Chapter Twenty-Eight


    Keeping his fingers tightly around the de, Rome was striving his best to stop it from going further


    into his side.


    Although the cut he got in his palm was bleeding badly, and it was painful to keep holding onto the bare


    knife, he put all his efforts into stopping the de from pushing into his skin.


    "How long do you think you can keep this up, fool! A minute or maybe a couple of seconds?" Rookie


    coldly uttered, struggling to break his de free from Rome''s grip.


    Knowing that Rookie was right and that he was running out of energy, Rome became desperate and


    mmed his head into Rookie''s forehead, causing the back of Rookie''s head to bang into the wall.


    Both men were in agonizing pain, but Rookie was affected more, and the moment his grip slightly


    released from the knife, Rome snatched it out of his hand.


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    Then he hastily looked into K''s worried eyes and threw the knife at him.


    The instant it hit the ground, K picked it up and frowned as he stared at his boss'' bloodstain on the


    de.


    Then he put the knife in the back of his pants before rushing in anger to one of Rookie''s men that tried


    to get off the floor and stepped his back, forcefully hitting him to the tiles.


    "Boss, you need medical attention." Scar said, realizing that the blood dripping from the cut in Rome''s


    palm had not stopped.


    Without looking back at Scar, Rome sniffed and said, "I know." Then he tightened the hand that was


    okay into a fist,nded a punch into Rookie''s bruised jaw, causing his head to banged back into the


    wall.


    "Does it feel good bullying someone weaker than you and taking advantage of them! Does it make you


    feel powerful! Does that make you think you are a mighty being!" Rome shouted in a fit of rage.


    Seeing his boss get another hit to the face, one of Rookie''s men hastily stood to his feet and tried to


    rush towards Rome, but Scar put his foot before him, and he tripped, falling face t to the ground.


    "How do you feel now, taking on someone your size!" Rome coldly uttered, striking another punch that


    sent Rookie''s head mming against the wall again.


    "Stop, please!" Rookie begged, unable to open his eyes.


    At that moment, a memory crossed Rome''s mind, and he could hear Mr. Ford tells his six years old


    self, "Giving your opponent a second chance is a weak choice. When you start the job, you finish it!


    That''s the right way to do it!"


    As those words rang in Rome''s head, he raised his fist. But at that exact moment, he experienced


    another sh of memory and heard Mr. Miller says, "Whenever you want to do something regretful,


    take in three deep breaths and then exhale slowly."


    Subconsciously, Rome drew the first breath and then slowly exhaled with his gaze focused on Rookie''s


    bloodstained nose.


    Then he dropped his fist to his side and said, "K, call the ambnce."


    "Yes, boss!" K said, hastily pulling his phone from his trouser pocket.


    Letting go of Rookie, Rome watched him drop to the ground and let out a harsh breath.


    Then he turned around, stared at Natasha, and yanked the hoodie off his head.


    Immediately her jaw dropped, and she paused for a moment before muttering, "Ro...me, Rome Ford!"


    "The one and only," Rome said, trying to ignore the pain tearing through his entire body.


    Frowning at the blood dripping from Rome''s wound, Scar ripped his shirt, walked over to him, and said,


    "Boss, your hand."


    Without uttering a word, Rome gave his hand to Scar, and he wrapped the cloth around Rome''s palm,


    tying it tightly.


    "The ambnce will be here in fifteen minutes," K said, staring at Rome.


    But his gaze remained fixed on Natasha, and he straightforwardly asked, "What happened between


    you and James Earl?"


    When she hesitated, he frowned and casually uttered, "Come on, that''s the least you could do for a


    man that almost died fighting your battle."


    A couple of minutes passed, and she didn''t respond. But Rome could see it in her eyes that she


    wanted to talk, yet, he uttered no other words.


    After a few more minutes had gone by, a group of EMTs and paramedics rushed into the room with Joe


    following closely behind them.


    When he saw Rome, he froze and mumbled, "I messed up! Oh, this is not good, not good at all!"


    "Mr. Ford, can you walk?" An EMT asked with a look of concern in her eyes.


