“Craving for anything? What do you want to eat? Tell me. I will give you anything you want,” Daemon said while slowly rocking her in his arms.
It was a humid afternoon but she doesn’t want to stay in an air-conditioned room. She preferred fresh air while stroking her growing tummy so she stayed in the lawn in a strewn picnic blanket. Daemon has been adamant to keep her in his house for the rest of her pregnancy except when she really needed to go to the hospital.
She wanted to object but she realized that it would be better if she kept her opinions to herself given that nothing will make him change his mind. Last month, he lost a dozen of his men against the Farrows family. Devon expected him to lash onto her but the opposite happened. He became clingier to her instead.
“I don’t have an appetite. I just want to sleep,” she replied and snuggled closer to his heat.
She guessed that being pregnant with his babies has perks. Being this close to him secured her feelings for his promise. She knew that he is just doing this because of his sons but this is really what she hoped for. It will be torture to live each passing day longing for him knowing that she have to leave after she gave birth.
“You have to eat. I will call your nutritionist to ask what I should do with you. I don’t want you to end up like…” He stopped and a long silence ensued.
She shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyes at him. He is looking ahead to the bright sun above. She can’t see his expression because of his sunglasses.
“You are afraid I would meet the same fate as Kate,” she said mentioning Daemon’s first contracted surrogate. His body tensed.
“How did you know that?” he asked removing his sunglasses and studying her face.
“There are more things I know about you than you would permit me to, Daemon. I used to be my father’s secretary on his affairs. He has this lists and catalogues of his rivals and investigations about them. I read about yours accidentally.”
He sat down too abruptly and stared at her.
“Why? Are you upset? Can that be considered prying?” She got up and sat beside him.
He did not say anything for a minute.
“And how sure are you?” He finally broke the silence. “How sure are you that you would not be like Kate?”
She smiled at him reassuringly. “I have you. I know you would protect me. You will protect your babies. You might not cry if I die but I know you will be lonely somehow. Maybe for an hour or shorter or longer, you will get lonely if you remember me. And because I know that you do not like being lonely ’cause you don’t want to get attached to people, you will do everything to protect me before you shipped me off abroad.”
His eyes met hers before he sighed and embraced her body.
“After I gave birth, would you let me see the babies, Daemon? I want to see their faces for the last time.”
“Let me decide on that later. For the meanti-”
He wasn’t able to finish his sentence when one of his guards grunted and a loud thud followed. Bodies after bodies soon collapsed on the ground as blood flowed out from them.
“Daemon!” she shrieked in terror when strays of bullets rained their way.
They are being attacked in Daemon’s own territory!
Daemon was quick to shield his body to protect her as guards rushed to them. Some already began shooting at the assailants that are positioned on the trees outside the gate.
“What’s happening? Why are they here? Did my family send them?” she asked while they’re running back into the house.
The whole house is in chaos as his men with big guns are exchanging fires with the assassins outside.
He pulled her to his room and took out a gun from his drawer. She began crying in panic.
“Daemon… I’m scared. I’m really scared.”
That’s when his face went white for a time when he looked at her before he hardened it back again.
“No need to be scared, Devon. This is just a natural situation in our world. I know that it’s not the first time that you experienced it. You also came from the same family in the same business as me.” He cupped her face and wiped her tears. “You will survive. The babies and you will live. I will make sure of that. Now, come on. We’ve got to be going.”
He held her hand tightly as they ran back to the hallway where the gunshots grew louder as ever. Daemon scanned the area looking for someone.
“Henry! Henry!”
The man emerged from behind the door after killing a couple of men from our behind.
“Daemon.”
“Come with me. I need to secure Devon first.”
Together, they hurried down to a secret passageway into the basement out to a garage where a car is waiting for them.
“How many men are coming?” Daemon asked while dialing someone on his phone.
“Negative. They blocked all the routes from here. The only remaining alley is our secret road.”
“No, no. Do not give them the coordinates. What’s the fastest time they can get here?”
Henry sighed. “Two hours.”
“Fucking shit! We’ll all be rotting shits by that time! Who are they?”
“Don Frasco’s mercenaries.”
Daemon gritted his teeth. “That fucking old coward. He never learned his lesson.”
He gazed at her and came up to a decision.
“You leave with Henry. Move! Move! You needed to be moved out of here. It’s not safe here anymore.”
She took a long breath to calm her senses that are beginning to go awry. “Will you be leaving with us? How about your men? Will you just abandon them and leave? How could you?!”
He shook her shoulders together and spoke in the lowest tone possible. “Listen, Devon. I don’t have time for this nonsense, okay? You only do what I tell you to do. If I happen to get killed now, then you have to marry Henry. You want your freedom, right? He’s the only one who can give that to you if I turned out to be dead.” He opened the passenger’s door for her. “Get in. I need to hold them down.”
“W-What?! You’re not coming with us? No! No, Daemon!”
“This is the only way for you to survive and my sons! Now, get in! I don’t have time for this!”
They can already hear the approaching footsteps from above.
“They already discovered that I’m here. I need to go back. Henry, keep her safe! Make sure she is on the safe house in an hour.”
He kissed her head and stroke her bulging stomach and pushed her to the seat.
“Do not go back here until I communicate with you! Henry, keep her safe. Make her safe. I’ll kill you myself if something happened to her. We’ll meet at the usual rendezvous.”
“Copy, Daemon.”
She opened the window to say something to him when a dash of bullets targeted Daemon.
“Daemon!” she screamed when she saw a bullet hit his shoulder. She tried to open the door but Henry was quick to stop her.
“No, Devon!” Henry held her back and maneuvered the car into the road.
“Daemon!” she shouted when she saw him fired at the enemies.
“Go! Now!” he shouted back.
“Will he be okay? Please, tell me he will survive, Henry.”
The man just chuckled after they entered an abandoned road completely erasing Daemon’s tall figure from her sight.
“Do not worry. Daemon will survive. He did not earn his reputation of being a demon only to be killed by his anemic uncle.”
“He better be.
He glanced at her. “You’re acting like it’s your first time seeing this kind of business. You already forgotten about your family that fast? Your father is a formidable man in our world, Devon.”
She wiped her face. “It’s my first time being caught in a firefight. We usually watched from a distance. I never really witnessed death before me. Groups never dare to attack our mansion. Henry, look at me. Did I want this for myself? Am I the reason for all of this? Don Frasco is a family friend. Did my father cause all this?”
“I don’t know. We have no intelligence for now. Only Daemon can answer you so he better be alive the next time we see him.”
She nodded. “He really needs to be. He must survive.”
Henry grinned. “Why? You don’t want to marry me?”
She sniffed when her voice began trembling. “How could you joke at a time like this? I don’t want to lose him, Henry. I don’t want Daemon to be dead.” She hugged her tummy. “I don’t want these babies to lose their father.”
He did not say anything afterwards as if he realized something. They arrived on the safe house in less than an hour. They waited and waited for another hours but no Daemon contacted them.