Chapter 11: | You Belong To Me-1

"Oh my God, do you think he's dead?" "No he's not dead you idiot, he's still breathing." "Then why won't he wake up? Should we call the police?" Max groaned and rolled over in the bed, dragging the pillow with him to muffle the sounds of the shrill female voices that were painfully loud. As he rolled he felt a breeze along the right side of his body; he wasn't wearing any clothes. Not only was he not wearing any clothes, he was not laying in his own bed. He sat up too fast and opened his eyes, making the dull pain in his temples sharpen suddenly. His body felt sore and overused, and his mouth was bone dry. He had only had the one drink last night, so he was having a hard time trying to figure out what could possibly have gotten him in such a bad way. He squinted into the brightness and found himself being stared at by the two shrill voiced girls whom he vaguely recognised as part of Ava's circle. "Max? Thank God you woke up, you had us scared," said the flustered blonde. He winced at the sound. "Ava…" he croaked, "Where is Ava?" "Is that who you were fucking in my bed?" asked the irritated brunette. Max shook his head quickly and peered around paranoid that somehow Vince would hear the scandalous accusation and shoot his dick off. "What? I was not fucking anyone and I have no idea why I am in your bed. Where is Ava?" he snapped. "Last I saw, she left the bar with that red head you were talking to," said the blonde. Max furrowed his brow, "What red head?" "The one from the bar with legs for days…I bet that's who you were fucking!" the brunette accused again. "I didn't fuck anyone!" he growled. If he'd had sex, he'd think he'd remember. It wasn't like he was getting it in the way he used to before he had to follow Ava up to Excelsior; having sex would have been an acme. "Then why are your clothes on the floor, and why are you naked in my bed?" Max recalled wondering the same thing a few seconds ago; it didn't make sense. He shook his head, "Believe me, I wish I knew." He swung back the covers and stood up slowly, gritting his teeth to lessen the pain of the headache and his sore muscles. The girls gasped and looked away as his glorious unsheathed form stood brazenly before them. Max simply picked his clothes up and put them back on without another word. He couldn't remember what had happened between the last time he recalled watching Ava in the student union bar, to him waking up in this poor girl's bed, sore and naked after supposedly speaking to a leggy red head that Ava had left the bar with. Something had gone horribly wrong, and the fact that he had no idea where the girl he had sworn his life to protect was, made him feel even worse. It wasn't until he looked at his phone on his way out that he realised the magnitude of the direness of the situation that presented itself in an infinite number of missed calls from Vince. He called him back immediately. "Yang." Max swallowed the quivering lump of fear that formed in his throat. "Sir," he replied firmly, knowing that he was in a shit load of trouble. For a few seconds Vince remained silent, letting the air hang between them filled with white noise that simmered with tension just so Max could get an idea of how badly he had fucked up. "I've been calling you for hours," he snarled. "My apologies, sir; it appears that I was unconscious. I have no recollection of the past couple of hours. One minute I'm watching Ava-Marie, and the next I'm waking up naked in some girl's bed. I don't know what happened," he confessed. "Some punk kidnapped my daughter while she was under your protection, that's what happened!" Vince bellowed. Max stopped dead in his tracks; someone had taken Ava. He had to fight not to crumble there and then because if anything happened to her he would never forgive himself…and neither would Vince. "Who?" he asked barely above a whisper, his voice weighed down with guilt as the feeling of failure started to pull him under. "Aiden Michaels." Max stiffened at the sound of his name. "'Diamond Mafia', Aiden Michaels?" "You know him?" "Not personally, but I've heard things. I can't imagine that there's a person on the circuit who hasn't heard of Aiden." "What do you know?" "I know that he's not to be fucked with. From what I hear, Aiden is just as, if not more cut throat than you, sir. If what you're saying is true and he has Ava, we may never see her again." "Oh yes we will Yang," Vince hissed, "Because if I never see my daughter again, you will never see daylight again, you incompetent little shit!" Max jutted out his chin and pursed his lips at the threat that he knew Vince would make good on if he didn't return his daughter to him. He couldn't understand how this could have happened; in all his years as Ava's body guard, she hadn't gotten so much as a scratch on her pretty skin whilst he was present, so how was it possible that the Diamond Mafia got a hold of her? Maybe it had something to do with the elusive red head Ava's friends had mentioned. This had always been the downside of protecting Ava, the fact that if something happened to her whilst she was under his protection, he would pay for it with his life. He had known that when he agreed to take on the role, with little hesitation, because he lived for Ava, and if he had to die, he would be honoured to die for her. "Understood, sir," Max replied bravely. If he had to die as a punishment for her death, he would go quietly because if he was at fault for her being the reason she didn't exist anymore, he deserved to die. Vince sighed heavily, torn between anger and a speck of compassion he had for the young man he raised. "If you were any other solider I would have you hunted down and killed right now, but you're practically my son, so I will give you a chance to make this right. Find Ava, Yang. Find my little girl and bring her back to me -alive." "You have my word, sir. I'll talk to her friends and see if they can give me any more clues as to what happened. They mentioned a red head." Vince paused; "A red head?" "Yes sir." "Did you happen to get a look at this red head?" "No sir. They said that I was speaking to her but I have no recollection of her." "Of course you don't; that was Ashley Garner; she's who they call 'The Siren'. Never has a title been so deserved; I hear she's excellent at what she does. Explains why you woke up naked," Vince almost laughed. "I don't understand." "You had sex with The Siren, Yang, and once she had you satisfied she probably drugged you and took Ava right out from under your nose. Idiot! Anyway, I've sent some of the others out to dig around Aiden's neighbourhood and see what they can find." Max knew what that meant; Vince was about to start a war. There would be blood, that was a given, but with Aiden as his opponent, there was sure to be chaos too. Aiden's name wasn't notorious for no reason. Sure Vince had the money and power to go up against him, but Aiden was street smart in a way that Vince was too privileged to comprehend; he played smarter and dirtier than every London mob boss put together, which is why his crew was climbing the ranks so quickly. You couldn't be any old run of the mill thug to run with the Diamond Mafia, Aiden only took on the very best of what the streets had to offer, his crew was made up of cold blooded criminal with a unique flair for getting the job done, whether it was robbery, kidnap, moving product, or murder. The only good thing Max had heard about Aiden was that he was honourable; he lived by a code of loyalty and respect and he knew the correct protocol to handle a mob issue. For him to do something as foolish as to kidnap Vince Lockewood's daughter, Vince must have really pissed him off.