23

LINDEN

Goddamnit!

I had no idea it was goodbye. After blowing my mind and sending me to faraway heaven, she fucking left. She didn’t even have the guts to tell me face to face. She waited until I fell asleep before she left. Who would do something like that?

When she came with me, I thought she would at least try hard to fight for what she felt about me. I guessed I was wrong, it didn’t matter to her, and I didn’t know her that well.

In absolute despair, I read the message, again and again, to make sure she didn’t miss a word or I read it wrong.

Gabriel,

I’m so sorry, but this is the last time we see each other. I hope you will find someone strong enough to fight for you. You deserve better than me.

Estelle

“Fuck you.” I crumpled the piece of paper and tossed it into the bin. “I don’t want anyone else.”

I went back to my bed, where we made love, and I could still smell sex. My chest felt a sudden emptiness. Even the bedroom somehow felt cold and dark. She took all the energy and light with her.

As far as I knew, I didn’t fuck things up. This was her fault. I reached for my phone. At least if we did this, I have no regrets. I did everything I could. So I dialed her number, but it went directly to her voicemail. What would I expect?

“Estelle, I can’t believe you just broke up with me through a piece of paper. Call me so we can talk. We’re not over. Got it?” I ended the call and prayed to God she would change her mind.

Since it was Saturday, I went to the gym at Osmium, where all the staff had access to it. It was pretty cool with complete equipment.

I found Kye starting up already.

“Hey.” I didn’t even recognize my own voice. It sounded gloomy and lifeless.

“I’ll pretend you’re not around.” Kye worked on the dumbbell. He just noticed I wasn’t in the mood to chat. Unlike Sax, the word limit didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

I did my warm-up and started sweating. I lifted some weight. It didn’t work, though. My mind was not set on it. I still felt the heaviness in my chest.

After a few minutes, and nothing happened, I gave up. I ignored Kye’s eyes on me and left the gym. I went for a quick shower and changed into a shirt and jeans.

“You’re leaving already?” Kye followed me to the locker.

“I thought you might going to join me in the shower. I waited for a couple of minutes.”

He chuckled at my sarcasm. “I’m not gonna ask if you’re okay. I can feel that you’re not. It’s Saturday. Why don’t we go see Beck.” Bad idea.

“He’s probably busy. You know him, even weekends, he never stops working.”

“Says the kettle to the pot. Then you don’t have any excuse not to be at Cade’s tonight.”

“Sure. See you later.” I slapped his back before I picked up my gym bag.

“Bro,” he called my name. “You know, you can always talk to me.”

I stopped for a moment. “I know. Later.”

After the gym, I dropped by a convenience store. This was probably the dumbest idea, but I needed a drink, and it was early in the morning. I bought some strong poison before I went home.

I’d never felt so alone as I entered the house. It even felt haunted. The eerily silence was unsettling. I could hear my own breathing.

I sat on the couch, turned the tv on, and started watching the football replay. If there was one thing Striker and I disagreed was the sports we liked. He liked soccer, and I like American football, so when I was in his house, he could find me in the entertainment room instead in the living.

One thing I cared about myself was I always balanced healthy and junk food, but right now, I could care any less. I needed to get drunk and moped where no one else could interrupt me.

I was halfway to the first bottle. It is classic, my father’s favorite. I remembered he hid a bottle in his garage. Yeah, aside from cooking, Pops liked old cars. As soon as I got my first paycheck after the Firm rebranded to Osmium, I went to the car show and bought him a Chevy Chevelle. It was a babe.

***

I groaned at a constant nudging on my shoulder. My eyes were so heavy I couldn’t even force myself to open them. I felt numbness in my legs, and my neck seemed stiff.

I had the worse headache in history, and my mouth was so parched like someone had left me in the desert.

“What?” I groaned again. I felt like punching someone right now. “The fuck do you want?”

I waited for the reply, but I heard nothing other than footsteps— more than one, but I did recognize the expensive cologne. Then glasses clinking followed.

“What the hell is going on with you?”

I cursed under my breath, forcing my eyes to crack. My cheeks and ears burned to see Moses standing before me with the same unimpressed look I saw when Striker wanted to give Linus the taste of his own medicine.

“I missed the Taco Saturday, ain’t I?” I straightened my body on the couch, stretched my arms, and swallowed hard.

“You’re worried about missing Taco Saturday but not yourself? Look at you. You look like shit.” His deep and angry tone carried in his voice.

“I’m fine, really.” I cleared my throat. I felt like I could drink a liter of water.

