start since he didn’t know anything about the sailors that came that day but he believed that if he try his best at least for his son, he will get to find out somehow and do the needful on behalf of his son and his friend's daughter, he turned to go back home when he bumped shoulder with a man on a black cap, he had a large scar on his left cheek which was peeping out of the face mask covering his face

“Excuse me, You dropped this” Richy said to him as he bent down to pick the small brown envelope that dropped from his pocket

“Thank you so much” the man muttered as he received it from his stretched arm and turned to leave immediately

“I haven’t seen you in this neighborhood before, who are you?” he asked trying to see his face but the cap wouldn’t let him

“I just moved to the house beside the bakery recently, I have to go now so please excuse me” the man replied and turned to leave Rollins who was still wondering whoever it might be.