If someone would say that anger makes people look weird, then they’d be damned if they met angry Liara. I always find her expression amusing. Her scrunchy nose and pouty lips, eyebrows furrowed, and rosy cheeks as if someone had added an extra blush on her cheeks. 

I tried very hard to control my smile when she was so angry at me she preferred staring at the IV strips attached to her hands instead of looking at me. I knew she was angry at me and she should be. Samira crossed her limits, and I still had to figure out why she went through so much plotting and harming Liara.

The wolf's attack technique was very dangerous, and I banned it for my people who newly joined because the speed, swiftness, and patience could only be built up after regular practice. Only Drake and I knew how to use it, but now, when the doctor mentioned it, I looked carefully at her injuries. To my surprise, it looked like immature work. And to my knowledge, none would have dared to teach their men this technique. It could be fatal, too fatal for the learner and the learned. 

“Stop staring at me like that.” I heard Liara’s voice that had bitterness in it. It lost the feeling of being close, the way we started growing in the party. Not bothering to let her feel uncomfortable, I moved my eyes away from her and placed the empty plate aside. 

“Sorry,” I whispered, loud enough for her to hear it. I meant it as the guilt of not reaching in time ate me like a termite.

“Pardon?” I took deep breaths as I knew she heard it and I knew she wanted me to repeat it.

“I said, '' I'm sorry.” I looked at her eyes, trying to tell her I mean it. 

“What did you say to Dima?” Ugh, I groaned as she changed the topic. Unsure if she forgave me or not, I tried to go with the flow. At least now she started a conversation.

“I said that I took you to Paris on a honeymoon trip.” I shrugged as I guessed this would be the only option to keep Dima tension free.

“You did what?!” she shrieked, and that ended up with a wince.

“You okay?” I held her hand gently away from the needles.

“Who would have thought their honeymoon would be like this?” she murmured, but I heard it.

“What about my friends?” She enquired. Why should she be so considerate of others when she just woke up from a heavy surgery?! God, this woman is so stubborn and always thinks about her family. 

“Mia went with her boyfriend to LA and well, the other two are still pestering Anthony,” I informed her as I remembered pretty well how Emma kept on roasting Anthony to spill the truth, otherwise she’d cut his balls. 

“Why did you bring me here?”

“What now are we playing, some boring question-answer round? Do I even get a reward after answering all your answers correctly?” I commented as I got tired of her questions and she had to keep her mind stress free. She looked at me wide-eyed when I got up from my seat and walked away from her. She needed to take the medicines as prescribed by the doctor.

“Have them,” I said, peeling off the cover of the pills and placing it near her lips. Frowning, she kept staring at the pills as if it would automatically blend inside her body.

“Liara. Don’t let me put them on your mouth myself.” I smirked at her, knowing well that she knew I would do it. Immediately after I said it, she opened her mouth, gesturing to me to put the pills in. Feeding her properly, I checked if she needed anything else. I had to make sure that she was okay before heading out and completing the task at hand. 

Tucking her safely and gently, I kept her phone beside her and informed Anthony that I would be out for some work. Without delay, he rushed inside Charles’s house even before I could step foot out of it. 

***†****†****†****†****†****

“Who appointed you?” I asked the two boys. Drake and Charles did pretty well with them both and honestly, Liara, too. We tied them with bandages all around their body. Samira was still unconscious, and I did not want to talk to Julie, so I avoided going to the hospital. I had to cover my face with my hoodie to hide from Liara’s family. 

I felt as if things slowly slipped from my hand. My aim and my identity started clashing with each other and I was worried about whether I would ever be able to find her. So much going on in my life and now this girl’s problem is suffocating me. 

Oliver, such a great friend who, without thinking twice, gave me the keys to his old warehouse. It was in pretty terrible shape and fortunately away from the town enough for me to hide the culprits. Julie’s brother and the two guys who attacked Liara were brought soon after I got the keys. Liara’s surgery took more time than I thought, and these guys also had to be taken care of before the officers could get a hint. I cursed under my breath as I had to take Charles’s help against his protocol. 

“I’m asking this for the last time. Who. Appointed. You?!” Those fuckers wouldn’t open their mouth even after getting so many stitches and weak. I wanted to take care of all these fuckers of my own, so I let Drake and Charles go back to their job and came here to talk to them. I knew talking to Samira would be a waste of time, as she was like a dog’s tail. Wouldn’t bend even if we torture her. 

“We did it as she did....” one guy said. My head whipped at him and saw Logan laughing. 

“She, who?” I asserted, avoiding Liam’s snicker.

“Samira... She... She said she’d provide us food and shelter for the rest of our life if-“ My grip on the chair tightened as I expected what she wanted them to do. 

