Ch. 161..165: Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion Chapter 161-165

Chapter 161: Younger Days

Why didn’t I realize this earlier? It was just like my brain not to remember something so important when I needed to remember it. It’s like they say, if you’re looking for something you won’t find it but when you’re not looking for it anymore, it’ll just pop out at you.

"I remember now. If I’m not wrong your father said that he was looking for Jack Witman when he ran into me in my town. That was the first time that I met you father," I told Hayden.

It was then that I realized that the old man probably knew something about me all along. I would be a fool to believe that he simply ran into me in that small town completely by coincidence. Who is Jack Witman and what does he have to do with me?

"I see. Old man was probably checking to see if you knew anything about Jack and about yourself," Hayden said without showing any signs that he was surprised.

"What do you mean?" I asked quickly.

"Let me tell you a story from when I was younger…" Hayden replied calmly before smiling reassuringly at me.

A story…from when he was younger?

…

"Jack!" a blond boy called out as he raced toward the man called Jack.

Jack was sitting on a bench in a very beautiful and well-organized garden. The boy approached the bench and quickly sat next to Jack.

"Hayden, you’re always so active!" Jack said before he put an arm around the boy’s shoulders.

"You should have told me that you were coming to visit. Can you take me for a drive like last time?" Hayden asked as hope sparkled in his eyes.

"Jack’s not free to deal with your stupid requests. He’s busy," a dark-haired boy poked his head around to snap at Hayden.

The two boys glared at each other as they sat beside Jack while Jack started laughing.

"Shup up, Ethan. No one asked you for anything," Hayden snapped back.

"Jack is super busy with work now. Also…his baby girl was just born…" Ethan said before turning to smile at Jack.

"Baby girl?" Hayden said questioningly.

"Yes. My wife just gave birth, you see," Jack said before smiling a little.

"You got a girl? Then…who’s going to play with me?" Hayden asked with worry. Clearly playing with a girl wasn’t his idea of fun.

"You have Ethan here as your best friend already, don’t you?" Jack asked as he patted Ethan’s shoulder.

"Nah…he’s not my friend…or anything…" Hayden muttered darkly.

"You keep saying that and I’m going to tell my dad not to let Jack come around anymore," Ethan threatened.

"Jack will come if my dad asks…" Hayden said confidently.

"No, he won’t because Jack is part of Silva!" Ethan shouted back.

Jack laughed as he watched the two boys engage in another staring contest. Ethan was right, Jack was the right-hand man of the current boss of Silva. However, he also helped the boss of Torex since they were friends. Unfortunately, he was the only person linking the two gang together.

"That’s enough fighting…" Jack said, and the two boys looked away from each other.

His eyes narrowed as if deep in thought. Sometimes, he wasn’t sure how to handle these two boys to make them get along. One was the only son and heir to the Silva gang while the other is the younger son of the Torex gang. To make his dream of uniting the two gangs come true to preserve peace, he needed them both to work together.

Although it was clear that Hayden had taken a liking to him, it was clear that Hayden did not always get along with Ethan. Perhaps because they were close in age, the boys viewed each other as competitors, and both were too stubborn to bend to the other.

It took a long time for the boss of Silva to even consider a partnership with the Torex gang. The fact that he was a friend of the current boss of Torex helped a lot, but it wasn’t enough to bring the two gang together. Rivalry and betrayal among the mafia gangs was as common as the green blades of grass in the field. A stronger bond had to be built and he knew that his life alone wasn’t enough.

"Will I get to see her? Your baby girl…" Hayden asked a little shyly.

"Why do you want to see her?" Jack asked with interest.

"Well…Ethan has seen her, right?" Hayden replied as his eyes glared at Ethan.

Ethan stuck out his tongue before turning the other way.

"I guess you’re right. What about this? Do you want to marry her?" Jack teased.

Hayden’s blue eyes widened before his face scrunched up in disgust.

"Of course not! I don’t want to marry anyone!" Hayden cried loudly.

"Is that so…?" Jack said before he laughed carefreely.

"If you don’t want to marry her, then I will. I want to be Jack’s son," Ethan said proudly.

