Chapter 53

Liam was rolling the pen in his hand idly. His eyes are focused on the projector which shows the condition of Ethan's warehouse. "Have you talked to Ethan, dad?" Liam asked Ryan who answered with a single nod.

"I did, he was furious. The situation was getting out of hand. In the last few months, he lost almost a billion of his goods because of these gorilla attacks but this time it's more serious than the previous attacks."

Liam leaned forward in his chair, his brows jerked together, "why?" He questioned.

Ryan sighed before answering. "Juan sent a message via a short video claiming that his next target will be his daughter, Aurora."

The pen Liam was rolling in his hand halted and ever so slowly he raised his eyes, met his father's gaze. "My Aurora?" He clipped in a tone that chilled the atmosphere of the room.

Once again Ryan nodded, he could see the darkness in Liam's eyes. "Ethan is trying everything to get his hands on Juan but still no clue it's like he vanished into the air," Ryan told him but Liam was not into the conversation anymore. His mind was fixed on only one thing, today Juan did something he should not have done.

Liam was fine till the war was limited to Ethan's business but now he made it Liam's war by mentioning the name of his future wife.

"Ralph, make a call to Ethan," he ordered his brother who did what Liam asked him to do.

"I just talked with Ethan, he is not in the right mind to talk…" Ralph started but Liam shook his head.

"I don't give a f**k if he was in the right mind or not! No one is allowed to take my wife's name and get away without any consequences. It's Ethan's fault that his rival was still alive…" he snatched the phone out of Ralph's hand and put it on his ear.

Ethan was going insane because his fear was coming to reality, his daughter was in danger. "Call the Russians in New York, Thomas. Ask for their assistance for all I care. Give them money or a safe route for their trades or anything they demand their help but I want that son of a bitch dead. Find him, catch him, and rest is up to me."

Thomas knew that right now Ethan wouldn't listen for any reason so he tried to calm him but to no use. Everyone in the mafia knows that if Ethan King had a weakness it's his daughter and today one of his rivals was taking advantage of it. Thomas was about to speak when he felt his cell phone buzz and when he checked the caller ID he was shocked to see that it was Ralph calling.

He accepted the call on the third ring and greeted the person on the other line. "Ralph…"

"It's Liam, give me Ethan." Thomas didn't like the tone Liam used but he knew the situation was too serious to point it out to him. "Ethan, it's Liam," he said, offering the phone to Ethan who took it from Thomas.

"Is Aurora alright?" Ethan asked.

Liam gritted his jaw, "she is in Vancouver, in my territory and unlike you, I know how to protect my people."

"Liam, don't make it a thing about ego, it's about my daughter. I will not leave that son of a bitch…"

"It's about my future wife, Ethan. He didn't threaten you, he tried to threaten me, Liam Knight. I won't sit back and let him live. He wants to harm Aurora, let him come. The devil is waiting for that bastard because Aurora is not coming back to Churchill till that man is alive. She will remain in Vancouver."

Ethan fisted his hand, no one has ever told him what he should do regarding his daughter and today hearing Liam, Ethan was feeling a sense of loss. "Has she agreed to marry you?" He asked.

Liam sensed an opportunity here. He could make Ethan see the reason after this threatening call from his enemy. "No, look, Ethan, I can marry Aurora today and she will accept it one day. I will give her whatever she wants…"

Ethan didn't need to hear anymore. He understood where Liam was going with this talk. "No. no one will force anything upon my daughter. Our deal is still the same, if you want my business and support, you have to charm my daughter into marrying you. I might look weak right now Liam but don't forget that brutality still runs in my veins. I am still the same man who can kill without blinking an eyelid and as far as that Juan is concerned. He will not have an easy death, no I will make him beg for death but even then I won't take pity on him. As I said earlier, your work is to focus on my daughter rest is up to me. How I deal with my enemies in My territory is my business," Ethan said pressuring on the word my territory to make Liam understand that it was him who was ruling over Churchill, not Liam and what was at stake for him if he didn't able to cajole Aurora for marriage.

Liam's hold on the pen tightened and it broke into two pieces as he threw the phone on the table. Both Ralph and Ryan glanced at each other, wary of Liam. His eyes turned dark which shows that he was barely controlling himself from doing something.

"Liam…" Ryan spoke and Liam raised his eyes to meet his father's gaze. "Dammit to hell!!" He shouted, punching the table hard that everything on it shook. It was as if all the problems came at once. Here, he found that his wife was on the hit list of Mexicans and he was having trouble with the Italians. Liam couldn't lose either of them. For him, his dream of ruling over the Canadian mafia was bigger than anything else. Fucking hell!

Ryan knew that it was about Aurora. Liam wanted to end this charade and marry him forcefully and take over as the boss of the Vancouver Crime family with Churchill as the supporter. His dream of ruling over the Canadian mafia has become an obsession for him which was not possible till Ethan King supported Liam and his support depend on Liam's Marriage to Aurora.

Liam flattened his palms on the table, drew in a sharp breath to control his raging fury. "Aurora is not safe anymore. Till now, the Mexicans were playing with the idea of harming Aurora but now they put her on their hit list."

