A/n: Hey beautiful people, I apologise for not updating yesterday. I have been so busy lately that I barely had enough chance to write.
I will try not to miss another update again.
I hope this chapter makes you happy in some way. Make sure to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE.
Happy reading:)
"Thank you so much, Audrey." I say with a tone of gratitude and disconnect the call. Now that Jonathan's transfer to another hospital has finally been taken care of, I can focus on other things like the pile of paper scattered across my dining table; a reminder that I had bills to pay.
I barely have any money left since most of it went to Jonathan's transfer. I don't regret it at all. He deserves to feel some sort of comfort now that he was changing to a better environment.
I sit back down in the chair and pick up my mug of coffee, sipping it leisurely with my eyes fixed on the bills I am yet to pay. I barely got enough sleep last night with this piled up problems scattered across my mind.
What made things worse was when the landlord showed up at my doorstep two days ago and informed me that there has been an increase in the rent. That's double of what I made at the hospital. I pleaded with him and explained my situation to him but he remained adamant and insisted that I pay within two weeks ultimatum.
In short, I'm out of options whatsoever. I don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I'm cornered in a tight space without any sort of breathing space or hope of a way out.
"Why is this happening?" I whisper, brokenly, a heavy sigh escaping my lips as a tear rolled down my cheek.
"Why....why are things so damn complicated? What the hell did I do wrong for my life to end up like a pile of mess?" I speak softly through the lump in my throat as I try to blink away the tears that wouldn't stop falling.
I thread my fingers through my hair and grip it so tight that it stings my scalp. The apartment is so silent. The only sound that bounces off the walls is my gut-wrenching sob. I don't even know what to feel, how to act, what to say....I'm just clueless.
My breath hitches at the sound of the doorknob jiggling around. I quickly wipe the tears away, run a finger through my hair to tame the unruly strands before sitting upright and picking up one of the paper to stare at.
The door finally opens and Nellie walks in with headphones on and her backpack in hand. She whips her head in my direction to look at me, those blue eyes scan my face, her brow furrowing like she could tell that I had been crying.
I clear my throat. "How was school, Nellie?"
She looks at me with a thoughtful look like she's deciding whether she should answer my question or ask me why I was crying or just ignore me like I don't exist.
She chose the latter.
It's not until I hear the sound of her bedroom door shutting close did I let out a shaky sigh, dragging a hand down my face in exasperation. That was too close. I don't want Nellie to ever see me like this. It will only invite her to worry too much about things I can clearly handle. It's just a matter of time.
But for how long?
Without so much as a second thought, I reach for my phone next to the mug of coffee and quickly pull up his contacts. I had to scroll through my messages until I came across the one he sent to me ages ago. Yeah I never deleted it and I never saved his contact.
I shoot him a text.
Me: Let's meet up.
I chew on my lip, waiting for him to reply, wading off thoughts that clearly insinuates that this is a bad idea. I distract myself by saving his number....you know....just in case.
My phone lights up with a text from him.
Aran: Hmmm....what a surprise! Should I be worried? Never mind that. Where will you like us to meet?
I text him the address and stand up from the chair, disposing of the coffee I didn't get to finish and stashing away all the bills in a safe place so Grandma or Nellie don't find them, I grab my jacket from the couch and proceed to head out.
"I'll be out for a while, Nellie. If you want anything to eat there's leftover pizza in the microwave." I don't wait for her to reply because I know she's not going to before walking out the door.
*****
I check the time on my wristwatch for the 6th time and let out a huff. He is thirty minutes late.
Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this. Maybe....I'm making a big mistake. But if I don't do this how will my family survive when I have no job? Working at a restaurant won't earn me the exact amount I need to pay up my rent. Securing the roof over our heads is my main priority right now and if being Aran's escort to every event he attends is going to help me achieve that goal, then I'll do it. Even if it kills me.
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, saying within myself that I needed this more than ever. This is not the time to be proud. A person who loves his/her family wholeheartedly will surely make sacrifices just for the sake of their well-being.
