#Book 2 Chapter 27
I brushed Brylle’s back once more before turning back to Theo and the others.
Eventually, Brylle fell asleep, so I let him lay down here on my bed in the infirmary.
” Where are the others?” I asked them.
It’s been an hour since Keian left, I think?
And he hasn’t come back yet up until now.
“They bought some food,” Katie replied to me.
“Where do they even buy the food that took them such a long time? There are people cooking here in the mansion. Did they go back to Palawan to-”
Palawan…
I realized everything happened in Palawan…
I ended up staring straight as my mind took a trip down the horrible memory lane.
I sighed.
” Ow! Gaius, what’s your deal!?” I noticed Diego stepped on Kuya Kayden’s foot to make him stop speaking.
Diego flashed a smile at me before walking closer.
” Are you sure you’re alright, Nass?”
I tried to force out a smile in return.
“My body still aches a little, but I’m doing just fine.”
“Right, I almost forgot.” I turned to Theo. He walks over to me to check on my vitals.
They might’ve forgotten earlier out of surprise at my sudden awakening.
“How many hours I’ve been unconscious, exactly?” I asked them.
Dale smirked so wide while the others froze.
” Oh, Nass…” Katie walks over to my bed and gives me a hug.
“You were asleep for almost a week.” Her statement made me shocked.
” W-what?”
” You have extreme fatigue and the fact that you overworked yourself after your miscarriage…” Theo softly stated out.
” We’ve been doing shifts in taking care of you.” Devon backed up.
I lowered my head while still sitting on the bed.
“But you didn’t have to do all that trouble for me…”
” But we did” I looked at Devon and pouted at him.
He grimaced at what I said.
” How about Keian?” I bit my lip upon mentioning his name.
” He had just woken up last night, and he already insisted to be by your side though he’s not fully recovered. His wounds might still be painful right now for sure; we’re observing him in case he has infection” I only managed to nod at Katie’s explanation and lowered my head back down.
” Is there… something wrong, Pat– I mean Nass?” I smiled at Diego, who held my shoulder in comfort.
” It’s nothing. Thank you, all of you, really I mean it.” Devon’s eyebrows creased.
” For what?”
” For everything” after saying that, they all fell silent.
” Eyyyy!!! Here’s the foo— why are you all so quiet?” We all turned our heads towards the door when the person who spoke, which was Steven, came in along with Erick, Maxence, Laiza, Clara, Zeke, and even Kuya Khalil.
All of their eyes widened in surprise to see that I’m awake.
Kuya Khalil was the first to come closer to me and hugged me tightly.
” Nass, you’re awake…” He said in a relieved voice.
I returned him the lovely gesture and patted his back.
” Yes, kuya, awake and alive,” I joked bit then he broke the distance to throw a vicious glare at me.
” Don’t joke about that, Nass. We were scared of what happened to you” I sighed.
” I am too…” I looked down at my hands for a second before lifting my gaze back up at them.
My jaw dropped when I saw all of them lined up as if they were in a fast-food cashier line. As in, it was a straight line, and they were all smirking.
“It just sunk in to us you’re awake, so you’re receiving individual hugs from all of us…” Said Katie, who was the first to embrace me sweetly.
“W-What?” I blinked several times as Zeke followed the same gesture.
” Thank god you’re already awake” Zeke looks at me with glinting eyes and pecks a kiss on my cheek.
I can’t help but look at Katie since the gesture might’ve triggered her, but I ended up raising an eyebrow when she also pecked a kiss on my cheek like what Zeke did.
At that moment, I looked like an owl while they hug me one by one.
” I care about you, Nass. So don’t stay in bed for too long” more surprises came upon me, especially when Maxence just spoke. I became speechless because of that.
He patted my head gently before walking away to give others their turn.
” Nass… huhuhu,” I comforted Theo inaudibly since he teared up while hugging me tightly.
” It’s okay, Theo,” Theo sniffed before letting me go.
Even Erick and Dale emotionally made such kind gestures.
Because of this, I felt lighter than ever. The smile didn’t leave my face while we all talked and ate together in the room I’m currently staying in. And it’s a good thing Brylle didn’t wake up.
But despite the smile on my face, my mind still can’t get over a particular someone.
Keian…
—
” So… I thought Keian and Tito Andre fell to their deaths when… the building collapsed but why–?” I asked everyone present.
I briefly looked at Keian.
His eyes are just glued on the table.
We’re currently in the usual headquarters of the mafia on the 4th floor.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
It’s been a week since I woke up from the incident.
Every time someone would ask if I’m alright, I always say that I am…
Because I think I am.
It’s hard, but I was able to forget what happened…
I’m okay.
“After we figured out about the location you were brought to, we immediately searched for info about the place.” Tito Andre said.
All of us are present here. The others even had to stand up.
Also, with Kuya Kayden, Diego, and even Kuya Khalil came along with Jane and Kuya’s two co-commanders from their agency.
” Attendez, qui sont-ils encore? Et pourquoi sont-ils inclus dans notre réunion?(Wait, who are they again? And why are they included in our meeting?).” Steven asked, looking confused. Actually, a lot of the mafia members are baffled at their presence.
All I know is that Tito Andre invited them over for this meeting.
” Commander Semil Antone, sir” I turned to one of the men who’s got a lot of tattoos.
Looks like they understood what Steven just said.
He respectfully looked at Steven.
