Ch. 126..130: Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion Chapter 126-130

Chapter 126: A Date

"I see. I think I know just the place…" Hayden said.

The way his face lit up made me knew that an idea just popped into his head. As to if the idea was a good one or not, I was about to find out. After a while of driving in his car, we arrived at the destination that Hayden had in mind.

This place looks like a zoo but not really…

"What is this place?" I asked curiously.

"A tiger preservatory," Hayden replied as took my hand and helped me out of his car.

"A tiger preservatory?" I said in disbelief.

This big place is a tiger farm? I never knew such a place existed. I was half expecting that he would take me to the zoo based on my input of liking fluffy animals. A tiger preservatory was indeed beyond my expectations.

"I guess you’ve never been to one before. They’re not that common…I guess…" Hayden said as he started pulling me along with him.

"What are we going to do here, exactly?" I asked.

The place was very quiet and apart from Hayden and me, there was no one else around. The place was surrounded by very high walls and looked like a prison from the outside. There’s a lot of security. The owner is probably scared of the tigers escaping and rightfully so.

"You’ll see…" Hayden said as he brought me inside the venue.

The inside of the building seemed normal. There wasn’t anything outstanding apart from photographs of various tigers and their cubs. There was no one inside as well.

"Should we call for someone? We’re supposed to buy entry tickets, right?" I asked.

"No. This place isn’t open to the public and they don’t allow visitors. It’s private," Hayden explained.

Wait. Then why are we here?

"Should we be here, then?" I asked.

"One of the boss’s friends owns this place. It’s all good. I’ve been here before," Hayden said calmly.

Just when he finished his sentence, a balding old man walked into the room. Immediately when he saw Hayden, the man broke out in a smile before he started hugging Hayden.

"Welcome! You haven’t been here for a long time…" the old man said.

"We’re here to play with the cats," Hayden said without any further delays.

"I see. Your girl here is going to be ok?" the old man asked as he eyed me up and down.

"Sure," Hayden replied without consulting me.

"Wait…we’re going to play with the tigers?" I asked in shock.

I knew that some tigers were trained to entertain people in zoos and such. I’ve seen people take photos with them, but I have never done that before. To be honest, I was more scared than excited about the idea. However, this place didn’t seem like type of place.

"Come along," Hayden said as he guided me further into the building.

Thankfully, I didn’t see any tigers in sight. I felt very nervous and on edge. Why couldn’t we have gone to a place that was more normal?

"This place is preservatory. The owner helps tigers. He buys them from zoos and circus and the like. For rare breeds, he breeds them," Hayden started to explain.

"Wow. That’s pretty cool. Tigers are supposed to be rare, right? Some have gone extinct…" I replied.

Hayden led me further into the back and finally I could see the tigers. Wow, there’s so many of them. Thankfully, the tigers seemed well detained. They’re so big. Those beasts look so deadly; however, they were also graceful creatures. Playing with them was a different matter all together though.

"Let’s see if you’re lucky…" Hayden said mischievously.

I continued to follow after him and it seemed like Hayden had a destination in mind. Finally, we arrived at an enclosed area with large metal doors. Hayden stopped in front of the door before pressing a button to ring the bell. After a short while of waiting, the door slowly creaked opened as someone had apparently opened it from the inside.

"Oh…Hayden…" a sweet voice said as a pair of very bright blue eyes greeted us through the crack in the door.

"How are you?" Hayden asked in greeting.

"Great! Come in. Oh…we have a special guest," the young woman said as she smiled at me.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Malissa," I said as I stuck out my hand.

The woman laughed before taking my hand in a tight squeeze.

"I’m Daniella. My father runs this place. I’m helping him now too," she quickly introduced herself as she beckoned us to follow her inside.

"Seems like you’re one lucky girl…" Hayden whispered in my ear.

For the first time, I understood what he meant by that. My eyes opened and I mouthed the word ’wow’ as I looked around. Fluffy animals indeed!

"So many tiger cubs! Wow! Oh…Wow!" I exclaimed.