"You can’t do that, Ethan," Jack quickly killed off Ethan’s dream.

"Why not?" Ethan asked as he pouted, clearly dissatisfied.

"You’re already engaged to someone else…another girl. Well, I doubt you understand what that means right now…" Jack said with a helpless shrug as he watched the two boys.

Jack placed his large hand on Hayden’s head and the boy turned to look at him with a questioning look in his bright and clear blue eyes. Jack knew from the time that he spent with Hayden that he was a pure hearted and honest boy. This boy had something that his elder brother didn’t have and that might be the key to uniting both groups.

"Hayden, you are such a compassionate boy," Jack complimented.

"Compassionate…what does that even mean?" Hayden asked in confusion as he cocked his head slightly to the side.

"Hmm…it means that you’re caring about other people. You try to understand them and help them, I guess," Jack replied.

"Never mind that, I’m hungry!" Ethan quickly cut in as he jumped up from the bench and started pulling on Jack’s hand.

"Why don’t the three of us go out for dinner?" Jack suggested as he stood up.

"Yay! Steak. I want steak!" Ethan shouted happily.

 

Chapter 162: Our Connection

"But what does all of that have to do with me?" I asked when Hayden seemed to arrive at a good place to pause in his story.

I understood from the story that Hayden and Ethan were childhood friends and that Jack took care of them. They were both fond of this Jack person but what does that have to do with anything?

"Quite a lot actually. You see, Jack Witman is your father," Hayden said as if it was no big deal.

HUH?! Impossible…

"No…my father…" I began denying.

"He changed his name. Everything about him that you remember is nothing more than a cover. His name, his identity, his looks, how he dressed, his job. Everything was fabricated. What you saw was his second attempt at life, one where he deemed would be more suitable for you to be raised," Hayden explained swiftly.

"That’s impossible. My father had nothing to do with the mafia. He was just an honest businessman who always worked hard," I stated firmly.

"That’s what you saw but before that he was Jack Witman. The right-hand man of Silva and the man who was working hard to unite Silva and Torex," Hayden stated resolutely.

"No…I just can’t believe that. If I do then, everything during those years that we spent as a family together was a lie? That’s just…ridiculous," I said, unwilling to believe it.

So, everything that I knew until now was a lie? None of it was true? Why did my father have to go so far to keep me away from the mafia? Was this why Hayden was asking me whether I wanted to choose a life for myself? I glanced over Hayden and saw that he had a very dark and grim look on his face and his eyes seemed faraway.

I wondered what he was seeing in his mind’s eyes but the look on his handsome face told me that it wasn’t something pretty.

"That’s not quite true. I’m sure his love for you and his family was real. He did honestly work hard to live an honest life away from the mafia," Hayden said with certainty.

"I see…" I mumbled softly.

"He did all of that for you just so that you could live a sheltered and normal life away from the mafia," Hayden explained.

None of this was making sense. What happened to his dream of uniting the two gangs?

"What happened? What happened after that day? The girl who was born back then was me, right?" I asked, feeling that I was about to learn something even more important.

"That’s right. Your grandmother still calls you by your old name, Lisa," Hayden said before he smiled a little sadly at me.

A slight pain stung my heart at the mention of my grandmother, and it reminded me of how much I missed her and her words.

"No, Lisa is my nickname. It’s shortened from Malissa," I corrected his misunderstanding.

"Nope. Lisa was your original name. Malissa, your new name, was chosen by adding a syllable to your old name. You were born Lisa Witman," Hayden corrected me in return as he shook his head slowly from side to side.

"My grandmother knew about all this?" I asked in shock.

"She did but how much she knew exactly, I’m not sure. She knew that your father was part of the mafia and of course she knew his name and your old name as well," Hayden surmised.

I guess that was why my grandmother seemed to know Hayden and the fact that we spent some of our childhood together. Hayden was older and he remembers; however, I was too young to remember much of anything. I didn’t even remember Hayden or Ethan for that matter.

