A/N: This chapter is from Erwin's POV.

She has me wrapped around her pinkie. The way I hang on to the words spilled from her mouth surprises me. She scares me. I've been tamed, I'm afraid, by a five feet three inches tall, half-Hispanic, half-Asian woman with the softest hands and the kindest eyes. "I can't accept this," is the strangest response to a gift I've ever given someone and one of the few things I never ever want to hear from my angel again. What if she says the same thing when I tell her she has my heart?

"Angel, will you please let it go for now?" I reply to her question about the gift. "I promise it didn't put even a scratch on my bank account." She rolls her eyes. My answer doesn't satisfy her obviously but it has to do for now. I'll have plenty of time to tend to her needs and wants at the end of the night when I have her all to myself.

"Sure," she says, "let's go meet birthday boy."

"About that." I tug at her hand again. "Angel, you might be surprised to see who the birthday boy is."

"What does that mean?"

Before I can answer, Willy beckons us. He has been a bugger for the last several minutes, constantly making passes at my angel. Throwing him out has crossed my mind a few times. Only if the business was not at stake. "Just come." I take Angel's hand and lead her through the door into the ballroom.

Hange and Moblit have done a fascinating job with the decorations. The whole floor has been decked out in beige with candles and floral arrangements. Our bungalow looks like a Grecian chamber, hot seat of philosophers and scholars galore. Everything matches the theme except for two things which the kids insisted so we had to agree.

"Oh, there's a DJ." Niji notices the booth. "That looks out of place, doesn't it?" There's still some resignment in her tone which I despise but hopefully, the evening will change her mind.

"There's also a photo booth, angel. Shall we visit it later?"

"Sure. Let's meet Eren first."

The little devil appears as soon as he's named, flanked on both sides by his best friend Armin and girlfriend (probably) Mikasa. Their chemistry is difficult to understand and I try my best to stay away from the romances in my family. Things were different when I was younger; I was first witness and sole third-wheel to the relationship of Miche and Nanaba. But back then I was playing the long game of participating in their wedding as the Best Man.

"That's..." Angel is, as expected, shocked.

Eren walks up to where we're standing. As dramatic as he is, his next action takes me and everyone by surprise. With the Scout fist on his heart, he bends his knee to me. The people in our vicinity fall silent at the spectacle. Gaze strained to the marble floor, Eren screams out, "I offer my heart to you, Boss, and to this family."

Several eyes are fixed on us, waiting for my response. The most expectant are Eren's friends' eyes. They want him back. But this vague declaration would get him nowhere. Every member of the family is expected to offer their heart to the rest of us. He's yet to vocally apologize since the night of his outburst and even though I've extended multiple olive branches to him, breaking them in half would take me less than a second and give me no grief. The greater good outweighs losing one member, no matter how valuable.

Eren moves his hand inside his jacket pocket. It happens quickly. My next move proves to the family and the outsiders that I still don't trust him. A simple gesture of my hand makes Levi extract his own revolver while I pull Niji behind me.

"Don't you dare pull any trick, brat." Levi demands, cocking his gun.

"Captain, please." Mikasa steps forward, placing herself in front of Levi's gun. "You'll have to go through me before you can hurt Eren."

"I wouldn't think twice." Levi declares and at the same time, I feel Angel's grip on my sleeve.

"Boss," Armin turns to me. "Eren means no harm. Just hear him out... please, Boss."

I signal Levi to lower his gun. He is hesitant to comply but a simple nod from me is enough to calm him down. But when Eren pulls out a 9mm pistol from his inside pocket, Levi is forced to raise his revolver again and point it at our once trusted young soldier. "Means no harm, and then takes out a gun, huh?" The Captain scoffs.

"No, look," Angel whispers from beside me. Her tense grip on my sleeve has eased. She's holding my hand now, clasped between both of hers. Of course, she's scared. This is new to her and foreign. Her family is a line of doctors and scholars; she has probably never seen a real gun before.

Her words direct my gaze to Eren's hand. He is holding the gun but instead of the muzzle, it's the grip that's directed at me. With his head still bent, he offers me the firearm which was used almost two weeks ago to injure me.

"Speak," I command.

"I offer my life too, Boss. You're welcome to kill me... on my birthday if... that's what you want." His hands are shaking.

Angel's touch tightens around my wrist again. One look at her downcast face tells me the wisest decision would be to forgive Eren, or Ricky, the name she knows him by.

