Ch. 316..320: Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion Chapter 316-320

Chapter 316: Desire for Peace

"You’re here again?" Hayden asked lazily when he walked in through the door.

"What’s up with that reaction? I’m about to marry your brother and this is how you treat me?" Amelia asked with a look of disbelief on her face.

"You’re not married to him yet. Stop turning up to our house so often…" Hayden muttered.

"Don’t talk like you come back here so often…" Amelia snapped lightly at him.

"Good night…" Hayden mumbled as he walked right past her.

"Wait! Hayden…" Amelia quickly called after him.

"What?" Hayden asked without turning around.

"Can we…talk?" she asked in a small voice.

"Alone…with you? No, thank you. I don’t want my brother blowing my head off…" Hayden replied without hesitation.

"What’s up with that reaction? What do you see me as?" Amelia snapped as she came to stand right in front of Hayden.

"Someone who asked me to sleep with her the first time that we met?" he replied with ease.

"Can you forget about that please? Just forget about it!" she wailed although she knew that he was just playing around with her.

Hayden turned and started walking away from her without saying another word. Amelia quickly grabbed and pulled on his arm to stop him from running away from her.

"What is it now?" Hayden asked irritatingly.

"It won’t take long. So please, can we talk for a bit?" Amelia pleaded desperately.

Hayden could see that Amelia probably had something important that she wanted to discuss with him. Although he knew that it was probably nothing but more trouble and headache for him, he knew that he couldn’t just leave her to deal with it alone. The main reason being that it probably concerned his elder brother in some way.

Knowing that he had to deal with this, Hayden closed his eyes briefly as he let out a long sigh of resignation.

"Fine…" he whispered, sounding bored.

"Thank you so much! Hayden, you are the best! Come this way…" Amelia cried out happily before she started pulling him along after her.

Hayden spent the next ten minutes or so of his life listening to an overly excited Amelia explain about her fantasy idea of forming peace between Torex and her ex-fiancé’s gang, Silva. He sat on a leather sofa as his eyes followed Amelia while she paced back and forth right in front of him. Her idea wasn’t something that was new to him at all.

When he was much younger, he had spent a lot of time listening to Jack’s dream of basically the same thing. The method they had in mind may have been slightly different but in the end, it still involved the heir of the two gangs and unfortunately, that meant that it involved Ethan.

Amelia’s idea did not excite Hayden in the least, but he could very much appreciate where she was coming from. Although her reasons of wanting peace was different from Jack’s, in the end the result that she wished for was the same.

After listening passively to her, he had to give her credit for thinking that far ahead and most of all, he realized how serious she was about building a family with his brother.

"So, what do you think? Can you help me?" Amelia asked brightly as she turned to face Hayden.

Hayden smiled a tight and uncomfortable smile as he tried to think of a way to break the bad news to Amelia. She wasn’t the first person that was going to try to bring about peace and the other person that he knew very well that had attempted the same thing didn’t exactly have a peaceful death.

For a moment Hayden was torn about what to do. Deep down, he too wished that there would be peace between the two gangs. Honestly, if he could choose, he’d choose for all gangs to simply respect each other’s territories and business so that there would never be any conflict. However, he knew that it wasn’t an easy thing to achieve.

"Amelia, I tried convincing my brother many times before. More times that I can count. Of course, he listened but he never agreed to anything," Hayden said calmly.

"I see…" Amelia said before she flopped down into the sofa opposite from where Hayden was sitting.

Hayden’s eyes watched a deflated Amelia lean back against the back of the sofa like she had lost all her energy and her will to live. He knew that he was just being ridiculously optimistic, but he felt like he wanted to believe that things could turn out differently this time around.

Perhaps it was her positive energy rubbing off on him or perhaps it was his wish to see his brother happily married, he didn’t quite understand. However, in that moment, he dared again to have some hope that maybe peace was something achievable.

"I don’t know but…if it’s you…if you’re the one convincing him, perhaps Harvey will change his mind or be more open to the idea," Hayden said after some thought.