"Jack Witman wanted to unite the two gang and achieve stability and peace. He believed that once united the gang will be big enough to suppress conflict with the other small gangs. However, somewhere along the lines, he changed his mind," Hayden said as his tone darkened.

"He changed his mind?" I asked in surprise.

"His initial plan was to join the two gang through the classical way of using marriage ties. However, things were not so straightforward because Ethan was already engaged to Amelia at her birth and my father wanted Harvey to marry someone outside of the mafia world to create connections. He wanted him to marry a politician’s daughter or something along those lines," Hayden said passively.

"I see…" I mumbled.

However, I did not foresee what Hayden was going to tell me next.

"When you were born, your father suggested the idea that his daughter and the younger son of Torex should get married. His daughter would act as Silva’s representative, and I would act as Torex’s. By some twist of fate, my old man agreed to it," Hayden said as if the story didn’t concern him at all.

"Wait! Then that means that you and I were…engaged?!" I exclaimed in pure shock.

"That’s right. Of course, you were too young to know about it and I was too young to understand it properly. However, as far as our parents and the gangs were concerned, we were formally engaged," Hayden said with a firm nod.

Even though Hayden and I were engaged, my father left the mafia and chose to live a normal life. He broke off the engagement, didn’t he?

"If that was what my father wanted then why did he leave the mafia?" I asked. Something just didn’t feel right.

"It’s actually quite simple. An incident occurred that made him realize that his daughter wasn’t safe if she had any connections to the mafia," Hayden explained simply.

"Wasn’t safe?" I asked, echoing his words.

"You were kidnapped as a very young girl," Hayden said after a slight pause.

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously.

How is that possible? I had absolutely no recollection of something of that sort happening to me.

"Yup. You weren’t harmed, thankfully so. I was too young to get involved in the incident, but I remember that it was a big mess. In the end, the adults got you back," Hayden said before he smiled sympathetically at me.

"I don’t remember any of it," I said blankly.

"No surprise there, you were too young. The kidnappers were from a smaller gang, and they demanded a ransom of 500 million dollars for your release, sounds familiar?" Hayden asked before laughing a little.

"Oh…" I mumbled in sudden realization.

That figure sounded very familiar. Now everything was starting to fall in pieces bit by bit.

 

Chapter 163: Crumbling Truth

"That’s right. My old man paid for all the ransom and waved it off as your father borrowing from him. The debt contract that my old man showed you was drafted and signed then. I don’t know this for sure, but my father probably didn’t want any of the money back. To him, he was just helping out a friend.

Back then the Torex business isn’t the size that it is today so that money was a significant amount," Hayden explained before grinning at me.

"I never knew this. Your father showed me a clause in the contract that I had to marry a member of the gang of his choice…" I said as I recalled the day that the boss showed me the debt contract.

"My father wanted us to get married. He still does. However, he was the only one who supported and understood your father’s decision to cut all ties with the mafia. The contract was signed in your parent’s new name too because of that. My father was probably the only one who knew of Jack’s new identity," Hayden continued to explain.

One thing for sure was that Hayden’s father really wanted us to get married. He wanted it bad enough for him to track me down and use the debt against me. I remembered how mad and shocked I was back then, but I feel very different now. I had to admit that if it wasn’t for the boss’s intervention, Hayden and I probably won’t be where we are today.

"The others were against it?" I asked.

Hayden nodded solemnly.

"Definitely. I bet you can’t even begin to imagine. The previous boss of Silva, Ethan’s father and his entire gang viewed it as an act of complete betrayal," Hayden said before he heaved a depressing sigh.

Everything was so complicated that I started to get a headache. From the way things are now between the two gangs, I could tell that the attempt at a partnership back then failed completely.

"Of course, the partnership plan that your father dreamt of failed. His departure made the two gang hate each other even more than before. It wasn’t just the bosses and the gang members that had differing opinions on the issue, Ethan and I had opposite views on it as well," Hayden said coldly as his eyes narrowed.

"Ethan? What happened between you two?" I asked with worry.

"We were separated by our parents, and we stopped seeing each other. It was because of our parents at first but later it was mostly because of our different perspectives. Although we both love and respected your father a lot, his departure impacted us in very different ways," Hayden said sadly.

