Chapter Text
Even with his eyes closed shut to pretend he’s asleep, Max is very well aware of his surroundings and though he has no weapons in hand, he's very confident in his own hand-to-hand combat and reflexes to defeat any opponent in close quarter range. The stranger just needs to step closer and like a patiently waiting lion, he would pounce and go straight for the kill.
What he expects doesn’t happen; there’s only about a few footsteps from the entrance to the bedroom, a pause, and then retreating footsteps before the door closes to a silent shut. The Dutch Lion deduces a few hypotheses from it.
Firstly, whoever it is poses no actual harm otherwise they would strike so whatever it is might be a recon/oversee task instead of a target one. Second, if the first thought is correct and someone is overlooking Charles then they must only be doing it because of Max, their close relationship is the only thing that evolved throughout the days.
Third, there is no solid point for checking if this person cannot do anything about it. They are on a cruise, there is no backup and there isn’t a place for anyone to run. Everything is done with a reason… a motive. Max can only guess that whoever it is might be reporting about Charles— which is bad because Max’s entire plan is on a ruse that the Dutch Lion is in Monaco and fighting… could Ferrari have seen through his plans? Do they think he’s here?
Not only does that jeopardize his entire plan for Charles, but it might be a danger to his gang too.
Max sighs softly, moving closer to his mate, he opens his eyes, staring at Charles’ delicate face. He was planning a whole day of fun with Charles tomorrow… but it looks like now he won’t be able to spend the entire day with his mate— he’ll need to hunt this mysterious prey too.
-O-O-O-
The morning goes off without a hitch, Charles being a little baby in his arms and Max making sure he gets hydrated, fed and drugged well. They catch a theater act in the afternoon, share lunch together and even went to do a little window shopping, all casual things while the Alpha remains vigilant.
Whoever it is, is good because Max can’t even trace a familiar face throughout the different locations; they must be watching from far or doing their job periodically rather than consistently.
He drags on until dinner time; purposefully making a booking at a different lounge under the pretense of needing a fresh view. Charles allows Max to lead him in, telling him about the menu before Max deliberately stops in front of the grand piano.
The Monegasque stares at the beauty in a stun fashion, surprised and maybe even a little excited.
“You told me you played… I asked the staff if you could… for a while…” He makes this a sweet gesture, like he remembers every little detail and is so attentive to Charles’ interest.
“I’m not… that good… and there’s so many people here.” Charles chuckles, looking around and people having their meals and chatting on their own accord. Max gently holds his hand and guides him forward to take a seat on the piano chair.
“Then… don’t think about them. Just think about me. You’re playing the music for me…” Max guides his hands to the black and white keys. Charles stares at him like he is dazzled, lips parted and cheeks pink like he wants to be kissed.
“Franz.”
“You will do amazing, Charlie.” Max moves his hand to cup Charles’ cheek, he moves his body to block the front angle, leaning down slowly; he could do anything right now, it might be a kiss, a whisper, a bite to the neck, a public display of affection or maybe he could do something more sinister like hurt him— it’s a bait to catch the mysterious person because if they’re watching Charles then they must want him safe and if they don’t know… they’ll find out.
From the far corner, there is a man sitting at the table alone, abruptly stretching his neck to see Charles.
Got’cha.
Max is now assured that this person has yet to figure out his identity or his dangers because while that guy was looking at Charles, he failed to realize the eyes of a Lion just hiding in plain sight staring at him with a frozen gaze.
The Dutchman casts his eyes back to Charles, smiling sweetly again “I can’t wait to hear it.” he says before he parts to give his mate the center stage. His words must have some effect because Charles looks at the piano, takes a calm breath and starts letting his fingers dance through with melodious sounds in every touch.
Not only does Max fall in love with it, the entire crowd does too. All eyes on the man playing the piano, everyone is distracted and focused with each and every note. Max’s target gets up to leave the table, his task is done for now, Charles is safe; the blonde backs away to the darkness of the room, following silently.
-O-O-O-
He can still hear the faint echo of the piano even when he’s out of the lounge area; Max stalks the other man, a playful smirk on his lips when the target realizes he’s being followed and starts to run faster. The inevitable is coming and he loves a good chase.
It takes half a second of a mistake for Max to grab the man by his arm and slam him against the opposite wall.
“Who sent you?”
The man refuses to speak, struggling to break free “I…I knew you were… trouble….” He breathed out, clearly afraid but still trying to put up a strong front. Max just twists his arm behind his back cruelly, causing him to scream out in agony. “You will not speak unless it’s to answer my question. Now… who sent you?”
“...You will not hurt him- AAGGHH!!”
“If you’re not going to answer me then you are of no use to me.” With his free hand, he grabs his pocket knife from his jacket, flicking the blade open and raising it up the other man’s eye.
