You Would Never Know

XII | Not-So-Friendly

It took everything in me to leave bed this morning. Every fiber in my body longed to pull her close once I saw her peaceful sleeping state, but I had to because that peace wasn't promising.

For the past few years, I've been receiving updates every now and then on whoever is tracing Rayne's location, which now only leads to someplace six feet under. The updates became frequent after she returned, and I didn't bother to receive confirmations because, deep down, I saw this day coming, even when I executed that brutal plan.

A lady worth admiring, for sure. She's smart, capable, and resilient; all these praiseworthy traits are making me overuse my head at the very moment. As soon as I possibly could, I had to find a way to stop her from continuing her search because, without a doubt, if she finds out about Rayne, finding out about the family business won't take long, and from there, all the web of lies will untangle before her eyes, and I won't have anything to excuse me.

How do I avoid hurting her? This question was roaming my mind non-stop the whole night, but no answer came to mind.

And that's why I'm here in a meeting with a few of my men; every head of a team is here to relay my words word for word to the rest.

"We've been laying low for a while now; I think we're all aware of why by now. While it hasn't hindered our work, at least not yet, we must take action. Just because we're steady on our feet doesn't mean we can take risks; we can't have anything tarnishing the family image or raising suspicions." I glanced around the room to make sure they were still on board before continuing.

"My fiancée happens to be the one behind all of this, and I have one thing I want from you, and it's for her to not find anything out, and there's only one simple rule that determines whether you'll see another tomorrow or not, and it's: don't hurt her by all means."

For emphasis, I made sure to take out my gun from my holster and place it on the table. I was sure they understood when they started sitting straighter.

"Hold back from whatever we do usually; that means no weapons, no swinging a bat on the back of her head because I know some of the newbies do that as if we're a street gang, and no fighting or anything that involves aggression, or I'll literally mop the floor with your beard and mustache." I brought my hand to the bearded guy's left cheek, giving him gentle taps. "The moustache is nice, but the beard, not so much." I told him, noticing how his beard covered the documents in front of him.

Not even a second later, he took out a pocket knife, grabbed the end of his beard, and slashed the knife through the strands. "I think now you can clearly read all the information you need for this mission."

"Yes, boss, I can now, thanks to you. I should've done this long ago. Thank-" I raised my hand, cutting him off before he wasted more time opening his mouth.

I physically felt the fear radiate from everyone in the room due to my threat; they knew I'd do it because I'd done it before to those who previously sat on these chairs.

I look forward again, ignoring the guy beside me. "Just figure it out on your own, but don't hurt her, and if her people are trying to hack our system, simply direct them to an article that talks about the benefits of ginger tea. Do anything but mess up. If you mess up, you'll pay for the consequences with your life."

My eyes were fixed on Kye, who sat at the other end of the table, parallel to me. "That hacker of yours couldn't be more obvious? Writing warnings in Arabic, for real? He was practically spoon-feeding her hints." I chuckled, shaking my head. "It seemed like he knew at some point that Dali was behind everything; he was just entertaining himself at that point. It does get boring when you're constantly laying low and your love life happens to be his current source of entertainment," he said, shaking his head at his counterpart's actions.