Looking back on the argument that I’ve heard between the two, it did seem like they didn’t get along and had very opposing views.

"How exactly?" I asked for further details.

"When Jack disappeared, I felt like I had lost a father. I can only imagine what it must have been like for Ethan. Jack was from the Silva gang and he spent much more time with Ethan than he did with me. Ethan went crazy when Jack didn’t return. He used every method at his disposal to find Jack to try to bring him back," Hayden said before he paused as if he was recalling something.

"And you?" I prompted for Hayden to continued.

"I respected Jack’s decision and wanted him to do whatever would make him happiest. I wanted you to be safe…that’s why…I never went looking for you even after what happened to Jack. At first, I thought that if that’s the life Jack wanted for you then that was how it should be," Hayden said with slight regret in his voice.

I wondered if he thought that his belief was wrong now that many things have changed.

"Ethan came looking for me…" I whispered softly.

"That’s right and he shouldn’t have. Soon after Jack disappeared and Ethan lost his mind, his parents sent him abroad to keep him away from everything. He hated his parents, and this only made it worst. Guess what was the first thing that Ethan did when he returned to this country…" Ethan said before he smirked at me.

"He came to find me…" I said with sudden understanding.

"Correct," Hayden affirmed with a nod.

"But in the end, he left me to return to take over Silva…" I mumbled softly.

"Unlike Ethan, the boss of Silva wanted Jack found dead or alive. He didn’t need Jack back," Hayden said monotonously.

"The boss of Silva wanted to kill my father?" I gasped in shock.

Slowly, Hayden turned to face me before he took my hands into his. I had never seen such a sorrowful look on his face before, not even when he was in front of his brother’s grave.

"Yes, and he succeeded," Hayden said without meeting my eyes.

The previous boss of Silva killed my parents? That’s just…

"No. That’s impossible. My parents died in a car accident. They were hit by a truck with drunk driver early in the morning. There were photos of it, and it was all over the news. It was just…an accident…" I said as I shook my head in denial.

It felt like my world was going dark. Hayden told me so many things, but this just didn’t make any sense. It was just an accident, wasn’t it?

Before I could stop it, tears had already started leaking from my eyes before it trailed down my cheek. I wasn’t sure if I was more shocked or saddened by what Hayden had just told me. My parents had been dead for a long time now and for the longest time I had believed that their death was merely an unfortunate accident.

"It’s a sin that both Ethan and I will bear for the rest of our lives. We were too young and too stupid to do anything for Jack or for you…" Hayden said with so much guilt in his voice that my heart ached for him too.

Chapter 164: Wherever You Go

"Hayden…is it really true?" I asked through my sobs.

Somehow, I knew that Hayden wouldn’t be lying about something like this. Ethan’s father killed my parents and if I had been in that car that day just like I usually would have been, then he would have succeeded in killing me too.

"Let’s stop for today. I don’t think you can take anymore…" Hayden said decisively as he reached out and started stroking my head comfortingly.

That tender and loving action only made my tears fall faster than before as it reminded me of the gentle touch of my mother and the kind words of my father. Hayden pulled me softly against his chest and wrapped his arms around my body. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into the crook of his neck.

Hayden stroked my back comfortingly as he whispered sweet words of comfort to me.

At that moment, I could understand a little why Hayden thought that perhaps it would have been better to keep me forever in the dark. Knowing the truth hurts so much and it made me question the life that I’ve led so far and everything that I thought I knew. It was like the reality that I was used to had all been a lie.

However, regardless of what Hayden or my father wanted for me, I have already chosen a different path.

I’m sorry, father. I know that you wanted what you thought was best for me and you wanted to keep me safe and away from everything. However, that isn’t the life that I want or have chosen for myself. I’ve chosen to be with Hayden, and I’ll face life proudly with that decision that I’ve made. If you and mother are watching over me, please don’t worry anymore. I’m certain that we’ll figure something out.

