Alison sighed and massaged her forehead. She had a bad headache. She was sitting on Alex's bed. He had given her some of his clothes to wear. So she was in one of his shirts and sweatpants. She had rolled the sweatpants legs and had tightened its strings to the last point to make it her size.

Alex walked in with a tray of food. A plate and a glass of water was in the tray. He smirked when his eyes fell on her. "You look good in my clothes. I love this." he said mischievously and closed the door with his feet and walked in.

Alison rolled her eyes but then bit her lip and looked at Alex nervously. "Any news?" she asked.

Alex walked to her and put the tray beside her on the bed. "Nothing bad will happen, Alie." he sighed and sat on the other side of the tray. "Volkov is not that mindless to do something stupid tonight and ruin his reputation. Now eat something. You must be hungry. I prepared a chicken sandwich for you."

Alison looked down at the sandwich that was sliced in two pieces neatly. "You made this yourself?" she asked surprised.

"What?" asked Alex offended. "Someone, who uses guns can't be a good cook?"

"I didn't mean it." chuckled Alison. "You just don't look like someone who enjoys cooking."

"I don't enjoy cooking." groaned Alex but then smiled at her. "But for my love, I will do anything. Now eat. Then You can have a painkiller for your headache."

Alison's heart warmed up at his words and she smiled back. She picked both slices and held one for him. "Only if you eat as well." she said and then made a smug face. "I want to make sure you have not poisoned it."

Alex laughed under his breath and grabbed the piece of sandwich and they both began to eat. "How is your mother?" asked Alison.

Alex sighed. "Our family doctor sedated her so she can sleep." he said. "Her body will be fine, but it's her mind and soul that makes her sick."

Alison picked the tray and put it on the nightstand and sat next to Alex. She put her free hand on his back and draw circles on his back. "And how are you, Alex?" she asked concerned.

Alex smiled and kissed her lips tenderly. "I'm fine, now that you are here." he said. "Thank you."

Alison sighed and put her head on his shoulder. They both put the last piece of their sandwiches in their mouths and began to chew.

"I wish all of this ends soon." she said after swallowing. "I'm tired of seeing everyone hurt."

Alex used his hands and pulled her into his lap and plant a kiss on her forehead. "Something tells me that it will end soon." he said while running his hand through Alison's hair. "Volkov can't hide forever. We have found some leads that can take us to him."

Alison made a sound between purring and humming and Alex looked down at her and chuckled. "Come on, kitten." he said and stood up with her in his arms only to place her on the bed and pull the covers around her again. "Try to sleep. It was a long day."

Alison grabbed his hand quickly and looked at him with worry. "Don't leave me. Please." she pleaded.

Alex's heart melted at the sight of her doe eyes looking at him pleadingly. He nodded and slipped into bed next to her and pulled her to his chest and placed his head on top of hers. Alison inhaled in his scent and relaxed as his strong arm curled around her waist and soon, they both drifted into sleep.

They both jumped from their slumber by knocking at the door. "Alex!" they heard Simon's voice. "Alex, are you there?"

"Come in." groaned Alex and sat up.

Alison sat up as well. Her mind thought about every bad scenario crazily in a matter of a few seconds and she clutched Alex's arm with both hands tightly. It was one in the morning and Simon had come with urgent news. What else could she thought of?

The door opened and Simon walked in. He smirked as he saw them in bed together. "Sorry to disturb you, love birds." he said but then his face become serious. "But you should come, Alex. Alison's sister has somehow managed to put a tracker in Volkov's coat. They are tracking him to find his lair. We should go to Kings' base."

Alex jumped out of bed and ran to his closet to get ready. "Bella?" asked Alison shocked. "How had she done that? Is she fine?"

"I don't know how, but she has done a great job." said Simon. "And yes. She is fine. Nothing has happened at the gathering after we left."

Just then Alex rushed out of his closet. He had put on black jeans and had a leather jacket on his black T-shirt. "Let's go." he said.

"Alex!" said Alison panicked and stood and walked to him.

"I'm waiting outside. Come fast. Your father is on fire." said Simon and walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"Where are you going?" asked Alison. "Aren't you underage for this stuff? Is that mean Damien and Xander will come as well? You can't go. You can die."

