Chapter Fourteen
They woke up to an urgent phone call from Gale, saying that they had to relocate immediately. Tyler’s men had tried breaking in last night but were caught, and they were captured for answers this time.
“You guys have half an hour to get ready,” Gale informed then, “and you’ll be leaving to a new place arranged for you guys.”
“What do we pack?”, Aaron asked as he jumped out of bed and helped Mina out.
“We’ll have everything delivered in the hour after, so just keep your phones on you.”
“What happened?” Mina asked as she rubbed her eyes sleepily.
“Moving into a new place, sweetie,” he pecked her lips, “Get ready. Quick. We only have an hour.”
Mina was absolutely confused and disoriented from it all, but she stumbled to the bathroom and splashed her face awake with water and soap, tripping into the bedroom for a fresh change of clothes and quickly pulling herself into them, slipping into a pair of sneakers and picking up her phone to tuck into her pocket. She left everything behind without a glance and headed into the kitchen where Aaron was busy piecing together sandwiches for a quick breakfast. He scarfed down his share and rushed about to gather his important items such as his laptop and other cellphones. He disappeared to change and came out in jeans and a deep blue hoodie, with a beanie in one hand and his bag of belongings in the other.
“Help me lock the windows, Mina.”
She obliged and set to work. She was sure he locked them every night and was surprised to see them tampered with. And the feeling of distrust dawned on her heart for the place, just like it had with her own home when it had been invaded. She no longer felt safe there.
“Done?” Aaron asked as he placed the beanie on her head, “Pull this down low. Now, come on.”
Rhonda stood at the door when they opened it and Mina couldn’t have felt better seeing her there. She gave the two a concerned look.
“You see, okay,” she sighed in relief, “We’d been guarding all night. Let’s get you two out of here.”
Rhonda and two more of her team escorted them out of the place and into their black van. Rhonda stepped into the passenger seat up front while the rest were asked to pack up the things in Aaron’s apartment and start having them moved.
There was silence inside as the van’s engine rumbled and took them along the street to God-knew where. But wherever it was, Mina could only hope it was safer than the rest. All she wanted was peace in her life, but it had been a mess ever since she got comfortable with Aaron. But she decided he was worth it all. He was worth the pain, troubles, and worrying. He was worth the discomfort. He was worth the sacrifice.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron whispered beside her, “I wish I could protect you and keep you safe, but I can’t even protect myself now.”
Mina held his hand and squeezed it, “I don’t care. As long as I’m with you. As long as we’re still here. I’ll put up with it and fight back with you if I have to. It won’t be anything new for me.”
“But-”
“You’ve been in this alone for far too long,” she cut him off, “Let me aid you. At least let me be someone you come home to when things have gotten rough and you just need someone to take care of you.”
“Could we do that?” he looked at her hopefully. She smiled back and nodded. Aaron couldn’t help himself and gathered her in his arms, hugging her tightly.
“Please don’t give up on me, Mina,” he begged, “Please don’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” she promised, “I’m in this with you. We’ll get through this together.”
They stopped in front of a large gate embedded within a tall, tan wall that stretched out and around an expanse held within it. The metals gates gave way to a quaint scenery. A neatly trimmed lawn spread out before them with a path leading from the center to a villa, a roundabout interrupting it in the middle where a large fountain stood proudly in the center, gushing with crystalline water. Vines took to the boundary walls from the ground, blooming with flowers here and there. Age old willows placed systematically danced in the breeze that passed through them, stretching out providing a large area of shade.
The villa was a beautiful thing. Quite ironically, it looked like the one she had worked on a few years ago. Her second project after she had landed her job. It was surprising to see it loom above in front of her. And as she looked around, the setting became more and more familiar, and she realized that it really was her own work. She remembered being paid a huge sum for this one, and it had seemed odd to her but the client wanted her specifically to design their house after she had stumbled across her portfolio in the consultation office.
“Wait, who lives here?” Mina breathed.
“Well, I had it made for myself to move into,” Aaron said casually, “in case any emergency arrived and I needed to quickly relocate. Do you like it?”
“Oh, I dunno,” she shrugged, “I mean, it’s my design.”
Aaron blinked at her a few times.
“Wait, really?”
“Aaron! Mina!” Gale’s voice called from a car as it slowed down approaching them, “Good thing you made it.” The car stopped and he stepped out, “All your things will start arriving soon. Glad to see you’re okay. Mina, does this place seem familiar?”
Gale’s smirk was enough to let her know that he knew she was the one behind the whole structure, “You were the one who asked for me to work on this?”
“Indeed,” he admitted, “Your portfolio was a spectacular work of cultural and modern integration. I knew Aaron would have loved it if you’d worked on it. It’s strange how fate worked to bring you two together over here.”
