Carl chuckled, staring down at her dumbfounded expression, his soft gaze lingered on her slightly parted lips for some seconds then he sighed inside and placed a kiss on both sides of her cheeks, then on her forehead.
After he was done, Clara stared at him in a daze then she quickly glanced down as her cheeks have started turning red again.
Sighing inside, she straightened up after some seconds, then also placed a soft lingering kiss on his forehead.
'I'll try... I'll try so hard to forget him.' She promised inside then sat down properly on the couch.
Carl who was also shocked by her actions chuckled softly and stroked her hair as she glanced down again shyly.
They silently listened to each other's breathing and after some minutes, Carl stood up after noticing that she was slightly dozing off, then he glanced down at his wristwatch.
"I'll go back now, good night," he said softly and Clara slowly nodded while suppressing another yawn.
"Okay, good night__" She suddenly paused mid-sentence with a slight gasp after glancing at the wall clock then her eyes instantly widened.
It is way past midnight and her thoughts wandered to what he had told her a while ago... His enemies might be slithering around and those private guards he spoke about might have fallen asleep wherever they are... right?
"Clara?" Carl watched the girl's expression with furrowed brows while put on his suit jacket. He was about to ask her what is wrong, then heard her muttered,
"Uhmm, It... It is already late, I... I think you should sleep here... Who knows if..." She trailed off while cursing herself inside. 'Clara, I can't believe you're openly inviting him to sleep in your apartment... Argh! But what if he goes out now and something happens to him?__ it would be partly your fault as he just came to see you, even leaving his work aside.'
"Hehe." Carl chuckled at the girl's expression while shaking his head slowly. By then, he had removed his suit jacket again and started walking toward the bedroom.
Clara who was still battling with herself inside snapped her head in the bedroom direction after noticing that the guy had walked away. Then she sighed inside and lay down on the couch.
______
Inside the bathroom, Carl slowly took a bath and couldn't wipe off the slight smile which was on his lips, and after he came out of the bathroom, dried his hair and walked toward the closet, remembering the set of clothes he had left here last time.
He picked up the pajamas and after putting them on, walked back to the living room where his gaze landed on the girl who was curled up on the couch and deeply asleep.
Sighing happily, he scooped her into his arms and started walking back to the bedroom while staring down at her face.
After, tucking her under the bedsheet, he also lay down beside her with a small smile and continued staring at her face until sleep finally overtook him.
********
Meanwhile, In a small town not very far from City M, the place was desolate and consists mostly of dilapidated buildings and abandoned factories.
The few decent houses that were there stood not far from the highway which leads to the big city and with the eery atmosphere in the town, only a few numbers of people have the courage to go to the rear, near the forest, which is the major hideout of most thugs that operates in the nearby cities.
At that far end of the town, among the abandoned buildings which were not very close to one another, slight smoke was rising from the rooftops and the luxurious car which can be seen through the enormous metal gates is the only sign that people are inhabiting there.
Inside the big two-story house, several sounds of gunshots could be heard, while many men dressed in black, and all wearing black face masks patrolled through the long unending hallways, that had several doors on both floors, with some weapons in their hands.
Inside one of the rooms, on the top floor, a man was sitting on a chair while facing the window silently as his grip tightened on the gun in his hand with each second.
The masked man who was silently standing behind him felt like his nerves could break down at any moment as the suppressing atmosphere in the room kept increasing.
Finally finding the courage to speak, he stammered, "B... Boss, we're running out of weapons__"
"I know..." The man uttered under his breath, with a voice laced with anger as he slowly scratched his forehead with the gun in his hand.
The masked man gulped and cowered back in fear, then heard him continued.
"The drugs?" The older man asked, still staring out of the window and the masked man's eyes widened slightly.
"Th... The drugs," he stammered while watching the man's back, then gulped again. "B... Boss, I think the authorities are becoming aware__"
"Shut up!!!" The older man finally flared up and in the next second, an ear-piercing sound could be heard in the room as he shot the gun against the wall behind him, slightly grazing past the masked man's left arm.
"All of you... You can't do anything right, how many are they that you couldn't take them down, despite the many years of your training!!!?" He turned back with a glare while the masked man's body trembled violently.
"B... Boss, they__ they're very powerful__ despite so many years that have passed, their influence keeps increasing," he explained rapidly with his head lowered, not daring to meet the furious man's gaze. He sighed inside, wondering why his boss is so adamant about bringing down that powerful organization.
He knew that if that organization is finally defeated, their organization would be at the top in the mafia's world, as the other most powerful organization was already defeated by the pythons, many years ago. And even the authorities can not have a say against them again.