My Beautiful Mistake

Aiden

"f**k, f**k, f**k, f**k, f**k," I muttered under my breath as I quickly walked into the restaurant.

I had a scheduled meeting with a client and was already ten minutes late due to backed-up traffic. To make it worse, the restaurant was more packed than usual.

My day had already begun shitty. I woke up to find that my business partner had scheduled an impromptu meeting with a client for the same day when I had other plans. It's not as if I would have lost the job if I didn't attend the meeting, but my reputation was everything. Without a reputation, I wouldn't have the stylish suite, nor several flashy cars I own today.

I quickly glanced at my watch as I was walking to the table where my client was waiting.

Late by fifteen minutes. Damn. This day couldn't get any worse.

I suddenly bumped into a pair of noticeable breasts, but s*x wasn't on the agenda right now.

"Watch it." I warned her, even though it was mostly my fault for not watching where I was walking.

Her response sounded so feeble that I had to look at her. My god, she was beautiful. Not model, beautiful, but just in her own category beautiful. Her breasts definitely weren't her only features. Her skin looked flawless, without a single blemish in sight, and her light pink lips urged me to kiss them.

By first glance, you would think she was a natural redhead, but as it turns out from the black on top, she was a natural brunette. And god, was she short. I always had a thing for short girls.

But, those features were nothing compared to her body.

Wait, that doesn't matter. You have a meeting.

I quickly cleared my mind and regained my composure before telling her off and moving on my way.

"Good afternoon. I assume you've come on Mr. Reye's behalf?"

He didn't know who I was. After surveying his actions and behavior for some minutes, I decided he was pompous and full of s**t. I knew men like him, who thought they could flash a couple of bills on the table and lure me into making a deal with him. 

He was dressed in a black fitted Armani suit with a shiny Rolex on his wrist. Men like him thought everyone else was below him. However, this was obviously out of his comfort zone. He was trying to make a deal with my company, something I quite had no interest in.

On the other hand, I was dressed like your average guy. However, the branding on my clothes would make the distinction of my wealth. My demeanor exerted confidence. Confidence was intimidating and I could tell it was having its intended effect because Mr. Pompous d**k kept sideglancing his watch, hoping our meeting would go faster.

"As I was saying, Mr. errr," he paused for a minute, his mind trying to grasp the fact that he was having a meeting with his truly, Aiden Reyes, a man not known for his kindness, but rather his impatience and fearsome temper.

"Reyes," he whispered, afraid to say my name too loudly. His eyes widened when a smirk crossed my face. 

He was afraid of me. Good.

"Our company would like a merger." he sputtered out, his eyes desperately scanning mine for any signs of anger.

I let out an amused laugh. "We don't make deals with pussies."

Here's a little bit about me: I grew up in one of the lowest neighborhoods in my city. My dad was subsequently second-in-command to one of the most fearsome gang leaders. I was drawn into the killings, money, and power at a young age, and that's what made me hate life and everyone else alive.

If it wasn't for the money and status involved, I would have left a long time ago (my father was highly respected in the gang, and if I wanted to leave, I would be outed with no repercussions). But, a part of me liked seeing the pain and fear in our victim's eyes when we were 'punishing' him for being late on his payments or even for double-crossing us. The weak pleas for help, the glistening blood dripping down their faces. But, if you want to talk about that f****d up side of me more, you won't be hearing anything else from me.

Now, my mother was the sweetest woman alive. She wouldn't hurt a fly, the complete opposite of my father who had drilled a few bullets into some skulls in his lifetime. Of course, she wasn't too keen on me joining my dad's business, and she was right for it too. My childhood had created a monster.

It took everything in me not to punch this guy in the face. I couldn't cause a scene in the restaurant, but this guy's arrogant attitude alone made me want to. Every meeting was the same- d***s with sticks up their asses who thought I was their lapdog and would run to fetch a bone every time they beckoned. They didn't realize who they were dealing with. But how could they from the way I dressed? However, one thing was different this time. The girl.

After that day, I had made it a point to find out all I could about her. She wasn't like any other female I had been with. I could get any girl I want. I hadn't been blessed with the best personality, but the body seemed to work just fine for me. All I had to do was throw a quick glance and the girls would throw themselves all over me.

There was a warm tenderness about this girl that I hadn't seen before. The other girls I had been with were so materialistic and fake even, however, I did have my go-tos and favorites here and there.

Being at the top of the business meant I had connections- connections that could get me her information in less than ten minutes. And surely, they came through.

Brooklyn. Sure, she had a name that belonged to a city, but she sure wasn't a common girl.

Getting her information was only the first step. This was routine for me, tracking down potential threats to our gang and staking them out. Consequently, that one meeting wasn't all that I had seen her since. 

I had one of my trusted men follow her for a while and lay-out her daily routine. I made it a priority to wait every night at the park she liked to take late-night runs at. I would sit on the bench and watch her, not in the stalker type of way, but just because I wanted to get to know her. She had been on my mind for a while, and nothing I could do would change that.

Believe me, I tried to get her out of my mind. I threw myself into the violent part of my work hoping it would knock some sense into me. Girls were only good for one thing after all. s*x. But some strange force in me said I couldn't do the same with her and that was terrifying.

After some days of watching her, I knew one thing for certain. I wanted her. I wanted to claim her. To make her mine. But, I was afraid. All my life, I never had to ask for things. I would just take them. It wouldn't be so easy this time.

But, for her to get caught up in my life- I wasn't so sure I wanted that. It would just be easier to stop chasing her and to forget she existed. A single voice spoke inside of me.

Don't be a p***y, or are you afraid that's what's going to happen to you if you let her in? You have nothing to lose, don't you?

I hated that voice. It was a reminder of who I was. It was going to be hard as hell to let her in knowing the risks I would be taking. And I don't just mean because of my business. Any girl I had ever become involved with had suffered so much. All I could do was hope I wouldn't make the same mistake with her.