3 : The Deal

“What deal??” I ask, crossing my arms in disgust.

This is insane but I have to put consider Derek. I don’t want to even imagine what Jaden will do to him if I turn him down.

“Glad you asked Val,” Jaden coos. He stands and walks to the wall behind him. He flips a few switches and the lightbulbs turn on.

“Stop staring at the chandelier and focus on the files in front of you,” Jaden chuckles.

Turning away from the fancy chandelier, I take a file and hold it in my hands. If my guess is right, these files should contain the life info of someone else.

“Open it!” Jaden advances toward me with a cheeky grin, his steps suspiciously slow.

I bring out the contents of the file. In it are a lot of photographs and documents of a striking young man.

“Mr. Jaden-”

“Don’t call me that!” He cuts me off, his tone laced with annoyance. “Jaden is just fine.”

“Who is this?” I ask, pointing to the man in a photo. Dirty blond hair, brown eyes, muscular build; he’s the man who nudged Derek with his car some moments ago. I remember him perfectly.

Jaden sighs, “That is the target of our little deal. He-”

“What does any of this have to do with him? I already apologized for destroying his phone. He-”

“Don’t you ever interrupt me again!” Jaden warns, clenching his fists. “I know about your little incident with Nathan a while ago, and as annoyed as I am about it all, I’ll let it pass. Thank your stars we aren’t having this conversation in your prison cell. Seeing as you have no idea who he is, I’ll tell you.

“That’s Nathaniel Kress, the CEO of the multi-billion-dollar global corporation known as Kress’ League of Companies. A rich and very arrogant piece of shit,” he adds after an exhale. “Everything you need to know about him to make him fall in love with you is in those files. Lucky for you, you’re the type he finds attractive so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Once again, Jaden flashes a grin that makes me uncomfortable.

“You want me to fall in love with him?” I ask with widened eyes.

“Hell no! If you do that, then I’ll have to kill you. I don’t need you to fall in love with him. I need you to make him fall in love with you. Clear enough?” Jaden corrects me with a chortle. He stops behind me and holds my chair from the top. “Don't worry, he's not married or engaged so there’s no competition. At least not anymore. Get his attention, keep it, and turn it into love. Simple as ABC.”

“I understand, but if I’m going to play with his heart, shouldn’t I at least know why?” I question, trying not to feel agitated by his presence.

“You don’t, but to kill that curiosity in you,” Jaden sighs, letting go of my chair. “Nathaniel has something I really want, but the thing is, it’s not something I can just steal or threaten him to give me. It’s something only his wife can possess, and just like you need your brother alive in one piece, I also need that item as soon as possible,” he explains using his hands to massage both of my shoulders.

“I’m still confused as to what I have to do with all this.”

Jaden leans down to my left ear, “Everything dearie.”

“How? I have no ties with him so what you’re asking is basically impossible,” I remind Jaden, turning to meet his brown eyes.

“Well, you’re going to make it possible or I’ll get to know if a boy of fourteen years can survive a bullet to the liver.” Jaden threatens, staring back into my eyes.

I turn my face away in defeat.

“Not having ties with him won’t be a problem,” Jaden says with a voice that should be assuring but isn’t while taking his hands off my shoulder. “The weakness of every man is his dick. You want Derek back, all you have to do is steal his heart, without giving him yours, get married to the rich bastard and when the time comes, I’ll let you know the item you’ll be giving me in exchange for your cute little brother.”

I breathe some air into my lungs and gather some courage to speak. I still don’t get what any of this has to do with Derek and me.

“Why me?” I question, picking up another photograph of the CEO.

Jaden turns to face me. He places a hand on my cheek and brushes it softly.

“Why? You are the perfect lady for the job. I’ve done my research on you and I must say, I’m impressed. Your beauty and general personality also gave you bonus points to be the chosen one for the mission.”

I take my face away from his irritating touch.

“Let me get this straight.” I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. “You’ve been stalking me and this Nathan for God knows how long, kidnapped Derek just so I can get you something Nathan has, which to do I have to make him fall in love and marry me, and if I can’t get it done, I’ll never see Derek again. Is that it?”

“Absolutely! You’re catching on quite nicely with the terms of the deal.” I hear Jaden say and I can tell even by not looking at him, that there’s a smirk on his face.

“I can’t!” I mumble with my eyes closed. “I can’t do it!”

How on earth am I going to do any of that? Make the CEO of a multi-billionaire company fall in love with me. How is that ever going to happen? For starters, I’m nowhere close to his class.

I just can’t.

God knows what Jaden will make me do to him if I somehow manage to pull this off.

“Why don’t you just point a gun to his head? I’m sure he’ll give you whatever it is you want from him. That’ll be better than kidnapping an innocent kid,” I suggest, even though a part of me doesn’t agree with those words.

“I’ve tried my best to treat you well Sam. Don’t ruin my efforts by getting on my bad side.” Jaden’s calm tone suddenly gets replaced with rage, and it makes me want to get as far away from him as possible. Not that I don’t already want to. “Believe me, as much as I want to, I can’t. That method has a consequence I’m not looking forward to.” Jaden breathes out, heading back to his seat.

“Why not? Isn’t he afraid of guns?” I insist with a low voice, cocking my head in confusion.

“You can say that.”

There’s a lot more about the Kress family that the world doesn’t know about. Piece of advice, never piss him off when it’s just the two of you.”

Jaden snaps his finger at a man by the door and he comes to him.

“Get me my usual.”

