hiiiii my loves!! So this story will soon come to an end because I am too excited for the next one honey to drag her out any further and as I've mentioned before, I like a shorter story that gives us what it needs to give and then that's it. Thank you always for reading and I am currently mapping out the next story so that will start to be posted very soon if not directly after this story. please stay with Apollo and Kat till the end and ALSO I see you all adding to your reading lists and liking the chapters, I love ya'll wow ya'll are truly AMAZING!!

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Chapter 12:

Katherine POV:

For the next few days, after Apollo and I had shown Mr Lopez the pictures and explained what we most likely expected was happening, we spent the next few days planning how to get the woman I had met away from that gang and keep her in safety so that she could testify, as the photos were proof of abuse but we had nothing tying them to the trafficking and allegations, so we needed her to testify.

Obviously in the beginning when she called from a burner phone, she rejected my pleading to testify and was too scared but one night she said that they threatened their lives if anything bad were to happen in this case and that the boss was getting drunk more often, beating them more often and lots of the girls needed medical help. She then agreed to testify, after I promised I would literally walk with her until I couldn't anymore in court and that I would be by her side 24/7, with protection from Mr Lopez's men.

Because this case and situation were so sensitive and even the slightest mistake could cause everything to go wrong, Apollo only hinted to the rest of the lawyers working this case that there is a possible witness that will drive our case home and be beneficial for us. I kept looking at Stacey as her mannerisms still made me very wary as she seemed more annoyed and on edge than usual. Anyhow, we plan for the escape to take place the next night, when the guards were fewer and I messaged the woman to get ready. I wanted to be in the car when they got her but Apollo refused I go anywhere near that situation and instead said that she could stay with us, yes I moved in with Apollo, until her testimony was needed.

That night, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sit still.

"Babe, would you stop worrying? We spent days planning this, Mr Lopez assured us that-" the phone rings and all I can do is stare at it. Apollo walks over and as the person on the other end is speaking, he suddenly hangs his head "fuck!" his hand goes to his temples and immediately I inch closer to him, I need to know that she is fine. He closes his eyes and hangs up the phone "Thank you". He turns to look at me and the look in his eyes already tells me everything I need to know

"No....no Apollo...this had to work...what about those women?" my legs cannot hold me as I collapse to the floor, she was depending on me...all of them were...I start to sob uncontrollably to the point where I feel like I have no more breath left in me. Apollo lifts me off the ground and carries me to the bed, tucking me in underneath the blankets. He leaves the room and comes back with water and a tablet

"You haven't eaten this whole day, Kat..." I just lay back down and soon fall asleep, all my energy drained.

"no, no please stop!" why is Justin killing her? She looks at me with desperate eyes calling for help and I try to run towards her but my feet are stuck, why can't I move?! And with a gun in his hand, he looks at me and smirks before shooting her right in the head

"No!!!"

".....Kat! Baby, wake up!" I open my eyes, screaming and sweating as I see Apollo holding my shoulders, looking concerned at me. I feel the tears flow once again and he holds me close whispering to me

"It was just a nightmare, Kat...everything will be fine..." he rocks forwards and backwards with me clinging onto him for dear life "Apollo...."

"Shhhh, I know...we'll figure it out, we will save those women Kat, I promise you" we spend a few more minutes in that position until I've finally calmed down and Apollo lies back down on his back, with me cuddling him, head on his chest as he plays with my curls and soon this lures me into a deep sleep, luckily this time without the nightmares.

The next day at work, an emergency meeting is called but just with Apollo and me at Mr Lopez's house. After greeting everyone and coffee being served to us, Mr Lopez wastes no time

"We think you have a mole at your firm, Apollo" we are both silent at this news and he continues

"My men have been observing their place every night while we were planning the escape and that specific time of the night was perfect for it as the guards were less and their boss would've left by then, but that specific night, after your lawyers were made aware of a possible witness, there suddenly were loads more men, and even the asshole himself was still there. Luckily my men rather aborted the mission as it would've hurt us more and I expected fewer men so I sent fewer men" my eyes are wide open, how could someone--- wait a minute. I turn to Apollo

"Apollo...I have a feeling as to who it might be, I might not be entirely correct but-"

"Stacey?" he interjects and I nod. He sighs "She has been acting rather strange lately..."

We then discuss another plan which involves feeding the lawyers a bit of false information in hopes that the mole would share it with the opposition and we can catch the mole and get the woman at the same time. We wait for a few days so that everything dies down a bit and they think we've given up on the witness. A month later, they seemed to have let their guard down as Rosa, I finally got her name, let me know that they are back on normal rotation schedules and the boss has been going home his regular time for the past two weeks. I sigh a sigh of relief knowing that we still had a chance, that Rosa and those women still had a chance.

That morning, we plant the information that we were meeting our witness at a warehouse the next town over and some of Mr Lopez's men head over in the morning already to prepare. As the evening gets closer, my anxiety gets worse and once again, we are at Apollo's apartment, I stress walk back and forth waiting for the call. As the time approaches and according to the plan, everything should be completed by now but why is there no call? As Apollo comes to me and as he is about to hug me, his phone rings and I see a smile on his face as he hangs up. I look at him, wanting to hear the answer but dreading it at the same time.

"We got her" my hands fly to my mouth as the tears roll down and Apollo hugs me tightly, but we had to move quickly as she was being brought here, where we would then be under surveillance and get a quick briefing from Mr Lopez.

As soon as there is a knock on the door and Apollo opens it, Rosa runs to me and I accept her with open arms, us both crying. I take her to the kitchen where I've made her dinner and to show her to her room while Mr Lopez and Apollo discuss in his study. Once Rosa is settled, I leave her to rest, we can talk tomorrow but for now, she needs to rest.

I head over to the study and take dinner along with me, offering it to Mr Lopez and Apollo to which Mr Lopez stands and kindly refuses as he says his wife had made dinner and was waiting for him but I insisted he at least take home some dessert that I had made. As he greeted Apollo goodbye, I hugged him "Thank you, Mr Lopez" he smiles at me and looks at Apollo

"You better look after her Apo, this one is a gem" he turns to look at me "And if this idiot ever does anything wrong, I would gladly have you as a daughter-in-law" he laughs as Apollo wraps his arm around my waist and he winks at us and leaves.

Apollo and I just stand there for a moment, taking in what has happened and what will happen going forward. If everything goes well, we win the case and those assholes go to jail for good and Apollo has already arranged for all the women who have been taken by the gang to be placed into work and will even offer them jobs at his firm. I look at him in awe; this man really is something...he looks at me and kisses me gently.

"You really are amazing, Mr Drakos..." we share a moment and he lifts me up, wrapping my legs around his waist

"No, you made this possible so I would say you are the amazing one, Miss Ellis" he carries me to the room and closes the door as we didn't want to wake Rosa. Placing me on the bed and hovering over me, his arm muscles flexing just above my head, he looks at me intensely with those gorgeous pools of Aqua that still makes me wet just from that sexy gaze of his and he kisses me deeply, biting my bottom lip as he lets go, whispering

"I love you, Katherine" ooh the waterfalls when he says my whole name like that damn

"I love you too, Apollo"