BOUND TO HIM BY FORCE

34. A WELCOME TO THE WORLD

The sun streamed through the jet window and I was not even on the eighth page. If you walked into the jet, you would be spooked with how silent it was. The only thing heard was the turning of papers and nothing else.

My legs hurt from being crunched in the very awkward position I was in, but all that went unnoticed by me as all my veins expanded with so much pressure from my running blood. My head picked up from the sound of the pilot announcing our landing. My eyes went to my iPad, seeing that it was just quarter to eight.

Wow. This was really happening.

All I had gotten to that point was how Crystal Vision was founded, the founding members and the leaders of the company all through the years. I went through their balance sheets from twenty years ago until then, seeing profits and losses. I went through contracts where they merged with different companies over the years. They were all things I still knew nothing of how they related to Azrail.

Movement pulled me from my thoughts as I stared up. He stood from his chair, his bag packed with all his papers and gadgets, nowhere to be seen. I watched at his back as he made his way into a room which was at the back of the jet. The door closed with my head hanging back down. It seemed I could finally breathe. The room was not dense anymore, the room not scary anymore.

Where were we?

My body shifted, scooting closer to stare through the window, seeing roads all around.

My head tipped down.

I was not in control of my life anymore. I was told where to go and I had to be there. I was told what to do and I did it. Was that even life?

I was far from ready for the real world. I would have rather been back in the world of animals which I had gotten used to. At least there I knew what to be. In the real world I had to pretend that I was human, smile as if everything was normal when I was in hell. Would I ever see my brother again? I did not want to see him, but was he okay? Had he received the news about our parents?

I shook my head, he was in my past life. I was writing him off because nothing would have explained what he did. I would never do that to him.

The jet hit the ground running, holding the table to steady myself.

I stared at the two pads, locking them and getting ready to go out.

The meeting was in thirty minutes. What would I wear?

The door to the room opened, my eyes compelled to stare ahead and out the devil in a new suit. His hair was combed back, ready to face the world, but I was not.

He walked to pick up his bag and I took that as my queue. I stood up, picking up both the iPads, then turned to walk after him. The door was opened, the light shining through. We went down the steps, my eyes shaded from the sun rays which were sharp and scorching.

Azrail hit the ground, me following after. It was then I saw all the cars that stood waiting.

There were so many men just standing there, all in suits.

Four cars stood in all, one standing on its own on the left side, then three on the right side. The one car had two men standing outside of it. One of the men was carrying an iPad, his head up to me.

The other three cars had ten men in total, all standing outside of them.

Azrail marched to the cars on the right and I was trying to read the situation. I followed after him.

One of the men from the car which stood alone came rushing. I stared at him and saw that he was trying to rush to me, so I stopped where I was. My head turned back to Azrail who walked on, a door to one of the cars opened. He stepped in, the door closed behind him.

So that was it, just like that?

All the guards surrounding his car shuffled in the other cars, the engines soon running.

“ Good morning Ma’am, my name is Ajax and this is your car,” The man said, pointing towards the large tinted SUV that stood alone.

My head stared at the other three cars, no words exchanged, no goodbye, but how could he when we never even said hi.

I swallowed, turning with Ajax on my side.

“ This is your current driver and I am your current assistant.” Ajax continued, both of us marching on.

The driver opened the back door for us with me sliding in first, then Ajax followed after, the door closed behind us. The driver hopped in, starting the engine. I watched as he pressed his hand into his ear.

“ Copy.” He said, with the car moving in a second.

“ You have a meeting in twenty minutes but it will be pushed back for ten minutes, which will allow us to stop to get changed.”

I nodded my head at what Ajax was saying.

The two iPads were still in my hands.

My head turned, seeing one car from those my husband was in moving. Our car followed that one, then the rest of the two cars followed after.

I had so many questions but did not even know what to ask. What was I allowed to tell my assistant? What was I allowed to reveal to him? It was then I realized I had not said anything to him.

“ Thank you.” I politely said.

“ It is an honour to work for you, Ma’am. Here is my file.” The man said, unlocking his iPad, then swiping something. My iPad immediately beeped, the screen lighting up and I had just received the file.

I unlocked it then opened the file. A picture of him just popped up at me, seeming to be taken recently.

His name was Ajax Hadmad. He was twenty-eight and the only qualification I saw was a degree from a school I did not even know. I frowned. Why would they hire someone who had a degree in a field I had not even seen? I had expected to find PhD’s from the best schools. Who was I to judge though, since I was under-graduated myself, but that was why I needed someone from the best schools.

“ I was one of the top ten in my class. I went straight from being hired to the Morgue where I spent three years….” My head turned from hearing that. He had went to the Morgue? He did not look it. He was more on the average build. I could not see him fighting ten men all at once. He looked too polished.

“ From the morgue I got into the school, Level one, and in five years I was allowed to graduate after hitting level seven. I have a photographic memory, fast on my feet, I have no ties and am willing to do anything asked of me.”

He was trying to keep a straight face but him talking so much meant he was panicking, trying to sell himself.

“ I hear what you are saying. What is this…” I trailed away, staring at that name of the school again.

“ D.R.S school and what course were you doing?” I asked, my voice flat, not giving anything away.

“ It’s the Mafia school.” The man said, and hell, I could not help but turn to stare at him, frowning.

There was a mafia school? As if the morgue was not enough.

“ I was entered into level one, which is the basic course where you learn about business, but as I went up, I skipped level three, four and five to level six, which is only for those who will work more closely to the leaders of the cartel. Level seven is how far I got before being picked for work. My level of education allows me to be your assistant, knowing much information about the organization, but not as far as levels eight, nine and ten.” Ajax explained. I was still confused but I had got the basics of what he was talking about. So, the school wasn’t normal. They did not only turn people into be beasts, but they then educated them so they were smart beasts.

