“Hayden…what do you want to do?” I asked bluntly. “About?” he asked as if he was playing innocent. “All this. What do you want to do…with your future?” I inquired as my eyes pleaded desperately for him to answer my question. I knew that he hated his job because he told me so himself. However, does that necessarily mean that he still wanted Harvey to take over? If Harvey decides to take over, what will happen to Hayden? “I don’t know. I haven’t decided,” Hayden replied without any struggle. Had he been thinking about this for a long time already? Probably. What surprised me more than the fact that he seemed to be so at ease about it was the fact that he didn’t seem at all bothered about not knowing what he wanted. “But you’ve thought about it, right?” I asked softly. I felt like if I pushed him too hard, he would escape and sink back into his shell without ever coming out. If that happened, then I would be locked out again and I would never get any answers from him. I bit my lo
“You’re here again?” Hayden asked lazily when he walked in through the door. “What’s up with that reaction? I’m about to marry your brother and this is how you treat me?” Amelia asked with a look of disbelief on her face. “You’re not married to him yet. Stop turning up to our house so often…” Hayden muttered. “Don’t talk like you come back here so often…” Amelia snapped lightly at him. “Good night…” Hayden mumbled as he walked right past her. “Wait! Hayden…” Amelia quickly called after him. “What?” Hayden asked without turning around. “Can we…talk?” she asked in a small voice. “Alone…with you? No, thank you. I don’t want my brother blowing my head off…” Hayden replied without hesitation. “What’s up with that reaction? What do you see me as?” Amelia snapped as she came to stand right in front of Hayden. “Someone who asked me to sleep with her the first time that we met?” he replied with ease. “Can you forget about that please? Just forget about it!” she wailed although she k
“Seems like you had a good life…” Hayden commented dryly. “It wasn’t bad. Then I met Harvey, and everything changed. He changed me or maybe he made me want to change. Now that we’re getting married soon, I just keep thinking of our future together and the more I think the more that I worry. I know it doesn’t make much sense because I was arranged to marry another gangster boss before. Maybe it’s because I love Harvey so much that I’m worried about everything. Marrying him. Living with the Torex gang. Having children. Making sure that our children will be safe...” Amelia continued explaining. “Well, I can’t pretend to understand what you’re thinking but I guess it’s not wrong for you to feel worried,” Hayden replied. “Thank you…” Amelia said as she looked straight at Hayden. “For what?” he asked. “For…listening…” she replied with a small smile. “Sure…” Hayden murmured. …Hayden had a faraway look in his eyes when he was done with his story. Although he didn’t tell me directly wh
Slowly, my mind started to recall the various questions that Harvey had asked me about what I wanted. Back then, I didn’t know that my future was at least partly dependent on the decision that he would make. My brain suffered from information overload, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. On the other hand, I could feel that Hayden no longer wanted to discuss this. “Where are you going?” I asked when he stood up. “I don’t know,” he replied like he really had no idea. I stood up to follow him, but he turned around and gave me a smile that looked very strained and depressing. “Good night…” I said softly. With that, I watched as Hayden walked out of his room. I had no idea where he was headed, and I wondered if he knew that himself. However, it was clear that Hayden wanted to be alone. He probably needed time to think, and time wasn’t an indefinite resource to us. After the door closed behind Hayden and I was left all alone in his large living room, I sank back down onto the sofa, and
I shouldn’t go, after all. Hayden would kill me if he found out and I didn’t want to get into another argument with him. “If he finds out…” Harvey said before he giggled like a little boy. “I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t go. I can’t go without getting Hayden’s permission first…he’ll be mad, and I don’t want him to worry either,” I said, having made up my mind. “I see. Then let’s do that,” Harvey said as he nodded in understanding. Do what?Harvey pulled out his phone before tapping at the screen and then he placed his phone next to his ear. He’s not doing what I think he is doing, is he? My eyes widened in pure disbelief at what I was seeing. Before I could find my tongue and words to protest or stop him, the line connected.“Hayden! Yup, it’s me…your dear brother,” Harvey said enthusiastically through the phone. How can he sound so carefree about this?“Don’t be so cold towards your dear brother, please. Oh, right. I was calling to let you know that I’m going out and I’ve deci
“I see. Is that what you wanted to talk about?” Harvey asked as if he had expected this all along. “Hayden told me that time is running out. In less than a month, if she doesn’t wake up…” I said before my words trailed off as my eyes travelled to the figure sleeping peacefully on her bed. “I’ll let her go. Her body probably won’t last much longer either…” Harvey said passively. He’ll let her go as in. He’ll pull the plug and let her…“It’s ok, Malissa…” Harvey said before he smiled a soft and gentle smile at me. In that moment, I had no idea why I was the one being comforted when it was Harvey who was about to lose his fiancée…forever. “If only she would wake up…” I mumbled very softly to myself. I quickly noticed that that doesn’t solve our immediate problem. The timeline doesn’t line up. The deal expires in around a month while I had to give the boss my answer in 6 days. What should I do? Suddenly it seemed like everyone was just figuring out a way to buy more time. “What are
“Haha…you can’t be serious right now,” I muttered before I rolled my eyes at him. “Actually, I’m pretty serious right now. If you tell me that you want to marry Hayden and live a peaceful life with him away from this dangerous and dark world, I might just leave my brother in your capable hands,” Harvey said and although his tone was light, I could sense that he was being very serious.Was that really an option?It seemed too good to be true. I could marry Hayden and live a peaceful life somewhere away from the mafia? Really? “You sound like a fairy godmother or something. This is too good to be true…” I replied as I kept my eyes on Harvey. “Do you want to? Marry Hayden and live a peaceful life with him,” Harvey asked again. “I would like that…” I replied honestly. “What if that wasn’t possible? If you had to choose between never seeing Hayden again and marrying him as the next boss of Torex, what would you choose?” Harvey asked. This was starting to sound like some logic test, a
So, it wasn’t the standard protective older brother story after all. “Hayden’s the real crazy one. Push him to the limit and he’ll end up exploding and killing everyone in the process. Your father probably realized that too, that although he’s kind, he’s also very crazy deep down,” Harvey said before laughing. “My father…” I whispered. Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrating. After turning it over, I found out that Hayden was calling. My hand shook as I stared at the screen while I debated if I should answer his call. While I was making up my mind, the phone stopped vibrating and that was when I saw almost 30 miscalls from Hayden. He’s going to kill me for sure. My lifespan just shortened by more years than I could count. While I was panicking and wondering if I should call him back, my phone started vibrating again and it was a call from none other than Hayden. Why didn’t I notice that my phone was vibrating before? “Don’t pick up,” Harvey said, and it sounded like a command. My e