I blink at the sight in front of me, positively feeling nauseated from the sudden turn of events.Two men, dressed in suits and large in stature, wrestle one spitfire of a Talon to the ground. Next to him on the ground, moved a safe distance away, is his pistol. And considering how I’m still alive and uninjured, it seems like he had not fired the gun at any point. I am pretty sure all my senses were just compromised mere minutes ago and I would not trust anything I heard.“Let go of me!” Talon screams from the ground, snapping me out of the shock-induced trance I was in. “Who do you think you are?! Let me fucking go or I’ll kill you all before I kill that bastard!”“In that case,” a smooth voice comes from my left, “I think it’s in our best interest to actually keep you detained.”My head whips at that voice so hard that I nearly strain my neck. When I see the owner of the vice, I cannot believe my eyes.How on earth…?!“Mister…Mr. Collins?!”Aaron Collins stands at the entrance to th
“Look, Mr. Collins,” I tell the man, turning to him as soon as he appears from the alley. The few excruciating moments that he spent talking to my would’ve-been-murderer in the dark alley while I stood on the sidewalk had been torture as I wondered what the heck was happening and what he was saying to him. “I’m really grateful for you for being here tonight, God knows what would’ve happened if you didn’t interrupt Talon, but I don’t really want to be embroidered into yet another murder investigation. I’ve got far too many dealings with the police already, and if I have yet another case with my name roped into it, they’re going to look at me like I’m the problem rather than the other way around!”“Far too many dealings with the police?” muses Mr. Collins, looking amused at my tirade, “that’s a strange claim, one that I never did expect from one like you. Care to elaborate?”I narrow my eyes at that, “one like me?”“Of course. You don’t look like the type to get caught in things that ar
I refuse Mr. Collin’s offer to drive me home, but the thought of this man knowing where I live did not sit right with me. I already feel bad enough that I’m leaving Talon with him. And for some reason when his bodyguards are taking Talon away, he looks like he’s drunk.Peculiar, and I feel like if I think too much about it, I’m going to feel like the villain in this scenario.“Well, that concludes this interaction of ours then,” says Mr. Collins, clearly ready to leave, “I hope the next time we meet, Mr. Greyson, the circumstances wouldn’t be as dire.”“I hope so as well, Mr. Collins,” I reply amicably because no matter what my illogical reactions say, the man did save my life tonight. “I’m in your debt.”“Nonsense, so. There is no debt between us,” he waves me off as he turns to walk towards where his bodyguards took Talon, “Go home, Mr. Greyson, and have a good night. Maybe try to forget what happened tonight, I think that will serve you well in the long run.”I feel the chill in th
“And why exactly do you think I can’t handle it?” I ask him, feeling my own anger surface. “I’ve handled everything that’s thrown my way until now, why would this be different?”Gerald looks like he’s gearing up for a fight, “well, for one, you’re rushing into this with no plan in place.”“I do have a plan! It’s just flexible enough to be adapted to the way the situation demands it,” I reply, trying not to give in to the sudden urge to shout. I feel extremely volatile like I’m a time bomb one tick away from being blown up.And maybe on a subconscious level, I know the reason for this.I will be the first to admit that I didn’t get enough sleep last night, and I am still very affected by the incident last night. I had a gun shoved at my face, and if Aaron Collins had not intervened, I would’ve…well, I would’ve died.And then there would be no Coraline, no Astra Development or boys named Lemon, no Zelt Tech or no Gerald, no trying to struggle a demanding job all while going to college,
I storm out of the house after that without even letting Gerald reply, and as soon as I step out into the fresh air of the garden, I immediately feel like an utter asshole for saying what I did to Gerald.Whenever we try to bring up the subject of romance or partners around Gerald, he looks so extremely sad. None of us knows what happened to make him feel that way, and the man is yet to tell us anything about it. All we know is that Gerald is currently single, and there isn’t evidence on his ring finger that would state he ever wore a ring, like a pale line against his tan. While that’s not a realistic way to decide if a person had been married or not, it’s not like we know anything about Gerald’s mysterious past to ascertain it otherwise.It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize the man had been burned by love so thoroughly that even mentioning it brings him physical discomfort.And I’d gone and shoved it on his face just to make a point. And to Gerald, who I considered to be mo
“Hi, good morning, my name is Jace Greyson, and I have an appointment with Mr. Cal Greene,” I tell the receptionist of Astra Development main building in the most confident voice I could muster, smiling broadly afterward. The receptionist blinks at me, twice in rapid succession and I wonder if I’m overdoing it.“Of course, Mr. Greyson, please give me a moment,” she replies politely with a smile and quickly begins to tap away on the keyboard in front of her.Only then do I notice how agitated I am. I feel like I’m buzzing with energy, and not the good sort of energy, as I wait impatiently for her to finish searching through whatever database or notes she has for my name, all the while wondering ‘why the heck is it taking so long?’I feel like I want to take a long run rather than go and speak with a shady businessman, or even get away to Adrenaline Rush and go a few rounds in the ring or with a punching bag.“Mr. Greyson, you have a conference slot Mr. Greene that will open in ten minu
The CEO looks pale, and if that isn’t him giving everything away, I don’t know what is. I honestly thought a man receding to underhanded techniques to get what he wanted would be cleverer in dealing with things like this.“You’re bluffing,” he says, and I nearly roll my eyes.“And you’re not doing anything to hide your connection to the crimes I accused you of,” I point out.The CEO reddens, but trying to still salvage the situation, he scoffs, “crime? There’s no crime here, there’s nothing here! You’re spewing out lies trying to jeopardize our operation as well as our reputation as a benevolent company,” then he springs up from his chair and points an accusing finger at me, “You know what I think is happening here? I think you’re trying to create problems with me because of your father!”I blink at him, slowly, “pardon?”“One of your father’s companies is the leading establishment for land development in Clandestine city, and everyone knows about Greyson’s plan to conquer the city on
“It worked!” I crow to Laurent as soon as I dash into the car, startling the driver into dropping his phone. The video he had been watching plays mindlessly from the phone as Laurent tries to catch his breath.“Good god, kid, warn a guy the next time,” Laurent wheezes as he fishes the phone out of the floor to pause the video.I smile at him sheepishly, “yeah, sorry for that. But it worked! It really worked!”“You mean to tell me that you managed to convince the CEO to stop pestering Miss. Granger’s parents?” Laurent questions, and I nod so hard that my neck starts to hurt, but I don’t really care about it because I feel so damn energetic, more so than I did when I was entering the building. And this energy is different from the last time as well because now I’m happy instead of agitated.“Yes. Mr. Cal Greene is not going to be sending his henchmen to the Granger property any longer,” I declare, “and if he does break the promise, he’s going to see what I really can do, because the idi