Taken By The Mafia Lord

A figure knelt in front of the altar, her palms pressed together in prayer. This was no other than Natalie who had spent almost the whole day at church praying for the safety of her child and for the plan to pull off successfully.

"Lord, this is my last chance to make it up to my daughter, please bring her back to me safely." She prayed desperately with tears in her eyes while staring at the image of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Natalie had always been religious however after the series of misfortunes that happened in her life, she lost her faith, but now, she would do anything, even if it meant reviving her lost faith, just so her child could come back to her.

She went on praying until her throat was parched, her knees were arching from the stress put on them and she was tired as hell. Natalie was unable to go on any longer, but still, she wouldn't give up. Perhaps, if the lord saw her efforts, he would have mercy on her poor soul.

Natalie was determined to torture herself that way until she felt a shift and opened her eyes to see that it was Eric standing over her with a prominent frown on his face. Thanks to the fact that Natalie had prayed for a long time, her lips become dry and chapped from licking them in the process.

"That's enough now," Eric grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up amid her useless protest.

"No, I need to -"

"Do you want to die before your daughter arrives?!" Eric snapped at her unintentionally, startling her.

He was just stressed and slightly annoyed about her behavior. Once it comes to her daughter, Natalie throws caution to the wind and does whatever is pleasing to her. She was not the only one suffering here, he was too! Her pain was his pain! Can't she see that?

Eric was just sick and tired of her putting her life in danger all to make up for the past. It was still difficult getting over the fact that Daniel had his hands on her days ago and would have taken her away if it wasn't for her luck. In a twinkle of an eye, he would have lost her to the same man he had been protecting her from over the years.

But that was not all, he had to watch as the guilt of the past ate her up. Why can't she understand that she can't change the past? What happened was not her fault, it was all a misfortune caused by a certain man called Daniel - whom he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate once he got the chance.

Natalie was stunned by Eric's outburst seeing that it was the first time that he has ever raised his voice at her. She swallowed and stood still so as not to provoke him more than he already was. Eric sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

He said to her, "You don't have to torture yourself like that. Elijah is already on his way and he will bring your daughter home. Natalie…" Eric stepped closer and cupped her cheeks, saying with conviction, "God is on her side tonight."

It took her a few minutes but Natalie finally nodded with a smile and he smiled back.

"Come on," He placed his hand on her shoulder, and turned her away from the altar, "It's time to welcome your daughter home," Eric promised her.

___________

"Aziz! Aziz!" Adele shouted, looking for him as she stepped into his apartment. She has been calling his phone but he wasn't answering and that made her anxious - and suspicious at the same time.

They just sighted Elijah and if Aziz was really him, then he wouldn't be present in the apartment. It was a good thing that she knew the password to his place and could get in and out slowly.

"Aziz!" Adele continuously searched for him with her heart pounding in her throat. Please, don't be Elijah, she chanted in her heart. And her prayers were answered when she came into the room and turned on the light only to see Aziz on the bed, his sheet swaddling his body like a newborn baby.

"Aziz?!" Adele nearly had a heart attack when she saw him in that condition. She comes closer to check on him and feels his forehead, and it was warm enough to suggest that it was a fever. He looked flush and Adele forgot about catching Elijah as she thought about how to bring his temperature down.

"Adele…" Elijah finally opened his heavy eyelid, sneezing weakly. He tried to sit up, but Adele wouldn't let him.

"No, stay the way you are." and he stopped. Adele looked at him concerned, "When did this start?"

"Earlier this morning, I didn't think that it was serious until now," He took in her appearance, "You're going somewhere?"

"Yes, we finally found Elijah," Adele announced the good news watching as Aziz's eyes widened in pure joy.

"Really? You did it!" He hugged her tight but ended up coughing badly in the end.

"It's okay, you have to rest." She tried to push him back to the bed but he was stubborn and asked instead, "How did you find him!"

"He simply got careless and we got a tip of his presence. Elijah's on another mission now and if we go now, we will catch him."

"I will go with you," Aziz decided.

"No!" Adele pushed him to the bed forcibly this time, "You are so weak and sick that you would be nothing but a burden to us. That is if you don't get yourself killed first," She had not forgotten the fact that Elijah had tried to kill him once. And to think she had been suspecting him of being Elijah.

"I hate that I would not be unable to come with you, we worked so hard for this." Aziz sighed, disappointed with his condition.

She took his hand in hers and said, "I know. However, your health matters a lot and we'll celebrate when I'm back."

He grinned, "That sounds interesting,"

Adele leaned over him, intending to just peck him on his lips, but Elijah took over instead and kissed her soundly like this was the last time they were going to be together.

When they pulled away, Adele looked at him in surprise. She had not seen that one coming.

She said, "I should stay behind and take care of you, however, if I don't leave now -"

"I understand." He told her, "I wouldn't let you stay either. We have worked too hard to find Elijah to lose him now. Marcel would end the both of us."

. "Yeah, you're right," She nodded.

"Stay safe," Aziz told her, gripping her hand tightly as if he didn't want to let go.

"I would. Victory will be ours," Adele promised him before standing up to her feet. She took one good look at him before taking her leave.

Adele thought perhaps, they might be able to salvage something out of this. With the way he was staring at her, she had a feeling Aziz felt something towards her. She would tell him that they were having a baby.

So Adele left, without seeing the tears of regret that slipped down Aziz's face.