Hayden started laughing a little at my reaction. My eyes were focused on the many tiger cubs that were playing around in the facility. Apart from Daniella, there were other staffs there to take care of the cubs. It was like a nursery and the staffs were like babysitters to the cute little cubs.

"You’re quite lucky indeed. We happen to have so many cubs in the nursery right now. Some time, it’s almost empty, unfortunately. It’s not easy to breed tigers…" Daniella explained.

"You can pet them," Hayden said as he invited me to approach one of the cubs.

"Yup, you can. The smaller ones are easier to approach. The bigger cubs are already naughty and playful. Be careful, they can scratch you," Daniella warned.

"Look at this cute little guy…" Hayden said as he scooped a small tiger cub into his arms and held it.

He carried the cub to my side so that I could see the cub up close. So cute. Just super cute! I couldn’t stop staring down at the cute little cub and his super innocent expression. Slowly, I reached out my hand and stroked the top of the cub’s head. His baby fur was so soft.

"It’s a girl by the way…" Daniella corrected with a small laugh.

"Oh…baby girl…" I said adoringly.

--To be continued…

Please support my other works: Conquering the Emperor

Forbidden Heat

Chapter 127: Taking Him on a Tour

I turned to smile at Hayden and was surprised to see him watching me. Quickly, I turned away, suddenly feeling very conscious of his gaze.

"Do you want to hold her?" Hayden asked.

"Sure…I’ll try…" I said as I tried to take the cub into my arms from Hayden.

Carefully, Hayden transferred the cub that he was holding into my arms. The cub weighed more than I initially thought but her fur was so soft that I didn’t mind bearing the weight at all. Fortunately, she seemed well behaved and didn’t wriggle around as I held her. Looking down at her in my arms, I was reminded of how precious life is. Her clear eyes as she stared up at me was mesmerizingly beautiful.

"Malissa seems to like it here. You should bring her here again," Daniella suggested to Hayden brightly.

"Yea…" Hayden replied softly.

I doubt that I would get to come here again unless we some how make it back here in the remaining few days that we have left together. Of course, neither of us bothered to explain that to Daniella. It was just a thought that crossed my mind and remained unspoken.

…

After a very simple but entertaining lunch at the cafeteria with Daniella, we left the tiger preservatory to head to our next destination. It was already mid afternoon when we got into Hayden’s car. As always, I had no idea where he was going to take me. Based off my previous experience, I knew that asking wasn’t going to lead me to any answers.

I sat quietly as I enjoyed the peace of the drive and the scenery that flew by outside of the car’s window. We were driving back into the city and soon enough we were smack in the city center. To my surprise, our destination was a very well-known art exhibition hall. It was one of the most famous and definitely one of the biggest in the country.

Every art student or anyone interested in art must have visited this place at least once in their lives. Of course, that also applies to me. I’ve been here three or four times now over the course of my time at university. Apart from the famous artwork that were permanently on display, the place had many halls for special rotating exhibitions.

Since my life was disturbed by the mafia, I haven’t had the heart to follow up on any art news and had no idea whose collection or what they were showcasing now as their special exhibition.

"Are you here to see the special exhibition?" I asked Hayden as entered.

"I’m here to walk around and kill time," Hayden responded a little too frankly.

Ok. I never really expected him to have a love for art or anything but putting it that way was a little harsh. There are many interesting things to see and do here even if you’re not totally into art.

"Well, in that case, what about I give you a little tour? Maybe…it’ll be a more interesting way to ’kill time’?" I suggested.

"Sure. Do whatever you want," Hayden replied in agreement.

I wasn’t sure why I proactively suggested that. I guess, I just didn’t want him to look so bored and disinterested when he’s at a place that I thought was very inspiring. Since I’ve been here many times before and as an art student, I knew many of the famous pieces and their story, I guess I would make a decent guide.

"Do you have to meet someone or go somewhere after? At what time?" I asked.

"I’ll let you know when it’s time," Hayden replied softly.

"Ok, then…" I said before leading him into one of the main exhibition halls.

I showed Hayden around as I talked animatedly about the famous works of art and also highlighted the ones that I personally like. Hayden seemed interested enough. At least, he was willing to listen to what I had to say and followed me around.