” Commander Levi Serrano… We are invited by Mr. Andre Marques to discuss about what happened in Palawan, specifically the case about Mr. Lemuel Dimano” I can’t help but notice Commander Levi has an authoritative aura surrounding him. I think he’s a great leader and commander. He’s got a good body built as if he’s a soldier.
” What he said,” Kuya stated and also reached a hand towards Commander Levi.
” Ahhh,” Steven nodded repeatedly.
” Where is that bastard?” Keian coldly gazed upon Commander Levi.
Commander also looked back at him with a professional look.
” He’s in the agency’s headquarters. Don’t worry, sir, we’ll take care of hi—”
” Give him to me! I will kill that bastard myself!” Everyone kept quiet when Keian just yelled out of nowhere.
I lowered my head at this.
Surprisingly, all of us thought that Lem is dead. But lucky for him, he got to survive all of his injuries.
I noticed the Commander looked annoyed at Keian’s statement, but he dismissed it and immediately looked back at our mafia boss.
” We will take care of him, sir.” He said with emphasis.
” Kei… Not only that they helped us in rescuing Nassandra, but they also gave us confidential information. They’ve been observing Lemuel for days. They helped us, son.” Keian gritted his teeth and glared at his father.
But Tito Andre also shot back a glare at his son.
I swallowed hard while reached over to hold Keian’s hand.
He shockingly looked at me, which softened his expression a bit.
It’s been days since I touched him like this again.
It’s like we’ve been ignoring each other for a week.
I don’t know why…
But I know it’s my fault.
He tightened his hold on my hand before turning back to Tito Andre.
” You didn’t witness what they did to Nassandra, Dad! I saw it myself! They kicked her repeatedly! They killed—” Keian suddenly stopped speaking, blinked several times, and clenched his fist while his right hand held mine.
I took a deep breath before holding Keian’s hand tighter.
” I know it’s not my place to tell you that I know your pain, Kei. But I ask that you trust Khalil’s agency.”
” Yes, Kei. We will do everything to make sure that man is punished” I looked at Kuya, who’s got obvious anger in his eyes.
Keian squeezed my hand before opening his eyes and looked at the members of the agency. Commander Semil stayed quiet, and so did Jane…
” Fine. I’m sorry, you handle him. But if I saw him lurking around the streets and not being punished like he’s supposed to, I’ll make sure to bring him here and kill him with my very own hands” Commander Levi nodded in agreement.
” We understand…” Keian narrowed his eyes at Commander Serrano before letting out a small smile.
The Commander seemed to be surprised to see Keian smile, so he gladly returned the gesture.
” *Ehem* So… Back to Nass’ question.” We all turned to Zeke, who just spoke.
” Right… So with the help of Khalil and his comrades, we managed to have the place’s blueprints. We silently sneak inside only to found out their bomb’s position.” Tito Andre continued to explain.
” We figured out their plan just by looking at all their bomb’s location. We knew that they’re planning to break down Kei’s portion of the building that’s near Nass’ room.” I smiled at Erick.
“We also prepared some high-grade nets made in Marques Manufacturing. Did some calculations.” Laiza added.
” Thankfully, we did the right things, and we caught Tito and Kei before they even die,” Steven said in a very proud tone.
I bit my lip and took a deep breath before speaking.
” Thank you… I thought I won’t be able to see them again. Or any of you.” I said in a serious tone.
” Ow!” I cursed when Zeke flicked my forehead painfully.
” Aisshhh!” I shot him a glare.
I saw Keian’s jaw tightened, and he also narrowed his eyes at Zeke.
“No matter how impossible it may seem to save or see you again, we will always do everything we can to see or save you from harm. You should trust us more. You’re important to us. Remember that” I wanted to hit Zeke on his nape, but I suddenly realized something from what he said.
I didn’t trust them.
I sighed heavily and smiled warmly. I decided to keep silent, and everyone was bothered by this.
In the end, they let go of my weird action and continued to talk business with the members from the other agency.
All of a sudden I felt deaf, not being able to hear what they were talking about, for my attention was too focused on my thoughts.
—
After that meeting the other day, I continued ignoring Keian.
What’s wrong with me, right?
Now I’m at the gazebo near the field.
” Arf!” I ran my fingers through Leon’s fur, who’s currently resting on my feet.
” Hi Nass,” my eyes gazed upon Kuya Khalil, who’s wearing the black uniform from their agency.
” Hello, Kuya,” he lets out a sigh before sitting beside me.
He put his arms around me and pulled me closer to him.
” Kuya!”
“You little child, are you avoiding us?” He asked.
I looked at him.
“I-I’m not…” Kuya rolled his eyes at me and suddenly pulled me into a hug.
” Nass. If something’s bothering you, then talk to us…”
” I’m fine, Kuya” he rubbed my back repeatedly.
“Oh geez. Just remember that when your emotions get the better of you, we’re right here. And don’t ignore us! You’re making us feel like we’ve done something wrong” I distanced myself from him and gave him an annoyed look.
” Yeah, fine… Sorry. Tell the others that they didn’t do anything wrong. I won’t ignore them any more” Kuya pretended to be hurt by this and faced me.
“But what about me? Aren’t you going to stop avoiding me as well?!” He jokingly blurts out
“No. Hahaha!” I said to him while also sticking my tongue out.
I laughed when he made a sour face.
Then I felt him plant a kiss on my forehead.
” W-what?”
” It’s good to hear you laugh again…”