chapter 27: Merging Disagreement

Autumn
The entire bridge was shaking. It was like an earthquake took over.
"Autumn, hold my hand and just walk along with me," Ian instructed me. Instantly, I grabbed his hand.
We ran towards the gate on the shaky bridge. If we walked slowly, we would fall on either side of the river, there was no doubt.
Ian never left me. I didn't notice that I was running more towards the edge.
"Autumn!" He abruptly pulled me towards him and hissed in pain. We finally managed to get out, but my eyes were fixed on his right hand. "Autumn, are you okay?"
I blurted out, "It's bleeding."
"What? Where did you get hurt?"
I took his hand and looked at the wound. "Here." I pointed at his palm, where he got a cut.
He sighed. "You silly woman. Let's go before we get out of this world forever."
"But you got hurt and it's blee��"
"I know. We can talk about this after we reach the hotel. So, keep quiet."
Sealing my mouth, I pulled out a tissue from my pocket and placed it on his wound. He glared at me as we continued walking towards the hotel.
After we got inside our suite, I opened the cabinet and took the first aid kit. Ian was about to get up and change, but the glare I gave him was enough to make him sit on the couch again. I sat next to him and started applying antiseptic on his wound. I wanted to cry. He got hurt because of me. Why does he have to save me every time?
"This is a small wound. Don't be emotional."
I pouted before saying, "I am not being emotional."
He deadpanned, "Yeah, my eyes are watery. That's why I am seeing your eyes watery."
"I am sleepy." I got up and kept the first aid kit back in its place. Without saying another word, I plopped on the bed, trying to sleep. After struggling for a while to find a comfortable position, I realized something. ��Ian, where is my emoticon pillow?��
"Oh, were you talking to me?" he feigned innocence while asking. Gritting my teeth, I got from the bed and sat on his lap. He seemed surprised. "What are you doing?"
"As I don't have my favorite emoticon pillow, I just have to use you. No, wait. That sounded wrong." I placed my head on his chest. He had put his phone on the table. "I hope you really don't mind. Even if you do, I want to sleep close to you. With you, I can sleep peacefully. I always used to get nightmares, but it stopped when I started sleeping next to you."
"Then what about the night you saw a nightmare that day?"
"I heard Lennox coming to train Lia. The thought of seeing him again made me petrified." I let my tears out. "I don't want to see his face again. Thank god, Aubree caught him. If Lennox tortures me again, I will just kill myself."
"Don't you fucking dare to ever say that, Autumn, " he snapped. "Just promise me one thing. If under any circumstances that you get in trouble, you shouldn't lose hope. You should wait for me to come."
"What if I cannot tolerate it?"
"You just have to trust me."
I thought for a while. As we both were the gang leaders, we would definitely be under the target of the enemies. All we could do was, be strong, and trust each other. After all, being in the mafia was dangerous, and we chose this profession.
"I promise." I added, "I have nothing to worry about as long as you are here."
He stroked my hair. "Sleep, you insomniac woman." His rhythmic heartbeat was a lullaby to me. I fell asleep on his chest.
My sleep broke when I heard the alarm on Ian's phone. I saw him waking up as well. I got off from his lap and headed to the washroom to freshen up. After I changed into a yellow floral dress, I got out. Ian went into the washroom, walking past me. Meanwhile, I checked the updates Dante sent regarding the gang on my phone.
"Let's go out for breakfast," Ian said from behind. I placed a hand on my chest out of fear. His sudden voice scared me. "I already booked a table at a nice place, and I turned the alarm on."
"Okay, fine. But first, don't ever scare me like that." I got up and put the phone on my purse.
His lips curved into a teasing smile. "Sure. What are the other two points?"
I playfully punched his arm, smiling. Of course, he had to tease me.
After we got out of the room, we headed to the parking lot. He rented a car for a week. He wanted to buy a car, but I told him to rent it. Why would we buy a car here and waste money? Being rich doesn't mean spending money until you get poor.
We entered Baguett's Caf��. This was a famous place and I could already see the reason. Everything here looked cozy and warm.
A pretty teenage waitress greeted us with a big smile on her face, "Bonjour!"
"Bonjour," I replied while Ian just nodded his head.
"Do you have a reservation, monsieur?"
"Yes, under the name of the Becketts."
The girl chirped, "I was waiting for you. I was assigned to take care of both of you. Come, here's your table, monsieur, and madame."
We sat and looked at the menu. She waited for us to order something. It looked like she was really eager to serve us.
"I would like to have a latte and an egg bacon baguette," I ordered. The baguette was a special bread famous in France. I always wanted to try it.
"And, I would like to have an espresso with a croissant." Ian placed his order as well. The girl smiled and went to bring our breakfast.
I scanned the entire place. "It's really nice. How did you find out about it?"
He replied, "Dad used to bring us here for breakfast because mom was a fan of the food here. As you and mom have a lot of similarities, I assumed you would like this place too."
"Oh," I let out.
"We should go to the Eiffel Tower today. What do you think?"
I didn't answer his question. If I went to the Eiffel Tower, it would remind me of Montez. We planned to go and kiss there, standing underneath the Tower. Even if I went there with Ian, I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself, which would annoy him.
I just wanted to go there with someone special. Ian was special to me, but I needed time to adjust. I was not ready for that, yet.
"It's near to the hotel. So, we should go there on the last day," I suggested.
He asked, "So, what should we do today?"
"I think we should walk in the park and then head back to the suite. We didn't discuss anything regarding our gangs. And at home, we barely get time due to our workload."
He nodded. "Fine with me."
"Here's your breakfast!" the girl chirped, placing the food in front of us.
I couldn't help but drool at the decoration of the dish. "Thank you," I mumbled, and she walked away.
When I took the first bite of my food, it tasted heavenly. I could eat this thing forever.
"Bringing you here was not a wrong decision," he mumbled.
"We are going to have breakfast here every day as long as we are here," I said, still devouring the heavenly taste of the food.
He chuckled. "Whatever you say, milady."
After we finished eating our breakfast, we roamed in the park. We even took some pictures. I kept our cute selfie as the wallpaper of my lock screen.
During the evening, we headed back to the hotel. We freshened up and sat to talk about the gangs.
I said in my business tone, "If we want to make the Silver and the Shadow the most powerful Mafia in the world, we need to merge them."
Ian nodded. "No doubt about that."
"We will be the king and queen, so we don't even need to worry about that. But the question is, which name will the gang use?"
"The Silver." I gaped at him. "What? We took many gangs under our clutch, yet the name didn't change. So why should we change it now?"
"How can you say it so casually?" I was getting angrier at his response. "My people won't be under the name of Silver. I was suggesting a new name that would fit both the gangs. But guess what? I won't merge the gangs until you give it a new name." I crossed my arms.
He sighed. "Look, Autumn. The Silver is in a higher post than yours. I will not risk that."
"Then forget about merging the gangs."
"We got married for this reason. You cannot just take that decision."
"Look, Ian. I can and I am taking this decision. I will not unite both of the gangs until you decide to give it a new name. I believe in equality."
"I won't do that," he said sternly and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what? We should talk about this after this tour. I don't want to ruin it."
"Well, fine with me. But my condition won't change."
"We shall see." He took the Rubix cube in his hand.
I glared at him. "We sure will."
He will change his mind, right? What if he doesn't? Will we never merge the gangs then? Then, the purpose of our arranged marriage will fail. What will happen next?