Sometimes revisiting the past can open old wounds, but if we do not let go of what has caused us the most trauma we will never get the healing we deserve.

The muscles in my back are tense and tight as I remain seated in my Imperial Leather Chair as Arsenio stands in front of my desk with a heavy load of files in his hand before he abruptly slams the files on top of my desk.

"This is what we have been looking for all these years", Arsenio states, excitement present in his deep tenor voice.

I am not sure what he is excited about being nothing in my life causes my heart to stir to the point I am able to smile or even be happy for the simple things others cherish in life.

I spend most of my days in my office hidden away in my office, which is located at the top of the Vallea Corporate Building, which happens to be the largest building in the city of Alphacrest.

"What the fuck has you so excited for?",

I ask before I grab hold one of the files before flipping it open. My heart immediately stops as my eyes widen in surprise as I take in the image of Verena, her long mahogany tresses that once covered her face are now gone. In the portrait I am now holding in my hands, the very ones that are beginning to shake as I admired how gorgeous my wife has become.

Her beautiful caramel skin gleams against the sunlight and the honey blonde pixie cut fits her round face perfectly. She has on a lab coat, showcasing her last name..our last name, Vallea. Doctor Verena Vallea, Pediatric Doctor of Fountain View Children's Hospital.

Verena stands in front of Fountain View Children's Hospital with young, small patients and other doctors. Arsenio begins to talk as I continue to admire Verena.

"She has been living in this small town called Fountain View for the past five years. She works as a pediatrician at the local children's hospital. She has her own clinic within the hospital". I shift my attention from staring at my estranged wife to Arsenio.

"Where the fuck is Fountain View and how the hell did we overlook this place".

Arsenio sighs before he rubs the side of his face. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I have no idea, but Fountain View is a pretty small town, nowhere near as big as Alphacrest. It is approximately 3,000 miles away".

I frown as I begin to sort through several files. I feel like a complete idiot as I sort through each file and observe everything that my wife has managed to do for the past five years.

Being a mafia leader, I had little to no trouble finding anyone, rather if a person was an enemy or an associate. I made it my business to find out everything about them: who their parents were, what schools they attended, the type of people they chose to affiliate themselves with.

The information I collected was the way I manage to stay in power as long as I have now, but it crushed my soul to know that the very being that I vowed words of love and devotion to was able to play me at my own game. I truly felt like a fool. As if sensing my sudden discomfort, Arsenio slaps his hand on my back.

"Bro, don't beat yourself up about this. At least now you know where she is and you can now bring her back home". All these years have passed and I assumed that Verena, if she was still alive would be living in a place where she hid herself away from others, barely making any interactions with others by keeping a low profile, but I was so fucking wrong.

My once timid and shy girl I fell in love with was not hiding, she was embracing the very thing I struggled to give her while we were together: her independence.

"I didn't expect her to be working as a doctor Nio, this changes everything".

Arsenio shakes his head, and places the photos I spread out on my desk back in the files they were originally found in.

"This changes nothing. We have been searching across the globe for Verena. We now know where she is, so go to Fountain View and get her".

I slam my fist against the desk,

"She has built a fucking new life in this town. If I show up like myself, she will only find another way to escape from me again. I want her to come back with me willingly". Arsenio has a solemn look on his face, taking in everything I just stated moments ago.

"You are absolutely right. Fuck..."

Silence fills up the room as I try to contemplate a plan in my head on how I am going to convince Verena to come back home. Suddenly a revelation comes to the center of my mind.

"Where exactly is Fountain View located again", I ask Arsenio.

"It's near 50 miles away from the outskirts of Orangeburg".

My heart immediately stops and I quickly get up from my seat before I pull out my phone and make a quick call to my pilot. "I need you to have the plane ready in an hour".

Arsenio shifts his head to the side, confusion covering his face.

"What's going on, did I miss something", Arsenio asks as I begin to pace the floor. "Do you remember a guy by the name Kieran Alvarado".

I ask, wondering if he remembers the man who I once was acquainted with and considered to be I thought I could trust. Arsenio's eyes suddenly become darker after he realizes the man I am referring to. "Shit, don't tell me that he lives in Fountain View", I shake my head.

"His family, if I am not mistaken, still lives in Orangeburg, that is if any of them are still left", I revealed.

Alvarados and Valleas had a long history of working together, building a strong mafia alliance within the states. Father regarded the Alvaradoes as a mafia family we could trust, that is until one of their sons betrayed us.

