Ryan glanced around the store. The few artworks that he saw in the place were anything but appealing. Another disappointment.
"Sir?" The woman called.Ryan glanced at her and smiled. "Can I look around?""Sure. After you."If Ryan ever had a thing for artworks, the ones he saw here destroyed it."Did you find anything you love?" The woman asked after they had walked round the place.Ryan wanted to say looking around was a waste of time but he didn't say that, instead, he plastered a smile on his face and shrugged."Everything here doesn't look that bad. Are you the owner of this place?""Yes, Sir.""You have a really great taste in artworks," Ryan said, hoping she wouldn't get the underlying meaning of what he just told her.She blushed. "Did you find something you love?""Actually…" Ryan looked around, he pointed at a paintThe woman's eyes widened. She covered her mouth with her palm. "What did you just say?""Even I couldn't believe it myself. I just…" Ryan shrugged. "I was just told a piece of artwork here will change your life…." Ryan shut his eyes tightly. If he must do this, he might as well do it well. He allowed his lips to shiver."I see… red, blue…white… A lion...a young lad…" Ryan opened his eyes suddenly. The astonished look on the woman's face was enough to tell Ryan how much of a great actor he was. "Are you thinking of purchasing a piece of artwork that has a young boy gazing at a lion?" "Yes. Yes, Sir." She nodded her head vigorously."Buy it. It will yield you a fortune.""Actually, I…" The woman scratched her forehead. "Do you mind sitting while I get you a cup of coffee?""No need. I'm fasting." "Well, I have the exact piece of artwork you just described…
“I'm a very rare man. I really don't have a place I stay. I can be in Atlanta today and be in Finland in two days,” Ryan said. “But if you want to get in touch with me, I can give you the number of a friend.”“Won't it be better to have your number?”“I carry a phone around but I don't have a sim. It's too distracting.”“Oh…” the woman nodded. “Let me have the number then.”Ryan called one of his private numbers to her. Those ones he uses for secret business. If he had to call his real number to her, she might realize later on that he's really fake.“Thank you, Sir.”The woman helped Ryan to carry what he bought outside. Seeing that going with his GMC would make him easily traceable, Ryan boarded a cab. He waved at the woman before he got inside the cab. Even after he had entered the cab and the car had started driving, the woman still kept on bowing. Ryan didn't need anyone to tell
Behind the counter was the woman. It seemed she was the one who had greeted him because there was no one else in sight."Hello."Quickly, the woman walked over to Ryan. "Have your seat, Sir."Ryan looked around. He wanted to ask her if they were really not closed but figuring out that that might sound a bit rude, he smiled and sat down.The woman handed him a menu. "Anything you want, Sir."Ryan glanced through the menu. Other than pasta and fries, there was nothing on the list. Concealing his surprise, Ryan pointed at a number. The woman bowed slightly and left. Some seconds later, her husband came with a cup of water. "You'll be served soon," the man said after setting the cup down. "Okay.""And, thanks for visiting.""It's nothing. Are you… I was wondering if you were closed before I came in."Th
"I had to ask because I was a bit confused," Ryan said. "And let this be the last time you'd refer to me as 'stupid'."Richard laughed. He looked around. He saw a cop and signaled to the cop. The man walked over to them."Do you know me?" Richard asked the cop, looking the man up and down."Yes… Mr Richard… that's your name," the cop said.Richard nodded. He tucked a hand in his pocket and used the other hand to adjust some imaginary hair on his forehead. "Do you know this boy?" Richard asked the cop, referring to Ryan.The cop looked at Ryan for some seconds before shaking his head. Conversations like this don't go well. The last time the cop had listened to Richard speaking with another cop, the cop had been fired the next day for no real reason."I don't know him, Mr Richard.""Well, I will introduce him to you. This boy hit my car and now, he's claiming that I was the
Slowly, Ryan raised his head and allowed himself to look in front of him. He let out a sigh of relief. The girl was perfectly okay. At least, he could say that since she was still standing in the middle of the road. He got out of the car and walked over to her. She seemed to be around five years old. She was clutching a teddy to her chest when Ryan got to her. "Hello," Ryan said. She looked at him with teary eyes. "Billy. Will you help Billy?" "Who is Billy?" Ryan asked. She looked in a direction and started crying. Ryan had almost forgotten they were in the middle of The road until he heard cars honking at him. He noticed people give him disapproving stares through the windows of cars that drove past them. "We can help Billy later but first let's get off the road." Ryan told her. He wasn't sure she understood what he said but she didn't fli
Ryan didn't drive inside the hotel. He watched Anderson drive inside the hotel. As he parked his car, Ryan suddenly felt like a stalker. No matter how he thought about it, this doesn't sound right. Stephanie is an ex wife. Her boyfriend, the man she loves, just drove her into the hotel. What one earth was he thinking to have come here?But… Anderson impregnated another girl… Still, that didn't seem like an excuse for him to come here. Now that he's here, what would he do? Go inside and watch Anderson and Stephanie make out?For some inexplicable reason, Ryan felt a bile rising in his throat. Disgusted at himself, Ryan turned on the ignition. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be doing this. Thanks to his impulse act, he missed out on almost everything Landon explained to him about the Lt Group.The last thing he should be doing now is to allow a woman, the same woman who broke his heart, to disrupt his life agai
To Ryan's greatest surprise, the man got up from the floor, dabbed at his nose with the back of his hand. He glanced at it, noticing the blood that was now on his hand.He looked at Ryan, an unmistakable anger had replaced the fright on the man's face."I should have known Anderson cannot be trusted," the man blared."He made me come here after setting you here. Go tell that idiot that I'm done having anything to do with him." The man hissed and went to where his clothes were.Ryan was... speechless? That was an understatement. He couldn't even bring himself to hit the man anymore."If he knows he doesn't want me to fuck his girlfriend, he should have made me aware instead of making me come here and play a fool of me." The man hissed again. He zipped his trousers."How come I wasn't even aware of it? It's been more than two months since he's been giving me excuses as to why he can't make the thing wo
The only reason he's here is to make Anderson feel some pain in his damn body, Ryan reminded himself this as he walked into the Hill's Villa.Right from the moment Ryan had left Stephanie in the hotel yesterday, he had not been able to get a grip on his anger. He had let a lot of punches at the punching bag, played baseball, ran around a field as many times as he could imagine, but still, this had not been able to soothe his anger.How could Anderson do that to a woman?Hell, it doesn't matter if Stephanie is Anderson's girlfriend or fiancee or whatever it is they called themselves, nothing gives Anderson any right to drug Stephanie without her consent and set her up with a man. If he had not shown up in that hotel yesterday, that man would have definitely raped Stephanie. The thought alone made another set of seething rage to arise in Ryan's body.The thing he hates most, he convinces himself, is for a man not t