In a room full of people holding their breath for my decision, the sound of someone scoffing startles me. I raise an eyebrow at Willy, the origin, being whispered to by his sister, Lara Tybur, a PhD holder in Freudian Psychology. The whole family gives me the creeps. The sister locks eyes with me briefly before resuming her gossip.

Exhausted of the drama, and pissed for being robbed of my time with Angel, I snatch the handgun from Eren. Immediately, his friends squeal in protest. "Boss, please don't." Armin is the loudest. Niji's hand slides up my arm, pulling me back on instinct, scared I'll kill someone in front of her. I could never, not even in desperation; her kind eyes need not be sullied.

"Relax," I say as I pass the gun to Captain Levi. The room sighs, relieved. People go back to their drinks and chatter, the music starts playing again and the smoke is cleared. "Up on your feet, boy."

Eren rises, still refusing to meet my eyes. His friends gather around him, cheering him on and congratulating him for turning a year older. Niji is still hesitant, hiding behind my arm like a child on their first day at school. Or maybe she is scared, finally face to face with her stalker.

"I think you owe her an explanation, don't you agree?" I ask Eren, removing myself from between them. He finally looks up, locking his hazel eyes with Niji's confused brown ones.

Taking a deep bow, as if he's East Asian, he apologizes. "I'm deeply sorry for making you feel unsafe, Ms. Castillo. If it makes things any better, I wasn't stalking you. It was Boss who I was following, to make sure he was okay."

"Okay... And what about Ricky and the clinic job?" Angel asks.

"It's a part-time gig I'm doing. Boss..." His gaze fleets over mine. "Boss was always aware of it."

"Okay, get going now." I dismiss the soldiers before Eren can incriminate me further. Placing my hands on Angel's shoulders, I try to calm her down. More importantly, I try to distract her from Eren's last words. Alas, I fail.

"You knew who it was the whole time?" Before I can say anything, she continues, "oh my God, pesky teenager! You always knew it was Eren."

"Angel, I bought him the car that he'd been driving around your house and the clinic. I knew it was him, yes. I didn't want..."

"But what about Roz's apartment complex? You weren't there that day. Why was his car there then if he wasn't following me?"

"That one was purely coincidental, my dear. He rents an apartment there. I promise he wasn't aware that Ms. Trent is also a resident and that you frequent that area. Can we... please have some peace now?" I study her face. "I despise that we've been having arguments since last night."

Her hands are so soft, I'm aching to kiss her knuckles. I'm aching all over at the sight of her, salivating, perilously close to getting hard. My tongue over her exposed skin is an idea worth trying out. Shall I invite her to a corner? None of my family or even any guest would dare interrupt me, I'm sure of that.

"Fine, we'll talk later." Angel rolls her eyes. Her pretty eyes, kind eyes, sassy, bratty eyes. What a delight it would be to be the one to discipline her! To praise her, treat her like a princess, cater to her every need, fulfill her every want. And then for her to look up at me through eyes glossy from fucking and purr, "Daddy."

Hange comes over to take her away for dancing and she goes willingly. The DJ plays some pop music, engaging the guests in the rhythm, moving their bodies on the open space in front of his booth. I sip on my whiskey, watching Angel's figure sway, her beautiful smile illuminating everyone around her. Anybody that comes to speak with me notices her, asks about her, giving me the chance to show her off, talk about her. I sound like a boy in love. Maybe I am. Maybe it's too soon to say this.

But is it too soon if I've known her all my life?

As a beat crescendos, the DJ speaks into his mic, "pair up for the next one. Special delivery from Ms. Swiftie for all the lovers."

Ms. Swiftie? Taylor Swift. She's popular with a lot of our members. Her songs keep playing in cars, drift out of rooms until just the moment I walk through the door. And the way Angel had been humming and singing along last night to Hange's playlist, I'm sure she's a fan too.

Niji's eyes find mine across the room as the music starts playing. She invites me to the dance floor with a slight nod. I understand her desire for my company but for the family and the guests to see the Boss dancing would be off-brand for the family. So I shake my head. Just as I'm wondering if that broke her heart, she turns to find Armin lurking alone and asks him to accompany her.

Her arms linked around his neck, the kid has the audacity to put his hands on her waist. My feet start on their own but when I see her smile, I stop. She's having fun. That's all I want. That's all that matters.