"You really like art, huh?" Hayden spoke up suddenly while I was showing him a very large painting.

"Of course. I even chose to major in it even though I knew that it would be hard to make a living out of it," I said before laughing softly at my own decision.

"Will you join the exhibition with your friends?" Hayden asked as he continued to admire the painting.

Oh…I guess he still remembers the exhibition that Jenny invited me to join. Come to think of it, I haven’t given her any definite answer. That was the case because I haven’t really made up my mind about it. I was leaning towards rejecting it though.

"Do you think that I should join the exhibition?" I asked as I glanced over at Hayden

"I think you should," he replied, sounding very certain.

I was about to ask him why he thought so when I realized that that wasn’t what I wanted to know or what I really wanted to ask. What I really wanted to know was…

"Do you want me to…join the exhibition?" I asked, rephrasing my question to better reflect what I wanted to know.

"Of course," Hayden said without hesitation as he turned to face me. The smile he showed me took my breath away and I felt heat rise to my cheeks.

"I see…I’ll think about it," I quickly mumbled my reply as I turned to look the other way.

Hayden didn’t say anything else, and I was struggling to find a topic to discuss with him to break this suddenly awkward atmosphere between us. That was when a thin man dressed in a black suit came walking up to us.

"Excuse me, Mr. Torex," the man said as he came close to Hayden.

With a deep bow, the man extended what seemed to be a hardcover book to Hayden. Hayden reached out for it and thanked the man. Without another word, the man bowed once more and turned on his heels before walking back the way that he had came from. I cocked my head to the side in wonder at what had just happened. Did Hayden order a book to be delivered?

I could tell from the image on the cover that it was a book regarding artworks.

 

Chapter 128: My Favorite

"I didn’t think that you would be that interested in art…" I managed to say after a short pause.

"It’s my job to be interested in anything that can make a huge profit in the black market," Hayden replied casually.

"I see…" I whispered.

"Let me make a wild guess…" Hayden said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"About?" I asked, not quite following.

"One of the things you like about Ethan is his good sense in art, right?" Hayden asked so abruptly that all I could do was blink a couple of times at him as his words started to sink in.

Ok. I didn’t not expect Hayden to bring Ethan up. Neither did I expect him to get that right. It was true, I did like Ethan because he seemed to have a very sharp eye for art. His artwork isn’t half bad but I’ve always thought that he had a talent for appraising and commenting on art rather than creating one himself. Obviously, I have never told Hayden that before so how did he figure it out?

"How did you figure that out?" I asked suspiciously.

"Not hard. One of the main businesses of Silva is trading art and artifacts in the black market, after all. Ethan’s been dealing with stuff like that since he was a kid. I have to say he’s quite good at it," Hayden said like it was no big surprise.

Since he was a kid? I didn’t know that…

"I never knew that. He…never mentioned it," I replied quietly. I guess I didn’t know much about Ethan after all.

"I’m not surprised that he didn’t. As to why I’m bringing that up…" Hayden said as he tightened his hold of my hand.

Suddenly, he took my hand and placed the book that had just been delivered to him into it. I looked at the book in my hand with confusion. Why did he give this to me?

"Tell me which artwork in there interests you the most," Hayden ordered.

"Huh? Why?" I asked in confusion.

"Just do it," Hayden said curtly.

Not quite understanding what was going on, I opened the book and started flipping through a couple of pages. Each page contained photos of artwork followed by a short description of its history and estimated value. Of course, most of the estimated value were left blank because most of the works were not available for sale or couldn’t be priced.

While I was busy looking at content of the book, Hayden was looking at his watch.

"It’s about time. Let’s go…" Hayden said softly as he took my hand in his again.

"Where to?" I asked intriguingly.

Suddenly, he was walking a little faster than before and I struggled to keep up with him. We wove through a group of students who were on their school trip before Hayden made a sharp turn. Since he was walking so fast, I was beginning to lose track of where we were inside the building. Why does it feel like I’ve never been down this path before?

