Russian Roulette: Family secrets [2021 version]

Ch. 62: I'll never forget...

Eight days.

Eight days of waiting and trying to get into a routine of life that made sense in the wake of everything that had happened.

Remy had excused himself after a few days. He had business to attend to, and his girlfriend had been antsy with him being away. He had left for The States with Blaze, who also needed to go home to keep his businesses running.

They had promised to be back if more trouble came and without question when Gareth and Mackenzie had recovered.

Gareth's men had gone back to what they usually did to keep the mafia side of the businesses going and hold the cities protected. Gareth's disappearance could spread in the underground eventually, but from experience, when Gareth had been gone with cancer, they knew how to prevent the worst rumors, and they did their best. Vasyl's men had no reason to keep quiet if it could cause trouble for Gareth, so they did not have the same luxury of rumor control as back then. When other factions caught wind of it, they would try to move in if they believed Gareth's organization to be weakened. Though they hoped he would be back with them soon, attacks could happen. But with Vic's backup, they were not too worried.

Still, they had to keep up appearances for as long as possible.

Devil was an enormous help, spreading lies in the underground to keep as many as possible in the dark about Gareth. His job, though no one had asked him, was to keep people guessing and not know anything, make them think everything was business as usual. So far, nobody had seemed suspicious and the underground jungle drums had stayed quiet.

His efforts had earned him almost honorary membership of Gareth's gang.

Something he basked in.

Aidan, who still recovered, dragged himself to both Gareth's and Mackenzie's rooms daily before the nurses ushered him back to bed. It became a ritual of theirs, and they did it with an overbearing smile because they all knew they owed Aidan for Gareth and Mackenzie being found. That he exerted himself daily to check on them made him even more likable to the people at The Mansion.

Most had had uncertainties about him at first, with him being The Extractor and all, but his well-mannered and calm demeanor made them like him and get comfortable around him fast.

Oleksander and his team, along with the hackers, had taken charge of caring for the women they had rescued from the party. The guys had set up a room at The Mansion for them, and the women had gotten full physicals and treatments for the injuries they had sustained during their captivity. The men had showered them with love and care, not only the ones from Oleksander's team. Though the women had shied away from them at first, thinking they went from the frying pan into the fire, they had learned to accept the scary number of men around them.

It had taken a bit of proving to them for them to relax and accept all the help the men offered them - without wanting anything sexual in return. Obviously a remnant of their captivity where every man had wanted a piece of them. The guys made sure they had food and drinks, comfortable beds, and privacy to learn how to live without being controlled in their every action.

Every consideration possible, Gareth's men had made.

Gareth's medical staff had offered counseling sessions with a psychotherapist to talk about their ordeal and work through their traumas. The guys at their own expense had offered them plastic surgery if they wished scarring removed or any bodily change to give them a positive perspective of themselves back. The locks from their room doors had been removed, so they would not fear the doors being locked from the outside, and door barrel-bolt latches had gotten put on the inside for the women to use if they felt the need. New clothes got delivered because the hackers had online shopped like crazy for them, and Oleksander's team had taken them to the spa and mall for them to be pampered and help them feel like human beings again.