{Mikhail}

How many times are we going to be moved from location to location? I thought to myself as I leaned my back against the wall. Elisha had let us talk with Nico for a few short seconds. I wasn't able to hear Nico's response but I was almost certain it was something that would have made him sound cool for half a second. Max had tried to convince Nico not to come for us and I was sure he was going to come anyways. I wasn't sure how much time had passed since that happened.

On one hand, I didn't want Nico to come because Elisha surely wasn't going to simply state that this was all a prank and let us go. Worst case scenario someone would get seriously hurt and I was praying it wouldn't be any of us. I was really counting on everyone going home at the end of all of this. On the other hand, I really wanted Nico to come for us. I was tired of being treated like a prisoner and was absolutely sick of Elisha letting his guys put their hands on both Max and I. Now, I don't mean sexually but we did get a few fists to the face and shoes to the ribs.

Max had gotten the worst out of the both of us because he would not keep his mouth shut. He simply said whatever was on his mind at the time. Whether it was to bad mouth Elisha's men or a direct insult to Elisha's intelligence. That second one had earned Max a broken arm. The sound of his bone snapping and his screams that filled the room still rung in my ears.

Speaking of, Max had been coughing up a bit of blood and yet he still pretended to be perfectly fine. I wasn't sure if he was putting on an act for me or it was more for his own sanity. I felt absolutely powerless as I couldn't do anything to help him. I mean, sure, I could take Max's approach and insult the guys holding us captive but what good would that do? We'd both be dead and Nico would have wasted his time on coming if I acted like Max now. I wasn't sure how much patience was left in Elisha to deal with Max and I wasn't willing to push Elisha's buttons further.

Max and I were currently alone. Elisha left quickly after the phone call with Nico as he said he had some 'preparations to do'. I honestly had no clue what he meant and I really didn't want to find out. Just the thought of what Elisha could be after gave me the chills.

I groaned as my head was throbbing with every movement I made. I looked down at my open palm to see the cut Elisha had made with the small knife. I wondered what went through Nico's mind when he received the necklace covered in blood. I just really hoped he wasn't blaming himself for what was going on. I closed my first tightly and decided to focus on what was important at the moment. "Max? Max, you okay?" I asked touching his shoulder softly.

"Do I look okay?" Max responded with his face down on the ground and his body sprayed out on the floor. "The son of a bitch broke my arm." He forced himself up but moved extremely careful and put his back towards the wall roughly. He flinched softly and closed his eyes. "Fucking Hell, man."

"You're bleeding." I said in surprise. I hadn't realized when Elisha had cut Max's shoulder but he must have at some point because Max had a cut the size of a pencil. Blood was streaming down his arm and onto the floor.

"News flash, Mikhail, I've been bleeding for the past few minutes and you only just realized?" He said as he wiped blood from his mouth.

"No. Max, your arm. I took off my sweaters a tried ripping it apart so that I could use it to stop his bleeding. It always seemed much easier when I read about these scenes in books. Without anything sharp to use to cut the sweater I had to work on undoing the stitching.

Max frowned at me and said, "You're wasting your time. Focus your energy on finding something to fight against Elisha when he comes back. I'm pretty sure you're going to be his next punching bag when he comes in."

"You're bleeding." I said again as I looked at him with a frown.

"No shit, Sherlock." Max was well enough to roll his eyes and throw sarcasm at me.

"Well if you know then how about making this easier for me and apply pressure to your wound before you go unconscious from a lack of blood."

"Oh, please. this is nothing. I've had to endure worse before. Besides, I won't faint from this little blood loss." Max said looking sure of himself. I mean, sure, he still had enough energy to argue with me so I supposed that was a good sign. Still, I couldn't help but worry about the way he said it.

I looked down and I wasn't making much progress on taking apart my sweater. It was a lot more difficult to do when my head was all over the place. It didn't help that we were on a stupid boat and the waves made the whole place rock back and forth. I wasn't even sure if we were moving or docked. I guess it would be better to say I couldn't figure it out. I had hit my head earlier but I tried not to make a big deal out of it. Head pain was nothing when Max had purple bruises around his eyes and a broken, possibly dislocated arm.

