Ch. 311..315: Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion Chapter 311-315

Chapter 311: Can’t Force Him

"So, do you want to marry my brother?" Harvey asked as he leaned forward towards me across the coffee table.

The saddest part perhaps was the fact that the only person who I could enlist to help me on the matter was someone who was supposed to be dead. After forcing myself to get out of bed, I dragged myself through the shower and threw on some clothes before heading straight for Harvey’s wing of the mansion.

Since Harvey had nowhere else to go, he was there reading a book when I waltz into his sitting room. To my surprise, Little Hayden was there as well, curled up at Harvey’s feet while looking more like a cat than a dog.

If the boss was right, which he most probably was, Hayden was out right now which meant that I needed to get my act together before he comes back. Today was already the first day out of the measly 7 days that I had left.

"I don’t know…I’m confused…" I admitted honestly.

Harvey looked at me like I was the most pathetic human being that he had ever seen before he sighed loudly and shook his head in disappointment. I could tell why he would feel that way but why did he have to show it so painfully clearly.

"How is it possible for you not to know?" Harvey asked exasperatedly.

"What about you? How did you know that you wanted to marry Amelia?" I asked enthusiastically.

It must have been complicated for him back then too because he was the heir of Torex. He was born to be the next leader of the Torex gang and yet he decided that he wanted to marry Amelia, a woman who was engaged to be married to the heir of a rival gang. It must have been hard for him to decide.

"It was the simplest thing ever. I woke up one day after having sex with her and she was laying there next to me. Then, I suddenly realized that I wanted to spend my life with her and no one else," Harvey replied without pause.

Well, that was easy. Way easier than what I had imagined. I mean, what about all the potential conflict and all of that?

"Did you…worry about anything?" I asked.

"Of course, I did, but once my mind was made up, I thought that we could figure everything else out later," Harvey replied casually.

"I wonder what Hayden is thinking…" I murmured.

"Haha…I’m sure its much more complicated for Hayden and it doesn’t help him much that I’m still alive…" Harvey mumbled softly, and I wasn’t sure if I heard him correctly.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"It doesn’t matter. Back to you. What do you want to do?" he asked, turning the tables on me.

I sighed after coming to the conclusion that now was probably the right time to let the cat out of the bag and tell Harvey everything that happened this morning.

"Actually, the boss came over to meet me this morning…" I confessed in a small voice.

Harvey’s eyes widened in complete surprise at my words and if I didn’t have his whole and undivided attention before, I definitely had it now.

"Wow, it’s rare for that old man to return to this place…" Harvey mumbled.

"Yeah, he turned up this morning to see me. He gave me 7 days to decide whether or not I want to marry Hayden. If I don’t, then he told me that he’s simply going to replace me with another woman who does…" I further explained.

"I’d say that that’s quite fair. You can find your answer within 7 days, can’t you?" Harvey said, sounding worry-free.

"Maybe…but the main issue is, I guess, I don’t want to marry Hayden if he doesn’t want to marry me…you know? Like…I don’t want to force him into marrying me…" I confessed truthfully as I struggled a little to find the right words.

Harvey stared at me before his brows drew into a frown while I waited impatiently for his response. Instead of instantly replying to me, Harvey’s expression quickly changed, and he began laughing as if he had heard something quite crazy. I made a weird face at his unexpected reaction. I was trying to be serious about everything, but it seemed like Harvey found something about that very entertaining.

"I don’t see what’s so funny…" I muttered.

"Of course, it’s funny. Who do you think you are?" Harvey asked as he tried desperately to control his laughter.

"What do you mean?" I asked in pure confusion.

"Who do you think you are?" Harvey asked again and this time his face was dead serious, all signs of his pervious laughter had died down.

What does he mean by that? Who do I think I am?

I gave Harvey a blank stare as I waited for him to explain what he was trying to get at.

"Sorry for laughing at you just now. It’s just very unlike you to get so conceited even if unknowingly. If you think that you can force Hayden into anything, you better think again…" Harvey said, and his face suddenly turned dead serious.

"Force him?" I said, cluelessly.

"You did say it just now that you didn’t want to force him into marrying you if he doesn’t want to, right?" Harvey asked to remind me of what I had said.

"Well, yes and I mean exactly that…" I replied.

"That’s the funny thing because, you see, no one can force Hayden into doing anything that he doesn’t want to. Not the boss, not me, and definitely not you. No one can force Hayden into doing anything if he was really against it," Harvey said with absolute certainty.

"But…" I mumbled softly.