“God damn it, tell me already!” I roared at them, my limit thinning little by little. 

“Of course your wife, they mean. Why not take the hint and kill them already?” Logan mocked me. I glared at him as I looked at his disheveled self. His lips lifted upward as he smirked at me. His hands and legs were still chained to the shackles, yet he looked so carefree. I wanted to kill this bastard, but knowing that Julie would be hurt, I did not. 

“I should have killed you long ago, if that’s what I wanted.” I pointed out because he also harmed someone important to me. He stared at me wide-eyed, and I noticed him gulping down saliva.

“No! We did this only because we had to feed our sister..” The other guy with blonde hair spoke up. I judged his expression and noticed how innocent they were.

“How old are you both?” I inquired, not comfortable with the feeling inside my stomach as I took in their condition.

“Seventeen. We are twins and we have a sister who is five years old. Please let us go. She will be hungry. Please.” The blonde guy pleaded. I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t lying. 

“Marco!” I yelled at my man, who was guarding the building. 

“Master.” He rushed towards me. Marco has worked for me since the day I took over the empire. He insisted that he’d be staying back and made sure he hid his identity well. A tall dark man with blue eyes, a rare combo but yet magnificent. His identity was his attitude and truthfulness. Much more vigilant than David and Charles for that matter. 

“I want to make sure they spoke the truth. Bring their sister in and give her everything she needs.” I said, looking at the twins, who froze when I mentioned their sister.

“Please, sir, don’t harm her. She is just a kid. We don’t have anyone else in our life. Please don’t do this to us. If you’d like, then we would surrender, but please we beg you---“

“Enough!” I stopped their blubber. 

“You think by killing a small kid, you could take revenge on us? Huh? Don’t have the guts to talk to that woman who hired us?!” the other guy spoke. His voice was venomous.

“Shut up, you Moron!” Marco charged towards him, but I halted him.

“What do you think I should do?” I inquired, amused by the way he looked confident and faced me with no fear. The blonde guy looked at me in horror but the other one stared directly in my eye, not backing down.

“You should sort the shit that you have been pulling with the women in your life and, from what I’ve seen and heard, you have a beautiful wife. Go take care of her and stop cheating on her like a lame bastard that you are!” 

“You have heard of my wife?” I asked, not even phased by the way he spoke to me.

“Who did not?! She is Liara D’Waner, for god’s sake. She could bring any man to his knees by just a snap of her finger.” He said, throwing his hand in the air. 

“I saw the way she made sure to not harm our vitals. The way she fought, I would have died if she wanted to.” I agreed with this.

“I never met her up close, but I regret hurting her the way we did.” The blonde guy whispered.

“Why? Because you think she is beautiful?” Logan interfered.

“No, you asshole! She is drop-dead gorgeous but.. But” the blonde guy sobbed and their change in demeanor surprised me.

“What is it?” Logan pried further. “Marco, seal his bloody mouth,” I ordered as I was getting a headache because of how he was enjoying this conversation.

“We used to live in Sam’s orphanage.” Holy shit.

“They fed us and gave all that we ever asked for. But being the jerks that we were, we fled away from there and there’s this rule in the house. Once someone betrays the foundation, they are never allowed back. So we had to take the wrong route.” The other guy explained. 

“But isn’t your sister small? Why don’t you send her to that orphanage?” I inquired?

“No, she is not our own. We found her crying on our way to work. She has a family. A drunk father, to be exact. He beats her after getting drunk and doesn’t feed her properly. We give her food once a day in the evening. She must be waiting.” The blonde guy said.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I looked at them with both pleading eyes. “What do you think we should do to that drunk man?” I asked Marco. He understood what I meant and removed the shackles of the blonde guy. 

“Look, you go with Marco and bring your sister with you. You guys are going to stay together henceforth.” I explained to him, but the other guy whisked his hand and glared at me.

“Aye hothead, we believed that redhead and she betrayed us. Why not believe this man?” The blonde guy urged the other one. 

“What about her drunk father?” The other guy asked.

“Give him to the police to take care of him. “ I said as I tapped Charles’s number.

“Why leave him behind? Are you going to punish him? Because if you are going to harm him, then you have to kill me first.” The blonde guy said and Marco chuckled and so did I.

“Your brother got more injuries than you. You seem more intelligent than him so you can convince your sister and bring her here.” I explained to him. They sure did bad things, but I saw my past in them.

“What are you going to do with us?” The other one asked. I didn’t think twice before answering his question, surprising myself in the process. “Adopt.”

**†****†****†****†****†****†**

What do you think would be Liara's reaction when she'd know about this?

Is Zearo doing the right thing?

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