Mark leaned on his car watching as Melissa walked out of the building. He had made a surprise visit to pick her up so they could get Tommy from school.
"What happened to your hand?" He inquired when he noticed the white bandage on her palm.
"It's nothing serious. Lisa helped me treat it. Ouch!" She exclaimed when his hand landed on her back as he opened the car door.
"Are you sure you're okay?" With furred brows, he glanced at starting the engine.
"Yes, I'm fine." She nodded sensing he was not convinced by her explanation.
She felt all over but tried to ignore it hoping the pain pills she had taken would kick in.
"Mummy!" When they got to the school, Tommy ran and hugged his mother, making her winch.
"Oh slow down young man."
"Mommy, are you hurt?" Tommy asked, looking at his mother's hand. "Let daddy take you to the hospital."
"It's a small wound, baby. I applied medicine on it. No need to go to the hospital, it will heal in no time." She smiled at him, fastening his seat belt.
On the way home he showed his parents all the drawings he had made with his teacher and the songs they were taught.
"Grandma Mary will take you in the house for a snack son. I want to talk to your mom." Mark instructed when they got to the house.
Handing Tommy to Mary, he glanced at Melissa. Then taking big strides he proceeded to his home office. He had not addressed her directly yet he sat on the couch waiting.
"What happened? He looks furious."
Standing at the entrance Melissa heard the murmurs as everyone around stared at her wondering what she had done to infuriate him.
"Melissa is everything alright?" Giving the flowers she was picking to a maid, Betty walked up to her.
"Everything is okay aunt." She assured her aunt they were okay.
"And this? Did he do this?" Noticing the bandage, Betty inquired touching her hand.
"Ouch! I got into an accident at the apartment. It's a little painful but it's not serious. Honestly, I'm okay aunty. Let me go to the office and speak with Mark." She smiled at her aunt and everyone assuring them all was well when she saw the concerned looks on their faces.
Getting to the office, she found Mark seated on the coach, his one leg crossed over the other. Him staring at her like an Eagle as she walked into the office. She knew where the interrogation would end so she decided to show him the video. And told him where she had got it from.
After watching it, he sat still staring at her.
"Where did you get this from again?" He questioned standing up.
"I..." She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't when he gave her a murdering look.
"I told you to let me handle the investigations, Melissa. Why is it so hard for you to let me handle this? If you gave me this information earlier then we could apprehend these people. Damn it." He clenched the chair.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. When I first got that information, I thought of sharing it with you. Then I changed my mind after Jessica confronted me. She said it was a setup. And to make sure they were not setting me up, I went to the address two hours early. Only to find their transaction underway."
"Did you hurt yourself there?"
"One of the men noticed me and came after me. But I ran and in the process, I fell and injured my hand."
"Jesus, Melissa do you see how dangerous it is?"
"They didn't catch me and by the time I left the building they had cleared everything. Mark, if we involved the police they would have not found them. Nor could they find anything about the transaction."
"Jessica was right. They wanted to see if you were spying on them. These people are canning and dangerous. Going out there was reckless."
"I had to do something…"
"Don't. Getting yourself killed won't help anyone. Stay here, I'll have someone look at this." He turned to leave, then stopped at the doorway and glanced at her.
He was so mad she didn't trust him enough but he was glad she was home safe.
"Promise me, Melissa, you won't go anywhere without informing me first." He walked back, held her in his arms gazing into her eyes.
"I promise." She assured lying her head on his chest.
"I love you. If anything happened to you, I don't know how I would survive."
"Shh, nothing happened. I love you and I promise I'll be careful." She raised her eyes to his with a smile on her lips.
Picking her up into his arms, he carried her to the bedroom.
"I can't lose you." He murmured, placing his lips on her soft ones.
"Ouch!" Lying on her back, her sore muscles warned her.
"Should I take you to the hospital?" He propped on his elbow staring at her.
"No, I'll be fine but can't do much now."
"Ah! How sad." He laughed, making her laugh as he held her in his arms.
Brushing her hair, he kissed her forehead letting her rest her head on his chest.
Being in his arms made her feel safe. She never wanted to lose him either.
Closing her eyes she listened to his rhythmic heartbeat.
A few minutes later he left the house calling for an emergency meeting with his security personnel.