Isn’t he forced to do so many things already against his will? It didn’t make any sense…

"There are no ’buts’. If you see Hayden doing something, it means that there’s a part of him that is willing to do it although the reasons may vary. You think he was forced to act as the heir of Torex? Not at all, he’s willingly bearing with it to help out a selfish brother like me. No one can really force Hayden…not really…" Harvey explained as if he could read my thoughts.

 

Chapter 312: Question or Proposal

"That’s…" I whispered as I tried to digest his words.

"If he marries you, it won’t be because he was forced into it. No one can force him into anything. If it was at all possible, the boss would have more than ten grandchildren to play around with by now without a doubt…" Harvey explained before he started laughing at his own half-serious joke.

No one can force Hayden. I have never thought about things this way before, but somehow, I started to understand where Harvey was coming from. Perhaps he was right, if the boss could really force Hayden, then he wouldn’t need to act so desperately.

"So, when are you going to propose to Hayden?" Harvey asked and I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

"I am NOT going to propose to him!" I cried out a little too loudly.

My reactions drew another found of laughter from Harvey. At first, I was slightly annoyed that he didn’t seem to be taking me seriously but soon enough, I started giggling along with him.

"Thank you…" I murmured.

Talking to Harvey made me feel better. I don’t know how or when it started but I had gotten closer to Harvey, and I knew that talking to him would make me feel better even if it may not solve my troubles all the time.

When I first met him, I never thought that the original heir of the Torex gang would turn out to be such a supportive and kind man. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t extremely calculating and manipulative at times, though. I had developed a liking to Harvey, and I had noticed that it was crucial for me to stay on his good side. This man could come back to life at any time, after all.

"I look forward to your answer in 7 days," Harvey said after he had returned to his usual self.

Harvey?

For some reason, his eyes had strayed from my face, and it didn’t seem like his words just now were addressed to me. It can’t be…

That was the first instance that I felt a presence behind me. I closed my eyes in dread before I slowly turned around. To my utter shock, I came face to face with a face very similar to the man that I had been talking to just now.

Hayden? How long had he been standing there and how come I didn’t realize at all?

"Hayden…" I whispered in disbelief.

How long had Harvey realized that his brother was standing behind me? How much did Hayden hear of our conversation just now?

Harvey chuckled before he started clapping his hands together. I realized then that Harvey had succeeded in pulling a trick on me again. I let my guard down even though I knew how manipulative he could be.

"Maybe I should leave now…" Harvey quickly excused himself as he got up from his seat.

After taking a few steps from his seat, Harvey turned around before smiling shyly my way. I wondered what he was up to this time.

"Sorry but, I just realized that I don’t have anywhere to go. Can you two have your chat in your part of the mansion instead? My realm is quite limited right now so…" Harvey said mockingly as he gestured to the room around him.

"Come," Hayden said to me before he turned on his heels and started walking away.

I knew without needing to ask that he was talking to me.

I nodded towards Harvey to excuse myself. He smiled at me, and his mouth formed the words ’good luck’. I wanted to thank him and curse at him at the same time, but I was too in a hurry to follow after Hayden to have the time to do either of those things. The truth was, I knew that I would need a lot more than ’good luck’ to survive the conversation that I was about to have with Hayden.

…

Hayden led the way to his living room, and I followed obediently while maintaining a distance between us. I continued to wonder how much of my conversation with Harvey just now did Hayden hear. Judging from his displeased reaction, he must have heard quite a bit. Why did I have to talk so loudly? I shouldn’t have shouted about not proposing to Hayden.

Although it was true, how can I possibly propose to him. That’s just plain crazy and out of the question.

Hayden sat down on the sofa and beckoned with his hand for me to join him. I could tell from the fact that he hadn’t spoken a word to me since leaving Harvey’s wing of the mansion that he wasn’t in a good mood. Strictly speaking, I haven’t done anything wrong, but I found myself feeling slightly guilty nonetheless as I sat down next to Hayden.

Suddenly, we were so close, and I felt extremely anxious and uncomfortable. Unable to relax, I sat with my back straight and my hands balled into fists on my lap as I waited for Hayden to start the conversation.

The room felt unusually cold, and a shiver ran through my body. My hands started going numb from the cold and Hayden’s cold attitude did nothing to make me feel better.

"Do you want to get married?" Hayden spoke up suddenly and I could feel his eyes directly on my face.

Huh? How direct can he be?

Is that simply just a question or was that a marriage proposal?

Did he just ask me to marry him or was he just asking out of curiosity about what I wanted?