"I’m not so sure if I’ll be successful or not but I really want to try. If I can convince him to think about creating peace, then I’m sure that we’ll be a happier family after we get married," Amelia said as her eyes sparkled brightly.

It was amazing how hope could bring so much color and life into her face, Hayden thought as he watched her.

"I’m sure that things will go well. After I talk to Harvey, I’m going to reach out to talk to Ethan. I’m sure that he’ll listen to me. We were engaged but he never wanted to marry me anyways. I’m sure that he’s relieved that I’ve decided to marry someone else altogether. Who knows, maybe it’s fate that I help unite the two gangs?" Amelia said confidently before she beamed a bright smile over at Hayden.

"Maybe…" Hayden replied without much enthusiasm.

"You know…I never cared this much about the future before. For the longest time, I was told that all I had to do was grow up and marry Ethan. Everything was about doing this and that for the future of my family. Somewhere along the lines, I guess I accepted my fate that my life wasn’t mine. From then on, I didn’t care about anything at all. My future, included.

I partied. I spent loads of money on things that I didn’t need. I slept with men I knew that I would never see again. Nothing mattered because my life wasn’t mine…" Amelia confessed a little sadly.

 

Chapter 317: Buying Time

"Seems like you had a good life…" Hayden commented dryly.

"It wasn’t bad. Then I met Harvey, and everything changed. He changed me or maybe he made me want to change. Now that we’re getting married soon, I just keep thinking of our future together and the more I think the more that I worry. I know it doesn’t make much sense because I was arranged to marry another gangster boss before. Maybe it’s because I love Harvey so much that I’m worried about everything.

Marrying him. Living with the Torex gang. Having children. Making sure that our children will be safe..." Amelia continued explaining.

"Well, I can’t pretend to understand what you’re thinking but I guess it’s not wrong for you to feel worried," Hayden replied.

"Thank you…" Amelia said as she looked straight at Hayden.

"For what?" he asked.

"For…listening…" she replied with a small smile.

"Sure…" Hayden murmured.

…

Hayden had a faraway look in his eyes when he was done with his story. Although he didn’t tell me directly why he told me that story, I believed that I could sort of understand. The things that Amelia was so worried about were exactly the things that plagued my mind with endless worry. The future seemed uncertain, and it scared me.

"It feels nice…" he murmured softly.

"Huh?" I made a questioning sound.

"Your fingers in my hair…" Hayden replied casually.

My entire body froze and so did the hand that I had been absentmindedly running through Hayden’s soft blond hair. While Hayden was telling his story, I had somehow started playing with his hair. It seemed like the most natural thing to do to pass the time. With his head laying in my lap, I just somehow started doing it without thinking.

"Why did you stop?" Hayden asked as his eyes glanced up at my face questioningly.

"Do you like it?" I asked after snapping out of my shock.

It felt a little strange now that I was conscious of what I was doing. His hair felt so soft against my fingers and soon I had resumed stroking his hair again. Hayden closed his eyes and sighed while I smiled a little to myself. I felt oddly happy that I could help him relax.

"After that Amelia ended up doing stupid things and she ended up like that…" Hayden mumbled so softly that I almost didn’t catch what he was saying at first.

The heavy regret in his voice told me that he didn’t want to go into the details. Hayden probably felt responsible, at least partly, for what happened to Amelia. I didn’t want to push him to recall any painful memories but if he was telling me about Amelia then she probably had something to do with the deal that he made with Harvey.

"Is Amelia related to the deal that you made with Harvey?" I asked.

"Yup. When Amelia didn’t wake up, Harvey felt extremely responsible and so did I. I should have never encouraged her to pursue an unrealistic dream like bringing about peace. I should have stopped her…but I didn’t. Harvey wasn’t really himself back then and maybe he isn’t like his old self even now.

Knowing how our father is, he would have demanded Harvey to marry someone else and make babies right away when he saw Amelia in a pretty much vegetative state," Hayden explained matter-of-factly.

"That’s horrible!" I cried out in shock.

