Chapter 321: Alternatives

"Haha…you can’t be serious right now," I muttered before I rolled my eyes at him.

"Actually, I’m pretty serious right now. If you tell me that you want to marry Hayden and live a peaceful life with him away from this dangerous and dark world, I might just leave my brother in your capable hands," Harvey said and although his tone was light, I could sense that he was being very serious.

Was that really an option?

It seemed too good to be true. I could marry Hayden and live a peaceful life somewhere away from the mafia? Really?

"You sound like a fairy godmother or something. This is too good to be true…" I replied as I kept my eyes on Harvey.

"Do you want to? Marry Hayden and live a peaceful life with him," Harvey asked again.

"I would like that…" I replied honestly.

"What if that wasn’t possible? If you had to choose between never seeing Hayden again and marrying him as the next boss of Torex, what would you choose?" Harvey asked.

This was starting to sound like some logic test, and I wasn’t so convinced that I had very good logic when it came to Hayden. My emotions were a mess and my braincells were severely impacted as well.

"I don’t know. I don’t want to be separated from Hayden…" I replied in a small voice.

It was hard for me to imagine being away from Hayden. Never seeing him again was just…unthinkable.

"Tell him, Malissa," Harvey urged.

"What?" I asked, cluelessly.

"Tell, Hayden. Tell him exactly what you told me," Harvey replied encouragingly.

I wanted to tell him too, but I was too embarrassed to say these things so directly to him. Also, I wasn’t sure how Hayden would take it. He was very unpredictable.

"Tell, him. You might not think so, but Hayden is always thinking of you and what is best for you. There isn’t anything that he wouldn’t do for you if you ask…" Harvey said with certainty.

I had no idea where he got his confidence from.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Hmm…probably because he hasn’t slept with the same woman for as long as he’s been with you?" Harvey said after some serious thought.

Although, I appreciated his honestly and straightforwardness, was that the only reason?

"Seriously…?" I muttered as I made a face to make sure that he knew that I wasn’t impressed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yup. I know him well. It was the same way for me too before I met Amelia. Maybe it runs in the family?" Harvey said with an amused look on his face as if he had figured out something amazing.

"What? Your tendency to sleep around?" I asked, sarcastically.

"I’m sure that there’s a better way to describe or name it than that," Harvey said before he seemed to consider alternative names seriously.

"Harvey, if you take over the gang, can Hayden be free again just like before?" I asked, not really for myself but I was worried about Hayden.

Harvey’s eyes widened at me before he smiled a little. I found his smile warm and very adorable.

"You’re a good girl. Hayden is very lucky to have you worry and care about him. If I take over Torex, Hayden may be able to go free but not before I clear up the mess that he’s been letting run free," Harvey replied quite sternly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not quite following.

What mess?

"Did Hayden ever tell you about me and how I like to operate?" Harvey asked as he looked at me intently.

Not directly but I’ve heard it loud and clear many times before from the other gang members on how Harvey wouldn’t be as laxed when handling matters with the other gangs. A cold knot formed in my stomach when I recalled that peace didn’t seem to be what Harvey specialized at.

"Not really…" I mumbled.

"I like to destroy things and people. My philosophy is simple. I destroy anything and anyone that is in the way," Harvey announced proudly before he snapped his fingers for effect.

I knew it. I closed my eyes and willed the memory that I recalled of the meeting that I attended with Hayden before to disappear. The shouting senior members of the gangs as they went against Hayden’s peaceful methods when he suggested that he was going to negotiate with Silva.

’If your brother was still alive; he would never let them get away with behaving like this against us’

Someone said something like that for sure in the meeting. If Harvey was alive, he wouldn’t let Silva get away with what they did. Suddenly a lump formed in my throat, and I couldn’t swallow as a feeling very similar to fear and dread filled me. Since he was always laughing and teasing me, I had somehow forgotten that the most dangerous and crazy man of all was probably sitting right by my side.

The original heir to the Torex was still very much alive.

"Hayden’s always been kind and easy on people. Even when people bullied him by calling him a girl or a princess when he was young, I always had to stand up for him. I’ve always been there to protect him…" Harvey stated proudly.

"He told me about that. Hayden really looked like a sweet little angel when he was younger," I said as I recalled photos of Hayden when he was younger.

"He’s not really an angel, though," Harvey corrected.

"Well, I guess…" I mumbled. Maybe he was naughty as a kid?

"Do you know why I had to beat up the other kids that teased him?" Harvey asked like he wanted to tell me something quite badly.

"So that they wouldn’t do it again?" I guessed.

"Partly correct. The real reason though, was because I didn’t want Hayden to hurt anyone. He always went onboard when he does, and he nearly killed one of the kids back then. It was a real mess, seriously. From that incident, the boss ordered me to deal with the violence instead because I could control myself much better," Harvey explained before he smiled cheekily at me.

"Aha…" I murmured in shock.

--To be continued…