Dominic took a step towards Michael when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.  Keeping his eyes on Michael he slowly took his phone out and glanced at the small screen.  With a small smile he replaced his phone and beamed at Michael.  "Looks like I have something urgent to tend to right now," he said in a sweet apologetic voice.  "I won't have time to play with you today."

Astounded by Dominic's withdrawal, Michael stared at him with wide eyes and cried out, "What about your precious son?  Don't you care what happens to him?"

"I do," Dominic responded and a lazy smile filled his face.  "But as I said before, Ray knows what is expected of him and won't fault me for leaving when there is something more urgent I need to tend to."

"You can't leave!" Michael roared when Dominic and his men were at the door to the warehouse.

Dominic turned and with that same lazy smile on his face said softly, "I am.  Just try and stop me."

Michael stood frozen in place as he watched Dominic and his men one by one walk out of the warehouse.  Beside him, Kenny asked eagerly, "Are we going to let him walk away just like that?"

"Michael," Ron chimed in on the other side, "Say the word and I'll go and kill him."

A slow smile formed on Michael's lips as he took out his gun.  Without turning around, he started walking towards the door.  "Dominic Lam is not going to leave here alive."

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The moment Dominic stepped out of the warehouse he caught sight of Raymond leaning against a tree in the near distance.  Quickening his pace he hurried over to where the trio waited for him.  He gave Raymond a brief glance of acknowledgement and turned to Power, "You did good!  You saved my son.  Thank you."

Power shook his head, his eyes fixed on Charmaine, "No thanks necessary.  I was here to save my sister."

Dominic merely nodded at Power's modesty.  Looking back at the warehouse he said with authority, "Let's get out of here before Michael Miu decides to come after us."

They turned as a whole towards their car and upon arrival a loud shot rang out.  Everyone ran and ducked behind the cars except for Joel who stood paralyzed in place, his eyes wide in shock seconds before they closed and he collapsed to the ground.  "Joel!" Charmaine screamed.  Since she was closest to Joel she was able to smell the rusty odor of his blood seeping into the dirt ground and the smell of it made her nauseas.  Made dizzy from the revolting odor she swayed and Raymond was by her side in an instant.

"They shot Joel!" Power gasped out in panic, his eyes flying to Dominic's for direction.

"Stay calm!" Dominic ordered in a low voice.  "Everyone, get inside the cars fast."  He then looked over at Joe who already had his own gun out and aimed towards the warehouse.  "Ready?"

Joe nodded as a zealous smile played on his face, "I've been ready since we got here.  Only I was waiting for you."  With those words he crouched low against a tree and soundlessly made his way back towards the warehouse.

Dominic watched with admiration as Joe and a few of their men quietly but expertly surrounded the warehouse.  Turning back to Raymond and seeing him still out in open view, he barked, "Get in the car!"

His father's sharp voice got Raymond moving quickly.  Shielding Charmaine with his own body Raymond began maneuvering them towards one of the empty cars.  He had just gotten the door opened when a shot rang out dangerously close to them.  "Hurry in!" he yelled and unceremoniously shoved her inside the safety of the car.  He was about to step in after her when he felt something hit his leg.  Pain as he never felt before seared through him.  He fell backwards, his hands clutching at his calf where blood oozed from a small black hole.

Charmaine heard the gunshot and turned back around to find Raymond on the ground clutching his leg.  "Raymond!" she screamed in alarm and without thinking stepped out of the car to hover over him.

Power who was about to get in the car behind them saw what happened.  He also saw one of Michael's cronies standing at a distance with a gun aimed at Charmaine.  "Charmaine!" he shouted as he ran towards her.  He made it to her and with more force than intended pushed her back inside the car.

Before Charmaine knew what was happening she was literally thrown back inside the car.  The force of it caused her head to hit against the door on the other side and knocked her unconscious.

Power fell on his knees with the impact of the bullet hitting him in his lower back.  Fighting against the hot throbbing pain he pressed his lips together from yelping out and looked into the car where Charmaine laid unconscious.  Relieved that she was no longer visible from any flying bullets he slumped forward and let the excruciating pain take over.  His last waking thought was that Charmaine was safe.

Dominic and his men continued firing at Michael and his men from their hiding spots.  Minutes later, more of Dominic's men arrived and with their group outnumbering Michael's they easily took control of the situation.  "Come out Michael Miu!" Dominic shouted loudly.  "You can't get away."

Just behind the door of the warehouse, Michael peeped through a small hole and fury flooded him as he watched the score of men under Dominic's command advance towards the warehouse.

"What should we do now?" Kenny asked nervously, his hands shaking to the point that he dropped his gun.