    Swaying his gaze off Natasha, Rome stared at thedy and said, "Yes. The cut on my side isn''t that


    deep, so, yes, I can walk."


    "Okay. We will escort you to the ambnce now and do a full examination of your injuries. Is that okay


    with you?"


    "Yes, it is. But actually, the ambnce are for these guys and not me. I just need you to patch me up,


    and I will be on my way."


    It fell silent as the EMTs and paramedics finally noticed the unconscious and heavily bruised-up men on


    the ground, and a look of raw shock clouded their expressions.


    "Scar," Rome called out.


    Without any hesitation, Scar rushed over to him and said, "Yes, boss."


    "Make sure after the hospital, the next ce these fools go in is prison. Got it?" Rome coldly said with a


    straight face.


    "Yes, boss."


    "Good."


    Without uttering a word, Rome gazed at Natasha. Then he looked at Joe and said, "I''m going to settle


    all the workers here and shut down this ce. Tonight is thest night that ''XS Nightclub'' will be


    operational."


    "What!" Joe abruptly shouted with fear glowing in his eyes.


    When he realized that Rome wasn''t kidding, he held his breath and worriedly thought, ''My boss is


    going to kill me first beforeing after you.''


    Seeing that Rome was leaving the room with K and Scar, Natasha clutched her fist as she hesitated.


    Then she hurried after them and followed closely behind Rome, feeling more safe in his shadow.


    A few minutester, as the paramedics attend to the deep wound in Rome''s palm and the cut on his


    side, Natasha waited outside with Scar, feeling more nervous by each passing second.


    Finally, they got done with sewing and bandaging up Rome''s wounds, and luckily for him, the loss of


    blood that he experienced wasn''t that severe for him to need a blood transfusion. So he was


    discharged from the ambnce and cleared to go home.


    After Rome got out of the ambnce with K, he saw Natasha standing a few feet away from where he


    stood. But he said nothing and walked away.


    "Can we talk!" Natasha shouted after him.


    Stopping in his tracks, Rome slightly smirked, and then he turned around to face her with a straight


    face.


    With her gaze fixed on his, Natasha walked over to Rome, took a deep breath, and said, "James Earl


    drugged me and assaulted me in the worst ways that I wish your mind could not imagine. Then he paid


    me a huge sum of money for my silence because he did it without my consent."


    With tears shining in her eyes, she sadly smiled and said, "I guess that''s what I get for saying ''no,'' and


    standing by my word."


    "You didn''t cause this, James did, and he''s going to get what he deserves. I can assure you that."


    Rome said as his face hardened.


    "Can you take him down?"


    "Now that I know how messed up Earl is, he''s going down one way or another!"


    For the first time since Rome met Natasha, she finally smiled a happy smile, and the brokenness that


    he saw in her eyes from the moment he met her faded as her face lit up.


    "Thank you for believing me," Natasha mumbled as tears rolled down her face. "With the kind of job


    that I do, not everyone would believe that I said ''no'' to James Earl or even believe that he did


    something like that to me."


    Nodding slightly, Rome gave her a quick smile. Then he gazed at Scar andmended, "Don''t take


    her home. Find somewhere safe for her to stay and get her out of the country tomorrow."


    Frowning, Rome gazed back at Natasha and thought, ''Earl took a lot of effort burying his dirty deeds,


    and now that this mess has urred, I''m sure that it''s only a matter of time before he finds out that you


    talked to me andes to clean up any loose ends.''


    Afterward, he walked away, leaving Natasha in Scar care and heading to the car with K.


    When Rome got into the backseat of the vehicle, Mr. Ondo took one look at K''s bruised face, and his


    question about why an ambnce was at the club instantly got answered.


    Then he stared back at Rome, and his jaw dropped, gazing solely at the bandage on Rome''s hand.


    "Oh man... Catherine''s going to be pissed," Rome mumbled, resting back against the seat as he


    squeezed his eyelids shut.


    "I''m sure Miss will understand. After all, you are doing all this for her and to keep her safe." K mumbled,


    trying tofort his boss.