Hi! I had this chapter uploaded on Inkitt for a while, but decided to add it here as well. 

I hope you like it :)

~~~

I kept staring back and forth at my gun and my precious two-year-old daughter, not knowing what to do since Verena was away on a trip with Jolene, Camila, and Phoebe. She was returning this evening, but of course, something had to go wrong at one of my mafia quarters.

"At least your brothers are at school," I sighed. Rina grinned and strolled like a penguin to my side, and that settled it. She was coming with me. I didn't trust a random babysitter with my treasure, and my parents weren't home, so I leaned down and picked her up, earning an angelic giggle from her.

Even though Rina had my green eyes, she was the spitting image of her mom, and I loved her with my entire existence. She was my little princess, and if one of my men looked at her the wrong way, they'd find themselves on a fast train to hell.

"Papa," she muttered, eyeing the gun. I grabbed it, checked the safety, and tucked it away from her reach in my waistband.

"Yes, precious?" I nuzzled her nose, our usual endearment move and she beamed at me.

"I hungry..."

She ate half an hour ago.

I swear, my kids eat like the grown men in my mafia.

"I don't have the time to cook another meal, precious. But do you want to eat hamburgers?" It would have to do since I needed to be at the quarter in twenty minutes.

When Rina, my adorable baby girl, nodded, I called one of my restaurants and requested they prepare a suitable meal for pickup.

Good thing the two places where on the same road.

"Shall we go, precious?" I asked and kissed her forehead. She looked around the room for a moment and then made grabby hands at her yellow blanket on the couch. I picked it up and wrapped it around her like a burrito. "Better?"

"Yes, tank you, Papa."

I loved my triplets to the moon and back, and I would kill anyone if they harmed them, but Rina, she was something else. I could not go a day without seeing her.

I was the one who insisted on Verena to let me be on dad duty for two reasons. First, my gorgeous, brilliant wife needed a break from the kids, and second, I needed some quality time with them.

When Verena returns, we will go to the adoption home and finalize the adoption process for the ten-year-old twins—a boy and a girl.

We had met them several times and explained what we did for a living. At first, they got scared and withdrawn, but when they met our children, they eased up and were more open with us. Their parents died in a drug overdose, and they were the ones who called for help. They had no relatives and were meant to stay in the adoption center until they were eighteen.

When Verena saw them, she knew they would be her children, too, and whatever my wife wanted, I was fine with it. Besides, the twins were kindhearted, polite, and friendly to our babies, which was perfect.

"Papa," I heard Rina call from her seat in the back.

"Yes, precious?" I looked from the rearview mirror and saw her staring at the sky.

"Rain?"

It was a cloudy day. "Maybe, why?"

"Ram, Rhys, and Rowan. Do they have umborela?" My heart warmed at her question.

She was an angel in our dark environment, just like her mom.

Her brothers were tougher than them but still as innocent. I wanted them to choose their own paths.

"Don't worry about your brothers. The driver will pick them up when school's over. They won't get wet."

"Good, Papa. Proud of you," she said with determination, and I burst out laughing. She was precious indeed.

~~~

After picking up Rina's order, I drove to the quarter, and Carlos was already waiting for me outside—not for me, but for Rina.

"There's my favorite girl," he said, dropping off his cold expression, and snatched her from her seat, ready to disappear.

"Wait, she's hungry. Feed her this," I handed him her meal and added, looking at my watch, "Cut the pieces small, and if anything happens, big or small, I don't care, come get me. I'll see to our... Problem. I will try to finish as soon as possible."

"Don't worry. Giovanni is already waiting for her. He bought her a new toy, and no, it's not a Nerf gun. Bye, boss," he clarified and dashed upstairs with her giggling in his arms. Her blanket was still in the car.

I headed to the basement.

Juan and Jose greeted me at the door, and Zulimar was already interrogating the rat. We had a breach on my bank account the other day, but no money was stolen, so I asked Jolene to discreetly find out who did it. It turned out it was one of the new recruits.

I heard screams on the other side of the door. "Did Zulimar overdo it?"

"He didn't cut off any limbs yet," Jose answered.

Zulimar was taking it easy on him.

I sighed and entered the room, and instantly, the smell of urine and blood filled my nostrils. "Boss," Zulimar immediately stopped his creative torturing methods.

"Did you learn something?" I avoided lots of gross substances on the floor and stood before the trembling rat. He was about to pass out. "Send someone to clean the room once we're done." Juan nodded.