Alex cupped her cheeks with both hands and kissed her lips. "We should go, babe." he said. "At least I should go. Don't be worried. We will be fine. I promise"

Alison nodded in understanding and a tear rolled down her face. Alex wiped it with his thumb, kissed her forehead, and walked out of the room.

"Please, my dear God." said Alison and closed her eyes. "Keep all of them safe."

*************************************************

Mason pulled out his knife from a man's throat and shot another one in the head in front of him. Another man fell to the ground with Damien's precise shot.

Mason nodded for him and they walked forward checking every room. Damien opened a door of a room and walked in after checking both sides but suddenly a man jumped on him from a closet next to the door and pinned him on the ground.

Mason quickly shot the man and rolled him off of wincing Damien. "Damien!" said Mason and knelt beside him. "You should have not come. You have not fully healed yet."

"Watch out!" shouted Damien suddenly with wide eyes and pulled Mason down. He was not too quick and the bullet grazed Mason's shoulder.

Mason flinched but with the speed of lightning emptied his magazine at the doorframe where the bullet had come and helped Damien to his feet and they both hid behind a bar which was in the room.

"I should admit, King, I'm impressed." Volkov's voice came as Mason loaded his gun again. "I don't know how you have found me as much as I think." he said and then fired a volley at the shelves of glasses behind the bar and rain of glass poured on Damien and Mason. Mason quickly pulled Damien's head to his chest and turned his back and covered Damien's body as much as he could and they both hissed as shards of glass pierced their legs and arms. "And I'm fucking angry." roared Volkov.

"There is no way out, Vladimir." said Mason. From the reflections in the broken pieces of mirror on the wall, he could see Volkov and his right hand, Andy, in the room, both aiming their guns at the bar. "My men had surrounded the building. You are a walking dead." taunted Mason, trying to buy time.

"If I'm gonna die, I will take you with me to the flames of hell." snarled Volkov and fired at the bar again.

Mason crawled to the side of the bar. He knew the moment he show a piece of himself, he would be shot. But suddenly someone began to shoot Volkov from the doorframe and Volkov and his right hand got distracted from the bar for a moment to shoot at the doorframe as they tried to hide behind two pillars next to two windows.

Mason used the moment and before Volkov could hide, one of Mason's shots hit him in his side. Mason, Damien, and the person at the door frame poured bullets at the two pillars and ran to the windows when they heard the sound of shattering.

"FUCK!" shouted Mark West as he looked out of the window and saw Volkov and his fellow limping into the woods right behind the building. He emptied another magazine on the direction but Mason didn't waste any time.

"Ben, Volkov ran into the woods on the north of the building." he shouted in his earpiece as he ran out of the room. "Send everyone after them. We should not let him flee. He is wounded. He can't go far."

"Got it!" answered Ben. But they didn't find any sign of Volkov there.

"Sir, You should see this." said one of Mason's men, and they all ran to where he was kneeling on the ground. It was a dirt road going through the woods and the new tracks of tires of a car could be seen in the twilight of the dawn. A car camouflage cover was on the floor next to the road.

"They must have fled using a car they have kept here." said the man.

"Bring the cars. We should follow them." Barked Mark at his men as he panted hard. Alex had stood beside him with a gun in his hand.

"We won't be able to catch him. It's late." growled Ben as some men ran to bring cars. "Damn it!" he shouted angrily to the sky.

Just then, Rich, Albert, and Xander ran to them.

"Don't tell me he fled." said Albert. But he got his answer as no one looked at him in the eyes.

"Fuck!" shouted Xander and punched a trunk of a tree which caused his knuckles to bleed instantly.

"We found his main base and mansion in Florida." said Rich. "We should send our men to destroy there as well."

Suddenly Mason remembered something. "His coat." he said, angry with himself for not remembering sooner, and began to order in his earpiece. "he still had the coat from last night on. The earring must be still in his pocket. Track him."

He said and everyone ran to the cars.

A few miles away, Andy, Volkov's right hand was driving full speed out of the woods and toward the highway. "How the fuck did they find us?" he said and his knuckles turned white from his tight grip on the stirring wheel. "I can bet on my life that no one followed us last night."

