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     "What the hell is going on?!" Romeo angrily shouted as he ran out of the room.

     Mat and I quickly stood up from our seat and followed Romeo out as well.

    When we arrived outside, we were immediately welcomed by smoke and flames. All the guards were running around with fire extinguishers, trying their best to put out the fire from the cars that were parked in front of the house.

    I don't know if this is me being insensitive or not, but I'm glad the explosion didn't come from the house itself.

    Romeo looks at the scene. I knew he was trying not to have a mental breakdown, especially when fire was the last thing he saw when Johnson died.

     But I felt so proud when Romeo sucked it all in and acted calm for the sake of everyone.

     "What happened?!" Romeo asked as guards approached us.

     "Don Romeo, a man riding a motorcycle suddenly drove pass the gates and threw a bomb. Some were badly injured, and sadly, a few didn't make it", one of the guards explained, shocking me.

     "Where's the rider?" Romeo asked. He looked calm, but I knew deep down he was inches away from exploding.

     "The rest of the men are driving after him", the guard answered.

     "Don Romeo! Don Romeo!" we suddenly heard someone call out.

     We turned around and saw Antonio running towards us.

     "Oh thank god you're okay. A bomber suddenly-"

     Romeo quickly lifts his hand to stop his uncle, "I've heard. But the bodies? Where did you put them?"

     "We placed the injured ones inside the house. And for the dead ones...we had to put them aside first", Antonio explained with a sad expression.

     "How many of my people were killed because of the bomb?" Romeo asked as he looked at the fire slowly getting smaller and smaller.

     "Four dead, six injured. Those ten men were the ones who were guarding the front", Antonio explained.

     Romeo took a deep breath and says, "We'll burry the four first thing in the morning."

     Romeo then looks at me. He was about to say something when another car suddenly explodes, startling everyone.

     "Shit!" Mat shouts.

     Every one of us backed away as the fire grew bigger.

     "Get the water hose! Now!" Romeo shouted as more of his men went out of the household to help put the fire out.

    "Someone got stuck!" We heard someone shout.

    "Then fucking help him!" Romeo shouts back, but no one dared go inside the smoke and flames.

     His men stood around the fire. Some helped put the fire out while some just stood there, helplessly watching.

     "We have to do something", I say as I grabbed Romeo by the arm. I looked at his eyes, and then I remembered what Eric told me earlier.

     Romeo is feared. If he could be able to do something that will end up making his family respect him then I'm confident that his men will protect him back from my own brother or anyone who will be against him.

     "Romeo", I simply called out. I looked straight at his eyes, mentally telling him that he should take action to prove to his men that he cares for their lives too, and that he can give them a reason why they should be loyal to him.

     Romeo looked like he knew what I was thinking.

     He suddenly grabbed my cheeks and kissed me.

     "Be careful", I quickly whispered, then Romeo looks back at Mat and says, "Stay here and keep Julien and everyone else safe."

     "What?" Mat asked confusingly. But Romeo doesn't answer him and just runs away.

     He goes towards one of the water hose so he could wet himself before running towards the burning cars.

     "Don Romeo!" everyone shouted in unison. Shocked on what their godfather suddenly did.

     "What is he doing?!" Antonio asked as he was about to run after him. But I quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from doing so, "No!" I shouted, "You'll only endanger Romeo if you follow him."

     Antonio angrily looked at me as he pulled his hand away from my grasp. But even though he was mad, he didn't say anything, because he knew that I was right about what I just told him.

     So instead, Antonio goes to the rest of the men and shouted, "Help your boss! Quickly put out the fire!"

     Everyone quickly surrounded the cars as they pointed the water hose at the scene.

     I put my hands together like I was praying. I stared at the flames slowly getting smaller while saying, "Please be safe. Please be safe."

     After 2 minutes, the fire was finally gone, and all that was left was smoke and ashes.

     Everyone became quiet as they waited for their godfather to arrive.

    When the smoke cleared, I sighed in relief as I saw Romeo carrying an injured man while another man was draping his arms around Romeo's shoulder.

     "Thank god", I whispered as his men immediately ran towards him.

     Romeo was coughing heavily as he gave the injured man to one of his guards, then he said, "A-assist them...inside. And call the household doctor...immediately."

      "Yes Don Romeo", the man answers as he carried the injured man back inside the household.

      "D-Don Romeo...thank you", the other man says as he holds his hand on his chest as a sign of respect.

     "Go inside and get your wounds treated", Romeo says as the man puts his arms down from Romeo. He nods his head and went back inside as well while others assisted him.

     I quickly ran towards Romeo; Mat and Antonio just right behind me.