"He claims he wanted the money for his mom in Mexico, but I don't believe him. His salary is generous enough to last him and his mom."

I titled my head, inspecting his wounds, and sat on a chair, staring at his teary blue eyes. "Why didn't you steal money if you so much as gone to the extremes of hacking my accounts? I would have given you money if you asked nicely."

Maybe he was going through something difficult.

"Really? Even for drugs?"

And that was it. His reason needed to be more convincing. Drugs were forbidden in my mafia.

"No. Not drugs, you fucker." I stood and headed to the door. "You know what to do," I told Zulimar, who smiled wickedly at the man.

"As you wish, boss."

I left them to tend to the asshole and went to see my daughter.

Right when I was about to enter the room, I heard Carlos and Giovanni say something about adopting a child. So, I waited for a few moments before knocking.

"But what age should he or she be?" Carlos asked.

"I don't really care as long as they don't have any relatives who want custody of them later on. If we're adopting a child, no one will ruin it for us," Giovanni explained.

I knocked once and opened the door. Carlos and Giovanni didn't say anything about the adoption, and I didn't ask. When they felt like sharing, I would be ready to listen.

My baby was still eating, her sweater filled with sauce and lettuce, and I chuckled at her red cheeks. She had food all over her.

"How did you manage to let her do that in the short time I was gone?" I crouched and fed her the last pieces.

Carlos wiped her face clean and stood up. "She insisted on holding the fork after we made the slices small enough for her. We couldn't really deny her that, her pouty face was too adorable. We are weak."

"She is adorable," I nodded and held her after she drank her water. "Do you want to go back home?"

She nodded, already dozing off. "Yeah, me need sleep," she muttered and tucked her face in the crock of my neck.

"Thank you for watching her. See you later."

"No problem. We can always watch her whenever you're busy," Giovanni said, wrapping his arm around Carlos. I hoped their hopes of adopting a child would become a reality. If things didn't work out on their own, I would see that it would be possible.

"Bye, bye uncles," Rina waved, half asleep, and we went home.

~~~

"I'm back!" We snapped our heads at the door to see my beautiful wife carrying many bags.

I pined for her presence beside me. Two weeks away was a long time, but she got her much-deserved vacation.

There was no need to tell her that Dario and I assigned undercover bodyguards to shadow them every step of the way.

"Mama!" The triplets yelled in excitement, startling Rina, who was still sleeping. She stirred awake and began crying. I carried her, trying to soothe her until the boys got their fair share of love from their mom.

Verena gave each one her unrelenting attention, listening to their silly rants. Her eyes sparkled with joy, illuminating her whole face.

She is going to feel how much I missed her tonight.

"Mama?" Rina asked once she calmed down in my arms, and I nodded.

Her eyes searched the room until they landed on Vera. Instantly, waterfalls poured down both their cheeks, and I walked to her. The boys sat on the side, inspecting their gifts.

Rina leaped from my arms into Vera's embrace, and she showered her with kisses. I needed those, too, but I could wait.

"How's my little princess doing?"

"I miss you, Mama. I love Papa, but I miss you much."

Vera coed at her and embraced her tightly. "Oh honey, I missed you all so much! I'm never going away for this long again." She looked at me and then the boys and said, "At least until you're older because I know Mama is gonna need her vacation time when you're old enough to take care of yourself."

I will not let her wait that long for her next vacation. She will rest whenever there is a chance.

After an hour of tending to our pride and joy, they finally fell asleep, tucked away in their beds.

I walked behind my wife, wrapped my arms around her waist, and inhaled her pleasant scent. "I missed you so fucking much, Vera," I admitted, looking at her through the long mirror. She was glowing as always, especially after her bath.

She placed her palms on my forearms and leaned her head on my chest. "I missed you too, Izan. I indeed had fun with the girls, but I didn't feel complete with you or the kids by my side. Our next vacation needs to be a family one!"

"Agreed, love." She turned in my embrace and wrapped her arms around my neck, bringing me to her height. I slowly kissed her and burned my lips on hers to let her know how much I pined for her.

She tastes as sweet as the first time I kissed her.

I broke the kiss, nuzzled my nose on her temple, and said, "Tell me about your trip."

"How about I tell you all about it after our smexy time?" I laughed at her request, eager to comply.

She hadn't changed since the moment I saw her holding my brother and running away from her kidnappers.

She was my whole universe.