Ralph listened to his brother but he couldn't understand what was running in his mind because the darkness in his eyes clearly indicated that he was on the verge of losing control.

"You want to assign bodyguards for her. I have a few soldiers who are up for the job."

Ever so slowly, Liam raised his eyes and met his brother's, "She is my responsibility, I will protect her," he tapped his finger on the table and asked. "Italians?"

Ralph nodded. Of course, his brother could flip from one topic to another within a nanosecond. "Still in talks with him. They want more than we are offering. They have good bonds with Mexicans and they are hesitant because of Russians. Dimitri Kyschove is a maniac and everyone know what bond you have with Alexanderios."

"Dimitri Kyschove!!" Liam muttered under his breath. He then turned his gazebo to his father who was sitting on the chair of the boss. The chair would be Liam's soon. His father shook his head.

"Italians won't trust you till you do business with Russians," Ryan said as a matter of fact and Liam laughed.

"I can cut business with Dimitri short to achieve big things, right now all I want is the support of Italians."

Ryan sighed and nodded. "You are the future of the Vancouver mafia but I would like to give you advice, Liam. Choose your friends and enemies wisely. Because in our business, we carry enmity far more strongly than any other relationship. You are friends with Alexandrios which brings a position of status quo among us and Russians but what about Italians. I don't want us in a position where we lose from both sides."

Liam chuckled. "Alexandrios is a time tested friend, dad. I don't have any problem with him but his brother is a different question and I am trying to get closer to my enemy who became the biggest problem is not only ours but Ethan's life too."

"You mean…" Ralph stopped getting what game his brother was playing. "The masked man??" He whispered in question and Liam's answer was playing on his lips. Ryan jerked in his seat, feeling proud and fear at the same time. He was glad that he was the father of Liam because his son owns the mind of a devil.

He raised a brow. "Let Ethan do whatever he wants to do. My game is bigger and better than his or anyone else's." Liam said with a smirk.

"Dimitri is protective of his brother, still he is a shrewd businessman. We are just tolerating each other for the sake of Alexandrios but he refused to give his assistance in that mysterious masked man's case. So what option do I have except for getting in touch with Italians? One more thing dad, As Ralph pointed out, The Mexicans have something to do with that masked man. How can a man have an equivalent relationship with the two biggest mafia enemies? He has ties with Russians as well as Italians? How is it possible when you said that Italians are conservative with whom they did their business?"

"I will do everything to arrange this meeting but you have to be careful. What you are trying to do is dangerous…" Ralph said and Liam threw his head back in the chair.

"Dangerous is my second name, Ralph," then in a completely serious tone, he glances at his father. " I know there is something between you and Ethan which makes you tolerate everything he throws at you. I can understand it because I share the same bond with Alexandrios but unlike you, I have a limit to it. I am tolerating him because I respect you and him. But dad, everything has a limit. Try to make him understand that!"

Ryan raised his hand, he knew his son was patient with Ethan. "This patience will give you your dream, Liam. Trust me you have everything to gain and very little to lose." Then he stood up and patted both his sons on their backs. "Good night boys," saying that he walked out leaving the Knight brothers alone.

"I am stunned at your forbearance. You kill people because they looked at you in a way you don't approve of and here you are trying to charm a girl. This is insane or…" Ralph drawled, Liam raised his brows.

"Or?" He asked Ralph who continued in a questioning tone. " or have you developed some human feelings for that girl? Do you love her?" He asked Liam burst into laughter hearing him.

He scratched his cheek, shaking his head a little. "Oh Ralph!" Heh started, drew in a short but sharp breath and added. "You are right, I have developed a human feeling for him but its not that stupid love thing. Na! What I feel for her is greater and vaster than that. I am in lust with Aurora. All day I think nothing except how it would feel to hold her in my arms and ruin her for everyone else. That girl has become a necessity for me. I can't tolerate her chattering self but I suffer it because I want her in this golden cage of mine."

Ralph sighed. "I hope I never feel this necessity for anyone brother because I don't have your level of patience. I won't tolerate a girl's idiotic behaviour just because I want to fuck her. It's either my way or no way!"

Liam shook his head. "Maybe you suffer in other ways…" he chuckled. Ralph was about to answer him but Liam's cell phone buzzed which stopped Ralph from giving a sarcastic reply.

Liam frowned when he saw Aurora's number flashed on his cell phone screen. He accepted the call immediately not taking any chances with her protection. Not after hearing about the threats Mexicans gave about her but all his worry stopped for a second when he heard her giggle on the other end indicating she was safe but her next words increased his worry tenfold.

Because the girl was drunk and Liam had a first hand experience about her capabilities when she get drunk.

"Are you drunk Aurora?" He asked and then cursed for asking such an obvious question.

"Liamm…" she sang his name with a giggle. "I want to see your abs, send me the picture of them. I want to prove to everyone that you are hotter than him."

Liam's brows jerked together. "What?" He snapped but all he heard was giggling. "Send me your abs, no. You know what? I am coming to get your abs."

Liam cursed. "Fuck!" Pinching the bridge of his nose he said. "You are at your home, right?" He asked her.

"Yup but I am coming…"

"No, stay where you are because I am coming to get you," saying that he ran out of his father's house to handle his future wife.