     When Romeo saw me, I quickly draped my arms around his neck and hugged him, making him hug me back by the waist, "I'm so proud of you Romeo. I'm really proud of you", I happily tell him.

     Romeo doesn't say anything, but he kisses my head instead before letting go of me.

     He looks back the scene, panting heavily because of the smoke that he inhaled.

     "I had enough with burning cars", he says. Then he looks at Antonio and continues, "Emergency meeting...now."

*****

     "What happened tonight was unfortunate", Romeo says, his face covered with dirt and ashes.

     Knowing Romeo, I knew he wanted to clean himself up so badly. But this wasn't the right time to be concerned about his cleanliness, especially when some of his men died tonight. It felt like all the shit that happened to his life literally knocked the OCD right off him. And I knew, deep down, that there would be worse side effects that replaced his OCD.

     "What should we do Don Romeo?" someone suddenly asked.

     The board members sat on a long table as Antonio and Romeo sat on both ends.

     Mat stood behind Romeo like a personal bodyguard. Then a few of his men were surrounding the room too.

     Romeo insisted that I come with them even when I didn't want to. I didn't want to sit beside those old men so I decided to stand beside the door instead.

     "We have to gather the other households tomorrow. These people are belittling us far too long. The Valentino's have not done anything ever since my father died. It's time we do something that will make everyone fear and respect our family name again", Romeo says with a powerful tone, making everyone nod their head as an agreement.

     I stood there, staring at Romeo with awe. The fact that he's doing all this for my sake was making my heart flutter, but I knew that Romeo finally understood what it means like to be a head of the family. Your decisions affect everyone, and Romeo learned it the hard way by seeing most of his people die.

     "Those people are attacking us because they think we're weak Don Romeo. We're a traditional family, and these gangs are playing with us because they think they're a lot more powerful just because they're young and new", one of the board members suddenly tells him.

     "Our gang has been alive for generations. We are not close to young and new", I quickly corrected him, making everyone look at me.

     I gulped and realized what I just did.

     I didn't mean to defend the Dark Saints or anything, but I just wanted to correct his "facts".

     I took a deep breath and looked at everyone, "The Dark Saints are known to be fearless. They charge into battle without caring if they live or die through it. As long as they know that they fought with honor, they wouldn't care less on what the outcome would be. They don't use fancy guns or anything this family might have. But, they do make strategies that no one can truly predict. Your number of men will be useless, because I'm pretty sure those men will use your numbers against you", I explained.

     "So you're saying our family does not stand a chance with your...gang?" another man says, emphasizing the word gang like it was a word that would offend anyone if he said it properly.

     "No, I think you do have a chance, but so do they. What I'm trying to say is that; who else could help you defeat them than the next head of the Dark Saints himself", I say, and everyone looked at each other and started talking at the same time.

     Romeo looks at me and nods his head.

     The board members were about to say something but someone suddenly barged inside the door.

    "Don Romeo!" he shouted, making everyone quiet inside the room.

     Romeo looked at the man who was panting heavily and asked, "What is it? Why are you interrupting an emergency meeting?"

     The man takes a deep and finally answered, "The rider...we caught him."

     Everyone gasps.

     Romeo immediately stood up from his seat and says, "Uncle, Mat, follow me. The rest of you should stay here."

     Everyone stood up as well and said in unison, "Yes Don Romeo."

     Romeo then goes to me and holds my hand, "Let's go."

     I nodded my head as we followed the man towards a room at the basement that actually looked like a...torture chamber.

     When we arrived, there were two guards, and a man was sitting in the middle of the room with his hands and feet tied to each other. His face was even covered with a plastic bag.

    "Remove it", Romeo instructed, his hands still intertwined with mine.

     The man who brought us here nodded his head and removed the plastic bag from the man.

     When I saw his face, I immediately gasped. Not because I knew him, but because he was obviously Korean, and obviously from my brother's men. It was somehow expected anyways, but a part of me thought that my brother would not go so low as to bomb cars.

     The man almost looked like he was beat to death too. It looks like Romeo's men taught him a lesson first before they called Romeo.

     Romeo doesn't say anything as he stared at the Korean man, but his grip on my hand was suddenly hurting me that I quickly had to let go of him.

     "Don Romeo, what should we do to him?" Antonio asked.

     Romeo doesn't answer, but instead, he goes towards the Korean man and slaps his cheek really hard. But instead of showing pain, the Korean man started laughing.

     It annoyed me, and it definitely annoyed Romeo. So Romeo immediately strangles the man, quickly making the man's eyes widen from shock.

     The man was struggling, and he immediately started looking pale, so I quickly held Romeo's hand, making him stop.

     "Let me talk to him first", I calmly say.