Max had started another fight with the guys who were basically dragging us on to the boat. Well, to be fair, they were saying some pretty obscene jokes about his private life. As expected, as soon as they started to poke fun at Nico, that's when Max went crazy and started moving around to get free. He managed to get himself free from the man holding him and they broke out into a fist fight which Max nearly managed to throw the man off the dock. The one that was holding me was reaching for his gun so I had to get involved or stand by and watch Max get shot. I did what I had to do and I threw my body into his and he grabbed my shirt pulling me down with him. We both scrambled on the floor as I tried to keep him down. As we were struggling on the wooden dock, I got my head smashed into the floor boards. My guy looked around my age, thin guy with brown hair. I wasn't used to fighting but it seemed like the guy I was up against wasn't either. Although skinnier than me he obviously knew how to throw better punches. I had it pretty easy though where as Max was punching it out with a early to mid forty's man, and he was fairing pretty well.

Everything was put to a stop as Elisha strolled into the dock with a women, who was not Sera, behind him. He had instructed her to shoot a warning bullet into the air which got all our attention. The women walked over and placed the gun at Max's temple and commanded him to get up. With a gun really close to Max, I was obligated to behave and listen to directions. Elisha looked amused as he moved us into the lowest floor and 'taught' Max a lesson on behaving. The women stayed inside and kept her gun pointed at me. Again, there was nothing much I could do beside watch Max get beat up in front of me.

"Quit spacing out." Max told me and lightly touched my head. I winced and he noticed, "You smacked your head back there, didn't you? You should have just stayed still like a good boy."

"I could say the same to you." I told him as I smiled down at the progress I was making with the sweater. "You always seem to lose your self control whenever someone speaks bad about Nico. Why is that? I get that he's your boss or whatever but to go to that extent just because he was bad mouthed?"

Max didn't say anything at first. He didn't look like he was in any hurry to tell me. Either that or he was starting to lose consciousness. I started to get worried and then felt relieved when he did speak, "Nico took care of me when my own blood related family wouldn't. He gave me a place where I could belong and call home."

"Nico did?" I asks looking up from the sweater to look at Max. I was jut a little surprised that that was the case. I felt. Little guilty for previously thinking that Nico was pimping Max out. "Uhm, so, can I ask about your... Side... Ehm- you know when you out out and... ah-"

"You're asking about why I whore myself out?" Max asked bluntly. "Don't beat around the bush like that. It only makes it super annoying to hear you speak."

"Sorry. You don't have to tell me if you'd prefer not to-"

"If this stupid boat is going to be the place I die then I might as well get some things off my chest. Even if I have to talk to you."

"Max, we're not going to-"

"I know, okay? I'm just... Talking about myself is hard. I never even tell Nico my problems." He looked down at his lap and continued, "Listen, If we both make it out of here then we pretend this talk never happened. I'd rather actually die then it be found out that I actually bonded with you, got it?"

I couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Got it." I confirmed and went back to the sweater. I was about half way done. I didn't have the strength to just rip it apart and I seriously doubted Max would be able to in his condition.

Max let out a long sigh like he was already regretting it. "Despite popular belief, I don't sleep with people for money because it's something I like... Okay, well sometimes it's tolerable, like, it depends on the partner because sometimes they're super respectful and don't use me like a rag doll but most times it makes me feel pretty shitty. The worst ones are the girls, surprise surprise, not just because I'm not really sexually attracted to them but because they always seem to want to give me a lecture afterwards. As if that alone could atone for having sex with an underage kid. At least the guys only do what they're paying me for and then leave..."

"So, why do it?" I asked with curiosity.

"Look, I just have to. Or, I mean to say, I had to. I had a pretty big debt left over from my parents with the wrong person. Nico paid it off, much like he paid off your debt-"

"I'm sorry. He did what now? He paid my dad's debt to Nico's father?" I interrupted Max and glared at him in disbelief.