My body freezes. All my senses go on high alert, every muscle tense up at the familiar presence. My breath gets stuck in throat making it hard for me to breathe properly.
I feel him before I see him. He has that kind of effect that just draws your attention to him like he's the only one that matters in the world everytime he steps into a room.
Everyone stares at him in fear. I don't blame them. He is a wicked soul.
The bastard even came along with a couple of security guards, dressed in black suits, walking behind him towards where I'm seated. I knew he was looking at me even though he had on dark shades that hid his eyes. I looked back at him, keeping the expression on my face neutral and the determination in my eyes alive.
He raised an eyebrow but doesn't make any comment. Taking the seat across from me, he whispers something to one of the guards.
I watch as the guard walks up to the manager who just happens to be standing idly by, overwhelmed to see the mafia boss in his place of business.
Whatever the guard said to him made his eyes go wide in alarm. Suddenly, he requested for all the customers to leave, leaving Aran and I completely alone and his guards standing by the entrance.
"That was quite....dramatic." I comment, intertwining my hands together on the table, watching as the man across from me takes off his shades and scoffs.
"I value my privacy, Rayne. I don't see any issues in me prioritizing it and you shouldn't either." His eyes gleamed for a few seconds before it darkened once again. "Now let's get down to business shall we? Why the sudden interest to see me?" He lifted an eyebrow gesturing for me to speak.
"Don't....don't do that.'' I shake my head slowly.
"Do what?" He blinked at me, not even bothering to hide anything at all.
"Pretend like you don't know why I asked for us to meet." I state the obvious.
"Why....did you want us to meet?" He leans back on the chair to get comfortable and crosses one leg over the other, amusement twinkling in his eyes at the frustrated look on my face.
I blow out a breath, deciding to indulge him for the sake of my sanity. "I'm accepting your offer."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah." I respond. "But, I have a request."
"And what might that be?" He asks, intrigued.
"I'm fine being your escort. I want nothing more than that. We shouldn't try to create some sort of intimacy between us. Everything should be strictly business." I say in a serious tone.
Aran eyes me for a while before he finally speaks, sitting upright while adjusting his tie. "Certainly, Ms. Horton. I have no intention of going that far with you, or ever." He signals for one of the guards who approaches us with a brown file. I watch as he opens the file and brings out a couple of papers from it.
"What is that?" My brows furrow together in a small frown.
"The contract you and I will have to sign so we don't encounter any issues later on." He explains and lays it out between us on the table. "It's just a six months contract. Nothing too complex. It's just simple."
My eyes scan the contract carefully making sure that he isn't tricking me into signing something that I may regret later on. Once I'm satisfied with it, he offers me a pen and I sign it.
"That wasn't so hard was it?" He speaks, signing it as well before placing it back into the file and handing back to the guard. "Now that the contract has been taken care of, I will be attending a very important event tomorrow night and I want --"
The sound of a gunshot goes off. The glass next to us shatters into a thousand pieces, piercing my skin and getting caught in my hair. I fall to my knees and hide behind the table to avoid the array of bullet directed at us.
I look back at Aran who went wild with rage. He says something in Japanese to his men who nodded their head and went ahead to eliminate the threat, shooting back at them while trying not to get shot as well.
"Come with me. Let's go." He demands, gripping my wrist tightly and making his way to the back door of the cafe.
"Where are you taking me? Let go. You're hurting me." I demand, digging my heels to the ground to prevent us from going further but he continues to drag my hand effortlessly like I weighed nothing.
He turns his head sharply to meet my eyes, rigid cords visible in his neck to show just how angry he is. "Don't aggravate me, Rayne. If you want to die then you can as well stay back. Trust me when I say that those men will show you no mercy."
"What does that mean? Aran what is going on? Tell me." I ask in a much softer tone. The sound of gunshot didn't help at all. Why were those men shooting at us? Was I the target or Aran? Those are some of the many questions I wanted to ask Aran. He didn't seem like someone who was in the mood to answer any of them anyway.