I nod my head again, that was smart. I gave it to Azrail. He was smart, that was really good.

“ Okay.” It was all I said.

I went on reading the file, his background back to what second he was born at and the nurses that delivered him. How could they even get such information. I frowned.

Ajax was actually born in the mafia. His father was killed fifteen years ago in a job. His mother left and he grew up in a place called Asburn house. I had all his school reports from his toddler years with him getting such good grades from a young age. It had me ashamed because my school reports were bad. I was so near to repeating grade ten, but that was the me that died. The new me would never fail at anything.

The car stopped, my head picking up to look around and we were in a street where it looked as if people went there to get murdered. Warehouses stood on both sides on the road. All the cars had stopped.

“It’s our stop, Ma’am,” Ajax said.

The door was opened by our driver and we walked out. Both my gadgets were in my hand. I would not put them down or give them to anyone else. I had to get a bag.

Ajax walked out first. His eyes scanned around, then he stepped aside for me. I slipped out, not even looking at anywhere but straight. Ajax walked straight and I followed, walking through a door to one of the warehouses.

There was a guard at the door who just stared at us then looked ahead. We walked on, clothes everywhere. There were racks of clothing all around, different colors. My head tipped up, seeing a second floor where desks stood with sewing machines on top of them.

It was a factory.

My heart beat hard as my eyes looked at the different racks and I could see black suits at one side. There were so many of them, meaning one thing.

The cartel had their own clothing factory.

How sick was that?

I had never seen something so organized.

They had their own training centre, their own school and their own clothing factory. What else did they own? They were self-sufficient.

“ Is there a school for lower grades?” I asked Ajax as my eyes fell on a woman who was running towards us.

“ It is just about to start operating. All children from anyone in the organization will go there, no costs at all, the best education the world will ever see.” Ajax said. He was confident in the organization and I could see that he believed in it and would die for it.

I nodded my head.

“ Good morning.” Please come this way. The lady said, her voice shaking a bit.

I followed after Ajax.

Seven minutes was all Ajax said as the woman nodded her head. I was ushered into an office where clothes were already lined up.

She stared at me, then stared at the clothes, picking a few, then walking to Ajax.

Ajax pulled out something that looked like a phone. He moved it up and down the pants, then did the same with the jacket and shirt.

The shoes were next, setting them down.

He turned to me.

“ We will wait outside while you change Ma’am.” He said with me nodding my head.

We were all rushing, staring at the time to see that I had twenty minutes before the meeting started.

The door was opened, them walking out and closing the door after.

I set all I carried down, making sure my iPads were locked.

I pulled out my t-shirt, then pulled down my pants. There were no mirrors and I was grateful because I did not want to see my reflection.

Looks had not been something I cared at all about back at the morgue. Looking like a pig was what all the men looked like, but I was back in the real world. My broken and dirty hands just screamed that I was picked from a farm. The hair cut I had given myself just screamed that I was insane. My face was surely battered from training and the last fight. If I saw myself, I would probably scream out. My self confidence went looming down, but, fake it until you make it, right?

My hands grabbed the perfectly ironed pants. I pulled them up then wore the shirt which I was afraid I would stain with my hands. They weren’t dirty in the way I could wash them. They were dirty in the sense that they had cuts which were dark from touching the ground so much when I trained.

I pulled on the jacket, then wore the heels. The material of the clothes was amazing, it just kissing my skin with such grace. I would have totally been in love with them in my past life but I had much bigger fish to fry at that point.

My head tipped up, picking up my clothes. I folded them, not sure what to do with them, but found it hard to let go of them. They signified the struggle I just went through. My feet moved, heels clicking with me throwing them in the trash. Never be attached to anything.

My body turned, picking up the gadgets, then I opened the door.

Two bodies stood, eyes staring up at me as I walked out. I knew I did not feel like it but it was time to be a boss.

I walked to them.

“ Thank you.” I said, with the lady nodding her head. I walked past her, Ajax turning and walking behind me. We walked out of that warehouse, the cars still lining outside , waiting, waiting for me.

My driver opened my door. I turned my head, staring at the other cars, then walked on to slide into my seat. The door was closed behind him and, to my surprise, Ajax hopped on the front seat.

All the cars came to life, moving about.

They sped through the road, never stopping at a stop light, just blowing through as if they owned the road.

“ Do you know what the meeting is about?” I asked.

“ It is the first meeting of the global Anxt Inc. This is an organization of all the companies that export and import oil into the country.” Ajax said, with me nodding my head as if I was cool when, in fact, I was just shocked.

Export and import oil!

What did I know about oil? And surely these were big fish I was going to meet.

I stared down at my time and the meeting had begun. We were late.

My heart drummed, my hands sweaty but I held my cool. There was nothing to panic about. I had faced death and had laughed at it. There was nothing scarier than that at all.

Who was I kidding?

The cars took a corner, sliding right into the city, but it seems we had reached the building we were going into as the cars passed through to an underground parking space. My driver got off quickly, watching his eyes scan all around before he came to open my door.

Ajax also slipped out, it looking like a Men In Black scene. I slid through my seat, swallowing, with the door opening just then. Light flooded through, my head bent down with me stepping out. I walked a few feet, my door closed.

Ajax was before me, turning to me, then stared ahead to march towards the elevator.

I did not even look as the tires screeched, the cars moving away and I knew I was alone from that point.

My breath hitched, my head tipping up as we reached the elevator which we took to my first meeting as Mrs. Duran.