“Y-you won’t kill me—” The fear starts to set in, maybe because there’s a deranged look in those bright blues. “Wait- wait– wait-! You cannot kill me!! If… if I don’t send a code signal back every three days they’ll know something is wrong— Y-You need me! You need me—”
“Oh?” Max tilts his head, absorbing the information. That makes sense, there’s no other form of communication so they’ve been sending signals via marine radios; someone is out there on a smaller boat tailing or so… if they don’t receive a signal, they’ll inform home and there might be even specific codes to say whether Charles is safe or not.
“Such lengths… as expected of the ‘prancing horse’”
The man curses in Italian “You need me– If I don’t send the code signal back they’ll kill you. Ferrari will come for you and your family! We are the greatest gang of all time and we must protect the Sun of—-” words are cut short, gurgled out letters as Max looks down to where he just stabbed the man in the back.
He pulls out the knife swiftly, turns the man to face him and stabs him again in the stomach area.
“Who are you to threaten me?” Max chuckles, shaking his head lightly, finding the absurdity of it all “Did you expect me to grovel? To despair? That I would be afraid of the old power? Need you? I don’t need anyone except for Charles and Ferrari has ripped him out of my hands— you people took him from me and I’ll never forgive each and everyone of you. Did you think I’d be afraid…? Of you… Of Ferrari?” The Dutchman laughs louder while the man coughs a streak of red.
“Send all your finest men… go ahead… Ferrari can come for my head but it’s their funeral.” Max stabs a fresh wound, blood splatter on his jacket and hand.
“He is mine.” Max growls out, anger flaring at the thought of anyone taking his mate away from him.
“N-no….C-C-C-Charles… is the… S-Su—n” The words are choked out, blood gurgling in his mouth while Max grabs him by the collar and yanks him through the backdoor, it opens to the outside, strong winds against them.
The Alpha shoves the guy forward against the railing, barely alive now.
“Look ahead. You see that dark abyss?” Max taunts, it is dark and in the middle of the ocean there is no light outside of the ship. It is pure pitch darkness as far as the eyes can see. He turns his body to face him one last time, just so he can remember the face of his killer “The Sun… will never shine on Maranello ever again.”
He doesn’t care for a response, both hands on the man’s collar before he yanks him up and tosses him off the railing and into the dark abyss below. It won’t be long before the blood attracts sharks and whatnot and that is a fine way to dispose of a body. He wipes the excess blood off his hands and takes off his jacket, Max made sure that the stab wounds were slow and deliberate, so that he wouldn’t cause much blood splatter at the crime scene. Once everything is in order he tosses out the weapon and the evidence into the sea as well before returning to the silent hallway.
A bit of a mess; but the muffled piano sounds keep him in a good mood.
The Alpha takes a quick detour to the bathroom, needing liquid to really help him wash the blood on his hands properly; he’s swift with his actions, having done it multiple times already. Then he slowly enters back to the lounge, though his jacket is thrown away, there will still be some lingering bloody scent which normal people wouldn’t catch but Charles would— Charles who has grown up in this line of work would be familiar with fresh blood of a kill.
He orders a glass of whiskey because the hard liquor has a very strong smell and in the dark corner of the room, he dumps it on his shirt, planning to blame it on some drunk women later. Just as he’s done orchestrating his plans, the music stops and a loud applaud is heard as Charles bows and thanks everyone for their kind praises.
Max is of course, back at his spot, clapping his hands and smiling sweetly at his mate.
“...Franz! That was am- what happened?”
He makes a face and takes a step back “...someone bumped into me with their alcohol… don’t come closer, I reek of whiskey…”
Charles chuckles at his misfortune, “Go get changed then! We still have a lovely dinner to enjoy!” He nags and it seems like playing the musical instrument has left him in a good mood that he doesn't think of anything else.
“This is what I get waiting for you? I didn’t want to leave just now because I wanted to hear you finish that piece.” He lies straight through his teeth and Charles smiles brightly “Franz, I will play for you whenever~ Go, get changed and hurry back…”
How sweet. Max nods and eagerly leaves, in his head his plans are evolving with each new progress. It is true that with the Ferrari henchman dead and in the bottom of the ocean or a shark’s dinner, Max would not be able to duplicate the safety code and so, it would be a matter of time before Ferrari realize something is wrong on the cruise even if they cannot guess that the Dutch Lion is on board. For Charles’ safety and priority, they would result in extreme measures.
The Dutchman kicks open the door of his room, he takes a quick shower, thinking of his next moves and dresses up simply. Ferrari will do anything to keep Charles safe and once they have him, Max will never get another chance. The Alpha goes over to his suitcase, he takes out all the reserve drugs, all of them labeled for usage.
Max remembers that his stubbornness to not spend a single rut without his mate has made him very heavily reliant on suppressors for many long years. Taking anything to mess up his hormones will now be a terrible toll on his body but Max doesn’t give a fuck. He might not have as much time as he needs anymore, not if Ferrari will get involved soon. The Alpha takes the drug labeled for ‘Alpha rut Inducer’ and drinks the liquid raw. The bitter taste of it goes down his throat and Max momentarily reminds himself again of his objective.
Charles belongs to him, in mind, body and soul. His mate. His one and only.
He needs to make haste… time might be running out.
Max will sacrifice anything for Charles.