Looking up at the ceiling, at the glimmer of the chandelier, I toss a prayer to Matias Castillo, the person responsible for introducing Angel into my life. I wonder what he was thinking when he wrote this apartment to her in his will. He knew I'd go back there. No matter how much he resisted me, he knew I would need him to tape me up and I knew he was more than willing to comply, even through his disgruntled facial expressions.

Did he want Angel to meet me? Even though he ordered me to stay away from her every single time I asked about the photo on his fridge.

I'm lost in thought when a soft hand pulls my wrist. "Will you please come hang out with the cooler bunch? You're being boring," Angel complains.

"Dear, I can't dance in front of everyone now, can I? They'll never take me seriously."

She rolls her eyes. "They'll find you hip. Okay, you don't have to dance. Can we go take our photos?" To that, I agree.

Levi walks ahead of us, his hands folded on his chest, doing his duties as Angel's bodyguard diligently. He clears out the crowd even though he's only this tall and leads us to the front of the line. Not to mention, it helps a little when my soldiers scatter out as I approach and when Angel smiles at literally everyone, thanking them for letting us through.

The booth is tight, not enough space for my long limbs. As Angel looks about to manage the space to fit us both, I do what any smitten man would — I pull her into my lap. "Jesus, Erwin!" There's a pleased surprise on her face. I squeeze her arm with a defiant grin. She stuns me with a kiss on my open lips, a kiss that doesn't linger but spells out her first drink.

"Who gave you a drink?"

She chuckles, kicking the air under her dress. "Hange and I had two B-52 shots."

"Each?"

"Yes, baby." She's giggly. Happy? Oh, I hope so. She clicks on the start button before leaning back to put an arm around my neck. For one photo, we use our biggest, brightest smiles. For another, we puff up our cheeks and Angel squeezes my face. For the next, V-signs and a smooch for the last. I ask her if she wants more, but she tells me, "I know you're the Boss but we should be considerate of other people. Right?"

"Right, ma'am." I roll my eyes the way she always does and she rolls hers in return, laughing.

Angel tears the strip in the middle and gives me two of the photos. It doesn't go unnoticed that she prefers the one where we kiss. I put my hand on her waist as we head to the bar. Levi orders for us, "Scotch for the Boss and a glass of your finest red for the lady."

"Nothing for you, Captain?" Angel teases, elbowing his arm like they're childhood friends.

"And what happens if somebody attempts to abduct you?"

"Ease up, Levi," I tell him. "There's a room full of athletic people, fighters, competent shooters. I'm sure if you have one drink, it won't—"

"Erwin!"

I turn and the look on Nanaba's face as she pushes past the crowd toward the bar tells me I had spoken too soon, let my guard down. Before she can get to us, there's a loud bang and crash near the balcony, where Angel and I had been lounging some mere minutes ago. The crowd rushes inside like a tidal wave; all I see from my height are tense human heads, whisking back and forth, trying to get away from the scene to avoid getting caught in the chaos. I see some of my soldiers trying to manage the guests but they're scared too. Everyone is scared.

But I don't care about any of them. Only Angel. She needs to get as far away from this as humanly possible.

"I'll take her to your room." Levi answers the questions on my mind. That's right! This is why I trust him with my life. But do I trust him with Niji's life?

"Erwin." Nanaba finally reaches us, a sheen of sweat on her cupid's bow. "Zeke. It's Zeke. They got on the beach. They have bombs. They're throwing them at us, trying to get one inside the hall."

"We should close the balcony door so the damage stays outside."

The voice that says this makes me pause. It's Angel. Guests push past me as I look at her, awed. There's fear in her eyes; physically, she's hiding behind Levi but her mind is thinking of ways she can help us. She doesn't need to.

I pull her out from behind her guard and take her face in my hands. My body shields her from the stampede this party is slowly turning into as I lean in to press my nose into the crook of her neck. Her scent. It eases me. Resets my brain to think more clearly.

"You will go with Levi. He'll know what to do. I'll come to you as soon as I'm done here. Do you understand?" I tell her, touching the barrel of the pistol pocketed inside my suit.

Angel nods. Levi seizes her wrist, starting to take her away but she stops and turns one more time. When she sees the gun I've pulled out, the wrinkles on her forehead deepen. Oh, my sweet angel! I wish she didn't have to see this.

Fuckers! Motherfuckers! I'll kill everyone of them who decided to ruin this beautiful evening for her. Tonight, I'm their Death, the last face they'll see.

She clutches the front of my coat, her eyes determined. Her last words to me before Levi yanks her away are, "Don't get shot, do you hear me?"