Chapter 618: 'Cousins'

Ian was glad that he caught on to what Mina was doing, and when his distant aunt left after she could not recall the birthdays of her 'perfect' grandchildren, his cousin thanked him and Mina for their help. They continued to chat, and eventually Mina had lulled the infant to sleep and rested him on her lap, which his mother marveled at.

"He must really feel comfortable with you," Maribelle said, and Mina smiled as she caressed the sleeping baby's cheek. "Do you want children?" Ian's eyes snapped to Mina's face. It was a question he had wanted to ask her but considered himself unfit.

"I used to," Mina admitted, letting a hint of sadness into her tone.

"What changed?" Levi asked, but Ian did not want to hear her answer, because he was certain he already knew.

"My career changed, but I still love children." Ian knew that she was not being completely honest. The 'career' change was him.

"You can have both," Levi said. "My wife only stopped teaching recently. She wanted to stay home with Ravi, but I think she regrets it, which is why she is here with me." Mina smirked.

"I-"

"Mina we have to go," Ian interjected. He apologized to his distant relatives for being rude, but he needed to play mediator, or someone was going to die.

----

Mills stood in front of Drax with her arms outstretched in front of Milo's door. The only reason Drax had not already attacked her brother was because Mills kept throwing herself onto him and into his path. She did not want to fight her fiancé, but if she had to, she would. She had already punched Adir in the face so hard that his wife sent him to his room because he was 'embarrassing her,' and Cade was being berated by his parents who blamed him for what was happening.

"You aren't going to kill my brother," Mills said.

"No, I'm not. I'm just going to make him wish he were dead," Her fiancé responded.

"Drax, if you don't stop, I'll run away again."

"Mills…"

"I'm serious. Milo is the only family I have. You cannot take that away from me. Besides, you started it." Drax took on a shocked expression. "You slept with me before we were married," she said, clarifying for the clearly confused man.

"That was different. I always planned to marry you."

"How do you know Milo won't marry your sister?" Drax was beginning to calm, but Milo cracked open the room door specifically to tell them both that he was not going to marry Fiori. Enraged, Drax picked Mills up and moved her to the side, but someone jumped onto his back, and he could tell by Mills' lack of a reaction that it was Mina. She would not have allowed anyone else to attack him and Fiori would not have been so stupid.

"Mina get off," Drax warned.

"How did you know it was me?" the woman said, still holding onto him tightly.

"Because Mills would have stopped you if you were anyone else, and my sister will stay hidden in her room if she knows what's good for her. You have no idea what kind of mess she made for my father." Drax tried to pry Mina's arms from around him, but the woman must have been practicing a death grip because he had to use more strength than he wanted to, making the woman whimper but she did not let go.

"Drax, calm down," the man heard Ian say and the man took an exaggerated deep breath before declaring himself calm, and then asking if he could resume trying to kill Milo.

"You don't know what the relationship is between those two or even how it started. Calm down and talk to your sister first. We both know that she is more than capable of taking care of herself, so if something is really happening between them, I can guarantee she initiated it."

"And if it were Luna?" Drax asked.

"I would be angry, but I wouldn't be dumb enough to kill the brother of the woman I love," Ian replied.

Drax grunted and started to walk away with Mina still clinging to his back. He told the woman that she could let him go, but she refused to, saying that she wanted to be there if he tried to go after Fiori. He tried to make her angry by reminding her that Milo was her date for the night, but she chuckled, telling him to try harder. Drax made his way down the stairs, and with a grown woman attached to him, all the heat was taken off Cade, and focused straight onto him and Mina.

"Drax wants to hurt Fiori," Mina called out, and Drax's mother started to shout without even asking him to explain.

"Mina, he won't go looking for her. You can let go now." Drax shook his body as the woman released her grip and she threw herself backward, making his mother slap his arm. He narrowed his eyes at the girl and then looked at Ian who just shrugged.

"She did the same thing to me. It's best to just let her win because she is going to win anyway." Ian patted Drax's shoulders, while Mina limped away from where she had fallen.

"Keep that up and you won't be invited to my wedding," Drax said, and just like that, Mina's limp disappeared.