…

I cried so hard that I must have fallen asleep in Hayden’s arms. Thankfully I didn’t have any work to do today and no classes to teach. When I woke up, Hayden was still by my side. I found that quite surprising because usually he would have gone out by now.

"You don’t have to go to work?" I asked.

Hayden spent another night at my place and showed no signs of leaving in the morning. Unlike yesterday, I had classes to teach today. Hayden’s eyes were on his phone, and he seemed to be focused on something.

"I don’t. I’ll go wherever you go today," he replied simply with his eyes still on his phone.

"I have classes to teach at the art school…" I said.

He’s not thinking of coming along, is he?

"Great. Let’s go," Hayden said before he got out of his seat and headed for the door.

"You’re coming along?" I asked in slight panic.

"Didn’t I just tell you that I’ll go wherever you go today?" Hayden replied and he was already walking out the door.

"Wait! Hayden!" I called after him.

True to his words, Hayden really did go wherever I went that day. Together we went to the art school, and he sat in all of my classes. Obviously, I found his presence extremely distracting at first but slowly I got used to having him just sitting there in the corner of the room. Ever so often my eyes would wander in his direction, and he would smile at me.

Fortunately, the kids were more interested in Hayden than they were intimidated. Perhaps it was his height, his beautiful face, or the way he was dressed that drew the kids to him. Perhaps it was all of those things combined along with his cheerful spirit.

"Are you our new teacher?" a girl asked sweetly as she looked up at him.

"No. I’m just here to observe today," Hayden replied with ease as he crouched down to speak to the girl at eyelevel.

"Are you our teacher’s boyfriend?" another girl asked curiously.

"No…he’s not," I cut in with my firm reply before Hayden could say anything.

"Really?" the girl asked, disbelief clear on her face.

Hayden just turned and squinted his eyes at me, and I had a feeling that some punishment was coming my way.

Thankfully, the classes came to an end without any further event. I wasn’t sure why Hayden wanted to come along with me today, but I decided not to ask. It felt weird at first but having him here with me wasn’t a bad thing. I got to see more of him, and we got to spend more time together. I wonder when he would head back though.

"Are you done for today?" Hayden asked.

"Yup. I just have to put these books away and then we can go back," I replied with a smile.

"Let me help you. They’re heavy, right?" Hayden readily offered.

"That’s ok. I’m almost done," I politely declined, although I appreciated his offer.

"Just let me do it…" Hayden said stubbornly as he took the books from my hands.

"Umm…thanks…" I mumbled before showing him where I wanted the books to be lined up on the shelf.

After that Hayden took me out to dinner before heading back to my place. I enjoyed our dinner date so much and it made me feel like we were a real couple. Although, we haven’t really discussed our relationship or made anything official yet. I was happy enough that Hayden was spending time with me.

However, when he escorted me back to my place and he headed for the shower, I began to wonder when he would head back?

"Umm…Hayden…are you staying over tonight?" I asked when he came out of the shower.

His blond hair was a darker shade because it was wet, and the sight of his muscular naked body made me blush slightly before I quickly averted my eyes. Seriously, the white towel that he had wrapped around his hips did not provide enough coverage. My heart started beating faster and I placed a hand over my chest in an attempt to calm it down.

"Do you want me to stay?" Hayden asked before he walked past me casually.

"That’s not what I was asking..." I mumbled.

Despite what he said, I could tell that he was settling into bed comfortably and that he was probably staying the night. Maybe…he’s free so he’s going to spend another night with me?

That was what I thought…

 

Chapter 165: Independence

Despite my belief that Hayden would be gone the following day, Hayden spent the next couple of days living together at my place. I liked having him around and I was getting used to spending my days with him; however, after a couple of days I realized that this wasn’t normal. He stuck to me like glue and followed me wherever I went.

I didn’t want to tell him this, but he was getting in the way of my daily life.

"Hayden…when are you heading back to your place?" I asked one evening while we were having dinner together in my small apartment.

"You don’t like having me around?" He asked as he placed down the fork that he had been holding.

I sighed, knowing that he would say something like that.

"It’s not like that. It’s just…you’ve been around me all the time and…I guess it affects my work…" I told him hesitantly.

