As weeks passed, news of the coalition crumbling was like music to Geese's ears. Each and every day, there was nothing but good news as the gangs and crime families were slain in this battle that they themselves caused. If they hadn't been involved, Geese might have been merciful, but they were a nuisance that forced him to pull from resources, he wasn't fond of using.

Hereunder Wolfgang, who had sent his assistance as promised. Geese hated the idea of having to rely on his older brother, but their agreement didn't make either man indebted to the other. In the end, they both got what they wanted.

Almost.

The vanishment of Mai Shiranui became a pressing issue as the week came to its end. Her silence was concerning, and Geese found himself increasingly unable to stop thinking about it. Worry was a horrid feeling he wished not to experience again but in its tight grasp, he was powerless, wandering about the tower with a frown on his face that possibly made him appear far more frighting than usual. He certainly earned a few concerned stares as he traversed through the casino.

All looked as it should be with dealers overseeing games and bunny girls serving drinks. No sign of Turner, however. He seemed to vanish into the blue once the coalition began crumbling. Good riddance. He was hardly worth the time and effort to get rid of. The stupid oaf should count his lucky stars that Geese had other issues on his mind.

He passed through the casino like a phantom, reaching the exit and subsequently the elevator. All while a nagging thought drew him forward. He hated its persistence and how it basically resulted in him crawling and groveling at some pompous ass' feet for the sake of one woman. His pride almost made him reconsider but his heart carried him to the office and the phone there. Behind these walls, the silence was looming, undermined by the dull tone when Geese typed in the phone number.

An ability that served him well at times was a quick recollection, hereunder phone numbers. It helped when he was engaged in illicit activity. A sense of dread and bitterness pooled in Geese's stomach as he sat, staring out the window with the afternoon sun resting on the horizon. On the twelfth ring, someone finally answered. Before he had even begun to say a single word, Wolfgang preempted him, apathetic yet simultaneously haughty.

"Hm. So it's you. What do you want?"

If that was how he wanted to play, Geese would happily comply, skipping all the formalities and nauseatingly fake attempts at cordiality.

"Indeed it is. I'll cut the bullshit and ask for an ETD on my secretary. She has a job to do, which I might have to fire her from if I don't hear from her again. I'll also need her to come and pick up her paycheck."

"Hm, that won't be necessary. Send it over the mail. She's quite happy here. Told me she doesn't want to speak with you anymore," Wolfgang said, his voice more glacial than the most hostile of tundra.

How he managed to say those words without bursting into laughter was anyone's guess. They both knew he didn't care for anyone but himself. They were aware that Geese knew as well.

"Coming from you, I doubt that. Do yourself a favor and put her on the next plane to South Town," he responded calmly, reaching for a stray pen that lay on the table and twirling it to keep himself grounded.

Down the phone line, there was a low, droning chuckle. Hollow and borderline robotic yet befitting of the man from which it came.

"I can't force her to go, Bruder. It would be a shame to let her go back to horrible surroundings if she's much happier here. If you care for her, you'd respect that."

"And you do?"

"I recognize her worth as a woman. Does it bother you? Do you want to keep her all for yourself? Thinking about hurting her?" Wolfgang quipped, letting hurting hang in the silence that followed.

Rarely did Geese find himself affected by Wolfgang's jabs, no matter how sharp they were. It was just on par for the course with the man and something to be expected within minutes of meeting him. His words didn't hurt, they never did. They shouldn't anyway and yet Geese clutched the pen in his fist, feeling anger coil in his stomach, fueled by dread. The topic of Mai was a soft spot for him, and this arrogant ass was trying to see how soft it was, pressing it like a sociopath would press the soft spot of an infant's skull.

Without letting the silence become tenser or letting his weakness show, Geese answered much more calmly than he felt. It helped that he was essentially a gold medalist at shielding his heart.

"…She's a grown woman. She can do whatever the hell she wants."

"Ah, so you don't care about her. I'm certain she'll be relieved to hear about that," Wolfgang lived up a little and instantly ended the call, leaving the dull monotone of a disconnected line humming through the speaker.

