After Grace had already left, Pez set it so their back-up generator started working again. He stared at his computer, watching the map as it followed Grace. "Sorry, Grace, but I had to do it." He waited a bit and turned the power back on for everyone. "Here's hoping I didn't kill anyone..." Pez had been selective with which power sectors he interfered with, making sure it didn't include a hospital, but that didn't guarantee something else hadn't gone wrong.

  Pez pulled his feet onto the chair and hugged his knees as he watched the blip on the map.

  After a while, Pez's head dipped. "No, I have to make sure she gets there first." He put in an earpiece linked to the tracker with a microphone and listened to the sound of her walking.

  He couldn't fight it any longer, and fell asleep.

  "Oh ho-ho, a woman alone in a park in the middle of the night. You're just asking for trouble, aren't you?"

  The rough voice jarred Pez awake. "Oh, no!" Pez looked at the map and bit at his nails as he listened to them.

  "Don't worry; we'll take care of you."

  Pez shuddered. "You better handle yourself, or I'm sending help, even if I have to call the cops." He knew that would mean the Bertolottiss would probably find out she was gone, but her safety came first.

  "What kind of disgraceful little punks go after a lone woman like this?"

  "Yes, Grace; rip'em a new one!" Pez cheered for her quietly.

  He heard a kerfuffle – mostly the men groaning in pain and the impacts – and he held his breath as he listened closely for Grace.

  "Keep acting like this, and I'll sick the Bertolottiss after you."

  "Geez, you are so one of them now," he muttered.

  "You're with the Bertolottiss?"

  "I don't believe it."

  "Dude, it's not worth it. Let's run!"

  "I guess they are enough to scare them away, even without proof? I knew they were feared, but not this much." Pez sighed and rested his head on his arms on the desk in front of his laptop. "Trouble follows you everywhere." He stared at the dot with his head still down, and he passed out again.

  Knock, knock. Someone knocked on Pez's door in the morning the next day.

  "Pez, right? You awake yet?" Zain asked and knocked on the door again.

  Pez's head shot up, and he wiped drool off his face. He looked at the screen and saw Grace's dot at the factory. "She made it..."

  The door opened and Pez shut his laptop closed as fast as he could. He thought he locked the door, but apparently, not.

  Zain eyed him suspiciously. "So you are in here? Have you seen Grace?" Zain entered and slowly approached Pez, watching every little movement.

  "I just woke up, so no. I-is she not in her room?" Pez cursed his lousy ability to lie.

  "No, and no one has seen her today. The last person we knew who talked to her was you." Zain stood beside him, leering down.

  Pez swallowed hard. "Well, I came back to my room last night, so I don't know where she is. This place is huge, so she could be wandering—"

  Slam.

  Pez flinched back as Zain slammed his hand on his desk. He leaned in close. "You're not a good liar, Pez. You know something, don't you?"

  "W-why would I know something?" Pez trembled, hoping he wouldn't have an accident.

  "Because you're her closest friend; who else would she tell if she were up to something?"

  "Have you tried calling her?'

  "Of course I did; it went straight to voicemail. And since that's the case, I can only assume she's up to no good. What's going on, Pez?"

  Pez cringed back. "I don't know!"

  "It's not wise to lie to the underboss of the family you're looking to join."

  "Looking to? Wait... I thought I was accepted! Isn't that why I was given a room?"

  "You haven't even been here a week; that's easy to revoke."

  Pez pouted, his lower lip quivering. "Are you going to throw me out? I don't wanna go back to the cops..."

  "Geez, are you a little kid or what? Giving me that look." Zain sighed and backed away. "Fess up, and you can stay, or I can just take this." Zain snatched his laptop.

  "Hey! What are you doing?! That's mine! Like, before I got here, mine."

  "Yes, but you slammed it closed when I came in, so I know there's something here you didn't want me to see."

  Pez reached out for it, but Zain held him back with one hand, easily keeping the laptop out of his reach.

  "It's personal, that's all." Pez cursed under his breath, wishing he were bigger and stronger. He knew staying glued to a computer would eventually bite him in the butt, but never foresaw this situation.

  "Ran," Zain called out, and he popped up into the doorway.

