love me {bwwm}

C H A P T E R 3 1

Someone tackled Ebony to the ground and began dragging her away.

"Ebony baby, I'm gonna need you to wake up for me". She could barely hear Max due to the overwhelming feeling of dizziness. Opening her eyes was the hardest thing in that moment, she was so drowsy, that her eyes just kept fluttering closed as soon as she tried opening them.

"Max" she tried to say, but it was muffled from her incoherentness.

"I'm here baby, can you stay in here while I figure this out?" He said before the bullets started to ring throughout the house. "I'll take that as a yes, I'll be back soon okay" and with that he let go of her hand and locked her in the safe room inside the games room.

With vengeance on his mind, he found the hidden rifles and began shooting anyone in an all black uniform, all he could see was red. He shot as many as ten men, anyone who crossed his path.

But as he walked through the house he could hear someone walking up behind him, quickly turning around he aimed his glock at the intruders head.

"Dad, what are you doing outside of the safe room, where's Mom?" Max asked worriedly.

"She's fine son, I'm sure Regina's little army is long gone, especially after seeing the carnage of you and I'm assuming your favourite rifle..." Martino said, patting his son on the back proudly.

"Dad they almost got Ebony, if they didn't make any noises, she would've been gone, I almost lot her again, I can't-" Max tried to say, but his breathing was rapid and shallow.

"Dad I can't" he tried to say but was immediately struck with paralysing anxiety.

Max had never experienced anxiety like this, it had always been mild, like before a test or before a mission, but never this fear-inducing; he felt as if everything was slipping away from him, he had no control... over anything.

"Son, look at me" Martino said softly, but Max had begun scratching at his chest, his eyes wild with panic. Max couldn't hear him, he was too busy trying to get enough oxygen in his lungs, but enough could never be enough, his breathing was so rapid that he couldn't catch his breath.

"MAX" Martino shouted, all of a sudden Max stopped breathing and his eyes were focused only on his father, "put your hands behind your head and close your eyes, take a slow deep breath".

Max did as instructed and slowly his breathing returned to normal. He had never shared any of his anxiety with his family, not even the boys, but it seemed like his father knew exactly what to do, albeit scary, but it was the right amount of shock that Max had needed in order to kickstart his breathing, and to regulate his body.

"Max, Martino... wait where's Ebony" Marielle shouted from across the hallway, running to meet her family.

"Crap, she's still in the safe room inside the games room" Max realised she must've been in there for at least an hour.

They all ran to the games room and found Ebony laying soundly on the ground, sleeping, and slightly snoring. Max picked her up, and they all cooed over her, thanking god that she was alive and safe, and that their family was safe once again.

A few weeks had passed since the attack, and the Morte family had since moved to their safe house in the middle of a secluded forest, the only things occupying the house were a few SUVs, the house itself, and a few underground tunnels that each had different escape routes, and a car waiting at each of them, altogether there were seven routes.

Ebony had been kept in the Medical wing as she had still been suffering with acute dizziness from the concentrated amount of chloroform she breathed in during the attack. She had claimed to be fine but Max would not take her word for it, nor the trusted doctors.

"Max I think I can go to the toilet by myself" Ebony said as she stumbled towards the hospital bathroom, but he caught her just before she could fall.

"This isn't an excuse to see your ass, though I wouldn't mind... just a peak" he said, as this had been a running joke due to an incident with the back of her hospital gown being open as she got up from the bed when she was first admitted.

"Ha ha, very funny, now get out so I can pee" she grumbled, as he closed the door.

It had taken a couple more days for Ebony to finally convince Max that she was okay, as well as the doctors to convince him too. However, the only issue with the safe house was that, it hadn't been made with Ebony in mind; Marielle had informed her that she would have to bunk with Max, even though she knew neither of them would mind, seeing as she had made a few innuendos about wanting to become a grandmother before she got all old and crippled. But Marielle was nowhere near old, and she certainly wasn't showing any signs of her age, she looked good for a... well it's just not ladylike to talk about a woman's age now is it...

"This house looks like a mirror version of the old house, how is that even possible" Ebony asked as she walked through to Max's room, this was her first time actually walking through the new house, and to Max's room.

"It practically is, they literally just mirrored it, and built it here" he said as he scooped her up and laid her gently on the bed, laying his head on her stomach. Cradling his head, she instinctively started to play with his hair, curling it around her fingers.

"As wonderful as this is, and as tired as I am, even if I weren't lying on your stomach, I can tell that you're hungry" her stomach had been gurgling as soon as she walked out of the hospital wing.

"Feed me, I can see myself withering away, I'm practically skin and bone Maxi" she exclaimed, taking her hands out of his hair, and feigning famine. Max had realised that she didn't say anything about her weight or how she looked, or even made a joke about being obese. She was making progress.

"Oh my love, how on earth will you live.. maybe a midnight trip to the kitchen might soothe your hunger?" He asked, once again picking her up bridal style and taking her to the kitchen. Their laughter could be heard throughout the hallway.

He had decided on making something simple, a shrimp alfredo. Gathering his ingredients, he made sure that she didn't touch a single thing, this was his time to show her that she truly meant the world to him, but it also gave him a chance to talk to her about what happened before she was almost taken.

As he began mixing the butter and flour, he saw this as his option to start. "So... you know the plans we had before we were attacked? Have you thought about them since then?" He asked, turning his back to get the heated milk. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I have... but I don't think now is the time to talk about it" she said as she gestured toward the door leading to the living room, Marielle was standing there, admiring the two young adults; they reminded her of how Martino and her used to be in their younger days.

"Please, don't let me interrupt" Marielle said as she brought a blanket, hugging Ebony as she wrapped it around her.

"It's not like I didn't know every single step to your little getaway plan" Ebony and Max looked at each other in shock, wondering which of them had betrayed the other, and revealed their secret.

"I had the same one with your father once upon a time..." Marielle admitted, shock didn't begin to describe how the young couple felt, they had been so inconspicuous, but they continued to listen.

"Mom.. We just-" Marielle raised her hand to stop him from speaking, he flinched from the sudden movement.

"Enough... I'm not mad at you, either of you, I just wished we had done more for the both of you, that you didn't feel like your only other option was to run away... but I understand, I wished your father and I had done the same thing, but I'm also grateful that we hadn't... or else you wouldn't be here, and who knows, maybe you two wouldn't have met, and I wouldn't have met my future daughter in law" she chuckled as she smiled at the both of them.

"Marielle, I'm so sorry we kept this from you" Ebony said, tears in her eyes.

"Oh don't you start crying, or else I'll start crying, you're not in any trouble my loves, but if you still wish to leave then I will not stop you... if you do, then you must leave tonight" Marielle said while wiping the tears away from Ebony's cheeks, while her own continue flowing, and with that, she walked away.

Was the right decision for the both of them to leave, or was it to stay and continue to protect their family as Max's parents had done, to continue the Morte D'Oro lineage?