"I don't fucking know." growled Volkov and hissed in pain as he pulled his bloody hand away from the wound on his side. "We must have a rat. and if I find him or her, I'm gonna kill him painfully." he snarled as he pulled out his handkerchief from his breast pocket to wipe his sweat but frowned when he felt a little shiny object fall on his lap. "Bella!" he said as he picked up the object and slowly began to laugh.

"Fuck!" growled Andy as he saw the small earring. "That fucking bitch, must be responsible for this mess. She must have put it there when you were dancing."

Volkov pulled down the window and throw away the earring. "She is a true tigress." he said as a sinister smirk formed on his lips. "But she doesn't know, I'm a hunter and she has intrigued me as hell. I will hunt her and decorate my room with her pretty skin."

******************************

Eva walked into the living room at half-past five in the morning. Alison who had come back a few hours ago had fallen asleep on a sofa. Hunter was sleeping on the other. Eva was tired. She had not slept all night. Still, no words had come from the men. She was worried for her husband and sons.

She saw the curtains in front of the garden's door moving with the soft wind. She walked there and found Bella sitting there on a chair with a blanket on her shoulders. She was rubbing her arms while her eyes were fixed on the water in the pool.

"Bella!" called Eva softly and put a hand on Bella's shoulder as she sat next to Bella.

"They returned?" asked Bella hopefully but sank in her chair when Eva shook her head sadly. "Oh." she said and went back to stare into space.

"You should have slept a bit." said Eva as she rubbed her daughter's back and looked at her tired face. "You look like you can pass out any moment"

"I'm fine, mum." said Bella. "I'm just so worried."

"You and Mason have gotten too close." said Eva with a smile, trying to change the subject. "He looks so different around you."

"Do you think it's right, mum?" asked Bella and shivered as the cold wind hit her slim body and she pulled the blanket tighter around her. "He is in the mafia, known for being ruthless and stern. you should have seen his face when he was shouting at me last night when he had thought I was flirting with Volkov. For a moment I thought he is going to kill me with his gun right there and then."

"As much as I'm angry with him, you are still here." said Eva and smirked a bit. "And as Marisa told me, Mason left your room a few hours after he arrived."

Bella blushed a bit. "Mum, for God's sake. I was caught in a heated moment." she groaned and fidgeted a bit uneasy. But then sighed and buried her face in her lap. "But I didn't lie to him when I said I love him. I'm afraid of him, I'm angry with him right now, I want to hate him for what he does, but I can't. I love him." she said and her muffled voice became shaky at the end.

Eva looked down at her daughter sympathetically. She grabbed Bella's shoulder and pulled her up to sit straight. Bella's eyes were teary and desperate. "I love him, mum. My heart aches when I think about leaving him, yelling at me not to. I know him for what, less than a month? and I can't imagine my future without him. What should I do, mum?"

Eva tucked a strand of hair behind Bella's ear and hugged her to her chest and let her cry as she caressed her hair. "I can't say what you should do, my dear. it's all your decision," she said and kissed Bella's head. "When Albert told me about the mafia, I first freaked out, but then I looked into his desperate eyes and saw the man I fell in love with, not a monster I was thinking he is. I was expected to fear him but the only thing I felt was peace. He may be a criminal but he is a man who cares for his family more than anything and that is something I respect. His good attributes are more than bad ones. I couldn't leave him or my sons, who I have come to love as my own. My life had become chaos but I bear it and will stand like a tree with deep roots to take care of those I love. Love is strange, Bella. It can make you go beyond your beliefs because of your loved ones. It makes you do things you never thought you can do. It's so big and powerful. It can be cruel and yet it can heal. No one can say they know all about love, for it has different types and shapes. Try not to fight it a lot. In the end, it will bring you to your knees. Listen to your heart and see what it says."

Bella pulled away and wiped her face. "Thank you, mum." she said with a smile.

A breeze blow and they both looked ahead and saw the sky slowly getting blue and the top of trees began to glow with a golden hue as the sun rose behind the woods in the east. The two women sat there, enjoying the peace praying for their men to be fine.

Suddenly Marisa burst through the glass doors and startled both Eva and Bella who stood up quickly. "It's Albert." she said hurriedly and held the phone for Eva. "They are all fine and will come home soon. He wants to talk to you."

"Thank God." said Eva and grabbed the phone as a tear of relief rolled down her face and she walked inside followed by Bella and Marisa.