"That’s the way things are. Harvey couldn’t give up on her and I knew that it was useless to convince him otherwise. He wanted to believe that she would wake up despite what the doctors had to say about it. So…Harvey had to die, and I helped him achieve exactly that. Long story short, I’m just covering his ass until he either gets over the fact that Amelia won’t come back, or she wakes up.

We’re just trying to buy some time…" Hayden explained like it was no big deal at all.

’Hayden and I…we’re just buying time,’

Harvey did say something along those lines, didn’t he? He’s just been waiting for his love to wake up. But what if, she never wakes up?

"What if…she never regains consciousness?" I asked softly.

Hayden did mention that it would be nothing short of a miracle if she did. The boss seemed to think that there is no hope for her at all. He told me bluntly that she wasn’t going to make it back when I asked him about the relationship between Hayden and Amelia.

"We’re not fools. We know that we can’t keep on fooling the world forever and so there’s a time limit to our deal," Hayden explained further.

"A time limit?" I asked, surprised.

"Correct and unfortunately for Harvey, the limit is in around a month…" Hayden said and for a moment I thought that he sounded quite sad.

"Just a month?!" I exclaimed in shock.

Amelia is supposed to wake up in just a month? What if she doesn’t wake up by then?

"You might not believe it, but it was Harvey who set the limit when we made our agreement. He probably realizes that I can’t keep on filling his shoes forever…" Hayden said before letting out yet another depressing sigh.

"Then…in less than a month, Harvey will come back?" I asked.

"Yup. We’re about to witness a dead man come back to life so to speak…" Hayden joked but he didn’t sound amused.

"So, the one who will take over Torex will be Harvey, right?" I asked as I tried to piece everything together.

"Well, we haven’t decided that yet…" Hayden replied.

"But if people find out that Harvey is still alive, especially the boss, won’t they just want to make Harvey the next heir like before?" I asked.

"Probably but the gang is split in their views on that too. I don’t care much about the other people. For us brothers, we just have to figure out which solution is the best for us," Hayden replied with determination.

What would be best for them instead of what the other people wanted. What will Harvey and Hayden choose?

 

Chapter 318: Going Out

Slowly, my mind started to recall the various questions that Harvey had asked me about what I wanted. Back then, I didn’t know that my future was at least partly dependent on the decision that he would make. My brain suffered from information overload, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. On the other hand, I could feel that Hayden no longer wanted to discuss this.

"Where are you going?" I asked when he stood up.

"I don’t know," he replied like he really had no idea.

I stood up to follow him, but he turned around and gave me a smile that looked very strained and depressing.

"Good night…" I said softly.

With that, I watched as Hayden walked out of his room. I had no idea where he was headed, and I wondered if he knew that himself. However, it was clear that Hayden wanted to be alone. He probably needed time to think, and time wasn’t an indefinite resource to us.

After the door closed behind Hayden and I was left all alone in his large living room, I sank back down onto the sofa, and I quickly realized that I needed to do a lot of thinking as well.

Having a chance to have a proper conversation with Hayden was a difficult chance to come by and I was determined not to be so confused and unsure about my answers the next time that we had this conversation.

Answers and decisions. I need to make some decisions and arrive at some answers. When the sun rises tomorrow, we will have only six days left. Either we decide to get married, or we probably have to part ways forever.

…

Not surprisingly, Hayden did not return to his room that night. I went to sleep alone and woke up alone on his bed. If he wouldn’t even sleep in his own bed, then maybe I should just head back to my room. What’s the point of me sleeping in Hayden’s bed if he wasn’t going to be there?

I woke up with a nagging headache that I knew wouldn’t go away until I had my problems sorted out. Ignoring the mirror so that I wouldn’t have to face the state that I was in, I quickly showered and got dressed. It wasn’t late but I had a sense that Hayden wasn’t in the mansion. Either he did not return last night and or had gone out early in the morning.

Staying in to think wasn’t something that Hayden was good at.

As for me, I already had my destination for the day decided. Hayden could go out and the man that I wanted to see would probably be where he always was. Without hesitation, I headed to the dark hallway that led to Harvey’s wing of the mansion. The closer I got to my destination, the more impatient I became and soon I found myself running down the hallway towards the door to Harvey’s living room.