The cold and detached way in which he said those words made me quickly realize that I had to be a big fool to think that he was proposing to me for real. He was simply asking me if I wanted to marry him. Nevertheless, his question stunned me into silence. The truth was that I didn’t know how to answer him.

What should I do?

 

Chapter 313: Forced to Confess

Even if I wanted to marry him, how would he react and what would happen if I told him?

I had 7 days left now before the boss came back again for his answer and time was ticking by without pause. That reminded me that I also never got around to telling Hayden about this father’s abrupt visit to his bedroom to see me earlier in the day. If Hayden found out the boss’s visit this morning, he didn’t mention it to me. I wondered if he already knew and if he did, what did he think about it?

I can’t read his expressionless face at all. What he was feeling or thinking, I had absolutely no idea.

"Do you want to marry me?" Hayden asked again, rephrasing his questions as if helping me to better understand him.

That wasn’t the reason why I didn’t reply to his question. I understood him perfectly, I just didn’t know how to reply. I had no idea what to say and my throat and lips suddenly felt as dry as the desert. I could feel Hayden’s intense gaze staring at me and that only made me panic even more.

"Do you…want to marry me?" I asked him the same question that he had asked me.

However, unlike Hayden’s cold tone and emotionless tone, my voice shook terribly as I said those words. I realized that I wasn’t hesitant about it but I was extremely scared to hear his answer.

"Does it matter?" Hayden replied without even pausing to think.

"Excuse me?" I asked in shock.

What does that even mean? Of course…it matters…

"I’m asking if my answer will influence yours," he explained casually.

Well, I wasn’t sure about that…

"It shouldn’t. You shouldn’t let my answer influence yours. Whether or not I want to marry you has nothing to do with what you want," Hayden stated casually.

We might as well have been discussing the weather for all that’s worth. Hayden was either cold, emotionless or casual like this topic didn’t hold much importance to him.

"That may be true but…" I began but didn’t know where to land with my words.

It wasn’t exactly true, right? I finished my sentence off in my mind.

"Is there something that you’ve been keeping from me?" Hayden asked.

The way his blue eyes narrowed slightly at me told me that he knew something and that shocked me.

"I…I’m not sure what you mean…" I replied without thinking.

What could Hayden possibly be referring to? I wasn’t keeping anything a secret from him…

Wait, could it be?

He knows?

"Let me ask you that again. Have you been keeping something from me?" Hayden asked as if he was offering me a second chance at this.

"I…" I began but then came to a pause as I hesitated.

"Tell me now…" Hayden demanded.

I knew that I should tell Hayden all about it and that there wasn’t a good reason to keep this from him. However, I panicked so much that my tongues were tied. On top of that, I wasn’t sure how to deliver the news to him. I felt extremely conflicted, and I couldn’t get any words out of my mouth.

"Tell me now, Malissa!" Hayden yelled as his hands grabbed my shoulders and began shaking me.

I let out a cry and it wasn’t from the pain. He wasn’t hurting me, but I was stunned at his sudden display of emotions. Hayden seemed very disturbed and frustrated as he tried to get answers from me.

"The boss…your father…he came to see me early this morning…" I began before I came to a pause as I tried to find the words.

"And then?" Hayden pressed impatiently.

Now this was the hard part…

"Well, he…umm…asked when we would be getting married…" I said hesitantly in a small voice.

"What did you tell him?" Hayden asked and I had a feeling that he would probably get me to recite the whole conversation to him exactly like how it went down this morning.

"I told him that I didn’t know…and then he got mad…" I replied as I tried to keep my voice from cracking.

Hayden listened intently to me with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Seeing that he was eager to hear more, I continued on with the story all the way until the end. Hayden really could read me like a book.

Every time that I tried to evade the more embarrassing parts of the story such as when the boss threw my contraceptive pills down on the bed in front of me, Hayden could detect with high accuracy that I was trying to skip the part.

In the end, I ended up telling Hayden everything. The storytelling session left me feeling tired and uncertain about how I should be feeling about all this. Hayden was a devoted listener although he was impatient most of the time. Throughout my story, Hayden looked thoughtful, and I wished that I could tell what he was thinking.

"That old man…" Hayden muttered underneath his breath after my story came to a close.

"Hayden…?" I called his name questioningly when I sense his mood darkening.

"The boss is tricking you. He’s the most calculating of us all," Hayden said in summary.

"Right…" I murmured although I wasn’t entirely sure what he was getting at.

"And Harvey? He didn’t tell you anything when you spoke to him earlier?" Hayden asked.

"Huh? Not…particularly…" I replied. He did give me some advice, but he didn’t really disclose any information that seemed to be outstandingly important.