  "What the hell?" Pez jumped back.

  "Keep a hold on him."

  "Yes, sir." Ran grabbed Pez's arm and had him on his knees in a moment.

  "Ow!" Pez yelped.

  "Try not to hurt him, please." Zain sighed, thinking about the trouble he'd get into with Grace if they hurt him.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Now, let's see what you were hiding..." Zain opened Pez's laptop to see a map with a dot on it. "What's this?"

  Grace woke up early despite going to bed so late. She had hoped to feel refreshed, but the fatigue still continued. She went to leave, but the door was locked from the outside.

  Dammit, Roger... Grace checked the other doors to find a bathroom and walk-in closet.

  There was one more door, though.

  What in the world could this be?

  Grace took a deep breath and opened the door to find another bedroom. A door in that bedroom opened and Roger came out half-naked with a towel around his waist as he dried off his hair with another towel.

  "Grace, you're up early even after that night? I shouldn't be surprised." He chuckled.

  She couldn't help but eye his upper body. She knew he had tattoos, but she didn't know how many, and that they covered his chest, back, and upper arms.

  "Oh, that's right; you've never seen them, have you? I always tried to cover them because of work, but I guess it doesn't matter now. Want a closer look?" He stepped towards her, and she stepped back.

  "That's okay. I'm more curious to find out why the door to the hallway is locked, and why I'm in an adjoining bedroom to yours." Grace crossed her arms and frowned at him. "You're not trying to trap me here, are you?"

  "Me? Never, but I didn't want you wandering around here. Most of them will recognize you. Some will hate you, and some will accept you, but you did show up in the middle of the night, so many of them don't know you're here yet. Late risers and all that."

  "I see..."

  "Does this mean you don't trust me? I'm having trouble figuring it out since you came here."

  "I wanted to settle things." She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away.

  A rough hand lightly touched her cheek and turned her back to face him. She jumped at his touch because she didn't even notice when he got that close.

  "What's going on?" Roger asked.

  "Nothing..."

  He gripped her chin and leaned in close. "Come on, Grace; I know you, and 'nothing' is almost never nothing. Fess up; what's going on?"

  "Uh..." She swallowed hard, unable to tear her eyes away. "Can you put some clothes on first?"

  "What? Oh." He backed away. "Sorry; I forgot I only had a towel on." He laughed. "One moment, and then we can sit and talk." He grabbed some clothes out and started to get changed right then and there.

  Grace turned around, about to leave the room with her face red, when he called out to her.

  "I'll only be a moment; don't leave."

  Geez... I never knew he was like this. I always thought he was more bashful. Grace stood still with her back turned to Roger. His hand dropped on her shoulder, and she jumped.

  "I can always tell when you're lost in thought; you get so jumpy." Roger turned her around, fully clothed now in a t-shirt and jeans. "We can go to the dining room to eat an early breakfast—"

  "Let's talk now." She had been hungry during her long walk there, her stomach even growling, but her nerves took over, and her stomach churned instead.

  "Please, have a seat."

  She moved towards the table and chair off to the side. He tugged on her hand and railroaded her over to the bed to sit down.

  "It's more comfortable here, trust me. I really need to replace those chairs."

  "Okay, whatever." Grace shook off her unease and took a deep breath. "I don't really have much time to wait on deciding if I'm staying there or coming with you, so I came as soon as I could."

  "Oh?"

  "Less than a week now until I announce the next leader."

  "Also known as your husband." Roger sighed and combed his hand roughly through his hair. "Now what? What do you want to talk about, Grace?" He leaned back, away from her. "I'm an open book for you."

  I wish he could tell me what's the best thing to do. "You two have a lot of bad blood between you, but I'd rather that all be put to rest." Grace wrung her hands in her lap.

  "I know you want that, Grace, and honestly, I want to do that for you. I can promise to try to let it go, but I've spent most of my life building this back up, so I can get revenge."

