Chapter 157: Someone Else's Mills

Ian finally made the call to Drax. He knew that his friend would not be thrilled to hear about Mills' condition, and out of fear the man might do something rash, he had opted to wait. Because he was already on a mission, Drax could only be reached by covert satellite phone. When the line connected, there was a loud buzzing noise in the background.

"Busy?" Ian asked.

"A bit," Drax admitted.

"Call me back when you're free. It's important."

"How important?" Drax asked. Ian said a single name.

"Mills." Drax did not reply, he ended the call and Ian worried that he may have made the wrong decision by calling. Apparently, Zane was also worried.

"How much does he care about that girl?" Zane asked. Ian wanted to mention his feelings for Mina, but in truth, he did not know how much he cared about her and he did not want to lie to his friend again.

"A lot," Ian said.

----

Drax was in the middle of trying to coax a suspect out of a local processing plant. He was originally being lenient with the man he knew was likely hired to plant a bomb by a third party, but after he received Ian's call his patience ran dry.

In stark contrast to what he had just ordered his men not to do, Drax pulled his weapon, kicked down the door and shot the startled man in the leg.

"Take him away," he said. The confused men, who were trained to follow their commander regardless of how reckless his actions, looked at each other. They dragged the wailing man by his arms, leaving a streak of blood in their wake. "And make sure he doesn't die," Drax commanded.

Drax then ordered his remaining men to scan and search the room, reminding them that the person he had just shot had an affinity for explosives. Every soldier was silent as he lectured them on safety after they had just witnessed him disregard the rules, he was now setting forth for them.

----

Drax found a quiet area and called Ian back. When it came to Mills, there was nothing he would not do for her.

"Are you done?" Ian asked.

"Just caught one of the bad guys. Now what is it about Mills?" Ian was caught off guard by Drax's blunt speech, but he knew the man was practically obsessed with the woman. Ian thought that if he were in a similar situation, he would also throw all caution to the wind.

"Mills is fine," Ian made sure to begin with that statement. "She is fine, but she has been hospitalized." Drax was silent, but Ian could practically feel the deadly aura surrounding the man. There was an ominous pressure exuding through the phone that Ian identified as rage.

"What happened?" Drax asked. His words were sharp and exact.

"She was injured in an attack. I have her protected by my personal men, so she is safe, but I'll need you to quickly wrap things up over there and come deal with the situation in Sani as soon as possible."

"How serious?" Drax asked.

"Gut wounds. Knife. Minor Kidney injury." Ian only stated the necessary details. He could tell that the man was already boiling.

"But is she safe now?"

"Both twins are safe," Ian replied.

"Do you know if it…" Drax cut off, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, but he needed to know for Mills' sake. "Will it affect our family line?" He said curtly. Ian blanched; he had not known his friend was already thinking about that sort of thing.

"She is intact," Ian replied. The statement held many meanings he knew Drax would appreciate knowing. An audible sigh of relief could be heard.

"Tell her to wait for me," Drax said, then he ended the call. Ian knew that the man could not contact Mills directly, so he promised his friend he would relay the message as soon as the woman was awake.

----

Zane was stunned by the conversation that just transpired.

"Tell me, that man on the phone. Is it the same Drax we trained with when we were young?" Ian smirked.

"It is."

"Humph," Zane exclaimed. "So that's what real love is."

"According to Drax, it was love at first sight," Ian retorted.

"Wasn't it the same for you?" Zane questioned. Ian looked at his friend sharply.

"That was different," Ian said.

"I see no difference. The only problem is that one of you embraced the possibility, and the other is constantly looking for ways to destroy it." Ian's brow furrowed.

"I don't love Mina," he said.

"I know. If you did. She wouldn't have had to attempt walking here."

"Why bring this up?" Ian asked.

"I'm just reminding you that Mina is someone else's Mills. You should at least respect her," Zane replied. With that, the man stood, and left his friend's study.

----

Lisa awoke in a bad mood. She had not spoken to Ian in days and it was all because she had to prove her dedication to her family, to her brother. The night after she went to the bar with Ian, Kace confronted her with photos of her being drunkenly escorted to a waiting car and pictures of herself being carried into the Lee mansion. The target of the photos was unknown, but Kace said he had to pay a ton of money to stop them from being released. He told her that until she was formally engaged to President Lee, she needed to mind her image for their father's sake.

Lisa wanted to tell her brother that she had been pretending to be drunk, but she knew he would not believe her. Likewise, she would then have to explain why she was pretending in the first place. Instead, she listened to him lecture her with a speech about how 'she was young' and that 'she may fall in love with someone else at any minute.' As if that was not punishment enough, her brother forbade her from entering or stepping foot on any Lee property for the time being, and because she lacked the confidence to defy him right now, Lisa had no choice but to listen.