Before long, we were standing in front of a seemingly very isolated elevator. I didn’t know that there was an elevator here. Frankly, I didn’t even know that this hallway existed in the first place. Hayden seemed to know his way around pretty well too. Perhaps, he’s been here before?

"What are you spacing out for?" Hayden asked before he pulled me into the elevator with him.

The elevator automatically descended. It seemed like our destination was already decided for us. I sucked in a breath when I realized that this place wasn’t supposed to have an underground floor. Hayden seemed very relaxed next to me and that made me believe that we’re going to be just fine.

"Have you decided?" Hayden asked just before the doors of the elevator opened.

"Huh? Not yet. How am I supposed to decide so fast? There’s so many artworks in this book…" I replied, slightly flustered.

It was true, the book was thick and so much information was packed in. So far, I haven’t seen anything that caught my eye. Flipping through the pages rapidly, as I walked along at Hayden’s side, something finally caught my attention. This is it! I knew it the moment that I laid eyes on it. If I had to choose my favorite art piece from this entire book, this painting would be it!

"I guess you’ve decided. Show me," Hayden said, and I found out that he had been staring at me the whole time.

"Here…" I mumbled as I showed him the page of the book while Hayden leaned closer to me to better see it.

The artwork that I had chosen was an oil painting of a field of flowers. I’ve appreciated this piece for a long time, but I have never seen the painting in real life. Actually, no one has seen it for over a hundred years now since it was stolen or lost. Well, rumors says that it was stolen. Officially, it was declared missing or lost.

The story behind the painting was a sorrowful one; however, the beautiful play of colors on the canvas was truly captivating.

"Hmm…interesting choice, I would say. You’ve never seen this painting before, have you?" Hayden asked.

"Never. I’ve only seen photos of it and recreations of it," I replied truthfully.

"This way," Hayden said as he led me down a narrow and empty hallway before we entered through a double door.

The place we entered was dimly lit but it was full of people. The atmosphere was joyous as many people chatted and greeted each other like old friends. Looking around, I could tell that the place resembled a theatre. There was a stage at the front and rows of chairs for the audience to observe the performance. I followed Hayden obediently as he led us to our seats.

"Why are we here? Are we going to watch a performance?" I whispered close to Hayden’s ear so that he would hear me above the loud chatting of the people around us.

"Sort of. Pass me the book," Hayden said as he held out his hand.

I nodded and returned the book to him. Hayden flipped through the book before taking something out and sticking it on the chest of his shirt. While I was wondering what he was doing, the light on the stage turned on and a man in a tuxedo and a woman in a bright red dress walked onto the stage.

 

Chapter 129: For a Price

"Welcome everyone to our exclusive auction. As always, we are your hosts for today. As I’m sure that everyone has attended this auction before or have already read the rules, I will proceed to the first item without any further delays…" the woman in the bright red dress said through the microphone.

We’re at an auction?!

Everyone was clapping as the first item for the auction was brought to the center of the stage. That’s the statue that was on the first page of the book, if I’m not mistaken. Wait…does that mean?

That can’t be. All the artworks in the book are either super rare, missing or stolen…

Or could it be?

Suddenly my hands and feet felt very cold as it suddenly hit me. Tell me this is a joke…

But if it’s true then, the reason why he told me to pick out something for him…

"The book…is for the items that will be put up for auction?" I asked in sheer disbelief.

"Yup," Hayden replied.

"You’re going to bid for the painting?!" I cried out loudly at my sudden realization as I whirled around to face Hayden.

I still couldn’t bring myself to believe that someone actually found the painting and it was going to be put up for auction here. However, the same logic applied to the statue that is currently on stage. Other people in the audience were rapidly bidding on the statue, driving up the price. The hosts were doing an amazing job of facilitating the bidding too.

"Shh…don’t panic, Malissa," Hayden said as he put a finger up to his lips.

I sat next to Hayden stunned as item after item were put on stage and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Every item ending at an outrageously high price. How many zeros is that again? Judging from the ending price of the other pieces, a knotted started to form in the pit of my stomach as I realized that the same would probably happen to the painting that I had chosen.

That’s just crazy!