Michael's eyes snapped to him when he heard the thud of the gun hitting the concrete floor.  "Hold yourself together!" he snarled, "We're not going to lose to them!"

Standing calmly on the other side of Michael, Moses tilted his head towards the back of the warehouse.  "There's a hidden passageway behind some of those crates which leads to a small building a few miles from here."

Michael remained in place, his eyes hardening with hatred.  "I'm not leaving until I kill him."

"Michael," Ron said quietly, "We'll find another opportunity to kill him.  He has too many men out there.  We won't stand a chance if we continue on like this."

"Ron's right," Moses added, his hand grabbing hold of Michael's arm and pulling him away from the door.  "We've waited this long so another week or two doesn't make any difference."

Michael looked at the three of them.  They were right.  Even if he was willing to sacrifice himself to kill Dominic, he wasn't going to risk their lives.  They were his three most trusted assistants and friend.  They have proven their loyalty to him over and over, which in return, if he insisted on going out there right now, he would also be putting their lives in danger.  Michael may be many things but one thing he certainly wasn't was selfish.  "Let's go," he said firmly.

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Power opened his eyes and looked up to see a stark white ceiling.  He could hear a soft buzzing sound nearby mixed in with an occasional beeping sound.  He felt exhausted, not to mention in addition to the pounding ache in his head.

"You're awake!" Charmaine shrieked with delight and hurried to her brother's side.  With tear shimmering in her eyes, she touched his cheek and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Power smiled faintly and in a raw whisper said, "I guess okay.  But I can't feel anything.  I can't move my arms or legs."

"And you won't," Charmaine quickly put in with a soft smile.  "At least not until the anesthetic wears off."  Looking down at him with guilt, she said, "You've been shot because of me.  Luckily the bullet didn't hit any of your vital organs otherwise…" she trailed off, unable to think of that scenario.

Seeing the misery and guilt on her face, Power laughed softly, "Silly girl.  I'm fine now aren't I?  Besides, I'm your big brother, if I don't protect you then who will?"

Unable to prevent her tears from falling, Charmaine nodded her head and for Power's sake wiped away her tears and put on a bright smile.  "I'm going to get you something to eat.  The doctor said you could eat anything you want.  So what will it be?"

"I'm not hungry," Power responded and then a frown marred his face.  With trepidation he asked slowly, "Does mom know you're safe?  Does she know I'm in the hospital?"

Charmaine shook her head vehemently, "I was too worried about you to even think about anything else.  Now that we're both safe I better call and let her know."  Stopping at the door she turned to look at Power again and asked softly, "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

"I'm sure," Power answered with a chuckle.  "Now go and call mom."

Charmaine replaced the receiver and wondered where was her mom.  No one picked up her call, not even the servants.  It seems odd since as long as she remembered, somebody was always at the house.  She tried her mom's cell phone and it went into voicemail.  Leaving a short message that both she and Power were both fine, Charmaine then said she'll be home shortly and will tell her everything.  In the meantime she had yet to visit Raymond.  She had been preoccupied with Power when they first arrived into the hospital to even think about Raymond.  She also knew that Dominic was with his son and that gave Charmaine the freedom to concentrate solely on her own brother.  Now that Power has awaken and was fine, she was anxious to see Raymond.  With a smile on her face she walked towards the elevator banks.

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Raymond's eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was his father's face looking at him with a grim expression.  "Dad," he croaked against the dryness in his mouth, "What happened?"

Folding his arms across his chest, Dominic continued to stare at Raymond and said, "You got shot in the leg.  That's what happened.  Didn't I tell you to get inside the car?"

Raymond remembered and he also remembered what led to him being shot.  Jolting up in bed despite the burning pain in his leg, he asked frantically, "How's Charmaine?"

"She's fine," Dominic replied with disapproval.  "Both her and her brother are fine."

Sighing heavily with relief, Raymond sank back against the bed.  "Thank God we all made it out alive."  Remembering the sweet words he and Charmaine exchanged as well as their plans to wed brought a happy smile to his face.  "Dad, there's something I have to tell you."

"Raymond!" Tavia cried out from the door and then ran towards him, throwing her arms around him.  "I'm so glad you're alright," she wept uncontrollably as she lay her head down on his chest.  "I thought I lost you."

Stunned by her sudden appearance, Raymond pulled her up from his chest and asked hoarsely, "How did you know I'm here?"

"Bosco told me," Tavia said tenderly and leaned down on his chest again.  "You don't know how happy I am that nothing happened to you."  She lifted her head slightly to look at him and said softly, "I have good news to tell you.  I'm pregnant."