Hayden sighed as he closed his eyes and suddenly, he looked very tired. Hayden leaned back on the sofa and tipped his face up towards the ceiling.

"Listen well, Malissa. Why do you think Harvey was chosen as the boss’s heir?" Hayden asked with his eyes still closed.

"Umm…" I made a thoughtful sound.

"Because he was simply born first. He’s my father’s first child," Hayden replied to his own question calmly.

"I see. So, he wasn’t really chosen…?" I asked in a small voice.

 

Chapter 314: Mafia Family

"He was chosen. Right from the moment that he was born as my father’s first son," Hayden corrected.

"Oh…I see…" I mumbled.

I guess you could put it that way.

"How do you think the next heir will be chosen after our generation?" Hayden asked.

Is he referring to the next heir that will take over after either him or Harvey?

"Well, it’s got to be either your first son or Harvey’s first son depending on who succeeds the boss, right?" I asked after some thought.

If the first son rule applied, then that would probably be how it would go down.

"Half correct," Hayden said before his eyes snapped opened.

I watched as the bright blue spheres of his eyes glanced over in my direction and then he grinned a little at me.

"Half?" I asked, curiously. What did I get wrong?

"Succession is kept in only one line of the family. So, either, the next boss takes over first before he has a son. Then when he has children, the first son will become his heir. However, if the next boss hasn’t taken over and a son is born first to another line in the family, the succession line could be changed," Hayden explained calmly like this didn’t have anything to do with him at all.

I cocked my head to the side as his words bounced around in my brain as I tried to digest them and their implications. What does that mean and how does that apply to us? Hayden chuckled a little at my confused and struggling expression before he continued to explain it to me in plainer terms.

"Confused? Well, let’s say that we have a son. It would be all well and good for the boss and the gang, right? I’ll be the next boss and then our son will take over after that. Smooth," Hayden said hypothetically.

"Aha…" I murmured with a nod to show him that I still understood up to that point.

"But what if, Harvey and I want to change our minds? What if, Harvey wants to come back to life and take over as the next boss just like he was always supposed to?" Hayden asked hypothetically.

If Harvey wanted to take over the gang but Hayden already had a child to succeed, then…

"It would be impossible. If I have a child first before Harvey does, the line of succession would shift from Harvey’s line to my line to ensure the survival of the gang because Harvey is childless. Of course, the boss doesn’t know that Harvey is alive, so he thinks that it’s only natural for me to have a kid. To him, there’s only one line left now…" Hayden explained.

"Wait. So, if you have a son before Harvey does, then Harvey cannot come back? He can’t return to the gang as the next boss?" I asked to make sure that I understood correctly.

"Not just that, Malissa. Before you think of Harvey, think of yourself. You, me, our son, whoever that may be, we’ll be stuck here. I’ll be the boss and you’ll be my wife and our son will be the next heir," Hayden said before he flashed me a sad smile.

My mouth dropped opened and I had to cover it with my hands. I had always wanted to understand what Hayden was thinking but now that I understood, I finally realized that his thoughts were much more complex and forward-looking than I could ever have imagined.

While I was simply worried about what I felt or what he wanted regarding our marriage, he had already thought way ahead to its implications for us and our family as well as the implications that our marriage would have on Harvey and the future of the gang.

He was right. I didn’t understand anything at all. How could I be so narrow-minded?

If we get married and we decide to build a family now, then we would be resigning our lives to live as the family that led the gang forever. Did I want that? Did Hayden want that?

"Are you fine with your husband being a mafia?" he asked in wonder.

"…I guess…" I replied softly.

He told me that I had to decide before and this was what I had decided when I wanted to keep in touch with him. I wanted to see him and be with him and I was fine with dating him. However, now that we were talking about our future and forming a family and all that, I started having my doubts. I didn’t quite know how to react because I have never thought this far ahead before.

"Are you fine with your son being the next mafia boss? You want him to be gangster?" Hayden asked.

I knew that he wasn’t asking to tease me or bully me. He was truly serious. Am I fine with it?

"I…" I mumbled before I shut my mouth and glanced down in embarrassment.

I had no idea what I wanted. I wasn’t sure if I was fine with it, but it wasn’t like I was dead set against it either. Sure, mafias and everything related to them scared me before. They probably still scared me now but I had gotten a little used to being a part of their world, although, I did not understand everything about it. However, no parent would teach their son to be a gangster.

"What happens if we have a daughter?" Hayden asked to make matters even worse.

Another scenario that I never thought of…

I was stunned and my mind couldn’t think very well. Honestly, I have never thought that far ahead, and I was very impressed that Hayden had.