Max looked at me like a deer caught in headlights. "Well, shit. You didn't know?" He groaned and rubbed his temple. "Can you not let him know I just told you? I thought he would have told you by now. I don't want to hear him nag at me. Truth be told, I wasn't even supposed to know. I don't think he knows that I know. I found out because he got a letter from the bank and I peeked inside thinking that it had to do with my debt he paid off. I wanted to know amount he paid to free me."

I stayed silent in thought. Nico's intentions were good but I didn't like the idea of him paying things off for me. It made me feel like I got together with him solely for that purpose. I hated people buying or paying things for me. Then again, I knew Nico didn't mean any ill intent when he paid off my father's debt. Still, how was father suppose to learn to be smart with his money if Nico just got him out of trouble like that? Though, maybe it could work in our favor in case dad has anything negative to say about our relationship. I didn't like the idea of holding that over his head but it wasn't something I was about to completely dismiss either. "Wait." I spoke up in realization, "opening other people's mail is illegal."

"That's what you're hung up about?" Max asked in disbelief, "So is the majority of the things I've been doing throughout my time on this earth." Max pointed out. "You going to turn me in? No? Didn't think so." He said without letting me answer. "Anyways, are you going to let me continue or are you going to interrupt every three seconds to ask stupid questions?"

"Continue." I said a small smile playing on my lips.

"Where was I?" Max asked with a frown on his face.

"Nico paid off your debt."

"Right. He saved me from... a really bad man. This man would call me over to his place and beat me to near death and threatened me everyday. He said he wouldn't stop until he got his money. I had no other choice but to sell sex in order to gather enough money. I didn't want to drag Nico into my business. Though, regretfully he still got involved in the end. What that man would do-" Max stopped talking and looked like he was going to pass out. "That's why what Elisha is doing to me feels just like child's play." He said letting his last sentence hang off without going into much detail about what the man would do to him. I was a little thankful he did that because I wasn't sure I wanted to go that deep into Max's past. "Look, Nico has done so much for me already, you know?" Max said and I was tempted to answer him but if I did I ran the risk of angering Max and then he wouldn't open up to me. So, I stayed quiet and he continued, "I don't think I'll ever to be able to repay him in this lifetime. Nico isn't like the others. When he found out that I was selling my body, he didn't have a disgusted look. Nico didn't lecture me about how immoral it was. He tried to understand why I did it but he never made me talk if I was uncomfortable. He respected my boundaries."

Max was looking down at his lap now. He had the smallest smile that tugged at the corner of his lip. He seemed lost in his own memories. It was almost as if he was simply talking to himself. I wasn't quite sure if Max expected me to say something now that it seemed like he was finished. There was something I wanted to confirm so I figured I would just say it and get it over with. "Are you in love with Nico?" I asked just as I accomplished to rip apart the sleeve of my sweater.

Max turned to face me as quickly as he could and then groaned out loud as he had forgotten he was hurt. "N-no! I mean, yes, but like- not that way! What kind of nonsense are you spitting out of your mouth!" His face had turned a bright red color.

I smiled warmly at Max. I had thought that was the case. I wasn't mad or jealous. I was maybe a little apologetic because I was the one thing keeping Nico away from Max. I then understood why Max disliked me from the beginning despite doing nothing consciously to receive his hate. "Well, then I feel like I should apologize."

Max opened his mouth slightly, it looked like he was trying to figure out the right words to say. He shifted carefully and slumped back against the wall with a big sigh. "You don't have to apologize, stupid."

"But-" I tried.

"Nico never looks at me the way he looks at you. Yes, he might love me but it's only in a brotherly way. He cares about me and is possessive but that's naturally the way Nico is when he lets you in. He's lost so much already that he strives to protect everyone close to him, but, It's different with you. As much as it pains me to admit, you're the only person he sees in a room full of people. His eyes follow every single little movement you take. He takes every word you say and keeps it close to him. He speaks to you carefully with literally all his love pouring out of his chest."