"You’re not…buying this for me, right?" I asked for confirmation. I could never take anything this exorbitantly expensive as a gift. Not to talk about the fact that it was probably illegal to own most if not all of the pieces of art there were being auctioned.

"Of course not. I’m buying it for myself. Since you’re knowledgeable in art, I thought it would be good if I bought a piece that you like," Hayden replied casually.

Phew! I let out such a big breath of relief.

"That’s a real relief…you cannot imagine just how relief I am…" I said before smiling at him.

I guess I didn’t have to panic about it. It wasn’t like Hayden could easily win in the bidding. The people here were clearly abnormally rich and very aggressive in their bidding. Now that I wasn’t so worried about the painting that I had chosen, I could concentrate more on the other pieces of art that were brought onto the stage.

It’s so rare to see these artworks in real life. Many pieces that people thought had been lost forever were brought to the stage. Never in my life did I ever dream of seeing these pieces in real life. Although I couldn’t inspect them up close; it was more than enough for me.

Finally, the moment that we have been waiting for arrived. The painting that I had always admired and the one that I had chosen from the book was being brought up onto the stage. Without realizing it at first, I had started leaning forward in my seat as I tired my best to get a closer look at the painting.

To be honest, I wanted to get out of my seat and run on stage to gawk at the painting but I guessed that wasn’t really feasible or acceptable.

"Don’t worry. You’ll get to see it up close soon enough…" Hayden muttered, sounding a little bored.

"Really?" I asked with excitement.

"Yeah. I’ll hang it in my bedroom so you can see it," Hayden whispered in my ear before he winked at me.

"I don’t think you should bid on it…" I said with a shaky voice.

Everything here is too expensive. Sure, work of art like these are supposed to be priceless but still…

"Well then, we would like to start the bidding on this supposedly lost forever painting…" the woman in the red dress said in an alluring voice.

Hands shot up in the air as she read out the number of the bidder and the amount to reconfirm the bid. I gasped in shock. I never imagined that there would be so much demand for this painting. Apparently, many bidders had their eyes set on the same painting as we did.

10 million dollars. 20 million dollars. 30 million dollars…

Each time the price went up my heart beat faster and faster. This is just crazy. When will the bidding stop? So far Hayden has been sitting calmly next to me and hasn’t raised his hand once. I would feel relieved if he had given up on bidding on it all together.

It made me feel guilty that he was going to bid on the painting because I had chosen it even if he assured me that he was buying it for himself.

"100 million dollars…" the woman said.

Oh wow…100 million dollars…

There was a pause before a man put up his hand to raise the bid up to 150 million dollars. The hall was filled with murmurs as the bid seemed to have come to a stop. The painting’s price was very high now, but it wasn’t the highest compared to some of the past auctions.

"300 million dollars,"

A very familiar voice spoke up right next to me. Don’t tell me…

I turned to see Hayden with his right hand raised. My mouth fell open as I stared at him in absolute disbelief. He didn’t just bid on the painting now, did he?

"300 million dollars! I can’t believe it! Anyone else?" the woman said with a big beaming smile.

Obviously, there were no other bids on the painting. The other guests applauded softly to the winning bidder and as the ruckus died down, Hayden stood up from his seat.

 

Chapter 130: A Fun Day

"Let’s go. We’re done here," Hayden said as he took my hand and pulled me up from my seat.

"Ok…" I murmured softly as I followed close behind him.

Excusing out way through the row of seats, we finally managed to make it out of the theatre. There was more light outside in the hallway and I could see Hayden clearer now.

"Why did you pay so much for the painting?!" I cried out in panic.

"300 million dollars? It’s nothing. It’s supposed to be a good investment, right?" Hayden said before smiling confidently at me.

I said I liked the painting out of the other ones in the book, but I never said that it was a good investment! I sighed loudly, knowing that telling that to Hayden wouldn’t change his thinking at all.

"Want to go have a closer look at our purchase?" Hayden suggested.

"We can do that? Really?" I asked, unable to contain my excitement.