"What should we do?" I murmured softly as the weight of the situation came crashing down on me.

"Well, it’s just like you said. We have around 7 days left to think about it," Hayden replied casually.

It’s not just about what I wanted to do. I glanced over at the man next to me as my mind wondered for the countless time about what he wanted to do with his life.

 

Chapter 315: Time Will Tell

"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 lower lip as I tried to pick my words wisely. If I stirred the water too much, the goldfish would swim away, right?

It wasn’t like I thought that Hayden resembled a goldfish or anything like that…

"Of course, I have. I’ve been sort of forced to think about it ever since my brother decided to ’die’," Hayden replied with a dry laugh.

"Right…" I mumbled, without knowing what more to say.

"Don’t look so stressed out about it. Just be honest to yourself and think about it," Hayden advised.

I wished I didn’t have to stress out about all of this too, but the pressure that was being placed on me was immense. Just look at what the boss said to me, for example.

"The boss told me that I’ll be replaced…" I mumbled softly.

"Did he?" Hayden asked before he started to laugh.

I gasped loudly when I realized that I must have said that out loud. What am I thinking? I wasn’t going to tell him about that. Now Hayden probably thinks that I’m just worried about being replaced by some other woman…and maybe I was worried about that too…

"You shouldn’t be laughing. It’s not a funny matter!" I retorted before I started pouting to gloss over my feelings of embarrassment.

"You’re right. The matter isn’t funny but you’re the funny one," Hayden said while he continued to laugh.

He’s so carefree about all this, seriously. He’s laughing and talking so casually like none of this truly concerned him and I can’t even tell what he’s really thinking or feeling.

"It’s amazing…" I mumbled.

"What is?" he asked, curiously and I felt his eyes on me.

"How you’re so carefree and chill about this…" I replied honestly.

"Does it seem that way to you?" he asked as his eyes watched me intently.

"Yes…" I replied.

"I see…" Hayden said lazily.

There was a moment of silence as both of us retreated back into our own minds. I hated the thoughts that flooded my head and the emotions that flooded my heart.

If Hayden isn’t going to tell me about his thoughts of marriage then what about his thoughts on taking over the gang?

"Hayden, will you take over Torex?" I asked in a whisper.

"Hmmm…" Hayden made a thoughtful sound like he was busy contemplating his answer.

"Who will take over Torex after the boss? Will it be you or will it be Harvey?" I asked, refusing to back down.

"It depends…" he replied after some thought.

"On what?" I asked boldly, surprised at how outspoken I had sudden become.

"Time," he replied flatly.

"Time?" I repeated, clearly confused.

What does he even mean by that? Was he waiting for something to happen?

"Harvey and I made a deal and depending on what happens by then, we’ll probably just go along with it…" Hayden replied with a shrug.

"Please explain. I don’t understand what you mean at all," I pleaded desperately.

"Time will tell. You spent so much time with my brother. You didn’t ask him anything?" Hayden asked as if it was my fault that I was lacking information.

"Well, I…" I began defending myself.

"He didn’t tell you anything?" Hayden repeated his question in disbelief.

"Not about this…" I replied.

"I don’t mind telling you but it’s not as interesting as you think," Hayden said.

Although he said that he would tell me now, I doubted that he would have told me had I asked before and I doubt that it was something uninteresting.

"Please…tell me…" I requested.

What deal did these two brothers make and why? What does it have to do with all this?

"Move over there," Hayden said as he pointed to the end of the long sofa.

"Ok…" I mumbled before I scooted over to sit where he wanted me to.

Since this wasn’t the first time that he’s given me an order like this, I had a pretty good idea of what he had in mind. When his head landed on my lap and a satisfied smile curved his lips, I found out that I was right, and I couldn’t stop grinning a little to myself.

"The story is a little long so I might as well make myself comfortable…" Hayden said sleepily.

"Aha…" I mumbled.

"Your lap is comfortable. I’ve always thought that…" he said as he snuggled his head closer to my belly.

"Really?" I couldn’t help but ask.

"Yup. Ever since the first time…" he replied quite honestly.

If I remembered correctly, the first time that he laid his head on my lap was…

Was he trying to distract me just now?!

"Please tell me…everything…" I demanded firmly before I lost my train of thought again.

"Let’s see…where should I start…" Hayden said with a little evil smirk.

I glanced down at Hayden anxiously as I waited for him to tell me what I had been yearning to know all along. My instincts told me that if I could get my hands on this information, then I could unlock more than a few mysteries about the two brothers.