Leaving me no choice but to wipe each of them from the face of the Earth. "I think it's time I finish the job I started years ago". Arnesio nods in acknowledgement.

"I need you to handle something for me son", my father places both of his hands on my shoulders, a grimace covers his face as we stand in the cemetery, we are standing off to the side, as we watch several people leave the funeral procession.

Today was one of the worst days of my life. Instead of waking up and seeing my mother's beautiful face as she kissed my cheek as she usually did when I get downstairs to enjoy breakfast before taking off to meet with my men at the warehouse, I had to bury my mom.

Mama was a pure soul who kept our family as sane as possible although that was more difficult at times to master being that once I left the Vallea Estate, I became everyone's worst nightmare. Rather than shed tears of sadness like my brothers, I had to be strong for them.

They were only 13 and needed as much emotional support as possible. "

What do you need me to do", I watch my brothers from afar, neither Zyran or Kaemon have left their seats, they still sit in front of mama's casket that is covered with beautiful, fresh yellow roses.

"I need you to kill every last one of the Alvardoes. Eye for eye. They need to pay for what they did".

I nod in agreement, rather than voice how I planned to wreak havoc on the Alvarados for orchestrating my mother's murder. I silently thought about how I was going to eliminate each member of the Alvarodo family.

Their deaths would not be quick, slow and torturous. For the first time in my 23 years of living, I never once saw my father cry until I watched him hover over my mother's bloody body urging her to wake up.

Since the day my father found my mother dead outside of her floral shop, he has not taken a day of rest. He has been making orders to all of the men trying to find the Alvarados, who suddenly were nowhere to be found in town.

"Promise me you will find them and kill them all. I am not in my right frame of mind to lead this family any longer. You are now the head of the family. Do what you must son".

My father and I embrace as I feel tears sliding down my face.

"I will do everything in my power to eliminate them, father, I promise".

Hours have passed and my private jet lands in the small town of Fountain View. Each step I take off the plane, my heart begins to beat rapidly. It is if my soul knows that my better half is here, which causes emotions that have been dormant for the past five years to awaken and come to the surface.

Rather than deciding to become by myself like I initially planned, Arsenio tags along, to keep a low profile we opted to rent a Ford pickup truck at a local rental car place that was nestled beside the small airport.

I did not want to look out of place being that I usually tended to wear suits and expensive sets of jewelry, but today I am wearing a simple white Basic Tee , Dark Denim True Religion jeans and a pair of black combat boots. Arsenio has an outfit similar to mine, but his shirt is black rather than white.

He scrolls on his Iphone before he looks over at me.

"From my tracking, I was able to find the residence that Verena has been staying at".

I glance over at him, "Where is she", I ask.

Arsenio hands me the phone as I look at the address before placing it on the GPS system. My hands clench the steering wheel as my foot suddenly accelerates on the gas. Rather than it taking me 30 minutes to arrive at the small suburban community where practically each house sits so close to each other on each side of the street, I am able to make it in front of a small brick house in less than 15 minutes.

I park the car and sit back in my seat as I observe the environment my wife has been living in. Rather than living in a mansion with every car you could think available for my wife to have access to, Verena has chosen to live quite modestly. Her small home practically could be a storage closet compared to our estate back in Alphacrest.

Just as I move to open the door, I see movement from my peripheral and shift my head around to see Verena coming outside. She doesn't even notice the large truck sitting near her mailbox as she moves in the opposite direction of where the car is parked.

I am curious to know where she is going as I quickly get out of the car and follow her. I make sure to keep my steps light and quick as I follow her down the street for several minutes before she turns left and walks down the pavement toward a small park where there are several trees and a lake nearby.

I hide my body against a large tree as I shift my head around to watch Verena as she takes a seat near the edge of the lake. She then begins to scroll on her phone, as she leans her back against a nearby tree. I walk toward with my hands in my pocket, her back facing me as I kneel down.

I quickly grab her around the waist as she moves to scream, but I place my hand on her mouth to stop her.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you", I whisper against her ear.

My body begins to shiver and tenses up as she glares up at me. "What the fuck are you doing here, Eryx".

A smile spreads across my face as I shift her body around as she tries to push me off of her, but it is no use being that I am 230 lbs of pure muscle.

"I should be asking you the same thing, Verena".

She opens her mouth to argue back with me, but my head suddenly moves forward and as my lips connect with hers, my tongue slides against her, tasting her.

She tries to pull her mouth away from me as I lift her in my arms and press her body against the tree as her legs wrap around mine.



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