CHAPTER 1

ALEKS

PRESENT

Even though what I was about to do went against everything I've promised myself for the past six years, a strange sort of calm had descended inside me. I knew how Alexei Voinovich; the man I was once betrothed to seven years ago operates. He liked to draw out pain. He liked the power in his hands for as long as he could hold on to it without crashing himself under it. He thrived on keeping his cards close to his chest and making as many demands as he could before he took everyone out. I knew what he wanted. He may have claimed that all I had to do was finally reveal myself to him, that he would let my kids go after that. That he'd let them live then. I knew it wasn't true though. What he would really do was to kill my children in front of me before dragging me back to one of the many prisons I've been kept in, his house. It's truly sad how many men have used and abused me, but I would truly go back to him if I thought my children would have a chance to live. But they didn't, and I had no other option. Alexei was powerful enough to have half the FBI under his payroll. He was powerful enough to have thousands of people siding with him. He was a complete and utter psychopath. But he didn't know who the father of my kids was and that immediately put him at a huge disadvantage.

Lander couldn't come over since he was all the way in Japan for research for a new court case he had but he'd told me where I would find Jason Hyades. It had been easy for him to get Jason in New York because of his close relationship with the Hyades. I had obviously underestimated how close said relationship is because Jason Hyades was a notoriously busy man and an appointment with him had at least years of waitlists. As the richest and the most influential man in the world who happened to own half the world, it was understandable that he was extremely busy and I was a little surprised that Lander managed to get him to meet me at such short notice. His help, although unwarranted was my last hope. Because it was a known fact that Jason Hyades was the worst enemy to have. Too bad I wouldn't have exactly called us friends.

********

The restaurant Jason chose for us to meet in was surprisingly cozy but classy. My eyes roamed all over the small building in habit, taking in the small 'Food Files' sign on the entrance and there were two guards stationed at the front and the four less visible guards on the roof. The security wasn't the least bit surprising considering Jason was a very important individual with a lot to lose and a lot of people who needed him gone.

My walk towards the diner was cautious, a feat which proves unnecessary since the door was opened for me as soon as I got there. The diner was empty of patrons but a carelessly happy giggle I could have only wished to ever produce cut through the silence and drew my attention to the couple who sat on a table at the back.

Jason was beyond gorgeous, not only for a man his age but for a human being in general. He was tall and leanly muscled with a handsome face and a tan complexion I guessed was owed to his very Greek heritage. His head contained a mane of straight, shoulder-length blonde hair which was tied into a neat ponytail, his suit fitted, black and pristine and he held himself in a confident way only someone as powerful and wealthy as him could. He wasn't who stopped me in my tracks though. The woman he was watching with a soft and gentle expression I couldn't reconcile with all the stories I had heard about him. Her familiarity took my breath away even as I realized who she surely was. She was his partner.

Jason was a famously private man, but how he could have kept the existence of the woman besides her completely off the news was a mystery. She was easily the most stunning person I had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was a platinum blonde color that was pilled on her head in a messy bun that revealed a delicate neck wrapped by a black, diamond choker. She was paler than her husband, slimmer too but strong in the way of a woman who worked out constantly. My eyes were immediately drawn to her face; her face which had big green eyes, a long smooth delicate nose with a small ring at the side, blood red full lips and lashes which seemed too long to be real. Long, slender legs encased in knee length suede boots peeked from underneath the table their color similar to the one on her black 'My Little Pony' t-shirt. The lower part of her body was not entirely visible but I would have bet she was attractive all over. It was insane that someone so ethereal could be so familiar to me.

The couple they made was coldly striking and somewhat intimidating but what bothered me was the fact that I hadn't foreseen the presence of anyone but Jason attending the meeting. Her face was too distracting and it invoked feelings in me I had thought I was over feeling. Feelings I'd promised to rid myself of. But she was already there and I wasn't really in any position to make demands. So I rid myself of my feelings and surged on to Jason and lowered myself to a chair directly opposite the couple even before they issued out an invitation.

"I have to admit; you could have knocked me over with a feather when Lander told me you had something to discuss with me. I am very curious though to know what business you and I could possibly have together, so, enlighten me Ms. Brigadier, to what do I owe this …. Visit?" Jason said, his voice controlled and laid back. His partner was also looking at me curiously and I couldn't help but wonder if she knew who her husband really was and what he was capable of. I hesitated for a minute before deciding that it was none of my business. He had brought her along so he could deal with any recuperation that followed that line of action.

"I'll get straight to the point. My kids have been kidnapped by the man I was promised to and had been hiding from for the last seven years. I am asking for your help to get them back before they are harmed." I managed to say, swallowing past the lump that settled in my throat at the thought of my kids with that monster. My sweet innocent kids.

"And I am assuming you have a very valid reason as to why I would care about the …uhm…pickle you find yourself in." he responded, his shrewd eyes roaming over my face. A tight expression I couldn't interpret passed over his face before he neutralized it.

The woman's eyes were sympathetic and sad all of a sudden. "Jason!" she said, reprimanding him for his blunt and cold words. But I expected his reaction and prepared accordingly. I produced my phone from my coat and looked at the picture of the two most important people in my lives, knowing that my next action would change mine and their destinies irrevocably.

I slid the phone with a picture of my twin children, Elena who looks like a miniature version of the woman besides Jason and Adrian, an exact replica of his father, towards him and he was watching me carefully as he lifted it up. He gave no reaction to the picture though. The woman's sharp breaths proved that the similarities have not gone unnoticed though.

"You would help me because these are Hyades children. Your blood runs through their veins. You would care just a little bit about your grandkids." My 'I hope so' went unsaid.