“Jaden, I get it that you're desperate for whatever you need from him but you kidnapped the wrong girl. You don’t expect someone like me to do all that, do you? How on earth am I supposed to make one of the most influential and wealthy men in America fall in love with a nobody like me?” I stand up and stretch out my hands to make my point.

The man returns with a silver tray bearing a bottle of wine and a slim wineglass.

“Don’t worry, if Cinderella can do it, so can you. Stealing a guy’s heart shouldn’t be so hard for a lady with such enticing qualities,” he says, his eyes falling to my breasts. I instinctively cross my arms around my chest. “You women do it all the time. Take advantage of your seductive features. You certainly have what it takes.”

Jaden holds the glass as the man pours some wine into it.

“And what? I can’t just walk up to him with my tits exposed and hope he’ll ask me to marry me,” I reply sarcastically. I sit back on the chair as the pain of a rising headache dawns on me.

“You could, but I’m sure that will only get you behind bars,” Jaden laughs. “Calm down blondie. As his personal assistant, you will have several opportunities to charm your way into his heart.”

“You also want me to be his personal assistant? I could lose my job if I miss a day at work,” I raise my voice, trying to sound tough. Maybe that way, he’ll take me seriously.

There’s no way Mr. Cheng would let me miss a day. Not that I even have an idea of how long this deal is going to take.

“Would you prefer Derek to lose his arms? Or would killing the old man take your mind off that dump restaurant?” he inquires, waving his hands at the two men at the door. They pulled out guns from their pockets.

“No. Don’t do anything. I’ll be his personal assistant.”

A tear escapes my eye and falls down my cheek, but I wipe it off before Jaden can notice it.

“I’ll do what you want on one condition,” I propose with a firm voice.

“I hate conditions and you’re in no position to be making any, so what do you want?”

“Assurance that you won’t hurt Derek. I want to have a video chat with him every day until I’m done with this,”

“Easy enough, done!” Jaden takes a sip from the wineglass and turns back to me.

Did his eyes just turn red? I wipe my eyes with my hands, but when I look at Jaden again, his eyes are back to brown. This whole thing must be making me lose my mind.

When I keep staring, he picks up the gun lying on the table.

“You have three months to get the bastard to marry you. Succeed Val, and you’ll get your brother back in one piece. Fail.” I gripped both handles of my chair at the click sound the gun made in his hands. “Fail, and I’ll break every bone in his body, then feed him to my sharks. And by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging to join him,” he threatens with his hand outstretched to me. “It’s simple enough, so do we have a deal?” The Mafia Lord asks, his lips curving to form an evil grin.

Like I have a choice.

I swallow hard.

“Yes.”

I can’t believe I just said that.

Jaden walks up to me, and on his insistence, we shake on it.

“One more thing; Don’t be stupid enough to involve the authorities. I have eyes and ears everywhere so I’ll know. And just so you know, it wouldn’t really make a difference.” Jaden warns, releasing my hand from his. “We’re done.”

“Can I see Derek before I go?” I ask, standing up.

“Weren’t you listening when I said that he wasn’t here?” Jaden snickers.

“Fine. What about a call? I need to know that he’s alright.” I insist, not willing to give up.

Jaden shrugs his back to me. He pulls out his phone and after some taps, brings it to his ear.

“Put the kid on,” I hear Jaden order. He turns and gives the phone to me.

*Derek? Oh my God, are you okay?* I feel so relieved to hear Derek’s voice.

*Valery hey, when are you coming to get me? Your doctor friend here told me that I blacked out after eating the ice cream so you brought me here so he could treat me. I woke up ten minutes ago and we’ve been playing video games ever since. He also said you had to leave for an emergency at work. Would I be sleeping over?*

Those words are the most shocking I’ve heard the entire year. I wasn’t clear with what he was saying so I turned to Jaden.

“He’s safe. Having fun with an old friend of mine. Just play along and tell him he’ll be staying with Uncle Peter for a few months. You had to leave the city for an urgent job interview but would call every day. Convince him to behave,” Jaden explains in a low tone.

That last part came out more like a warning than a tip.

As much as it hurts me to lie to Derek, I have to. I don’t want to involve him in any of this more than he already is.

*Hello? Sis? Are you still there?*

I take a deep breath before speaking.

*Yes. Thank Goodness he was able to wake you. I’m so sorry for leaving you alone with Peter, but he was the only one I could turn to. I’ve bothered your aunt Sofia enough.*

*Why does your voice sound like you’re trying not to cry?*

Jaden narrows his eyes at me, and I suck my gathering tears back in.

*There’s just something I have to tell you.* I sniffle as my voice cracks. *Bro, I finally got a job outside the city. It’s a three-month job so I won’t be back anytime soon. I really wish I could take you but… but I can’t. I’m really going to miss you.*

*Hold up Sis. What do you mean? You’re leaving? If this is about Dad’s debt please don’t, okay. I can skip school and help you out at the restaurant. Just don’t leave me.*

*Don’t worry everything will be fine. Uncle Peter will take good care of you. He’ll take you to school and you’ll still get to hang out with Scott. I need you to be good until I return, okay?*

Hearing Derek’s voice only makes fighting the tears harder.

*Aren’t you listening? I don’t want you to go!* Derek’s voice remains firm but sad.

*I’m so sorry Derek. I’ll call every day after my shift. I love you,*

Before Derek can say anything, I end the call. My legs turn to jelly and I drop to the ground on my knees, my palms on my face.

Jaden stoops down to me.

“You have my word. No harm shall come to Derek.”