Niklaus' point of view

I wasn't stupid enough to leave Maya without protection. Though my father claims this was just a trip to resolve the issues at country B, I felt he purposely sent me away, but why?

Adam wasn't stupid enough to hurt Maya in my absence, I had warned him. Our relationship lately was tense, just a tiny cord keeping us from becoming enemies.

"Keep Maya safe," I sent the message to Judy as soon as I arrived in the country. I had privately employed Judy to keep her safe yet couldn't help but send the message.

Maya was pregnant with my baby, our baby, and it made me a whole lot uncomfortable leaving her alone back home.

I don't know much about pregnancy but when Kay was with child, the doctor pleaded I spent time with her and said women needed the physical and emotional support from their partner.

Who knew whether Maya was alright with my absence? Was she lonely? Anxious? Would that negative emotion affect our child? Gosh, I needed to hurry up, I needed to be with the mother of my child.

"Sir, your sleeping arrangement has been made. Perhaps, we should drop off at the hotel before going to the factory," Lucas suggested.

We had arrived in the morning time plus the fact that Country B was four hours faster.

"No, there's no time to rest. Head to the Arsenal right away," I instructed, knowing if I wanted to return home earlier than intended, I'll have to work myself as a donkey.

I was stressed up and needed rest - I did not get much sleep during the ride here thanks to online meetings with my executives- but the thought of Maya and my child kept me going.

Lucas obediently drove to the Arsenal and I wasn't surprised at their warm reception since they had all been informed of my arrival beforehand.

"I hope you had a pleasant journey, sir?" The chief director of this branch led me into the Armory with the rest of his officials trailing after him.

"Yes, it was as expected. Let's go to the point shall we?" I didn't beat around the bush.

He led me to the gun factory where the attack and explosion had occurred. It turned out that one of their people working in the security department, who knew all their protocols, collided with some gangs who infiltrated the Arsenal and carted away with a reasonable amount of firearms.

"They came prepared," He explained," They broke through our defenses as easily as a knife goes through a pie and I hate to say this but their weapons were better than ours. Which keeps me wondering why they bothered with our lesser grade weapons?"

"The Falcon Gang," I murmured.

Sakuzi, my jaw clamped. He must be the one responsible for this. I was so engrossed with protecting Maya that I forgot his attacks on our businesses.

"What about the storehouses?" I asked, knowing the best weapons were stored there.

Those attackers had left with entry-level weapons but still, yet, ammunition was ammunition no matter the grade. This has caused an overflow of our weapons in the black market which wasn't good for business plus garnering the attention of the country's government.

Our business wasn't illegal - at least not in this country- but the government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens and if a commoner could easily get his or her hand on ammunition, our ammunition, it could bring unrest in the country thanks to the spike in manslaughter.

"About that, our -" the Chief director was about to answer when a baby's shrill cry cut through the air.

"What's that?" My expression shifted, "Who has a baby at work?" There was a frown on my face.

Due to the nature of this work, no one was permitted to bring a kid in here for the safety of lives. Children were unruly demons that would never stay at a place and could end up touching the wrong thing.

My eyes roamed around the spacious room to rest on a woman who looked away in fright as soon as our eyes met. She was one of the laborers clearing the ruins of the attacks.

"I'm sorry Sir Niklaus," the director bowed his head, nervous sweat trickling down his forehead as he explained, "Her husband just died recently and she needed this job to able to put a meal on her table-"

"And then, I pardon the next person who comes with the same sob story?" I asked with a cold gaze.

He gulped and lowered his head, unwilling to stare at my fierce gaze.

"I won't sabotage my company because of a sympathetic story, this is not a voluntary organization but business, be warned,"

I strode towards the woman who shrank away with fear while trying to calm her agitated child. She must know who I am hence knew she broke the rule or the rule was broken for her sake and was in trouble.

But when I saw the way she clutched the child to her chest protectively, my thought wandered to Maya and my child she still had in her womb.

My anger dissipated at once.

"Have you fed her?" I surprisingly found myself asking.

She blinked at my question, she must have expected me to bark her head off.

"The child's a he" she corrected.

"Oh," I realized, "Then have you fed him?"

"Yes, I did but I can't understand why he keeps crying," she said, still attempting to coax the child.

"Give him,"

"Huh?"

"Give him to me" I stretched out my hands expectantly.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I asked her.

Skeptically, she handed the baby over to me however, I caught a trace of fear in her eyes. Does she think that I have no experience with kids, that I'd drop her child? How amusing.

Thankfully, Isabella's birth made me gain a bit of experience- I had forgotten by the way- but my instincts took over. I used both arms to grasp the child and held him securely to my chest.

"How old is he?" I asked, gently rocking the crying child.

"Five months," she answered but her eyes were glued to her child, ready to butt in if things went wrong.

Suddenly, I began to make funny faces at the child who stopped crying automatically, watching me with rapt attention.

Everyone around me froze, including the chief director. They didn't know much about me but they had an opinion that I was a scary playboy CEO who doesn't joke with his business. How was he able to calm a crying child? They must be so curious.

"What's his name?"

"Neon,"

"Neon? Sounds catchy" I commented before lifting the baby's shirt and blew raspberries on his tummy eliciting giggles from his mouth.

"Who's a good boy?" I said against his stomach, drawing more giggles as he reached for my hair, pulling at my strands - ouch, that hurts.

"He likes you," the mother's earlier frown had vanished and was all smiles, "You're a natural and going to make a good father,"

"You think so?" I was genuinely surprised.

"Babies can tell good people," she claimed.

"I'm not a good person," I told her.

In fact, why was I even telling her this? I'm not the chit chat type.

"My boy says otherwise," she tilted her head at her child attempting to mimic my facial expression.

"I wasn't a great father to my first child and now, the woman I love is expecting my child, do you think I'll make a good father?"

"Do you want to make a good father?" She threw back at me.

"Of course" I responded briskly.

"You have a manganous heart and would make one, a good father worthy of emulation," she pep-talked.

"Do you think I'll still be magnanimous when I tell you that you won't be coming back here tomorrow," I disclosed.

She went pale and went down on her knees to my surprise, "Sir, I need this job desperately. Without it-"

"Listen here," I called her attention," This type of job is not suitable for you and your child. I have much connection and would find you a better one where you work with ease and nurse your child alongside,"

The woman was stunned for a while before she burst into tears and began to thank me vehemently.

"Thank you so much!" She bowed down to my embarrassment.

"Please get up already, I'm not God," I urged her to her feet.

"Also," I added, "I want to be the godfather to Neon, can I do that?"

Before she could even answer, a round of applause reverberated from around the room- wasn't even expecting that.

"Of course," she said amid tears.

I handed over to her the now smiling and babbling Neon still attempting to reach for my hair. The boy made me anticipate the coming of my own child, I couldn't wait.

Having settled that issue, I left with the executives to sort the rest of the problems out. The day was so stressful that the moment I got to my hotel, I went to bed without taking a bath.

But I hardly rested for two hours before Lucas woke me up with his calls.

"What is it?" I was quite angry about being woken up from the much-needed sleep.

"Something happened,"