----

It had been a few days, but the situation between Milo and Fiori kept becoming increasingly convoluted. Milo was never actually dating Cala, who had a crush on Cade, not realizing that the man had only been keeping his distance from her because he thought she was in a relationship, and Milo and Fiori had been entertaining a secret romance that Cala knew all about. It was the most confusing love square that Mina had ever heard of, and when she and Mills were talking about it to Emma, the woman quite literally started to turn it into a play. Even more odd was that no one hated anyone for what happened. Fiori and Milo had a much-needed talk that resulted in them trying at a relationship, and Cade proposed to Cala.

Adir, Drax's eldest brother was the only one who seemed disturbed by the events, but his hands were tied, and he could not even send his sister's boyfriend out of the home because Mills would have followed, and Drax would have become unhappy. Mina was pleased with the outcome, and when she found out that it was President Lee who suggested for Milo and Fiori to be given a chance to explore where their relationship could go, she started to see the man in a new light. Yes, he had been callous toward her, but he was beginning to change, and Mina wanted to believe that her kindness was rubbing off on the man.

Mina was wrapping up the last of her solo filming when Paul showed up at the restaurant. She did not know how to react to the man, who had come carrying a bouquet of flowers, but she still met with him, hoping to clarify her state of mind at the time. He told her that he was not happy with his fiancé, who had hidden information from him, and he claimed that his behavior was caused by his drinking after finding out the truth. Mina did not want to listen to the man's excuse, but she felt guilty. She had been the one to spark his imagination, and then when she realized it was not the right thing to do, she pulled away, leaving the man confused, and likely angry.

"Mina, I'm not here to make excuses. I said terrible things to you because I was jealous of President Lee. I felt like he was stealing you away from me, and then I saw you with Brayden and…" Paul paused and took a breath that Mina could see was meant to be calming. "Brayden is a weird person, okay? I could have handled it better, but I don't want you around him." Mina felt her heart rate quicken. Many people had been warning her about the man, which she found odd because to her, President Lee was much worse. "Maggie is outside in the car. She wanted to talk to you, but she was scared you would kick her out."

Mina nodded at the man and followed him out to his vehicle, she could see a figure sitting in the car, but when she was close enough to tell that it was not Maggie, another man jumped out of the car and pulled her inside. Mina fought and shouted, but Paul kept begging her to be quiet, promising that he was not trying to hurt her. He said that the men he was with were Maggie's cousins, and they specialized in helping people hide.

"Mina, I know you aren't willingly doing what you do, it isn't like you. It's Maggie's fault, and she just wants to make it up to you."

"Did she tell you that? Paul, don't be an idiot. Have you met these men before? Look at them; do they look like they are related to Miss Maggie at all?" Paul seemed to consider her words, but she had already been pulled into the car, and was driving down the freeway.

Mina had begun to shake, and Paul held her close to him, telling her that she was wrong. He had not met the men through his fiancé per se, but he had met them at one of her family functions, and the topic of Mina came up after a few drinks. At the time, Paul thought they were trying to make sure he was not cheating on his fiancé with the woman, so he told them what he believed, and they offered to help. It was not until Mina seeded doubt in his mind that he thought something bad was going to happen.

As if on cue, the car stopped on a desolate patch of road and Paul was forced out of it with a crying and screaming Mina trying to follow behind him. Complete terror engulfed her when she heard the men addressing one another in Scleva, and when Paul took a bullet to the leg, she nearly had a heart attack. Mina tried to keep her wits about her, asking the men who they were and what she had done, but they had no words for her.

The car kept driving, until it arrived at a private airport, where a man she never thought she would see again was waiting for her. The worst part was that Mina also recognized the woman standing next to him. Vanya was looking down toward the ground, a shadow of the confident woman who Mina once knew, and when the man turned to wrap his arm around her, she flinched, telling Mina all she needed to know.

"What do you want from me?" Mina asked, and the man waved his finger, telling her to go ahead and speak to him in the language he knew she understood. "If it's money you want, I can give it to you."

"Someone has already paid a lot of money for you. All I have to do is bring you to him in one piece." With that, someone roughly struck her on the back of the head, and Mina was left dizzy, completely unable to fight back. She could feel herself being strapped into a seat, and Vanya took the seat next to her, which should have calmed her, but it did not.

"Just behave and he won't hit you," the woman whispered, making Mina whimper. "And don't make those noises; he doesn't like them." Vanya stiffened when a hand clutched onto her shoulder, and she moved without being asked.

"Very soon light eyes; you will regret making a fool of me and killing my cousins."