Hayden was silent for a while as he took my words in. I used that time to silently pray that he would not completely flip out. The issue was that I got a call from work earlier about this issue.

"Hi Malissa, sorry for calling you but there’s something that I want to discuss," the lady’s voice through the phone was quite stern.

I wondered what she wanted. Usually, she’s always in a good mood and I hardly hear her sounding so serious like this.

"Hi. No worries. What is it?" I asked.

There was a pause followed by a sigh from the other end of the line and that was enough to let me know that it wasn’t good news.

"I’m sorry that I have to say this but we think it would be best if you stopped bringing your friend along with you to the classes," she said hesitantly.

"Oh…ok…" I replied.

"The thing is some parents are concern with having an observer all the time and they think it’s distracting for the students," she explained.

"Right. I completely understand…" I said apologetically.

"Great. Sorry about this but I thought letting you know would be better. See you!" the lady said and quickly hung up.

Basically, it wasn’t a good idea for Hayden to be stuck to my side like glue. I knew that that would be the case. He did bother me a little so it wasn’t a huge surprise that his presence would be a bother to the others. His sparkly prince-like aura also attracted a lot of attention, but it was better than his dark mafia aura when he was in a bad mood. Regardless, he attracted too much attention.

"I guess I’ll take my leave for now," Hayden said defeatedly.

"We can always meet up when I’m off work," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Malissa, watch yourself," Hayden warned.

"Huh?" I said in surprise.

"Be careful. If anything happens just give me a call," Hayden insisted.

"Umm…sure," I agreed with a nod.

I could tell that Hayden was worried, but I didn’t think that anything could happen. The frown that formed in between Hayden’s eyebrow told me that he was very concerned. That was when I finally understood why Hayden had been sticking to be like glue for the past few days.

"Are you worried?" I asked.

"Of course, I am," he replied immediately.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be ok. Nothing is going to happen. I have to try to live life normally too…" I said, trying to reassure him.

I wanted Hayden to know that I had a life of my own that I was determined to live regardless of the various obstacles that the mafia and my past keeps throwing my way. To do that, I knew that I had to become stronger and better at dealing with the unexpected.

"I know that Ethan met up with you at your exhibition," Hayden stated darkly.

It was like a dark aura had enveloped Hayden’s body and it gave me the chills. I hated where this conversation was going.

"Yeah…nothing happened though. We just talked," I said with a nervous smile.

"What did he want from you?" Hayden asked straightforwardly.

"What he wants?" I said innocently.

I wasn’t sure if this was the right time to tell Hayden about Ethan’s plans of reuniting the gang. Hayden seems to be in a terrible mood. If I mention the plan now, it will be smashed into a million pieces. There’s no way that it will go through.

"Ethan won’t meet up with you unless he wants something…" Hayden said knowingly.

"Umm…the thing is…" I said as I hesitated.

What do I do now?

"I’m listening," Hayden said but his tone wasn’t very encouraging.

I sighed loudly as his light blue gaze settled on me. It doesn’t matter how close we’ve gotten; Hayden can be very intimidating.

"Ethan told me that he wants to reunite the two gangs together. What do you think about that, Hayden?" I asked, daring to hope just slightly that he might agree.

"What do you think about that?" Hayden asked for my opinion.

I thought it would be a good thing but…I wasn’t sure if that was the right choice. With the many facts that Hayden had revealed, I felt like that would make my father’s wish finally come true after so long. However, I wasn’t sure if that was something for me to decide. Hayden would head Torex after his father, so it was for him to decide and then he’s got to convince his father too.

"I think that potentially it could be a good idea. Peace is better than violence, I think…but I also think that it’s best for you to decide. Perhaps, after you understand more about what Ethan has in mind…" I answered as honestly as I could.

"I see…" Hayden said.

After that he didn’t say anything else on that topic. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what was his thoughts to my opinion. Hayden just didn’t seem interested in the topic at all. He refused to comment or talk about it. As for me, I didn’t have the courage to ask. It was a big deal so I could understand if he needed time to think it through.