“Are you serious?” Aaron was bewildered, “Mina, you did the interior, too?”
“I do everything, Aaron,” she said, “Well, almost. The designing, at least.”
“Even the furniture?”
“Even the furniture.”
“Let’s head in, guys,” Gale suggested, “There’s a lot of explaining to do.”
“He’s not just after your money, Aaron,” Gale explained as he poured them both some coffee, “He wants to take your whole company down. Also, Greta has been taken and is forced to live with him. She’s not happy, but her parents can’t work against him to get her back. We pledged our security to her no matter what so we have to get her back somehow. Negotiate and all.”
“I don’t see what he has to gain from all of this,” Aaron sighed as he rubbed his temple. He leaned back against the arm of the love seat and set his head back to look at the grandiose ceiling.
“Revenge, basically,” Gale stated, “Says you didn’t help him out of his mess and only got him stuck further in the black market and drugs. It’s like you owe him. Also, of course, he isn’t happy about you breaking up with Greta. That woman is insane, though, so how could anyone blame you?”
“She’s just very intolerant,” Aaron claimed, “Took a lot to keep her under control. I don’t know how I put up with her or why I even liked her in the first place.”
“Eh, happens when you’re young,” Gale chuckled, and handed Mina a cup, “You look absolutely lost, Mina. But the bad news is that he’s after you, too, obviously. It’s in my knowledge you secured an estate to start your own company, and your office was currently under construction?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, “I wanted to start up my own business a few years ago and got around to initiate the beginning of it over a month ago.”
“Tyler has no clue about it so it’s all right for the time being,” he informed her, “But I think your ambitions will have to come to a small halt until after this whole situation calms down.”
“So what are we going to do?” Aaron demanded, “Can’t we just capture Tyler and have him sent to court?”
“He has other contacts ready to destroy you once he’s gone,” Gale warned, “We’ll have to come up with a careful plan to dissociate his image and links with the bigger organizations underground, and provide them incentives to take our side against the main syndicate he works for.”
“Gale, you know I refuse to get involved in such messes,” he sighed, “Is there no other way?”
“Do you want to live in peace or not?” Gale replied with a raised brow, “I told you back then not to get involved with Greta, but you didn’t listen. She’s the reason all this started in the first place. You were her main source of financial support. She was using you and now Tyler will either get you two together, or ruin the Empire your fathers have built. It’s an ultimatum you don’t need to be put through. He’ll use Greta as a puppet to take over your hard work and call it his own.”
“He lives in a mess of an illusion,” Mina murmured. Aaron and Gale nodded, and Mina continued further, “If I leave the picture, will things get any easier for you guys?”
“You’ll still be in danger,” Gale admitted, “There’s no point in it. But Mina, I have some grave news for you and you might have to play a part in all of this.”
“Oh, no way am I letting her get stuck in this!” Aaron declared, “Leave her be, okay?”
“It involves her father, Sean East, and I’m sure she knows him better than anyone,” Gale quipped casually, “Mina?”
But Mina had paled considerably. Muscles tense and eyes wide, she couldn’t believe she’d worked so hard to get rid of him only to have to confront him again. She flexed her fingers, breathing deeply to bring back her composure.
“What does he have to do with all of this?” she asked calmly.
“Well, he was an avid drinker, and a drug addict. He was one of the clients of Tyler’s syndicate,” Gale went on to relay, “After his divorce with your mother, he became desperate for income and got involved in the business. He’s one of the top people in the syndicate, and a messenger to the head. We need to use you as bait, and manipulate him into getting rid of the one who is in control of the whole thing.”
“Gale, no,” Aaron begged, grabbing Mina’s hand for support.
“If it helps, then I’ll do what it takes,” she affirmed. Gale bit his lip at her confidence, but he nodded gratefully.
“We can’t do this without you, Mina.”
“There has to be another way!” Aaron demanded.
“There isn’t,” Gale stated simply, “I spent all night with Rhonda trying to get information and piece together whatever we could that would ensure minimum loss to the company-”
“The company is not our priority, Gale,” Aaron seethed, “It’s the family. Money can come from anywhere and we have plenty of reserves to keep ourselves going for a few generations. Have you forgotten who we are?”
“Have you forgotten who you are, Aaron?” Gale snapped, “Have you forgotten about those who work under you? What about them? They have families to feed and lives to live. I didn’t go about thinking just about your family, I’m doing this thinking about all of them!”
Aaron fell silent, knowing he was right.
“Yeah, sorry,” he sighed apologetically, “I’m too caught up in myself these days. There are others to think of.”
Gale sighed, “Your sister has offered to take care of all the other aspects of McCarthy Continental. In the meantime, you need to focus on building security not just for this family, but for the rest of those involved with McCarthy Continental. We have a lot to think of.”
“When do we start all this?”