"Good morning, Malissa," Harvey greeted me the moment that I walked in.

Unlike the other days when Harvey would just be lazing around on the sofa with a book in his hand, today Harvey was on his feet while he fixed his hair in front of a mirror. On top of that he was immaculately dressed as if he was going on date with the love of his life.

"Harvey…are you going somewhere?" I asked.

"Are you here to visit me because you miss me so much?" Harvey asked instead of replying to my question as his hand continued to style his blond hair.

I had to say that he looked very much like Hayden at that moment. They practically look alike from behind that it was scary.

"Umm…no…" I replied.

"You could have at least played along, you know. So, you need to talk?" Harvey replied teasingly as he correctly guessed the reason why I was there.

"Yes, do you have some time?" I asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, no. You were right earlier; I’m heading out today…" Harvey said as he turned around to face me.

I sucked in a breath and held it as my eyes widened in surprise. He really does look like Hayden or was it the other way around because Harvey was born first? The way he dressed and styled his hair today made him look even more like Hayden than usual and I was starting to wonder if that was done intentionally.

But I thought that the dead wasn’t supposed to go out wandering about.

"Where are you going? I thought that you couldn’t go anywhere," I asked in slightly confusion.

"Wrong. I told you before that there are many things that I can do while disguised as Hayden and I’ve gone out before too," Harvey quickly corrected me as he waved a finger at me.

The place he mentioned that he goes to quite often…

"Are you going to see Amelia by any chance?" I asked.

"You’re not so dumb after all," Harvey replied as he strode past me casually.

"What is that supposed to mean…" I muttered.

"Just like it sounded. Want to come along?" Harvey said invitingly before he smiled at me.

"I can?" I asked.

"Do you want to?" he asked, once again replying to my question with another one of his own.

Hayden would kill me if he found out, though. But…I’ll be with Harvey so that should be fine, right?

"Yes. I want to," I admitted.

It had been so long since I’ve been outside of the mansion apart from going out to that meeting with Ethan, which I couldn’t actually count as going out of the mansion. The other reason that I wanted to go was that I wanted to see Amelia.

Since last learning that I was probably going through the same set of problems that she had gone through, I just felt like I might figure something out if I got to see her even if she couldn’t speak to me in the state that she was in.

"Let’s go then. We can talk on the way there or when we get there…" Harvey suggested brightly.

"Hayden is going to get so mad about this if he finds out…" I mumbled as I hesitated.

 

Chapter 319: Hunting for Answers

I shouldn’t go, after all. Hayden would kill me if he found out and I didn’t want to get into another argument with him.

"If he finds out…" Harvey said before he giggled like a little boy.

"I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t go. I can’t go without getting Hayden’s permission first…he’ll be mad, and I don’t want him to worry either," I said, having made up my mind.

"I see. Then let’s do that," Harvey said as he nodded in understanding.

Do what?

Harvey pulled out his phone before tapping at the screen and then he placed his phone next to his ear. He’s not doing what I think he is doing, is he?

My eyes widened in pure disbelief at what I was seeing. Before I could find my tongue and words to protest or stop him, the line connected.

"Hayden! Yup, it’s me…your dear brother," Harvey said enthusiastically through the phone.

How can he sound so carefree about this?

"Don’t be so cold towards your dear brother, please. Oh, right. I was calling to let you know that I’m going out and I’ve decided to take Malissa out for a date," Harvey said animatedly.

"You can’t take her out!" Hayden’s voice shouted so loudly through the phone that even I could hear him from where I was standing.

Harvey, who had probably anticipated that, conveniently held the phone at around an arm’s length away from his ear. He turned and winked at me before he smiled like a mischievous kid who was about to steal candy from the supermarket.

"Oh, I’m allowed to take her out? Great…amazing. Sorry, the signal is bad now. You’re cracking up and I can’t understand a word that you’re saying. I know, I love you too. Goodbye, Hayden!" Harvey said gleefully before he hung up.

