Chapter 604: Panic

As Mina waited in Dom's car, she started to get worried. Olivia was usually one of the last people to leave to avoid having her picture taken, but she never lingered behind longer than necessary, especially when Peter was around. Dom had already gone to get the woman, so all Mina had to do was wait, but a thick plume of smoke coming from behind the car made her get out and run.

Just before Mina was able to enter the building, the taxi driver, who she knew worked for Harvey Walsh, grabbed her, and she struggled with the man. Mina fought until he lost his patience and roughly struck her before placing a chemical laced cloth over her face. She knew that if she allowed herself to faint that she would end up back inside of one of Zane's father's traps, so she held her breath, as she waited for Dom to show up.

Mina's eyes began to roll back, just as a hand flew out and punched the taxi driver in the face. She did not have to look up; she could tell it was Cylus based on the watch he was wearing. He continued to pummel the man, not stopping even after Olivia and Dom arrived. She watched Olivia rush to her cousins' side, trying to pull him off the man, while Dom was trying to drag her away, telling her that she had no business getting involved in a fight between men.

"Olivia," Mina whimpered out, also terrified that her friend was going to be injured. The woman came to her side, and Mina put more weight on her than she wanted as they stood and moved away from Cylus, who had finally been held back by Dom.

"We need him coherent," Dom grunted out, and Mina could see Cylus' expression change as he adjusted himself and approached them.

----

Cylus had been drinking as he considered whether he wanted to crash Mina's press conference or not. She had not invited him, which was expected, but she had invited Connor, Oric, and Brayden to the event. It made him feel like he was still an outsider, and while she was still angry with him, he had assumed she had forgiven him enough to at least include him among his friends.

When Cylus finally mustered the courage to get out of his car and stop holding his driver hostage in front of the venue, the event had long ended. He had seen Mina get into a car with the man she was always with, and shortly after, the man left her. Cylus waited for a long time before he saw Mina get out of the car and run. It was only then that he noticed the plume of smoke rising from the car's undercarriage, and he immediately began to react, cursing himself for not parking closer.

By the time he reached Mina's side, she had already spent most of her remaining energy trying to fight off the man, and Cylus was beside himself with rage. He had seen the person strike Mina on the side of her head hard, and the only reason he did not shout was because he did not want the man to run away before he got there.

Everything happened like a blur, and the next thing Cylus was aware of was Mina's friend telling him that they needed to keep the man coherent. He knew that Dom was an employee of the Lee group, but he also knew that the man was Mina's companion, and apparently Olivia's as well. He had not been so lost in rage that he did not notice how protective the man had been over Olivia as he gently pried her away from the fight.

Cylus found himself walking toward Mina and Olivia, ready to hear them shout at him or push him away, but instead they both wrapped him in a hug he did not know he needed. He draped his arms around them, squeezing tightly as he apologized for the terrible things he had said and done. He could tell from the sniffling that both women were crying, which made him feel like the worst maybe brother and cousin in the world.

"Can we please start over?" Cylus asked, not caring which woman responded. He looked down and saw Mina looking to Olivia for permission and his heart swelled when she nodded enthusiastically.

"But I'm not going home. Your father has-"

"I know, I know," Cylus said in a soft tone. "I'm not here to beg for him." Mina wiped at her face and took a step back, allowing Cylus and Olivia to speak in private while Dom inspected her for injuries. The man they had subdued was tied up on the ground, and Mina worried that he was going to say too much when he was brought in for questioning.

----

Ian was keeping track of everything that was happening at Mina's event online when he got a frantic call from Ellie. She and her mother had been involved in a serious accident, and his sister swore that the car that hit them had done so on purpose. She said that she had only just noticed the vehicle following them when it suddenly swerved into her on the passenger side, sending them over the guard rails and dangerously close to entering the ravine on the other side.

Ellie's arm had been broken, and her mother's injuries were still unknown. Ian felt his heart seize as he hung up and rushed to where Ellie said she was being treated, but then he got a call from Dom, telling him that Mina had also been attacked. Terrified, Ian called his sister, who sounded winded when she answered the phone.

----

Luna was standing in the lab reviewing the information that Tavin had put together for her. Their relationship was far from friendly, but they were colleagues, and they were professional. She nodded at the man as he explained that he believed the composition of the antidepressant that was a derivative of the drug Ian and Mina had been given was ready for testing.

