Trained like a beast

Again. I saw him again. The shirtless, muscular man in front of me was Hayden, and the funniest thing was I came to deliver flowers to him. 

“Care to explain what you are doing here?” He asked in his usual serious tone. “You are taking pictures. Who the hell are you? Are you spying on me?” 

I let out a sigh after hearing him. There we go again, him and his narcissistic self. 

“Instead of helping me, you are posing questions. Do you think so highly of yourself? I’m not here to spy on you, I’m not your fan girl.” I rolled my eyes. “I came here to deliver your black roses.” 

“And, where is my bouquet?” he asked, crouching down. 

I bent my head down and mumbled “It fell into the pool.” 

Through the corner of my eyes, I saw him extending his hand. “Come out of the pool.” 

“No!” 

“Why? Do you like my swimming pool this much?” 

“I am drenched,” I shouted, frustrated. 

Then I noticed him walk towards the sun lounger and took the towel that was on the seat. He put it on the ground and turned back, saying “You can come out now.” 

I came out of the swimming pool, taking the stairs. I covered myself with the towel and crouched down to take my cell phone. 

“The screen is cracked,” I mumbled while I swallowed my sadness. 

As I kept staring at my cell phone, I felt a warm touch on my cheek. I raised my head to see Hayden looking at me and then he tucked the strands of my hair behind my ear that nearly gave me goosebumps. 

“W-what…” 

He removed his hand. “Come inside. You cannot stay here like this.” 

Many doubts started to revolve around my head as I couldn’t get inside someone’s house just like that. That too, in wet clothes. 

“I don’t ask you to trust me. But, do you think I need to trick a girl to come inside my house? I can get any girl at my fingertips.” 

Seriously, other than Hayden, no one would be much obsessed with oneself. 

“Coming? Or leaving?” He snapped me out of my thoughts. 

Without arguing, I walked along with him. Trust does not only come with sweet words. Sometimes it comes the other way. 

He lead me to his room, which almost looked like a mini house; The king-sized bed covered with black silk sheets, a big wardrobe, and the attached balcony. While I waited, he quickly took two t-shirts; one for me and the other for him and locked his cupboard as if I would steal his things. Without looking at me, he threw it at me and walked out. 

I changed my dress, dried my hair, and sat on the couch not knowing what to do. To my luck, my cell phone was turned on. As I heard the knock on the door, I stood from the couch and shouted “I’m done.” 

He entered in and looked at me from top to toe while standing at a distance. Then he scoffed and said, “No one used my clothes until today.” 

“I'm so sorry for not delivering your bouquet on time but please tell me the OTP. I'll buy you flowers the next time.” I said, looking at my cell phone. 

After he said it, I sent the delivered message which relieved me, a little. When I raised my head, I saw him standing so close to me that made me flinch. 

“W-what…” 

He pushed me by my shoulder, walked past behind me, and sat on the bed while having fries. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked, worried. 

“This is my bedroom.” He rolled his eyes. “You can either stay or leave. I don’t mind Selena.” 

"It's Serena, how many times do I have to tell you?" I said out loud, frustrated. He didn't bother looking at me. Having no other option, I sat on the couch beside the bed, where I previously sat, and my stomach started to growl. I could see his lips bloom with a smile but he changed his expression immediately. Making his usual serious face, he offered me the fries and I took them as I didn’t want to make myself embarrassed with my other stomach growl. 

Resting his deep gaze on me, he asked “Don’t you know you should not eat something that is offered by strangers?” 

“I know I should not eat something that is offered by strangers but I can have something that is offered by someone who can get beauties just by a finger snap.” I rolled my eyes. 

I could see the proudness in his eyes that made me scoff. Then I asked “So, Hayden! What do you do? Don’t tell me you do nothing as you are already rich.” 

He didn’t reply to me. He simply glared at me and continued to eat. 

“It’s true. You do nothing and when the time comes, you’ll take care of your father’s business. I am not wrong, am I?” 

“What I do has nothing to do with you. It’s better if you don’t interfere in my business.” He said in a warning tone. He came close to me and said, stopping his face only a few inches away from me. “Just because I invited you inside, doesn’t mean I am someone with whom you can be friendly.” 

He got on my nerves. Though his gaze frightened me, I chose to speak what I felt “Are you scared of something? It seems you are scared to be with people and even to let out your emotions.” 

“What?” he sat straight. 

“I may not have any right to say this but...” I looked into his eyes. “It feels you want to distance yourself from people.” 

He clenched his jaw and stood straight. He pointed his finger at me, saying “You! What do you know about me? Don’t imagine stupid things and be within your limit if you don’t want your life to get messed up.” 

His eyes turned darker and he looked so angry. It made me think I crossed my line. 

‘What have I done?’ I mumbled and bit my lips. 

As he was leaving, I ran and then stood in front of him, stopping him from moving. “I’m sorry I crossed my line. I didn’t mean…” 

He didn’t let me finish my sentence. He put his palm on my mouth and dragged me to finally pin me against the wall, beside the door. 