Harvey then turned to me and held his thumb up while he beamed a wide smile at me like some toothpaste advertisement poster.

Was that his idea of getting Hayden’s permission?

"Shall we head out now?" Harvey asked but his hand was already around my wrist as he started pulling me after him.

The way he seemed to take control of everything as well as the way that he was already pulling me towards the door truly reminded me of someone…

"Umm…I know Hayden might be overreacting by keeping me locked up inside but is it really that dangerous for me to go outside?" I asked, feeling quite worried about leaving the mansion.

"Oh, it’s dangerous alright. Your face doesn’t stand out or anything. Maybe if you just wear some simple disguise, it’ll solve the problem," Harvey suggested as he turned to stare at my face.

"Ok…" I muttered.

"Don’t worry. I don’t intend on letting you die out there…" Harvey said with confidence.

"Thank you…I guess…" I mumbled as I followed after him.

…

Fortunately, we didn’t run into anyone on our way out of the mansion. Even if we did, everyone would probably just see it as me walking along with Hayden and that was nothing unusual at all. Harvey truly looked and acted like Hayden. He seemed at ease, and he had the key to one of Hayden’s car as well.

The drive to Amelia’s mansion was smooth and uneventful. I was frankly excited just to be in a car after having been cooped up indoors for so long. It was great to see the view of the outside world go by through the window of the car. Harvey filled the time with small talk that helped to ease my mind.

"Master Hayden, we are happy to have you here. Thank you for visiting Miss Amelia," a staff member at Amelia’s mansion greeted Harvey warmly.

Clearly, she couldn’t distinguish between them at all. Maybe she was used to seeing Harvey as Hayden as well. The person who had been visiting Amelia a lot was Harvey and not Hayden after all.

"Of course. Thank you for having me here again," Harvey replied smoothly.

Just like the last time that I was here with Hayden, we were led to Amelia’s bedroom. A feeling similar to sorrow filled me up inside as we stood in front of the door to her room. After thanking the staff, Harvey pushed the door opened and invited me inside. I wasn’t sure how to feel when I saw that everything in her room was the same as how I remembered it from the last time that I was here.

Amelia was laying on her bed with the same machines hooked up to keep her alive. It was unfortunate but, in this room, it was as if time didn’t flow. Amelia and everything else in this room seemed to have been frozen in time as she lay unknowing and unresponsive on her bed. I looked away to give Harvey some personal time with the woman that he loves.

Instead, I focused my eyes on the things that lined the display shelf in her room. Almost immediately, my eyes went to the photo of Harvey and Amelia, the one that Hayden told me he had taken. Why did fate have to be so cruel to them and to us? If only Amelia would wake up…

If these two only had one month left together, how many more times could Harvey come to visit her like this? The more I thought about it, the sadness just tore at my heart. I looked away from the photo before the tears that I had been desperately holding in would fall.

"What did you want to talk about? You came to see me to discuss something specific, right?" Harvey asked.

I turned around to see that he had taken a seat on the sofa. Strangely, I still remembered the conversation that I had with Hayden when we were seated on the same sofa as if it happened only yesterday. Slowly, I took my seat on the sofa before taking in a deep and calming breath.

"Hayden told me about the deal that you made with him…" I said without bothering to beat around the bush. We didn’t have the time for anything like that anymore.

 

Chapter 320: Dreams and Desires

"I see. Is that what you wanted to talk about?" Harvey asked as if he had expected this all along.

"Hayden told me that time is running out. In less than a month, if she doesn’t wake up…" I said before my words trailed off as my eyes travelled to the figure sleeping peacefully on her bed.

"I’ll let her go. Her body probably won’t last much longer either…" Harvey said passively.

He’ll let her go as in. He’ll pull the plug and let her…

"It’s ok, Malissa…" Harvey said before he smiled a soft and gentle smile at me.

In that moment, I had no idea why I was the one being comforted when it was Harvey who was about to lose his fiancée…forever.

"If only she would wake up…" I mumbled very softly to myself.

