A/N: Sorry guys, but I may not be able to update tomorrow. So here is another update today. Wish you enjoy it.

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Xander walked into the dining room the next morning. His heart sank when he didn't see Eva there. Usually, she was sitting and helping the twins with their breakfast, but that day she was not there. Only the twins, Damien and Hunter were sitting at the table.

Hunter who always was hungry was only playing with his pancakes and Damien had sat there without touching his food. He looked up when he noticed Xander and met his eyes and immediately knew what was going on in his twin's head. "She left five minutes ago to talk to dad in his office." he said quickly.

Xander's eyes grew wide and he dropped his bag and ran out of the dining room. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cursed as he ran to the west wing at full speed. There was only one thought in his mind. He should have stopped Eva before she could talk with his dad.

He had slept only for a few hours last night thinking about Eva, her words, and the situation they were in. After an hour of debating, he had come to the conclusion that deep in his heart he trusted Eva. She and Alison had brought life and happiness to their strict house and that was something he was going to protect. He was going to protect his family's happiness. But it was not all. He had not felt being cared for since his mother had died. Last night when Eva had come to check up on him, although he had called her a gold digger, reminded him of his own mother when she would bring dinner for him although he had caused a problem and she was angry with him.

He reached Albert's office and barged in without knocking. Eva had sat in front of Albert's desk and Mason and Rich were there as well. Everyone looked at him shocked and alert. Mason stood up quickly and his hand went to his waistband where his gun was hidden. "Xander!" he called quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" said Xander while panting a bit. He glanced at Eva and saw her watching him with worry. "I just need to talk to Eva."

Albert frowned. "Knock next time, Xander." he said sternly. "And Eva was just going to tell me something. You can wait."

Xander walked up to a surprised Eva and grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet while guiding her to the door. "No, I can't." he said ignoring his father's word of protest. "Sorry, father, but it's so urgent."

Xander closed the door behind him and dragged Eva to a room next to the office and closed the door again. "Xander! What's wrong, dear?" she asked as her expert eyes examined his body for any injuries.

Xander walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes. "Eva, please don't leave." he said.

Eva was taken aback by his words and her eyes widened. "What?" she asked surprised.

"I'm so sorry for the words I said yesterday." said Xander sincerely. "I'm sorry for whatever I did. Please just don't divorce dad. Don't leave us. We all need you." he pleaded.

"But Xander...." began Eva but she was cut off by Xander.

"Please, Eva. I'm begging you." he literally begged her. "I promise to bring Alison back today and make sure that she is comfortable here. Just promise, promise that you won't leave us. The family needs you. I need you."

Eva looked at him with watery eyes. There was no lie in Xander's eyes and he looked so desperate and sad. She couldn't take it anymore. "Come here, son." she whispered and hugged him which he returned without a second of hesitation and after so long years he felt as if he was back in his mother's safe and warm embrace.

A tear rolled down his eyes and he hugged Eva tighter. "Please, promise you will stay no matter what. If you claim to love us, please stay. We all need you."

Eva pulled away a bit and cupped his cheeks, brought his head down, and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. She then wiped his tears and smiled at him. She was crying as well. "I promise, Xander. I will stay with you." she said and Xander smiled and kissed her cheeks wondering how could have he doubted this woman with those innocent eyes for a second.

"Thank you, .... mother." he said and Eva's smile grow wider.

Eva pulled out a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes. "Now I have to go and talk with your father." she said and when she saw the worry in Xander's eyes she quickly added. "Not for talking about divorce. But I have told him that I want to talk, so I should say something. I will talk about the little twins' school."

Xander sighed relieved and kissed her cheek again. "Thank you." he said. "I will stay on my promise. I will bring Alison home today."

Eva nodded and whispered a thank you. They both then walked out of the room and went to their separate ways. Eva stood in front of Albert's office with her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath to calm down herself and smiled remembering Xander's words. She opened the door and walked in.

"What did he want?" asked Albert as she walked in.

"Nothing," said Eva. "It was a mother and son talk. It was private."

The three men in the room frowned, not believing if she was talking about the same Xander they knew. But the look of happiness on Eva's face made them drop the subject and focus on something important they should do, telling her the truth.

"Eva, actually I wanted to talk to you, love." said Albert and he stood from behind his desk and walked and sat on the sofa next to her. He grabbed her hand and looked at her nervously. It was one of a few times in his life that he was feeling nervous. "It is very important and if you let us, we would talk about it first, because Mason and Rich should leave."

"Okay!" said Eva and her brows furrowed as she saw his nervous eyes. Albert was a confident man so seeing him like that was making her worried slowly.