  "Why revenge, though? Why not just build up the family to have the family back? You don't need to bring up an old feud. It's already gotten people hurt—"

  "I understand what you're saying, Grace, but it's not that easy. The Bertolottiss represent our past mistakes, and show us how weak we are. The family wants revenge. And yes, I've talked to them since our little chat. Some of them want to move on, but others got angry, and verbally attacked me." Roger refrained from telling her about the ones who wanted to do horrible things to her as revenge to Raymond. "So, since you had some time to think things over, what is it you want to do?"

  "I..." Grace hesitated as she thought about leaving her newfound family behind. She had thought about it constantly on her way there, and the more she thought about them, the more she leaned towards leaving with Roger to save them.

  I want to save everyone.

  Grace took a deep breath and stared into Roger's sharp eyes. "Can you throw it all away and run away with me? No more Kuros or Bertolottiss; just us."

  "You want me to abandon the family I brought together and leave with you?"

  She swallowed hard, knowing she was asking for too much, but what other option was there? "Yes, and I would have nothing to do with the Bertolottiss, either. You said you wanted me, didn't you? Well, here I am, offering myself up."

  "But at a great cost."

  "I'm a little short on time to come up with another solution."

  "You understand that even if I leave the Kuros, I can't guarantee they won't continue on the path of revenge without me, right?"

  "You already said some of them don't want revenge anymore; I doubt they'd stay without you, and they'd probably split up, anyway."

  Roger rubbed his neck. "This is all just guesswork, though."

  "Look." Grace rested her hand on his on his lap. "Our families are mafia families and will be in danger regardless, but what I want more than anything is for the people I care about not to be at each other's throats. Without their leader, they'll fall apart, and most of those who want revenge will give up."

  "But these people are my family. I didn't just meet them; we've been together for years."

  "Didn't you say we're family, partner?"

  "I... I want you, Grace, but I don't know if I can pick up and leave all of them, and all the pain, behind. Can I think about it?"

  "Considering my timeline, and the fact that I snuck out to get here, I don't think we have a lot of time. Once they find out I'm missing, they'll come looking for me, which is why I wanted us to get out of here as soon as possible, far away from this city. And no, I didn't tell them where I was going, but Pez is there."

  "Ah... He's not the type to hold out to torture either, so he'll probably cave and help them. He wouldn't outright tell them where we are, but he'd 'help' and slow them down, if anything."

  "Exactly."

  "Grace." He placed his free hand on hers, sandwiching her hand between his, as he stared into her eyes, searching for an answer. "As much as I want you, and I'm tired of being angry and out for revenge, I can't make a snap decision here. There are a few people I need to talk to."

  "I understand." She pulled her hand away. "But I don't know if it'll even take a day before they'll come for me. They could be searching already. And if they find me here, I'll have just made this whole situation worse."

  Roger cringed. "I understand, but I need a couple of hours at least."

  "Find." Grace stood. "But I refuse to be trapped in a room; I've had enough of restrictions already."

  Roger stood and reached out to her. "But that's because some of the others can be a danger to you. I don't want you getting hurt."

  She glared up at him, her arms crossed.

  "Yes, yes; I know how awesome you are, and that you can handle yourself. I know that better than anyone else, but you could get jumped by multiple men. It's dangerous, Grace."

  "Well, I need food, so at least let me go to the kitchen. You only have a few hours for your decision, or I'll have to go back home to the Bertolottiss."

  "Fine; I'll walk you there."

  "No need; just tell me where it is, or I'll find it myself. You need to think things over and talk to whomever to make your decision before I have to leave."

  "It's dangerous... Yeah, yeah, I know. Fine, go down the hall, back downstairs, turn right and the first door is for the kitchen."

  "Okay, I'm going to raid your fridge." Grace rubbed her stomach and left through his bedroom door, knowing hers was still locked.

  Grace passed by a couple of men in the hall who gawked at her. She could feel their eyes on her until she headed downstairs.

  He wasn't kidding about the animosity here.

  She followed his instructions to get to the kitchen and peeked inside. No one was there in the professional level kitchen, so she entered, and went straight to the fridge.

  She leaned in to look, and her eyes widened. Yum! "I hope they don't mind if I steal a slice of this half-eaten cake for breakfast." Grace reached out for the chocolate cake.

  "We mind."

  By the time Grace heard them, a pain seared in the back of her head, and she passed out.