“In a few weeks,” he said, “Meanwhile, we need to hold meetings and transfer hierarchies and responsibilities before we leave to tackle this. Make sure the company does not halt to prevent losses. Also, the security forces will be here to discuss all the plans with you and explain what steps we will be taking in the next few weeks. Our goal is to not only bring Tyler down, but all those who are with him in this. It’ll be a huge operation and we need you guys in the best state of mind.”
“Sounds fair,” Mina said, “What about our parents?”
“We’ll have them stay away from here until all of this is settled,” he said, “Also, you have a cousin, Elijah East who can be of good use to us.”
“Wait, what?” Mina cried out, “Why him?”
“He’s in contact with your father and knows of his activities and whereabouts. We’re not the only ones trying to bring your father down, and Elijah has been doing it all undercover, making sure your father thought of him as an ally this whole time. He could help us a lot and we’re flying him in next week.”
“Wait, are you sure we can trust him?” Aaron scoffed, “We don’t even know this guy well!”
“Mina does,” Gale gave her a pointed look. Mina nodded, explaining that she and Elijah had been very close since childhood, and he had a hand in getting Heidi to divorce Sean and keeping her safe through the ordeal at his place. She was Elijah’s favorite cousin and was almost a decade older than her. He’d helped her more times than she could count, and he had hinted he was trying to get Sean in jail because he was putting the rest of the family under debts they could not collectively afford to handle.
“We can definitely trust him on this,” she admitted.
“Well, if she says so,” Aaron shrugged, “I guess this means we get to start wrapping up before next week arrives.”
“Starting tomorrow,” Gale nodded, “We have a lot of work regarding your previous apartment. I’ll handle it all. You guys should have some time to yourselves to think it all through. The two nodded in silence, sipping at their coffees going cold. Gale turned around to leave them be.
The two were lost in thought as they tried to process the situation. Mina had always found watching movies involving money and crime exciting, but this was so uncalled for. She didn’t want to be involved in it herself. And now she’d have to face her father. After all these years of trying to undo the damages he did to her, she would have to face him again, reopen her wounds, and pour salt in them.
No, she thought to herself, I need to become stronger. There is no way I’ll let him drag me down anymore. Enough is enough.
The following week was quick to come. They were all seated at a large round table, waiting for Aaron to relay all that had happened since Heidi’s and Dave’s wedding. And all before that when it came to Greta and Tyler, if Greta knew something that would have an advantage over Aaron or Mina, and everything that could be useful in protecting the company against their moves.
It didn’t take long for the rest to arrive before the meeting began. And there was a lot of explaining to do of how Tyler Morgan and Sean East worked. Elijah was soon to take the floor and explained how Sean had managed to work his way close to the top, and Mina wasn’t surprised with how dirty had father played to get there. But it put her heart at unease that he had killed people for it. That he was so desperate and ready to end anyone in his way to get what he wanted. She couldn’t understand how she managed to survive his presence in the 18 years she spent with him under the same roof.
Also, she had something to discuss with Aaron. She felt it was important for everyone to know but wanted to make sure if it was even okay to do so. She grabbed him as soon as everyone dispersed to catch a break, and dragged him to their room. No one said anything and left themselves for a walk outside, or to stretch their legs on the balcony.
“Aaron…” she sighed.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he leaned his head down to hers. She looked confused and Aaron wanted nothing more than to drive away whatever was causing her any discomfort.
Mina didn’t know how to say it to him. She’d missed her period that morning, and her suspicions were confirmed when she took a test after breakfast. She’d been waiting all day to tell him, and if not now, then it would be too late.
So she fetched the little box she’d put the pregnancy test in, hoping he would react well to it and that this fact would not hinder or break anything that was between them.
Aaron looked at the box curiously, and confused. It was a plain black cuboid with no indication of what it could be. He feared the worst, thinking that it might have been from either Greta or Tyler and that they knew of their new whereabouts despite the measures taken to make them invisible.
He opened the box carefully, coming face to face with a stick.
He didn’t get it.
“What is this?”
Mina threw her hands up in the air, “Aaron, I’m pregnant!”
Silence. He could only stare at her dumbfounded. And Mina knew she had ruined everything.
Until he broke into a grin, and then it was her who was dumfounded. He was happy with it?
And he was. He engulfed her in a hug so hard that she thought she would choke.
“Holy shit!” he whispered excitedly, “Mina, this is the best news I’ve received in my life!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“But what about our situation? Our circumstances?” she started to panic, “Will we be able to take care of the baby?”
“Mina,” he said firmly, clasping his hands onto her shoulders, “Trust me, I will do anything to make sure it works out for us. For all of us.”
His hand trailed down over to her abdomen, and he looked her in the eyes with tears in his eyes, “We just have one more reason to make this all happen now.”