When James came in through the door after a long day at the office and headed toward Mia’s bed in the hospital that night, he found her deep in her slumber. Standing by her side, he gazed at her long and hard, noting the bruises on her beautiful face. Fuck! He wanted those unsightly marks gone as soon as possible. The sight of them reminded him of Herbert Weston and what the bastard had done to Mia, and once again, he felt rage erupting in his being.

For perhaps the hundredth time, he swore nothing like that would ever happen to Mia again. He’d protect her. He’d cherish her.

For now, she looked peaceful in her sleep, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. Soon, it would start, the nightmare, as it had the past three nights. She’d start crying and screaming and begging in her sleep as that terrifying episode of her kidnapping returned to haunt her. She’d scream for Herbert Weston to let her go. She’d beg for him to stop hurting her, and fuck, but the sheer fear and panic in her voice broke James’s heart every time.

He came to sit on the chair beside the bed and leaned in close to her. Then he started stroking her bruised cheek gently, remembering how cheerful she had been that afternoon. Of course, he hadn’t missed the pure delight showing in her eyes when she had seen him in the room with her either, which unsurprisingly had caught him off guard and snatched his breath away.

He kissed her on the forehead and said, “I love you.”

She groaned softly in her sleep as if in reply, and James smiled.

A moment later, he moved over to the sofa on the other side of the room and made himself comfortable as he continued to work via his smart phone. By midnight, he was tired and decided to sleep while he could because he knew he wouldn’t get much, as it had been for the past three nights.

It wasn’t long before Mia started to have her nightmare again, and the moment James heard her screaming, he came fully awake and rushed over from the sofa, his makeshift bed. He found her tossing and turning while she was whimpering as tears flowed down her cheeks.

“No… James… Andy… No… Please, Uncle Herbert… don’t hurt me…”

She continued to sob, scream, and cry as she uttered his and Andy’s names again and again.

James made himself comfortable on the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight, comforting and soothing her with gentle words as she continued to fight the monster haunting her dreams.

Needless to say, James had a fitful sleep that night, and when he opened his eyes again for perhaps the fifteenth time since he’d moved into Mia’s crammed bed, it was dawn. With Mia still comfortably sound asleep in his arms, he moved over and gently kissed her on her forehead.

He was just about to get out of bed when the morning nurse, Brenda, knocked and then walked in through the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Maxwell,” she greeted softly.

James carefully removed his arm from under Mia’s head so as not to wake her. Then he got out of bed and arranged his disheveled clothing properly. Fuck! He must look like shit.

He said, “Morning.”

“Did Mia have nightmares again?” she asked with a concerned expression.

James nodded.

Brenda said, “It’s not surprising, considering what she’s been through. Poor girl. I’ll make a note of it.”

James moved over to the sofa and picked up his suit jacket. “Don’t tell Mia about the nightmares.”

James felt it was best Mia didn’t know since, come morning, she forgot about everything that had happened during her dreams anyway. After all, it had happened for the past three days. It was as if the nightmare never existed. It was as if her mind decided to erase that horrendous memory in order to preserve her sanity, and James was fine with that as long as Mia was her bright, cheerful self during the day. Yes, he was fine with that, though he had high hopes that the nightmare would soon pass and Mia would have her normal sleep once again.

“I won’t,” Brenda said, nodding. “You have a good day, Mr. Maxwell.”

James nodded, and a moment later, he left the hospital.

In the parking lot, he got into his Lamborghini and rested his head against the seat.

Fuck, he was tired. Of course, there was no time for him to rest. At least not yet anyway. There was a shitload to be done, and then there was the meeting with Matt and William late this afternoon, too. He knew both men were getting more than a little impatient since their respective lovers were eager to see Mia before any of them flew back to Vegas. Besides, neither Matt nor William wanted to waste any more time idling when they had multibillion-dollar businesses to run—and of course a few unsavory underground businesses that had violated their terms and conditions, which they had to destroy.

When he arrived home an hour later, he was greeted by his bright, cheerful daughter, which made him smile despite his tiredness.

Aria ran up to him in excitement, her little arms opened wide. “Daddy! Daddy!”

Behind the little girl was Ms. Lane, who had prepped her for the day, and of course, both canines, Sammy and Alfie, who barked animatedly at the sight of him.

James chuckled in delight as he came down to his knees at the entrance of the house. Once Aria was within reach, he pulled her little body into his strong arms and then lifted her up. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he greeted. “You didn’t cause any trouble for Savannah or Ms. Lane, did you?”

Aria wrapped her arms around her dad’s shoulders as she shook her dark head. “No, I didn’t,” she said and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. When she was done, she continued. “Daddy, you promised I’d get to see Mia today.”

James made a show of nodding his head. “That I did.”

“Yay! So can we go now? Can we, Daddy? Please, Daddy?” Aria asked excitedly.