“I say it’s bullshit, son. I know what’s going on. I asked Kye to look after you because you seemed not yourself. I told him not to stop you when you bought alcohol early in the morning.”

“I’m good. Thanks for checking up on me.” I met his gaze. He was still not impressed, his eyebrows drawn together.

“You have a family. If you don’t wanna open up to your brothers, I’m always here or have dinner with Willa or see your father. Alcohol won’t solve whatever you’re going through right now, Gabe.”

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep that in mind.” My gaze fell onto the table. Someone already cleaned up the bottles. My guess? His men.

“I told Briggs to empty them in the sink. You’re not gonna waste your life and time drinking in sorrow. Get up, shower, and put some comfortable clothes on. We have somewhere to go.” I knew I had let him down when he used that authoritative tone.

“I can’t, boss. I’m sorry. I have a terrible headache.” My poor excuse didn’t budge him. Of course, I should know it by now not to piss off the big boss. I swallowed hard, and a slight nausea of embarrassment filled my throat.

“You will come willingly, or I will let my men drag you out of this house.” When he didn’t move, I realized he wasn’t joking even the slightest.

“Okay, but where are we going?”

“Just get in the shower, Gabriel.” He didn’t call me by that name unless his patience was running thin.

“All right.” I quickly rose to my feet even if my head was hammering. I took two steps at a time upstairs.

“Take some painkillers, Gabriel!” he yelled from downstairs.

“Got it.”

Twenty minutes later, I went down, groomed. We stepped outside the house to find two black Tahoe and a Mercedes. Sometimes, Moses still appalled me at how rich he was, yet he still cared for the welfare of his son’s friends.

“Let me drive,” I volunteered when he opened the driver’s seat.

“In your state of mind? No, thank you. Get in the car.”

Still astounded, I got into the passenger’s seat. And I couldn’t believe he was driving me to wherever hell he was throwing me into, and I felt like I was not going to enjoy it.

“I found a new house for sale. It was a good deal.”

“Why do you want more houses?” Stupid question, really, but I was trying to make a conversation instead of sulking in my own despair.

“You should buy your own, Gabriel. You already have enough in your bank account to buy my tower. You should accept the fact you’re rich. And I told you to get your own bodyguard, but you didn’t listen. When threats arise, you can’t depend on your skills to save your life.”

“No thanks. I like my lowkey house and not-so-complicated life.”

“What about your not-so-complicated love life?”

I chuckled as I looked outside the window, but it came out spiteful. “You mean my non-existence love life?”

“Son, if you trust me, I can help you. And don’t pretend that you don’t know what I am talking about. And I know you two broke up.”

“There’s no relationship to break up in the first place,” I still denied, even if it hurt like a motherfucker. “We just met last week. We barely know each other. I call it a fling.”

“Then I call it bullshit.”

After a few minutes of silence, he announced, “We’re here.”

I looked through the windshield. The iron gate door slid. “This is beauty.”

“With an outstanding and safe neighborhood.” He parked the car in the driveway of the three-story stone residence.

I got out, still puzzled why he had to take me here to see the house when he had his estate, and I knew Striker wasn’t interested in taking that home even if it had been Braddson’s for generations. But I guessed this was a good investment.

“Do you like it? When you enter the house for the first time, you will feel it is calling you, welcoming you to call it home. Let’s get inside.”

“I get what you mean. I felt that when I first checked my house. That’s why I bought it.”

We entered the entrance. The living room was spacious, with a nice interior and complete furniture.

“Do you like modern?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I think this is pretty cool.”

“Good. With a pretty state-of-the-art security system from Hover Security’s latest tech. What do you say?”

“For you, nothing is impossible. Are you leaving the estate?”

“No.” He shook his head. “This is your wedding gift.”

“What?” For a brief moment, I stared at him in shock. “What do you mean my wedding gift? I don’t have a bride, boss.” I swallowed hard at the fact that he was asking the impossible.

“Lately, your views in life have changed. I watched you without you even noticing it. The way you looked at your brothers, extremely happy with their lives. You stopped sleeping anymore. That was when I realized you’ve matured in just several months. I knew then that you wanted to settle down, so I grabbed this chance. This would be perfect for you and your wife.”

I shook my head in disbelief as I laughed. “You do realize I don’t have a bride.”

“Let me take care of it.”

“No.” I let go of a harsh breath. “I don’t want you to do anything. And I can’t accept this.” I threw my hands in the air. “This is just too much, boss.”

“It’s already in your name. And I don’t accept no for an answer. Regarding your bride, I’m giving you a month to pursue her. If you can’t win her back, you can’t stop me, Gabriel.” You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“What exactly is your plan?”