It had all happened so fast that Geese hardly had any time to react and so he could only sit in his office chair and stare at his desk with his mind racing for solutions.

It occurred to him much later that at some point he had clenched the pen in his hand and broken it, spilling dark ink everywhere across the oak desktop. With his clean hand, Geese reached for a handkerchief in his breast pocket and wiped his inked fist clean. Somewhat. Dark blue smudges still colored his skin. He frowned, as he pressed a certain number into the desk phone, thankful for the quick answer.

"Send a member of the maid staff to the office. Spilled some ink," he said into the receiver and stood up, taking each piece of the broken pen and tossing them in the trash bin.

From the outside looking in, Geese appeared somewhat calm and collected but on the inside, he was ready to scream. And he stood with the heaviest of dread, telling him that he might have fucked up somewhere along the line. Moments later, a cleaning lady arrived, greeting him with a practiced smile before she got to work, homing in on the desk like a missile and scrubbing the wooden surface.

Geese didn't stay to watch her work, leaving his office and heading for the nearest washroom to clean his hand. Under the ink, he noted a cut that beaded tiny drops of blood, probably as a result of some plastic slicing him up. Hastily, he took some paper towels and tore them into strips, wrapping them around his palm to quell the bleeding. Soon after he left the washroom. His pace was faster than usual, rife with restlessness as he pondered on what to do next.

No way, Mai had been so enamored with the intrigue of old European nobility that she'd throw everything away in order to live with Wolfgang. She was a woman who made her own moves and let her mind be spoken when she wanted to. If she truly hated life in the tower, then why did she return? Why did she spend the night with Geese? If she hated it here, she would have said something. Had she after all been furious enough to not do even that?

But why?

Bitter jealousy wormed itself through Geese's stomach as he found himself standing in the corridor, staring out of the window, deep in his own thoughts. His fists clenched at the thought of Mai giving her love and affection to another man; Wolfgang of all people. Someone who was unworthy of her. Someone who lacked the ability to treat her with dignity and respect.

He'd remove the feisty spirit that was slowly beginning to grow inside of her and replace it with a demure trophy, only to be seen and never heard. Did she not know what she was getting herself into? Geese had warned her, had he not? It took a deep breath to calm down as the feeling of dread replaced the acidity of jealousy. No, something was obviously wrong. Something had happened to Mai and for the love of everything holy in this world, Geese had to find out what.

Instantly, he turned around and headed back to his office, passing the cleaning lady on the way. The desk had been rendered spotless, but Geese had other things to worry about. He didn't even bother sitting down before typing in another number to call.

With the coalition still in its twilight, it was not wise to leave the city or bring too many recourses away from the biggest threat even with the addition of Wolfgang's goons. By acting now, it would pose a risk but Geese couldn't comfortably go about his daily life with the discomfort eating away at him.

"I fear something has happened in Germany and Mai is wrapped up in it. Take the men stationed in Füssen and send them on a SAR mission," Geese said once Billy picked up.

There was silence, undermined by a pen scratching on paper. By doing this, it would most likely put South Town at odds with Stroheim Castle, but it was bound to happen soon or later anyway. Here's to hoping it wouldn't end in an explosive intercontinental war across the Atlantic Ocean.

It took another week of hell before there was any bit of news about Mai's whereabouts. And for Geese it was not quite the development, he expected. He sat in the back of a vehicle with his arms folded over his chest, having just left a meeting with the mayor of South Town.

The old buffoon had been struggling to come up with a solution to the increase in crime and violent gang activity, needing advice from Geese to make the city safer, only to be assured that the issue was being taken care of, because it was.

Essentially, the mayor was asking Geese to do the job for him. It took a sharp yet polite reminder to the old man that he was the goddamn mayor, and that Geese wasn't part of the town council. Whatever outrage could come from this, would land squarely at the feet of the man who was elected to office. If anything, the unintentional admission of where the true power over South Town lay was rather amusing.

Even funnier was the geezer having no idea of it or the fact that his election was rigged.