"Eva, honey, before I say anything I first want to tell you how much I love you and you know that." said Albert. "I just want you to trust me and let me explain everything."

"Albert, You are making me worried, my dear." said Eva and took his big hands in hers and draw soothing circles on the back of his hands. "What's wrong?"

Albert took a deep breath and began. "Eva you know that I'm a businessman. I have founded the King corporation and I'm running it, well actually it's now Mason and Rich who are doing that. But It's only a cover for my main business." he explained.

Eva stared at him confused. "A cover?" she asked. "A cover for what business?"

Albert held her hands tighter, afraid that if he says his next words she would run for the door. He stared directly at her eyes. "For Mafia, Eva." he said finally. "I'm running a mafia. Actually, I'm the leader of the biggest mafia in America who has so many other mafia families in the States under his control. I'm the Capo and soon Mason is going to take my place."

Eva just looked at him dumbfounded. Her mouth was slightly agape and she was blinking every few seconds trying to digest what he just said. Albert sat closer to her and squeezed her hands. "Love, Please say something." he said.

"Eva!" called Mason. "I promise you are safe. We will do everything to keep you and Alison safe."

Eva began to laugh slowly. "You are joking right?" she asked but her smile faded as she saw their serious faces. She looked back at Albert with wide eyes like she was seeing him for the first time in the light. "Oh dear Lord." she said and paled visibly. "You are serious."

She tried to pull away from Albert but he kept her in place. "Eva, please." pleaded Albert much to his son's surprise. They had never seen their father pleading. "You are safe, love. I guarantee that."

Eva finally yanked her hands out of his grip and moved away from him. "My safety is not the problem now, Albert." she said. "Oh God, You are a criminal. My God, you are a mafia leader. You deal drugs and weapons. You kill people."

"I assure you that I never had killed anyone innocent." assured Albert.

Eva shook her head. "But you cause it unconsciously." she said and looked around her frantically and suddenly felt light-headed. She closed her eyes and grabbed the arm seat with one hand and took her head in her other hand.

"Rich!" called Albert worried and the three men were kneeling in front of her in a second.

"Lay her down. She has low blood pressure." instructed Rich and put a cushion under her head as Albert carefully laid her down on the couch. "Mason, tell Marisa to dissolve some salt and sugar in a glass of water and bring it here."

Albert sat beside Eva and put his hand on her head and caressed her forehead with his thumb while whispering sorry to her all the time. Marisa rushed in a moment later with a glass in her hand. "Eva, You should drink this." instructed Rich and put his hands under the cushion bringing her head up. Albert kept the glass in front of her lips as she sipped slowly and color came back to her face a bit. So after a few minutes, she sat up again and held her head in her hands. Everyone was silent in the room, watching her.

"Eva, love." said Albert worriedly. "Please, say something."

Eva raised her hand and stopped him. "Why?" she said and looked up at his confused face. "Why are you telling me now? Something must have happened, or else I'm sure you wouldn't have told me."

"Something has come up recently that needed us to be more careful." explained Albert. "An old enemy has raised again and threatened us."

Eva looked at them scared. "Eva, please calm down. I promise nothing happens. We will make sure of it." said Rich trying to reassure her.

Eva shook her head. "Don't promise something you can't guarantee, Rich." she said and looked at him. "You can't guarantee anyone's safety."

"Eva, I'm not going to force you to stay here. I know what kind of a shock it must have been for you." said Albert and took her hand again. To his relief, she didn't pull back so he continued. "But I want you to know I love you so much and me and my family need you here. So please consider this while deciding. We will do our best to protect you and Alison."

Eva closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head was pounding. She loved Albert as well. She loved all the boys like her own as well. But they were criminals. It was so hard for her to decide. Never in her life, she had crossed a law and now she was married to probably the most wanted criminal of the country. Living with them was so dangerous. Suddenly Xander's desperate plea repeated in her head and his desperate face flashed in front of her eyes. Just promise, promise that you won't leave us. The family needs you. I need you.

She gritted her teeth and sighed defeated. Her heart was getting the better of her mind. She couldn't leave them for sure. "What about Bella?" she asked and opened her eyes and looked at Albert.

Albert's eyes shone with happiness, taking her words as a sign that she would stay. "We will bring her here until we take care of everything. We will enroll her at the same university that Rich goes to." he quickly said.

Eva nodded her head. "I should tell them as well. Both of them." she said and squeezed Albert's hand. "I will stay here, Albert. I can't go now that I love you all. But after you take care of everything and we are safe again, I want Alison and Bella to have a choice of whether to stay or not."

"Of course, of course, they will have." said Albert and hugged her tight and kissed her head a few times. He felt a great burden was lifted from his shoulders as he held the love of his life in his arms. He was so lucky for sure.