I quickly noticed that that doesn’t solve our immediate problem. The timeline doesn’t line up. The deal expires in around a month while I had to give the boss my answer in 6 days. What should I do? Suddenly it seemed like everyone was just figuring out a way to buy more time.

"What are you so worried about, Malissa?" Harvey asked and I could feel his concerned eyes on me.

I was worried about so many things that I didn’t even know where to start.

"Did you and Amelia ever talk about having kids?" I asked as I looked straight at Harvey.

"Kids? Of course. Amelia wanted kids while I was sort of neutral about it. I knew that sooner or later we would end up having children," Harvey replied casually.

"Did it ever bother Amelia that, you know, her children will have to join the gang?" I asked the first thing that came to my mind.

Harvey did not seem surprised by my questions or what I was suggesting at all. He just smiled at me and I felt that he understood me or at least he was trying to.

"Well, Amelia wasn’t from a normal standard family either. They are a shady and grey lot too although not really characterized as the mafia. She also grew up knowing that she was going to end up marrying a gangster boss, so I guess she got used to it…" Harvey replied.

"Still, I bet she was worried about the future of her children…" I pressed even further.

"She was and that was why she kept on lecturing me about peace and forming peaceful partnerships with the other gangs. Things seemed to be going well at first, but I could see things that she couldn’t see. Amelia was too trusting, and she paid dearly for that. It was partly my fault for giving her too much freedom," Harvey said regretfully.

"She was betrayed?" I asked, to make sure that I understood correctly.

"Of course, she was. That’s what low lives gangsters always do. Fooling an inexperience woman was probably one of the easiest things for them. It was my fault; I should have paid more attention to her and what she was desperately fighting for instead of merely laughing it off as a dream. In the end, I never believed in the concept of peace. I still don’t," Harvey said dryly.

"That’s just…" I mumbled but I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence. That’s just sad. It’s just too sad.

"Amelia ended up like that because she got too involved. The other gangs saw her as a good target. Hurting her would mean that they could hurt me too. Hayden learnt a hard lesson from that too, which is why his weakness isn’t out there walking around in the open," Harvey said as he pointed a finger directly at me.

"Amelia probably just wanted a peaceful life with you and the children…" I said as I realized what Amelia truly wanted.

"Is it that bad being born in a gangster family, I wonder?" Harvey said before he looked up at the ceiling in wonder.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you like that…" I quickly apologized before he would take me the wrong way.

"Not at all. I love my family and everyone in the gang. They are all like family to me. Hayden may think differently, but I’m glad that I was born into this family. It’s not like all your children have to go through what I went through. They can live a normal life like Hayden did before he had to come back to help me and with a lot of financial backing at that.

We’re fucking loaded after all…" Harvey said before ending with a loud laugh.

Well, there’s no risk of waking up Amelia even with a loud laugh like that. If she did wake up, perhaps all of our troubles would be solved.

"What do you think Hayden is thinking?" Harvey asked after he stopped laughing.

"I’m not sure to be honest…" I replied defeatedly.

"I think I know that he’s thinking," Harvey said confidently.

"Really? Can you tell me? What is he thinking?" I asked as his words caught my full attention.

"Of course…not…" Harvey replied before he continued laughing at me.

I had a feeling that he was just teasing me. Even if he really knew what Hayden was thinking, he wouldn’t tell me that easily. It didn’t disappoint me at all. One of the lessons that I’ve learnt from dealing with Hayden is that there are no short cuts. If I wanted to know more about him or understand him more, I had to put in the hard work.

"What about you, Harvey? What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Sadly, I’m not so sure. It’s like we’re all just waiting for the other person to decide so that we can make our decision. Hayden, you, and me, we’re all just waiting for the other person to decide," Harvey pointed out and I had to admit that he was quite correct.

"Then, who do you think should decide first?" I asked him the question that I also asked myself.

"You…" he replied without a second thought.

"Me?" I asked in disbelief as I pointed a finger at my own face.

"Yes, you. Malissa, you should decide first," Harvey stated resolutely.

"Why?" I asked, more in shock than in curiosity.

"Don’t they always say ladies first?" Harvey replied teasingly.