The meeting was a nice distraction from the anticipation that bothered Geese and tended to keep him up at night. Over the past few days, he had gotten numerous phone calls, although he was disappointed when none of them spoke of news that he was dying to hear. When his phone began to vibrate in his pocket now, he was wary of getting excited as he saw Hein's name flash over the screen before he answered. There was no greeting as the butler cut straight to the matter of the hand with a direct message.

"They found Mai and her on a medical flight across the Atlantic. She has just arrived at the hospital in South Town. She's alive but in a precarious state," he said and a knot formed in Geese's chest.

After all, something did happen, and it brought harm to Mai. The revelation sent fury boiling in his body. Without a word, he ended the call and turned his attention to the driver.

"To the hospital, quickly," he tried not to growl but couldn't quite help himself.

Immediately, the car did a U-turn and headed in the opposite direction, right past the townhouse. Thankfully the hospital was located within close vicinity, so the drive was mercifully short. As expected, the parking lot was packed though a singular spot near the entrance had been reserved.

Inside the lobby, Hein was already present, in full dialogue with a nurse holding a notepad. As Geese approached, he grounded the conversation to a halt with a single stare and the nurse swallowed while Hein gestured at her to repeat the diagnosis.

"The patient has been subject to severe physical trauma, which has resulted in a few broken bones, she had cuts, splinters, and scrapes all over her body, presumably from running through a heavily wooded area. A brand mark has been put on right above her crotch. There're signs of injury in her groin as well. When she was initially found, she was reported to have hypothermia."

Running through heavily a wooded area would imply Mai did manage to run away at some point but how and why did things come to this? As if telepathically reading Geese's burning question, Hein turned to the nurse to ask her.

"And you think all of this happened because?"

She looked genuinely uncomfortable for a moment, her lips thinning and her brow pulling into a slight frown. That was not a good sign and as she began to speak, it became clear as to why.

"We suspect she might have been the victim of prolonged assault as her injuries don't align with random accidents. The branding is quite concerning as well. She tends to be conscious for short amounts of time before needing to rest again but she is stable. However, she has not disclosed anything so we can only make guesses."

In the depths of his pockets, Geese tightened his fists, digging crescent-shaped marks into his palms. His entire body turned tense and he couldn't help but calmly scowl at the nurse, who cowered under the stare. Without a word, he stepped inside the hospital room, closing the door behind him. Outside, the afternoon sun hung low on the horizon, casting a vibrant orange glow into the room. It made the sterile white a little less horrid to look at.

In a regular hospital bed, Mai lay, motionless and unconscious. A tube ran from her nose to an oxygen tank somewhere alongside an IV drip in her arm. Bandages and plasters covered most of the marks and cuts that marred her body. Corroborating the statement about broken bones, her other arm had been wrapped in a cast.

Annoyingly the stupid nurse did not mention the dark, bloody bruises around Mai's neck. Almost as if someone had tried to choke her. Her hair was loose, lying flat and untamed around her head. Her skin was a sickly shade paler than usual. She looked frail and fragile like glass.

Geese was almost afraid of touching her in case she might break, he thought while he pulled a nearby chair to her bedside. Still, he palmed her cheek, brushing some strains away with his thumb while he examined her features; her lips were pale and partly cracked from dryness and her expression was faintly frowning, as if she was in a disordered rest. And yet, even in the state she was in, she remained beautiful.

Watching her sleep, Geese found himself thinking of another woman who had been a prominent figure in his life; his mother.

She had looked remarkably similar in her final moments and Geese sat with the uncomfortable feeling that he couldn't prevent Mai from dying if the gods of fate decided to be extra cruel to him. The nurse had not said a word about her being close to death; it was just Geese's fears that he was willing to acknowledge. He was willing to admit that he was helpless although he hated the feeling. Maybe the gods of fated just really hated his guts after all. Maybe they just enjoyed toying with his life at the cost of those around him.

Power was everything. Power granted results. Power was limited to the person who wielded it at the end of the day, Geese was above else human. If Mai left him forever, so be it although the feeling would be thoroughly soul-crushing. That was the most tragic thing about grief; it didn't matter how many times you experienced it. It would hurt just the same every time you encountered it.

