Nadia walked out of the office with her men trailing behind her, in a few minutes, they were out of the company.
They walked to the car and one of her men opened the door for her, she got in and sighed.
They drove out of the company’s parking lot.
She pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket and stared at the date. She was about to think about something when her phone suddenly rang.
She stared at the caller for a few seconds before picking up the call.
“I’m listening.” She said as she placed the phone on her ear. It was one of her men but the best out of them.
“Ma’am, we have arrived at the warehouse.”
“And the target?” She asked.
“He is dead.” He replied and she ended the call.
“Head to the warehouse.” She told the man driving.
“Yes, ma’am.” He replied.
After minutes of being on the road, they arrived at the warehouse and she walked out of the car.
Her men were lined up in front of the warehouse, waiting for her. She walked to them and they bowed at her.
“I don’t have so much to say, but… ” She was cut off by a ringing phone. She looked at her men and one of them trembled as he hurriedly grabbed his phone and switched it off.
“I’m sorry. I am so sorry.” He apologised immediately and she stared at him for a few seconds.
She was in a good mood so she let it slide, but that wasn’t something that happens every day.
~
A FEW DAYS LATER
NEW YORK CITY
MIDNIGHT
Axel walked out of his room and walked down the stairs. He got to the living room and met Max pacing. He got a text from him saying he was in his house and they needed to talk urgently.
“What is it? This better be worth it.” Axel scoffed as he got to him.
“Naruto is dead.” Max said and Axel’s eyes widened in shock.
“What?” Axel asked.
“Yeah. I just got the news some minutes ago and it’s not only that. Every person who has businesses within Mexico and the countries close to it are all dead.”
“What?”
“The crazy part about it is that they all died in one night. They were all killed by the same person.”
“Well, who?”
“I don’t know. I have tried to get information about the person but no one is willing to rat the person out. They all seemed scared.”
“Well, keep trying.” Axel replied and ran his hands through his hair. He suddenly heard rustling and he raised his brows. He looked around the living room and noticed the noise was coming from behind the couch.
“What?” Max asked and he raised his hand in the hair, stopping him. He walked to the couch and moved behind it, he sighed seeing his kids and they looked up at him with a nervous smile.
They had a bag of chips in their hands. They both stood up and Max stared at them surprised.
“We didn’t hear anything.” Kender said with a smile.
“Who is Naruto and why is he dead?” Kendra asked curiously and Kender groaned.
“Really?”
“What? I was curious.” She shrugged as she put a lot of chips in her mouth.
“Why are you guys awake?” Max asked.
“Oh, we wanted a late night snack then we saw you come in and we had to hide.” Kender replied and Axel sighed. He creased his forehead as he felt his head hurting a little.
Their connections all over the countries were dead, it would affect his business a lot. He would lose a lot of money and look powerless in the mafia world. The news would have spread and it would make him vulnerable, people would be coming after him.
“Both of you, go to bed.” He ordered as he withdrew his hand from his forehead and looked at him.
“Well, I don’t feel sleepy anymore.” Kender replied and shrugged.
“Yeah, me too. I still want to know who Naruto is and why he and others are dead. Why… ”
“Shut the fuck up and go to bed!” Axel yelled at them and they flinched in fear. They were surprised and scared, he had never yelled at them before.
“Both of you are driving me insane so just go to bed!” He yelled again and only Kendra flinched this time,
“Woah, easy man.” Max said and walked to him.
Slowly, Kendra started to cry and Axel groaned.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” He hurriedly apologized and was about to move closer to her but Kender pulled her away from him.
“It’s okay Kendra. Let’s go.” Kender said to her as he pulled her towards the stairs.
“I’m sorry.” Axel apologised but they ignored him as they walked up the stairs.
“What was that for?” Max asked and Axel groaned in frustration.
“This is bad. This is so bad. Our main source is from Naruto and he is dead. Everyone knows how close we are and now that they know he is dead, they would want to come after me. They… ”
“Hey, calm down. We will get to the bottom of this and solve it okay? We always do. This is not the first time this is happening.” Max assured him as he held his shoulders. He tried to calm him down.
Max knew how hard things were for him, it had been hard for him for the past ten years. Max could tell he wasn’t happy but he was really good at hiding his emotions.
He had panic attacks frequently after Lily’s death and he was placed on pills for a while before he got better.
“Okay.” He muttered in response and exhaled heavily.
“Good. You should go to bed and think of a way to apologize to your kids in the morning.” Max added and he groaned again.
“I made Kendra cry.” He muttered and pulled away from Max.
Max sighed and stared at him with pity.
“Are you okay? I can stay here if… ”
“No, it’s fine. I am okay.” He muttered in response and Max nodded. He walked towards the stairs and Max watched him till he was out of sight then he walked out of the house.
~
Axel stood nervously in front of his daughter’s room as he waited for her to come out. He couldn’t sleep all night, he kept thinking of how he could apologize to his kids.
He wanted to apologize to Kendra first because it was easy, she forgives easily unlike Kendra.
The door to her room opened and she walked out, she froze as she saw Axel. He could see she was scared and that made him feel so bad.
“Hey, good morning.” He greeted her and she nodded. She held her backpack tightly as she waited for him to speak. She was ready for school.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you and made you cry. I am so sorry, I didn’t mean what I said.” He apologized and she nodded.
“I am not really mad at you. It’s Kender that is. You should apologize to him.” She replied and he sighed.
“I know, can you help me?” Axel asked and she shrugged. The door to the next room opened and Kender walked out.
He paused as he saw Axel, he rolled his eyes, moved closer to Kendra, and held her hand.
“I knew you would go to her first to apologize because you know she can’t stay mad at people. Well, if she has accepted your apology then she is returning it. She is mad at you and I am too. Just so you know how serious we are, we are skipping breakfast and going to Grandpa’s house after school.” Kender said and held Kendra’s hand.
“But I am hungry.” Kendra groaned.
“Don’t worry. I will get you something on our way.” He replied and turned to Axel with a frown.
“Bye.” He snapped at him and pulled Kendra with him towards the stairs.
Kendra looked over her shoulder and waved at Axel with a smile.
“Bye, Daddy.” She said and Axel smiled before waving back at her.
“She doesn’t mean it.” Kender yelled and Axel chuckled.