My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks burning. His dangerous eyes that were looking into mine not only made my legs tremble but stirred many emotions inside me. 

“Don’t speak.” He ordered me in a low tone and stood near the door without removing his palm from my mouth. 

I heard footsteps approaching us but I couldn’t see who it was. I heard a male voice “You should come with me. A meeting is scheduled by your father.” 

“Now?” 

“Yes. Now.”

“Okay. Give me five minutes.” 

After a few seconds, I heard footsteps leaving. Hayden stood in front of me and quickly, removed his hand when he noticed my lips were still touching his palm. He put his hand on the wall, leaned towards me, and whispered into my ear “Don’t step out for at least ten minutes. Then you can leave or you can take your time to leave. Do you understand?” 

I simply nodded as I felt my words stuck in my throat.

He took an expensive suit from his collection and walked out. After he left, I was able to breathe normally. I fell on the couch while my mind wouldn’t stop remembering the closeness we were in. His angry eyes, clenched jaw, and his palm on my mouth were still displaying in front of my eyes. But, what was it? Why did he hide me? Was he scared of his family?  

“Ah! Whatever!” I checked if my clothes were still wet and then I decided to leave. 

_____ 

HAYDEN

Adjusting my sleeves, I got out of my Audi and entered the building with Mr. Cornell, who dragged me out of my house. He had been my father’s loyal servant since before I was born. He never disobeyed my father and eventually became one of my tormentors. 

As we entered the building that was one of the properties of my father, where the important meetings were held, all the trusted guards bowed to us, and by the time I reached the meeting hall, my father’s six partners were already there. We greeted each other and I took the seat right beside the main seat, which was my father’s place. 

Mr. Cornell stood beside the empty main seat and turned on the screen to start video chatting with my father. 

“I see everyone’s here. Let’s get into business first.” 

And then my father started. As always, he started to talk about the supply of weapons, the enemies who had to be taken care of, and the legal businesses. 

As soon as he finished, everyone stood straight, bowed to him, and then left. As I was about to leave, my father spoke “Hayden! What’s the status?” 

“I’ll finish whatever you assigned to me. I need time.” I said. 

“Remember you are going to take my place soon. You are the future boss, who has to rule everything. You are already twenty-four so leave your childish games and enter our world.” 

As if he had ever let me be childish anytime. I didn’t say anything. I simply nodded my head. 

“Cornell! Take care of him.” With that, my father ended the call. 

Despite everything, for one thing, I had always been grateful. No one knew what the son of the king of the mafia world looks like, except a few people. 

“You have training today,” Cornell said. 

Ever since I was a kid, I grew up alone even though I had many people in my life. My father wouldn’t let anyone know about me before I could get properly trained to take care of everything. Only Cornell and a few people including my trusted guards knew what I look like as they were my trainers for everything. 

We both reached the room in the underground, where a man was tied to the chair. He was bulky and screaming like a beast but it didn’t scare me. 

“He is a traitor. Either you kill him or die in his hands.” Cornell said, patting my shoulder.

I was trained like this and every time I won because I didn’t want to die. I knew everyone around me would prefer me to die instead of live like a loser. That was how I survived.

The traitor was let loose and he also knew he had no choice but to fight me. He came straight running towards me but I dodged him to finally hold him to the ground. Fisting my palm, I threw punches at his face, nearly smashing him. He pushed me away using all his strength and took the broken glass that was on the ground beside us. 

As a defense, I covered my face with my hands which resulted in a cut on my hand. As usual, no one came forward. It was my game, either kill him or die in his hands. 

I kicked him in his gut and then on his leg which made him lose his balance, which gave me the chance to snatch the glass piece. Wasting no time, I cut his throat and he fell dead. 

“Eight minutes,” Cornell said. “You should train harder. It should be below eight minutes next time.” He concluded and then left along with the guards. 

There was no guilt or remorse in me after killing a person. After all, it was not my first kill. 

I reached my home and started to treat my wound. It was not new for me and I knew how to treat wounds. As I was dressing it, her face flashed in front of my eyes. She was the first person, who was worried for me and tried to save me even though I had no intention to kill myself. 

I had no woman in my life even though many girls were drooling for me. My father wouldn’t allow anything that would lead me to distractions and I also never thought about having a girl beside me but when I met Serena, for the first time, I found someone interesting and beautiful. When Serena brought the flowers which I wanted to give to one of my enemies, I was surprised to see her and for an unknown reason, I felt happy. I found myself strange when I allowed her inside my room where my favorite guns occupied one total side of my cupboard, and only by Cornell's entry, I realized how stupid I was. If Cornell had seen Serena in my room, it would have resulted in a big problem for me and for her as well. 

Born in a traditional mafia family, I had to make many sacrifices. I should not have any weakness, should not get close to people or get into any serious relationships and many more but it was fine for me as I would become the king one day, which I always wanted. And, to reach my goal, I was prepared to do anything.