Especially when it was for a person whom you held so close that her secrets because yours and somehow yours became hers. There was something about being so close to someone after all those years, to have someone else in his bed beside himself, Geese concluded. He slept better with her there, too. He felt great on the morning when he looked at her, drunk with sleep and content when he confessed to his desires.

Mai was as delicate as she was strong. More virtuous than she'd give herself credit for. A good, honest woman that brought out feelings that Geese thought had died with his first wife. Watching Mai rest, he understood what those feelings were. They had, after all, been simmering for so long until they transformed into a bubble of warmth. He didn't hate them, but it took some getting used to. He was more accustomed to anger, which began to emerge at the thought of what had occurred to Mai.

Someone had done this to her and immediately, suspicion fell on Wolfgang. Like a kettle boiling, Geese had the increasing urge to find a way to murder that moronic oaf and anyone who aided in Mai's torment. He couldn't get revenge for his mother, but he was not going to fail once again. He'd gladly kill whoever even thought about bringing harm to Mai. Geese stood up, drawing a deep breath to quell the raging storm of fury in his stomach.

If he was to get his hands on Wolfgang and his underlings, he needed to go about this logically. As for Mai, he ought to get her out of this hospital and someplace safe as soon as possible. Maybe hire a battalion of doctors and nurses to see to her well-being. Perhaps hire a small personal army to guard her whenever she headed out.

Watching her chest rise and fall, Geese was left with burning questions that rendered him anxious yet also a little furious. Why hadn't she tried contacting the tower at the first sign of trouble? Why had Wolfgang abused her like this? How could things have come to this? Would she fill her heart with hatred for being thrown to the lions? Geese swallowed, no closer to an answer to all his questions before he stood up and let Mai rest.

He could stay and wonder if it would be the last time that he saw her before she swore to never come near him again. Amidst all the anger, confusion, worry, and a slew of emotions that could bring the most stalwart of men to crack, Geese carried it all, almost rendered undone by something he didn't want to feel; guilt.

Out in the hallway, Hein was in full discussion with a doctor and nurses about a prognosis and a single quick look from Geese made him change the subject to the possibility of transferring her out of the hospital. In the meantime, the driver stood next to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup of brown dishwater before hovering over to the conversation as if to remind the staff that they were dealing with dangerous and influential people.

"Discharge her immediately. We'll handle it from here. You said she was stable, yes? I see no reason why we shouldn't transfer her to safer environments," Geese said, and a tense silence filled the corridor.

The two nurses looked nervously at each other as the doctor bristled at the suggestion that the hospital was somehow less safe than wherever Mai would be taken to.

"She as the patient is the only one who can request a premature discharge and as a medical professional, I find it best if she remains here until she has recovered," she responded, polite yet acidic.

It was as if the doctor tried to intimidate Geese but she didn't appear to be the type of person who could withstand a battle of the spoken word, let alone several life-threatening situations. As a shadow came over Geese's face, her weaknesses became more apparent.

If she tried to kill him softly with bitter politeness, Geese would gladly return the favor and massacre her. "If she's slipping in and out of consciousness, I doubt she's able to make such a decision on her own. I may not be a doctor but I do possess common sense."

He was not in the mood to debate this, let alone argue with someone like this doctor who seemed keen on pressing his buttons. Neither was she, judging from the way her shoulders slumped in defeat. She turned around to look at one of the nurses, who nodded diligently before walking down the corridor to find the necessary paperwork. Geese had no regrets about doing this. Who even gave a shit about ethics anyway? He had already made plans to hire the best caregivers money could buy and station them in the tower where Mai would be safe from the clutches of Wolfgang.

When Geese was no longer within earshot of the annoying doctor or any of the remaining nurses, he headed towards Hein while the driver removed himself to arrange for transportation. "Make sure to give them a fat bonus for their compliance when we foot the bill."

A little bribery to keep their yaps shut wouldn't hurt much.