     Romeo was panting heavily as he slowly put his hand down from the man's neck. He angrily looks back at the man and says, "I'm not a nice man. So don't waste our time and answer all our questions", he then moves back so I could walk towards the Korean man.

     I went to the man and kneeled one knee in front of him.

     "What is your name?" I asked in Korean.

     The man stares at me. But instead of answering, the man suddenly spits right in front of me, quickly making me wipe my face with my bare hands.

     "You son of a bitch!" Romeo suddenly shouted. Quickly barging towards him.

     I had to stop him before his fist could even fall on the man's face.

    "It's okay", I say as I looked at Romeo.

     Mat holds Romeo's shoulder to calm him down.

    When Romeo finally looked calm, I looked back at the man and tried asking again, "This man behind me will not hesitate to kill you. But if you do not answer me now, I will kill you myself."

    "I only answer to one leader, and that is the dragon", the man finally says.

     I took a deep breath and adjusted myself, then I tilted my head a little to the side and pointed at the tattoo near my eye, shocking him.

     "You have one leader...but only one true head of the clan", I say.

     The man's eyes were wide as he stares at me, "T-The Black Angel...so you stopped hiding and finally decided to show your face to your family?"

     I don't answer his question as I say, "Why did you bomb the household? You weren't looking for damage, but I knew that was a sign for something. What did my brother ask you to do?"

     "It is a warning...that we are near", he answers, but he looks at Romeo, Mat and Antonio instead.

     "What did he just say?" Antonio quickly asked.

     I looked at them and said, "The bomb, it was a warning that my brother and his men are coming."

     "Then how the hell did he know where the household is? This is a secret place, no one other than a Valentino, or the people acquainted to us, knows where it really is", Mat quickly says.

     I looked back at the man and asked, "Who told you about the location of the household?"

     The Korean man doesn't say anything but laughs again.

     I took a deep breath and tried to contain my anger as best as I could, but the man continued laughing even more.

     Romeo finally lost it. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up, and then he put me aside as he grabbed a gun from a table and pointed it at the man's arm.

     "Answer me and we'll go with this smoothly, don't answer me and I'll shoot you. But either way, you won't need an arm to open your mouth anyway", Romeo says. But the man looks up and smirks at Romeo.

     "You sound like a bitch", the man says instead, immediately making Romeo shoot him.

     The loud sound made me flinch, but I didn't say anything.

     "I-Is that...all you've got...cockless boy", the man says as he winced in pain.

     "Answer the fucking question", Romeo says again, now pointing the gun at the man's leg.

     The man was obviously in pain, but he was still laughing, which only made Romeo shoot him again.

     "Ahh!" he shouted from the top of his lungs.

     "Answer him now or you'll die", I warned him.

     "Be my bitch first", he weakly says with a smirk, immediately making Romeo point the gun at the his forehead.

     "What the fuck did you just say?" Romeo angrily asked.

     I thought the man would be scared, but he still continued to laugh instead.

    Romeo was about to pull the trigger for the third time and just end this man's life, but finally, the Korean man looks back at all of us and says, "American Man."

     *Shoot*

     My eyes widened from shock as I saw a hole on the man's forehead. I slowly looked back at Romeo, his eyes wild and somehow darker. He looked like a man that I didn't really know.

     Mat and Antonio looked shocked too.

     "This was his first kill after seventeen years", Mat whispers, suddenly making me have goosebumps.

     The gun's tip was still smoking as Romeo puts it down.

     "I told you...I'm not a nice man", he says as he turns around to look at the guards.

     "He answered our question so I'll give him the privilege to be buried. But make sure to bury him as far away as possible. This bitch can laugh on his grave all he wants", Romeo instructed. The guards nodded their heads and started untying the lifeless body from the chair.

     I stood there, shocked.

     It's been a while since I've seen anyone be killed right in front of me. And to think that the man who did it, was none other than my very own Romeo.

     I knew Romeo has a history of kills before, but it still shocked me to see him do it now, especially in front of me.

     "Let's go", Romeo says as he drops the gun and leaves the room first; Mat and Antonio right behind him.

     I stared at the lifeless body being carried by the guards. His blood dripping on the floor as they carried him out.

     When they left, I kneeled down and touched the bloodstain. Then I looked at my right and grabbed the gun that Romeo just dropped a minute ago.

     The gun was still warm as I held it.

     "Julien! Let's go!" I suddenly heard Mat shout, making me flinch.

     "Y-Yeah! Be right there!" I shouted back as I immediately stood up and wipe my bloody finger on my pants.

     I was about to leave the gun on top of the table, but instead, I decided to keep it and tuck it under my pant's belt area.

     I hid the gun under my shirt before following the other's upstairs. Leaving the stain of blood on the floor, and the last place where my lover still had his "clean hands".

-END-