The Baker And The Queen Pin

Chapter 53: Booker

~~~Maria

He untied his ex-wife and his kids. They were both black and blue all over and it was clear that they had gone under some form of torture. 'How did this happen?' He asked and it was then that I saw a look of shame across Booker's face. I realized something, Volkov could not have found out where they were unless I was followed. Could this be my fault?

It was then that Damien said, 'He found you because of a snitch.' My eyes widened, who could have snitched? At that moment, I realized something: Kevin had to have been stealing from me for a reason. On top of that, it wasn't just Kevin that was a dirty cop. He seemed too willing to let O'Brian in on everything.

How did O'Brian find out about Kevin and how did Kevin know? It was then that I looked at Damien. "You all knew this from the start, didn't you?" I said to him. He says, 'What do you mean?' "You all knew that Volkov was a loose canon and you wanted to test my loyalty?" As I said this, Damien's face began to say you're smarter than I thought and it was then that Booker turned around and said, 'So, not only did you try to kill me but you tried to kill my fiance and children, too? What did we do to you?'

'To be fair, Mr. Johnson, no one was gunning after you. You just happened to find yourself between a bullet and her but no, it's not just that. You were also involved with a dangerous woman.' 'And what about my children? Why did they get dragged into this?' 'It's simple. Volkov wanted to get to Maria as quickly as possible. Once she saw that he could do that, it was only a matter of time.' 'That still doesn't explain why you're here.' And it was then that he said, 'I'm here because Volkov knew where my daughter was and I was going to be damned if I was going to let him have his way with my child.'

It was then that I found myself, angry but Booker reacted first. With one punch, Booker sent Damien moving back but Damien recovered quickly as he said, 'Go ahead and get it out of your system but remember, if you even think to kill me, you will not live to see the end of the night either.' As Booker wanted to get angry, he stopped himself and all he could say was, 'Stay away from my family and you better hope I never see you again.'

Damien wiped the blood off his mouth as he said, 'You won't. My daughter is safe and sound.' As Damien got ready to leave, he then said, 'The building is clear and everyone who is anyone is spending their night in a luxury hotel. It will take a couple of days to get the building cleared and in order. I'll leave you all time to figure out everything.' "This isn't over, Damien. We will talk about this. And so will we, double agent,' I say, turning to O'Brian.

O'Brian turns around as he says, 'We will and we have plenty to talk about too.' As everyone begins to leave and I look at my men as they say, 'We'll be waiting in the car for you.' "Booker, I would like to talk." 'Not now.' He says, plainly. 'We'll talk about this when I get home. Kids, are you okay?' 'Yes, we'll be fine,' I hear Booker's shaken-up voice as I walk over to check on Booker and Belle. I don't know why I had such maternal instincts toward them but I did care for them.

"I'm glad that you two are okay," I say, calmly and it was then that Booker says, 'Maria, you should go.' I wanted to be upset but the problem is he was right. It was then that I heard Belle say, 'She came to help us, didn't she?' 'Yes Belle but,' 'I understand there's a lot going on but she came to help us and we should at least give her the benefit of the doubt of staying.' She had a point, we were already in a pretty difficult situation.

It was then that I heard Keisha say, 'We're in this position for a multitude of reasons but I think it's time for you to come clean with him.' 'I think I can already put everything together. As much as I'd like to pretend that I didn't see this coming, I did suspect that Maria was hiding something from me for a while but for it to be this, I'm still not ready to understand.' It was then that I could see Booker's eyes viewing me, differently. I could see that he could no longer trust me and I could also see that he was struggling to deal with what had happened.

It was then that Booker finally said, 'You need to explain the entire truth to me once we get home.' I could see his eyes, staring deep into me and I knew it was true. Everything that had been done would have to be told to him. Everything that I had done today was selfish, no matter how I wanted to look at it, it was selfish.

"Can we please talk about this before we get home?" 'There's nothing to talk about right now. From what I'm seeing, I've been lied to for a long time, and from what I also believe, there was more to this. You've never been completely honest with me.' "I know but I want to talk, I want-"

'You want to see if I'm going to remain your fiance by the end of the day? I cannot give you that satisfaction. I cannot lie to myself and lie to you at the same time.' It was then that my eyes slowly began to look down as I then said, "I understand." 'Now please, give me and my children time.' I see his eyes focused on me and I realized he was hurting and I did not help him.

'Maria, I think it's about time you took accountability for what you've been doing behind my back and I expect the full truth.' It was then that my eyes started to look down towards the ground but then I held my head up as I said, "I'll be honest as I can be when we see each other at home." 'I expect the truth from you.'

End of Chapter 53: Booker