HADES (t.h.)

Chapter 4

"In what world do you own me, Holland? I may work for you, but you do not have control over me," her stance was powerful as her eyes dared him to say more.

Oh, how he knew. She was a wild tigress locked down only by a thread tied to a shackle.

Tom glared from his seat, wanting to shout bloody murder at Y/N. Tell her that her employment meant he could make her do whatever he wanted. But as she stood over him, with her eyes filled with a wildfire of entitlement, he wanted nothing but to watch that exact moment over and over. But as Harrison coughed into his fist, Tom was pulled back into reality. Y/N had a secret, and Martin had a motive and he needed to find out what it was. It all tempted his urge to have blood dripping down his hands, seeping between his fingers.

"If you don't tell me what Rob Martin is talking about, I may just have to let you take the fall." Tom replied, a smug grin flourishing.

"Yeah? Then what's stopping you from doing it right now?" Her eyebrows furrowed, face growing cold. Tom didn't have an answer for her, he couldn't describe why he felt like he couldn't

"Harrison, take her back to her room." Tom said nonchalantly as he rose from his chair and started to walk out of the office. Harrison paraded across the hardwood and tried to escort Y/N towards the door.

"What the fuck is this? You won't answer me?" She slapped Harrison's hand away from her shoulder and grabbed Tom's wrist, "what is it?"

He stopped in his path, looking back at her with a lack of expression, "I'm going to make a plan," he yanked his arm out of her grip and continued out into the hallway.

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Tom decided to go walk in the library, he didn't read much, but the library was always a place that invited thought. He walked past shelves and shelves of books, none of them dusty due to an invaluable cleaning staff at the estate. While Tom strolled down the shelves of books, he tried to devise a plan. The ultimatum ran through his head like computer code; let Y/N go without a witness, or intervene but risk being investigated. The investigation would start a domino effect of problems, all them resulting in the termination of the Holland mafia, even the legal parts. He pressed his hands into his face, then ran them up through his hair.

Why couldn't he let Y/N take the fall?

Tom pondered on the question for what seemed like ages. He didn't love her, there was no reason for him to. He knew that she was beautiful, in her looks and her personality, even when her eyes danced with defiance. Tom knew she deserved more than to get convicted for a crime she did not commit, she deserved more than to go in without support. But at the same time, Tom was not willing to risk everything his family had worked for. So he was left with a gray space he had yet to fill with an alternate solution.

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"Harrison! What is going on?" Y/N mind was blazing with thoughts, eyes wild with uncertainty.

"I don't know, Y/N. We need to find out Martin's motive," Harrison spoke with kind eyes, trying to bring peace back into the woman.

"Do you know his plan?"

"No."

She determined Harrison as a dead end, and that he wanted her to go to her room and leave everyone alone from the way he stood. He loomed over her in height, and he spoke softly but he meant to hint that she should leave. To satisfy him, she walked down the hall and climbed up the staircase to the bedrooms.

After an hour, Y/N had torn the room apart. Bed sheets were pulled off the bed, towels from the bathroom lay scattered around the room, books that had sat peacefully in shelves were open and misplaced. It was a strange habit, but it was what she did when she needed to think. A messy surrounding gave her a sharp mind, where in most cases it would drive people mad. She had thought enough about the plan, but was stuck without a retaliation. She needed to bounce ideas off of someone, Harrison would be fine but he had left the estate and taken the package to the warehouse he spoke about earlier.