Luna handed the man back his notes, telling him that they would hold off on human trials until she had spoken to her brother about the implications. She was not insensitive enough to not know that her family was standing to make a profit from a terrible situation that had befallen an innocent girl, who had likely been set up to be murdered by the Lee family.

"How are you?" Tavin suddenly asked, making Luna look up at the man in shock. It was the first time he had spoken to her other than work related matters in a long time, and truthfully, she did not even know if she wanted to become friendly with him after the way he had kicked her out of his apartment.

"I've been better," Luna admitted, kicking herself for having answered in a way that insinuated that she was not all right when she was perfectly fine.

"I hear you're dating Marcus." Luna scoffed at the rumor.

"Marcus is delusional. Stephanie made him think he had a shot, and he is shamelessly going after it." Tavin laughed. He had met Marcus and Stephanie through Luna and they quickly became friends. The last time they had met for drinks, it was revealed to him that everyone believed he and Luna were a couple in college, and he wondered if he were the only one who did not see it that way.

Tavin went to open his mouth to fill the silence with anything, but Luna roughly pushed him down just as a whistle blew past him and glass shattered. The woman winced as she crouched down and Tavin panicked when he saw a flower of blood growing on her lab coat. She put a finger to her lips and in what had to be one of the worst situations ever, Tavin found himself wanting to kiss her, so he did.

"Sorry, but if I'm going to die here, I at least had to kiss you one last time." Luna's face morphed into a pained expression before she shot at the water sprinklers, stood up, and opened fire in the direction of the first whistle. Tavin heard a man grunt, and he crawled to the silent alarm, pressing it just as Luna reached the same location.

Luna used a reflective surface to look at the door, and when she noticed someone stepping into the room, she shot the person in the leg before crawling to yet another location and repeating the same action. Tavin just watched her move, hating that he waited for a life-and-death situation to confess again, and that Luna was not reciprocating. He knew it was bad timing, but if they were going to be killed, he felt as though they should at least clear the air between them.

When heavier footsteps entered the room, Luna's posture relaxed, and after a quick check, she confirmed that it was security from the building. She put away her gun, removing her lab coat to inspect her injury.

"Can you say something?" Tavin asked, and once again, Luna's face took on an odd expression.

"Tavin... I'm engaged to someone," she said, briskly walking away as she answered her phone.

----

Camille laid in bed, tossing and turning with guilt. She had done it again after saying she would not, and the worst part was that she enjoyed it. Every time she would lay down with President Cam, she would instantly regret it, and run away. She knew that he was smitten with Mina, and she felt wrong being with the man, even though she knew the woman was uninterested.

To Camille, she felt as though she was stealing an opportunity from Mina, one the woman desperately needed and one she believed was rightfully Mina's from the beginning. Cam was not as bad a person as they had thought; he was just out of touch with reality, but after the time they spent together, he had made progress, and Camille found herself casually sleeping with him.

"What's on your mind?" Cam asked as he pulled her back into his chest. His naked body was warm against hers and she shivered as he kissed her neck.

"What are we doing?" She asked, prompting Cam to release her abruptly.

"Please don't start this again Camille. I've already told you that I've forgotten all about Mina."

"But the way you used to talk about her was like you were-"

"Trying to make you jealous. Which obviously worked against me." Cam got out of the bed and Camille sighed as she started to dress herself. "Are you leaving?"

"You know I can't stay here." Cam shook his head at Camille while pouring himself a drink after yet another night of being accepted then rejected. It was the most annoying thing he had ever experienced and part of the reason he needed Ian to hurry up and marry Mina. "Have you thought about letting me return to work yet?" Cam shook his head again. Camille was genuinely a good employee, and he did not want her to leave her post, but he also had selfish motivations in keeping her around.

"Camille, what do you take me as?" He watched the woman's body tense as she struggled to produce a response.

"Not much has changed. Yesterday it was Mina, today it is me, tomorrow it's someone else."

"I have asked you if you wanted to make our relationship public. You are the one who refuses." Camille scoffed.

"I'd rather not have my name become a synonym for The President's ex-girlfriend." Cam roughly rubbed at his face. He hated Mina, she did nothing wrong, but she was the one who introduced him to Camille, so it was her fault. He was about to respond but then his phone chirped making him rush to get dressed.

"Let me guess; Mina needs you again."