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"Still no sign?" Cedric asked as he closed the door behind him.
It had been six days since his mother's death and they still did not see any movement from Aiden's end.
"None." Alexi said with a sigh as he leaned back on his seat.
At the beginning, they would all stay together, huddled in Cedric's office, waiting anxiously for updates from the different teams working on the investigation. It had become an obsession.
On the 4th day Ayanna and Adrianna had barged into the room accompanied by the other wives, girlfriends, and sisters and they had dragged the boys out.
They had turned toxic in their obsession of finding Aiden Ortiz.
"Has he not made a single attempt at finding out where Jen is being held?" Cedric asked.
"No, nothing." Ray said as he slammed the LED screen out of frustration.
"He was probably just using Jen. A tool in his master plan." Ram suggested as he looked through Aiden's files once more.
"I don't think he is that heartless." Cedric said, shaking his head.
"Cedric, what explanation is left?" Miguel asked. "If you truly cared about someone you would do everything to save them."
"He probably doesn't think we would hurt her." Alexi suggested.
"Don't be stupid Alexi." Eric said, shaking his head. "Everyone knows you have a temper, and I'm sure that by now Aiden has realized that Ray is the king of the underworld. He would have known by now that leaving her with us is dangerous."
"He could be waiting for us to lower our guard." Ian suggested.
"That's possible, but security around the compound is always tight." Cedric said as he considered Ian's suggestion. "It has been like this for years, I just had it made even tighter with all the guests coming in and out of the compound to pay their respects."
"Maybe he is waiting for the funeral!" Ray suddenly said, surprising Adolfo who had been leaning back on his seat.
The poor boy was so surprised that he fell off the chair and landed on the ground. Cedric and Alexi had forced him to join their group for the investigation.
"You alright kid?" Alexi asked with a laugh. He was making Adolfo undergo a hazing of sorts since he started dating Natalia.
"I'm fine." Adolfo grumbled. "I was just surprised." He said as he fixed his seat and sat back down.
"It's possible that he is waiting for the compound to be empty before attempting to take Jen." Cedric said with a nod. "It makes sense. He is probably expecting us to take most of the guards to the burial."
"You should have the security heightened at that time." Miguel suggested. "Try hiring more people and keep them visible, it should be a deterrent."
"I'll do that." Cedric said with a nod. "For the meantime, I don't want anyone thinking that this attempt can't happen between now and the funeral. I'll have our teams double their efforts."
"Crap, is that the time?" Eric asked as he checked his phone.
"The girls are going to kill us." Cedric said as he led the other men out of the room.
"What's so funny?" Ian asked a laughing Adolfo.
"You guys are probably the most feared and respected men in the country, I'm sure people would run at the sight of you." Adolfo said as he continued to laugh.
"What about it?" Ian asked.
"Well here you are, running out of a room like scared little girls because of your wives and girlfriends." Adolfo teased.
Cedric couldn't help but laugh along. It was true that his friends were among the most feared and most respected, but they too feared someone, their significant others.
"Oh poor Adolfo." Eric said as he placed an arm around the young man's shoulder. "Wait till you get a lashing from Natalia, then you will know what real fear is."
The other men nodded at what Eric had said.
"No, no, my Natalia is the sweetest and kindest." Adolfo said, shaking his head. "Plus we constantly communicate, so there is no reason for her to doubt me."
"Does she know you're here Adolfo?" Alexi asked.
"Yes." Adolfo said with a nod.
As if on cue the men bumped into the girls in the hallway, and they were clearly not happy.
"We told you to stop obsessing over Aiden!" Ayanna told the boys angrily.
"We just met for an update, Ayanna. Calm down." Cedric told his sister.
"You guys meet five times a day in that room." Katerina added as she glared at them.
"How -" Alexi began to ask when he realized the answer to his question. "You little rat!" Alexi shouted as he ran after Adolfo.
"Don't blame him Alexi." Alexi froze as he heard Selina's voice. "At least he tells his girlfriend where he is." She said as she crossed her arms on her chest.
"We were just worried, Selina." Alexi said as he tried to coax her. They weren't officially together yet but they acted like they were.
"This isn't healthy boys!" Adrianna scolded them.
All of them simply frowned as Cedric walked up to his wife and kissed her.
"We're sorry hon." Cedric said as he pulled her closer. "It won't happen again." He promised.
"I know it will happen again. You boys are all too stubborn." Adrianna said, rolling her eyes as she pushed her husband off her. "Just meet up less. There are guests that want to talk to you."
As Adrianna said this she turned and left.
Cedric sighed and shook his head, he didn't have a choice but to follow his wife's order.
As the days passed and no progress happened in the investigation, Cedric became sold on the idea that Aiden would attack on the day of the funeral.
He had the security in all of their properties heightened. He wasn't sure which one Aiden would attack in an attempt to save Jen.
For his mother's funeral, Cedric decided to wear something simple, he wore khaki pants and a crisp white long sleeved polo. His son, Emilio, was dressed in the exact same outfit, looking like a miniature of his father.
"Are you ready?" Adrianna asked as she entered their room in a white dress.
"I can never be ready for this." Cedric said with a frown as he picked his son up and walked out of their room with his wife.
The drive to the Reyes Family Mausoleum was silent. Cedric did not know what to say, nor did he want to say anything. His wife and son seemed to have noticed this as they remained quiet for the whole ride.
The Reyes Family had requested for the burial to remain private, so the only guests were those closest to them. The Abads, the Sebastians, the Laurences, the Chans, and a few other prominent families were invited.
As Cedric's car pulled up to the mausoleum one of his security vehicles suddenly exploded behind them causing everyone to panic.