James shook his head. “We can’t go now. It’s a weekday. You must go to school. You can see Mia this evening. Now go and get some breakfast, and I’ll drop you off at school after.” He gently put her back down on the floor.

Aria nodded with a big grin on her face. “Okay.” She giggled. “I can’t wait to tell Savannah when she comes down ‘cause she can’t wait to see Mia, too.” With that, she dashed from the foyer toward the kitchen at the back of the house, Ms. Lane following close behind her.

When his daughter was out of sight, James went up to his room, made a few phone calls, and then quickly showered. Once he was done and immaculately dressed in a powerful suit, he came down for breakfast. In the dining room, he noted Aria was chatting enthusiastically with Savannah, who was staying with them because Aria had asked her to and, of course, to the agreement of William.

Once Savannah saw him, she asked meekly, “Good morning, Mr. Maxwell. Aria told me we can visit Mia this evening?”

James nodded as he took a seat. “Hmm.”

Savannah leaned forward and asked, “How is she doing? Oh, and maybe I should bring her some stuff? Like bathroom essentials and clothing. She probably needs those, right?”

James thought about this for a moment and nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea. Mia would be pleased. Ask Ms. Lane to help you with that.”

“Sure,” Savanah said.

As he was reaching out for a piece of toast, James wondered why he hadn’t thought about bringing Mia essential things like toiletries and clothing. Then again, his mind had been so consumed with fear and worry about her since the night of her kidnapping that nothing else seemed that important.

After finishing a hearty breakfast of toast and strong black coffee, James dropped Aria off at school before heading to the office.

It was well after two in the afternoon when James managed to get himself some lunch. He had been busy meeting potential future business partners from overseas. He and Matt had recently planned on expanding their hotel, casino, and resort business to Singapore and Hong Kong, the next hot sites within the travelling and tourism industry.

He was still enjoying his club sandwich when Matt and William walked in. After greeting each other, William took a seat on the leather couch while Matt helped himself to James’s sandwiches sitting on the coffee table.

“How goes the meeting?” Matt asked as he, too, took a seat in an armchair across from William.

“Good,” James said. “Singapore looks promising.”

“Wonderful,” Matt said.

“And what about your side?” James asked.

“Hong Kong looks promising, too,” Matt said, chuckling. “Might take Andy there when I’m on a business trip next time.”

James nodded. “Hmm… Mia would love that as well. She’s never been overseas.”

William rolled his eyes. “Can we quit talking about your endless business expansion and future holiday destinations now and get straight to why we’re here? When the fuck are we going to get the ball rolling and shut those bastards down?”

Both James and Matt instantly knew William was referring to the prostitution auction operating in Vegas, within their territory. It was the same place where William had won the bidding for Savannah for just over five million. Of course, apart from the fact that the illegal human trafficking business was hurting a lot of innocent people, especially young girls, William had a personal agenda with the CEO and wanted the bastard and the business gone as soon as possible. Hence, his impatience.

James said, “We’re getting started.”

Matt nodded. “Everything is going per plan so far. We’re meeting up with Tory and his team next month to get the ball rolling.”

William said, “By Tory’s team you mean the yakuza from Japan, am I correct?”

James nodded. “The best. You’re not against yakuza, are you?”

William shook his head. “I don’t fucking care who we’re siding with as long as that bastard and his business is dealt with.”

Both James and Matt nodded in understanding.

For the next hour and a half, the three men went over their plan for destroying their next target, and this time, it’d be William leading the pact.

It was a bit later when William asked, “Savannah told me this morning Mia is well enough to receive visitors. Is that true?”

James nodded. “She seems fine, though still very bruised.”

Matt said, “Obviously, especially after what she’s been through. Andy’s getting very impatient.”

William shrugged. “Can’t be helped. She’s his sister, and Andy looks like an impatient boy by nature.”

Matt nodded in agreement. Andy had an impatient personality by nature. Otherwise, the boy wouldn’t have gotten himself into so many shitty situations in the first place.

It was then that the door opened, and Scott and Eric walked in.

James said, “I’ll be taking Aria to see Mia this evening.”

Scott said, “I’m coming along, too, then. By the way, are you sure it’s okay to let Aria see Mia in the hospital? Especially since Mia looks so bruised?”

James watched his brothers taking their seats on the sofa opposite him as he said, “It’ll be fine.”

Eric asked, “What are you going to tell her now? Remember, you lied to her that Mia was staying with Andy last time.”

At this, Scott chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s going to lie again.”

William looked heavenward. “I can’t believe you lie to your daughter. What type of father are you?”

James gave William a death glare. “I do things my way,” he said.

Scott sensed the tense atmosphere between the two friends and decided to change the subject to lighten the mood. “So I’ve just got a call from Dad. He’s coming home tomorrow night.”

Eric asked, his tone dark and hard, “From Japan?”

Scott chuckled because he knew Eric didn’t like that particular news. He nodded. “Yep, from Japan.”

“Fuck!” Eric muttered under his breath.