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Chapter 7:

Katherine POV

For the next couple of days, I don't see Apollo much as there is a massive new case that no one knows details about, yet it has the building buzzing. Someone swore they saw about ten scary, mafia looking men walk into the building yesterday and I had to laugh at that one. We were told by management that we would have to wait for things to be ironed out and then only a select few will be handling this case, which obviously I wanted to be one of those people.

That same afternoon I receive an email, requesting my presence at a meeting in Mr Drakos' office. At around 3 pm, I see about three others enter his office and sitting there is Mr Lopez? When we're all gathered, Mr Drakos starts addressing us and informing us that someone is having Mr Lopez looked into and that he has gathered us to assist with the case but we have to sign strict non-disclosures. When one of the lawyers questioned why Mr Lopez interjected

"I know you all have your suspicions and yes, they are true. We are the mafia and one of our rival gangs has chosen to investigate us in hopes of taking over our territory..." he looks at all of us in the eye "you must know, that even though you will all be protected as best we can, that this is the mafia so you'll be watched and this case is extremely dangerous. This is the start of the war" I swallow deeply, well shit, guess that story I heard was right. Mr Drakos then speaks again

"Following on what Mr Lopez has just said, this case comes with its own dangers so if you feel you are not up for it, then I will give you the freedom to remove yourself from the case right now" one lady walks out, stating that she is too worried for her family and Mr Drakos thanks her as she leaves to continue her work. "Anyone else?" he looks directly at me but I remain standing in the office, this case interests me too much and will definitely receive lots of attention as Mr Lopez is an extremely wealthy businessman. We are each handed a folder to examine and each given an old phone, just in case something should happen and as our means of communication as we have to be so careful with everything. Mr Lopez also invites us to his anniversary party the following week and leaves with his army of bodyguards. Turns out this party is a week-long of festivities which ends in the party and because Mr Lopez wants to get to know us all, he wants us to participate in these activities, so after a week-long of meetings almost every night, Chris is helping me pack for the flight tomorrow, he even designed my dress for the party as we were told it's extremely met gala like and to dress in our finest ball gowns and suits. The party was being held in Mexico, which means we had to fly and so I pop my pill case into my bag and we watch Big Mouth while eating pizza and drinking wine, Chris telling me all about his crazy day in between.

The next day, before leaving for the airport, Chris and I eat breakfast and he reminds me to take my pill before putting it in my large case. I greet him, get into the car which came to pick me up and when I get to the airport, we are taken to the private jet lounge and there is Mr Drakos with the four other people on the case and – Stacey? Oh Lord...why is this bitch everywhere. Luggage checked in, we are ready to board when a man walks up to us and tells us that the plane needs to be refuelled and double-checked for technical issues. I immediately start to get nervous as the tablet starts to kick in soon which means we need to get on this plane now or else I'll be a big mess...two hours pass and I go to the guy who spoke to us "Sorry, sir, how much longer will they be?" he picks up a phone and then answers me "about half an hour more Ma'am, apologies for the delay" I know it's not his fault so all I can do is say thank you and go to the bathroom. I wet my face and as I walk out he announces that we are ready to leave but I can feel the pill starting to wear off. I feel my heart start to race and jump when Mr Drakos touches my arm "Miss Ellis, are you okay?" I just nod and smile "Yes, Mr Drakos, I'm fine" we board the plane and I can feel the nerves bubbling in my stomach and nausea start to happen. Shit. Because I stood at the back of the line to board and waited last purposefully, I had to sit in the only open seat there was, which was right next to Mr Drakos at the back of the plane, almost separate from everyone else. Good, because then no one could see me freak out but bad because Mr Drakos definitely will. Well, at least we're close to the bathroom if anything happens...

As we buckle up, my hands are shaking so much that I can barely put in the buckle and after a few seconds of struggling I feel hands over mine and can only look at Mr Drakos fastening my seatbelt. "Thank you" I barely manage to whisper shakily. The flight attendant starts speaking about safety but I can hear nothing over my fear and I feel a slight sweat break out on my face when I feel the engine rumbling and I grab the hand rest of the seat so tightly with my eyes closed, hoping for this all to end.

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Apollo POV

Something wasn't right; Katherine has been pacing around nervously ever since the attendant announced that we would be running behind. I watched her look at the clock and then two hours later, rush to the bathroom. She had clearly wet her face and looked absolutely fearful. I walked up to her "Ms Ellis, are you okay?" I see her physically force a smile and answer me back with the most unconvincing "Yes, Mr Drakos, I'm fine" I've ever heard. As we board, she goes to stand at the back of the line and because of this, she ended up sitting next to me. They announce that we should buckle up and I see from the corner of my eye that her hands are shaking so much that she is struggling to buckle up and without a second thought, I reach over and buckle her seatbelt for her. "Thank you" she whispers in the most frightened voice I've ever heard and I start getting very worried, this all looks very familiar to me. As the plane's engine roars, I see her clenching the hand rest tightly and her breathing has become heavier. I fully look at her as her eyes are closed and she has a light sweat on her forehead. Shit, if this is what I think it is then it's about to get a whole lot worse, but not wanting to cross that line in front of my other employees, I stop myself from reaching out to her but then she lets out a whimper and I see a tear fall from her tightly shut eyes and all restraint just flies out the window as I grab her hand. Shocked, she opens her eyes and looks at me with fear "I'm sorry, Mr Drakos" more tears and she starts shaking again

"Ms Ellis, keep breathing..."

"I- I'm so scared..." the slight turbulence does not help and she squeezes my hand harder

"Katherine..." she looks at me in my eyes, tears threatening to fall further from hers. She has a look of pure fear "Katherine, just breathe for me, okay?" she nods but is still shaking as she follows my breath. The plane takes another dip and she closes her eyes again, but my hand grabs her chin and turns her face towards me "Katherine, keep looking at me, keep breathing" she finally starts to calm down

"There we go, good girl, you're doing great, just keep going" when she is calmer, I signal for the waitress and she brings a double whiskey neat. I hand the glass to Katherine "Here, drink" she looks at the glass and then at me questioningly "I don't have any relaxants with me right now so it'll do for now" her eyes widen "How did you know?" he has a smirk on his face "My mom also had a fear of flying, she was okay when she took the relaxant beforehand, but the few times she didn't, this always worked"

"Thank you, Mr Drakos" she looked at me with those eyes that still gave me the same feeling it did a year ago in Greece, I could feel my wall crumbling but I had to make sure it stayed up as she was the one who left, so clearly she wasn't interested as I was... I turned back to my laptop and she dozed off. Signalling for a blanket, I laid it over her and couldn't help but look at her so peacefully asleep, with her beautiful curves, curly hair and cute cheeks. This trip is going to be difficult as I'll see her often but I just need to keep my distance as I've been doing, otherwise, it'll be difficult to not develop feelings...