FIVE MONTHS LATER Lake:

Nine men were arranged in a row, with their knees pressed grazing the sand of the earth. Kenji, Bec, and I watched from a distant hill, while nine of our warriors stood behind them. These rogues had been sentenced to death after being found guilty of rape, theft, murder, and arson.

"Do you think the rogues would learn their lesson now? I mean, they should. But those people are born rebellious. They were punished by your father and his fathers before him, but they replace a way to rise every generation." Kenji spoke up. Bec turned to him, before fixing his gaze on me.

Kenji was right about that. My father had fought to keep the rogues in check all his life. But just when he thought the outlands had learned their place, they returned with Jesse Wyatt. The thought of the man's name made my stomach turn. I fought hard to hide the frown, more for myself than for anything else, but it betrayed me. I could feel my face contort with anger.

The only reason he was not about to be sent to hell along with his minions was that I had plans for him. Yes.

I wanted him to see Jojo after I found her. I wanted him to be faced with the beautiful face of the daughters and if possible, the wife, that he abandoned. I wanted him to be haunted by the faces of his children, by the memories of what he had done to them. Death was too good a punishment for all that he had done, I could not set his soul free from the damnation of the earth so easily. I rather he seeks death without being able to replace it. That was the best and fastest way to kill a man with a soul as wicked as his.

One by one, their heads were removed from their necks. I found myself taking delight in watching the head of the man who had dared to touch Jojo without her consent, roll to the ground. It was helpless, hopeless, lifeless.

When it was all over, Kenji, Bec, and I returned to my villa in Kenji's car. I had just been discharged a month ago, after careful analysis by almost every doctor in the hospital. I was still unfit to drive, but I was able to walk on my own and feed myself food now. It felt good to be back in the real world. The prison called the hospital did no good to me at all.

They both walked into the villa with me. I had told them I had something very urgent and important to tell them, which was true. I needed their help because I had now come to terms with the fact that they were my friends and I could not always do everything on my own. Our short visit to the outlands had taught me that vital lesson.

I ushered them into my office, I stepped into the office before them, walked to my table, and settled into my chair, while I watched Kenji close the door behind us, and Bec approach the first seat in front of me. When they were both seated with their eyes on my face, I started to speak.

"I need your help..."

"Well, well, that's a first." Kenji cut in, Bec tried to force back his laughter, but it got the better of him.

I could not get angry, because I knew he was right.

"Well, there is a first time for everything. Is there not? Back to business..." I took my eyes off them, pulled my cabinet open, and slipped two large files out of the compartment. Both men cast me confused glances as I opened and placed the files on the table.

"Lake..." Kenji started to speak, but I cut in sharply.

"I need your help replaceing a good private detective. I... I need to replace my mother and Jojo Wyatt, and I need to do that as soon as possible. They are not in Rush pack, I do not..." I did not understand why I felt very sad just thinking about them. I did not know if my mother would ever forgive me for wrongly judging her, I did not know if she would ever take me back. I did not know if Jojo would ever want to see my face again, but I knew that I would only regret not trying. Kenji stared at me with some kind of pride in his eyes, as though he was very happy about something I did not know about. While Bec stared down at the files.

"What's in it?" He asked.

I leaned into my chair and crossed my right leg over my left.

"Pictures and a short biography, it also contains images of the last places they were seen and any other information that would be necessary. This is extremely important to me; they need to be found as soon as possible." Immediately after I finished speaking, Kenji and Bec exchanged knowing glances. They turned to me simultaneously, before they spoke - still at the same time.

"I think I know someone."

Jojo:

Red fancy candle lights on the table, a bottle of champagne, and two flutes by the side with a round plate filled with a giant spicy-looking lobster and spinach salad.

I sat across him in my red dress, the table was pushed back a bit because of the huge belly bump. I found myself leaning backward when I knew I should have been digging into the meal.

But the table and the meal were the least of my problems. My problem was the fact that I knew why we were here.

"Does the meal make you nauseous? I can always order another and pack this one up for..."

I raised my right hand and smiled faintly, dismissing the rest of his sentence in a friendly way.

Just a heads up: Narugi.com is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey!

"Anthony, it's fine. You could ask them to pack it up if that's allowed. I mean, you know how these fancy restaurants can be." I spoke, managing a chuckle as I rolled my eyes.

He laughed. I watched him pull his wallet out of his pocket.

"There is nothing a very generous tip can't do." He replied to me. I found myself laughing.

So, how did we go from a customer at the restaurant to having dinner in a fancy one? Well, I'll tell you.

As fate would have it, the day I met Anthony at the restaurant was not the last time we saw each other. After that day, he frequented the restaurant for breakfast and dinner so much that he won customer of the month for five months in a row. In those five months, we happened to get closer. He was very funny, honest, sweet, and sincere. Mrs. Smith loved him, so Mel and Valerie. Before you know it, before any of us knew it, he was part of the family.

He must have done some free publicity for us because we started getting regular customers, and I mean top-notch customers, even though we did not look like the one we were in now.

He helped Mrs. Smith set up a page on social media for the restaurant, where we took and displayed pictures of our menu, best-presented meals, and even short clips of our customers' reviews - with their permission of course.

In all these five months, I could tell he was not just doing everything because he was a good person - he was, but that was not the sole aim. On several occasions, he had forfeited work to accompany me to antenatal sessions. I once caught him reading a book on fatherhood and how to support a heavily pregnant wife.

It was very obvious that the man was in love with me, and that was what bothered me.

I leaned out of the chair, into the table, and cleared my throat. His eyes narrowed on me.

"You need some water?"

He was always so quick to respond to my needs.

"No, no, Anthony, I need to speak to you."

With the way he dropped his fork and melted into his seat, I could tell he knew what I was about to say. There was no need for me to beat around the bush.

Just a heads up: Narugi.com is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey!

"Anthony, it's not because you're a bad person. You might be the best man I have ever had the opportunity to come across..."

"So what is the matter, Jo?" He cut in. I swallowed hard and watched as he leaned into the table and stretched his hand, he slowly and gently placed his right hand on mine.

"I love you, Jo. I have loved you from the second I caught you smiling at me and intend to love you for life. Please Jo, if you just..."

I heaved a sigh and shook my head. That was the problem, I could not reciprocate these feelings.

"That's the problem, Anthony. I can't give you the love the deserve, I can't love you the way you love me because I'm not capable of it." I could not, there was so much going on in my life and a man was the least of my worries. In fact, it was not part of my worries at all. "Please, Anthony. I need you to understand."

I expected him to pull his hand away from mine. I expected him to withdraw from me and everything about me.

But once again, he surprised me.

All he did was gently squeeze the hand he held and flash a smile.

"I understand Jo. And it doesn't matter. If a friend is all you're ever going to see me as then I intend to be the best friend you've ever had."

I threw my head back as I laughed. His eyes were still fixed on me, shining brightly.

"I don't think you want to let Mel hear that," I added.

He chuckled.

"I certainly do not."

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you replace any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report