Raphael POV I drop my gun on the floor and lift my hands showing I was disarmed.
âRaphael, what a pleasure, my name is Juliusâ â he says extending his hand towards me to shake it. I shake his hand moving my eyes around trying to find my staff and my men, but I canât see anyone.
âI thought we were meeting tomorrowâ â I say âYeah, about that, will you miss the men you sent to secure the place?â
My head is spinning. The bastard knew I was sending men there, leaving me with less security. It was an ambush and I canât do anything.
From the corner of my eye I see Maria, she is hiding through one of our secret passages, you wonât be able to see it unless you know it exists. I sight in relief to know that she is safe but I am still wondering where Olivia could be.
âShall we have a drink and sit down and talk?â â Julius says and I nod my head.
I start walking towards the bar to grab a bottle of vodka and he laughs, loudly â âwhere do you think you are going?â
âI am not taking a drink prepared by your men, so I am fixing myself a drinkâ â I keep walking and as I have my back turned to them they canât see me blinking an eye to Maria that I know could see me through the mirror. She is inside my safe room behind the bar. And I know she is trying to get hold of someone on the phone to come and help me.
âFair enough, but you wonât mind one of my men going with youâ
âI donât give a flying fuck about your men Juliusâ â I say I grab the bottle and one glass, I pour some vodka inside and some coke with a couple of ice cubes. I walk from behind the bar and sit on my sofa.
I cross my legs and sit comfortably looking at Julius that takes a sit in front of me.
âI am surprised you havenât asked about your girlfriend yetâ
âI know you wouldnât be stupid enough to hurt Oliviaâ â I say âYou are right, I wonât hurt her, I just took her as a warranty that we can negotiate a treatyâ
âYou want a treaty with me? Are you fucking out of your damn mind?â â I say taking a large gulp of my drink.
âNo, I am not my father and I donât have a death wish. I know what he did and I donât agree with him, His death was, how am I going to say this, a blessing for meâ
I lift one of my eyebrows looking at him and I say nothing. I donât want to give anything away.
âWell, the man was despicable, and I hated him, I had to do as I was told because he raised me to be the next leader of the Russian mafia, but I donât want to do things the same way as he did, I see a benefit in becoming your ally instead of your enemyâ
âWhat will I get with that?â â I ask taking another sip of my drink and looking around the room at the 5 men pointing guns at me.
âI will help you to get rid of the English, I know they are trying to expand to Americaâ - I have to admit that, that is music to my ears. The Russians end the English, the Spanish have no problems with me. I would be able to live a quiet mafia life without enemies.
âSo, you will end them and take their territory leaving America in peace? In case I am at war with someone you will send reinforcement and I will do the same, but thereâs one thing, you will need to stop the human trafficking.â
âThat brings me a lot of moneyâ â he says thinking about my proposal.
âI donât do business with human traffickersâ â I say âOkay, I will have my lawyer get everything on paper and send it over to youâ
âI want Olivia back, todayâ â I say âI will give you the address of the Hotel she is in and I will allow all of your men to live if they allow me to leave unharmedâ
âNo-one will touch you unless I give the order. So you are safe, I want the addressâ
âShe is at the London Rio Hotelâ
I grab my phone and call Joseph âBoss, thank fuck you are aliveâ - he says âLondon Rio Hotel, thatâs where Olivia is, get the car ready I am going to get herâ
âSure boss, will be outside the building in one minâ
I hang up and get up followed by Julius and his man that now donât have the guns pointed at me.
I pick up my gun from the floor and put it back on itâs place.
I see them all leave my flat and I close the door running back to the mirror and opening it.
Maria comes out and hugs me.
âAre you okay?â
âI am son, but I got Rod and Carl bleeding here, I patched them up as best as I could but they need to go to the hospital.â
âGet the doctor here, I need to go get Oliviaâ â I say planting a kiss on the top of her head and walking out leaving her to deal with my injured men.
I get inside the car and I drive like a crazy person. Olivia has been taken from me and I canât breathe without her.
I promised to protect her and first was Scott and now Julius.
I made that deal to keep her safe. That was the only way I could be with Olivia without her being in danger.
After 20 min driving I stop my car in front of the Hotel and I walk to reception where I am greeted by a blonde girl.
âMr. Lockwood, please follow me, they are expecting youâ
I nod my head and follow the woman towards the lift and she presses the penthouse button. She starts to get closer to me and licking her lips. I keep my cool, I donât want to piss off the Russians before signing the fucking contract and before taking Olivia away from here.
When we arrive her smile drops as I didnât make a move towards her and she walks towards a double door and opens it. As I look inside and take my first steps I see Olivia running towards me and throwing her body against mine. Wrapping her arms around my neck and I lift her up and she wraps her legs around my waist.
I look around and I recognise one of the Russian men, well one of them is mine. And I smile. Sheâs been safe all along and I allow myself to take a deep breath.
âOlivia look at meâ â I say She lifts her head from my neck and looks into my eyes and I smile. She looked scared and tired but I know she was safe and I think she knows that as well as she wasnât crying.
âKiss me womanâ â I say and without having to ask twice her lips met mine and my heart was about to explode. Olivia was safe. My love was safe.