"Aren't you exaggerating just a tad bit?" I asked suddenly getting embarrassed as I listened to Max speak.

"I wish I was." Max told me, "Which is why I'm leaving Nico in your care."

"Huh?" I asked being baffled for the first time around Max. "What-"

"Look, I'm not saying this again so listen carefully." He stopped to take a deep breath and placed his bleeding arm over his broken arm, "Nico needed me before. I'm not saying he doesn't anymore but he has you now."

"Max, that's not true. He's always going to need you around-"

"Shut up." He ordered. "You managed to change Nico in a matter of a couple weeks. More so than I was able to do in years. Nico's love is careful and calculated. You succeeded in making Nico fall completely head over heels for you. He can't live without you anymore. It's a lot to take in and I know this but you have to support Nico from now on and take my place by his side."

I looked down at the sweater in my hands and shook my head. Everything he was telling me sounded crazy, but not like a lie either. I as well fell for Nico. I didn't think that was ever going to happen to me since I closed myself off from the people around me but Nico was different. He understood me completely. He made me feel like no other has been able to do aside from my parents when I was younger. I was entirely happy around Nico. I was able to be myself and let my walls down for a couple of hours. So, I was ready to stay by Nico's side, all things considered.

"What about you? If I take your place.." I let my words hang as I figured Max already knew what I meant. I shifted my body to face Max so that I could tie my sweater's sleeve around his upper arm and then I flinched when my ankle throbbed with a horrible pain. I really hoped that it was just sprained and I hadn't broken my ankle. It most likely happened earlier and I must not have realized until now because my adrenaline had been pumping like crazy. I breathed in slowly so that Max wouldn't realize.

"...Nico told me I should go to school. Something about learning and socializing with others my age." Max didn't moved his arm but watched me as I carefully but tightly tied the sleeve on his upper arm.

"That's great." I smiled, proudly. "Are you leaving the Mafia as well? You probably should if you want a better future-"

"No." Max strongly refused "I'll go to school like Nico wants me to. Maybe I'll even go to college but I promise I'll come back to Nico. I won't be able to stand by his side anymore but I'll be someone he can still depend on. Someone he can be proud of, with a high school and college diploma of course."

I secured the knot and then stretched my hand out to Max for a handshake. I really admired Max in that moment. He, for once, seemed older than his age as he spoke with maturity and reason. "Okay. Let's both get out of here alive and work hard for both Nico and ourselves."

Max stared at my hand and then after a while placed his hand in mine, "Deal." He was the first that let go of my hand. He looked around and asked, "Getting out of here takes priority at the moment. You hurt your ankle, right?"

"Oh, you noticed?"

"Duh. You think you can get up though?"

"Probably? What for? You got a plan?"

"Not so much a plan." Max admitted and pointed at the door. "We need to find a weapon first." He carefully moved so that his right armwouldn't move and make itself worse.

"Hold on." I reached over and grabbed my sweater that was missing a sleeve and used that to hold Max's right arm up. Max let me do it without complaining much. I slid his arm carefully though the sleeveless part and then brought the still attached sleeve through the same hole. I brought it around to itself and tied a knot as best as I could. I moved and adjusted the sweater so that it would hold his arm as he moved. "There. That should hold."

Max looked down at his arm and looked surprised that I had thought to use my sweater in that way. "What about your ankle?"

"It's alright. It doesn't feel so bad right now."

Max looked at me like he didn't believe me but he let it go for the time being. "Try not to make a lot of noise. Those guys from earlier could be stationed outside the door."

"Right." I said and went towards the left side of the room and Max went towards the right. I had told Max I was alright but I was obviously limping now that my adrenaline had gone down. Each step I took felt like electricity striking my ankle and traveling up my leg. I tried to ignore it as best as I could and focused on finding some kind of object to use as a weapon. I really couldn't think at the moment about what Max could possibly be planning. Partly because I couldn't think fast in situations like these like he could and the other part because my head was an absolute mess.

There were a few boxes of junk. It made me wonder if this boat belonged to Elisha or it was stolen. I then came to the conclusion that