We walk through a black alley which the backdoor led to, stumbling upon another street. A black car is parked next to the curb with a man leaning one arm on the hood with dark sunglasses on. The man who I now recognise to be Kane acknowledges his boss with a nod and hands him the keys.
"More of them just showed up and some are on their way. They won't be backing down soon until she's in their possession." Kane informs his boss.
"Get in." He says to me in a tone that dares me to challenge him. I don't. I get into the passenger's seat and put on the seatbelt. Any idiot could tell that I am the she. But the question is, what do they want with me?
I couldn't quite make out their conversation because they spoke in hushed tones and a language I didn't understand. Of course he was doing it intentionally. The bastard knew exactly what he was doing.
He got into the car minutes later after he was done speaking with Kane who disappeared into another street. Aran starts the engine of his car and drives off, speeding down the road like a maniac.
"Will you slow down? You're gonna get us both killed." I say, gripping my seatbelt tight just incase anything happened. I never imagined I'd die this way, next to the man I hated the most in this world. Clearly the higher powers didn't even think to favour me even in my final hours.
"Will you calm down?" He casts me a sideways glance with a frown marring his features, detecting the horror on my face. A muscle in his jaw twitched upon seeing a couple of cars right on our tail through the rearview mirror. He grinds his teeth together and stepped on the gas, reaching for something in the compartment. My eyes widens at the gun he pulls out.
"What are you doing?" My voice comes out in a shaky whisper. I have seen a gun countless times thanks to Aran but I haven't seen one up this close. It looked so real and to think that one bullet could send a person to their early grave made fear to crawl up my spine.
"What does it look like I'm doing? Running a strip club?" He barks, cutting through an intersection to steer clear of the bullet fired at us. "Just keep quiet and let me concentrate."
Aran shoots back at them, the bullets hitting one of their tires, making the driver loose control and crash into the vehicle next to him.
"How do you expect me to shut up and keep calm when my life is on the line?" I fire back.
They keep shooting at us, even though the car is bulletproof, like they weren't going to stop until they get what they want.
The colour drained off my face when I realised that we were on a bridge. A wave of nausea sweeps over me as my eyes darts to the water that spread out for miles below us. I take a deep breath and blow the air back out in a way to calm myself down. I felt sick to my stomach.
"Fuck." Aran curses. The frustration in his voice makes me divert my attention back to him. Dread twisted in my gut at the sight of blood oozing out uncontrollably from his arm.
"Aran you're....you're bleeding." Panic reflected in my voice. He gritted his teeth so hard like he is trying to subdue the pain he was feeling, a frown flickering across his forehead.
He exhales in frustration. "Don't you think I know that?" He snaps.
We were clearly outnumbered. More of the black SUV showed up and followed closely behind us, firing bullets after bullets. Aran didn't back down either even in his current state. He was loosing blood fast. Any moment from now he would loose consciousness.
I chew on my lip and let out a quiet huff. Damn it. I take off the seatbelt as well as my jacket. "Give me your hand. I need to stop the bleeding." Why am I even doing this? He doesn't deserve my help whatsoever.
"Are you out of your mind? I am in no position to adhere to your nonsense. I am not your patient. I can take care of myself without you."
The car jerks forward so hard that I hit my head against the dashboard. My vision goes blurry for a few seconds and my head pounds. I feel a wetness on my forehead and wiped it away with my hand, bringing to my view to check it out. Blood.
"Rayne are you okay?" His voice was surprisingly soft but I could still detect a hard edge to it. Did I imagine that?
I blink away the blurriness from my eyes and looked at Aran, the look on his face made it known to me that something was wrong. It didn't take long for me to realise that they shot the tyres.
The car moved around the road uncontrollably as Aran tried to steady it while muttering curses in so many languages. I put my seatbelt back on.....and in a split second, everything happened so fast.
The car went off the bridge and crashed into the water.
——————
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Now we are starting to get some action.
What do y'all think about this chapter?
Things are happening so fast I can barely comprehend it, lol.
I honestly can't wait for these two to get together.
See you, next update.