Hayden laughed at me loudly and I slapped his arm playfully in my own embarrassment. The staff took us to see the painting that Hayden had won in the auction. Apparently, he had to settle the payment as well before the painting could be delivered.

While Hayden was settling the payment, I was too busy gawking at the painting as I admired the color with my naked eye. The texture, the emotion, the feel of the painting. I was too absorbed and busy just trying to take it all in.

"I’m done. Let’s go…" Hayden called out to me after he was done.

"Yeah…" I said hesitantly.

No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible for me to tear my eye away from the painting. Dream come true moment!

"Stop staring at it so much or I’m going to get jealous. You can stare at it all you like when it gets delivered…" Hayden teased.

I felt his hands on my arms before he started physically pulling me away from the painting. Goodbye dear painting! I wanted to laugh at my helplessly obsessed state.

"When are they delivering the painting?" I couldn’t help but ask.

Hayden glanced over at me from the driver’s seat of his car before he shook his head and started laughing at my obsession over the painting. I just couldn’t help it. I was sure that obtaining the painting this way was definitely illegal. Although he paid a whole lot of money for it, an underground auction is an underground auction.

Hayden wasn’t at all worried about it and I guess none of the other bidders were concerned about it either. That didn’t make it a good thing though. It disturbed me that many artworks were probably stolen to be auctioned off like this before they disappeared into the collection of the mega wealthy. I didn’t support it, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.

Who would have thought that a huge black-market auction took place in the undergrounds of a well-known art museum? Regardless, I had to admit that I enjoyed myself immensely today from getting to pet small tiger cubs to seeing works of art that I never thought I would get to lay my eyes on in his life. Today turned out to be an awesome day.

"Do you want to go out for dinner, or do you want to head back?" Hayden asked.

Good question.

"Let’s head back," I said decisively.

"You sure?" Hayden asked without looking at me.

"Yup. Let’s just head back," I replied with certainty.

After a short drive, we arrived back at the building and while laughing at his jokes, we made our way up to our penthouse.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked as Hayden sat down on the sofa and stretched his arms above his head.

"Whatever the cook can whip up is fine. I’m not fussed…" he replied without even thinking.

"Ok…" I mumbled.

Luckily Auntie was there to help arrange our meal with the cook. Although Hayden said that he was fine with something simple, the meal still turned out to be quite extravagant. I stared down at the massive number of dishes in front of us as I sat opposite Hayden at the dining table.

"You’re not going to eat?" Hayden spoke up as he stared at my face.

"Of course, I’ll eat…" I mumbled before digging in.

"Did you have fun today?" Hayden asked after a short while of eating in silence.

His question honestly took me by surprise.

"Yes, I did. Thank you…for everything…" I said softly before smiling at him.

"Good," Hayden said in short.

The conversation died down as suddenly as it had started. I watched as Hayden continued eating while occasionally pulling out his phone. However, he didn’t say anything else to me. It was strange but I couldn’t think of a way to start a conversation with him. Before I knew it, dinner came to an end.

"Thank you, Auntie," I thanked Auntie as she started clearing away the dishes.

"No worries. I’ll leave after I finish putting these away," Auntie said before flashing me a kind smile.

I smiled back as I nodded in appreciation. It was getting late, and I wanted Auntie to hurry back so that she could rest. Hayden woke me up quite early this morning and we were out all day. Suddenly, the fatigue hit me, and I started feeling a little sleepy. I offered to help Auntie out, but she firmly turned me down just as I had expected.

Sighing a little to myself, I watched as she worked to clear away the dishes.

"Great. That will do," Hayden spoke on the phone.

The conversation was short with Hayden only saying a few words before hanging up. I wondered what was going on, but I didn’t dare to ask. A few minutes later, I heard the doorbell to the penthouse ringing.

"I’ll get that…" Auntie quickly said as she headed to the door.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked Hayden, seeing that he didn’t seem surprised.

"No…" Hayden replied curtly.

The penthouse door opened and a few men dressed in formal matching suits came in while carrying a large parcel in their hands. Oh…so the delivery was being made today?

Huh? Today?!

"Excuse me, Sir. Where do you want this?" one of the men said politely to Hayden.