Draw a Blank

7. Can I defend myself?

Early in the morning, Luken had gone to the place where the leader of the Night Owl was. In fact, the Night Owl's base itself was in the East District, but for some reason their leader was currently at the Great Pier, the place where the port was preparing to send cargo trucks ready to sail.

Nick has returned on the private plane Luken sent. It was a type of fast plane, sort of like a helicopter. It was so fast that Nick arrived that very afternoon from out of town.

Nick doesn't know what's going on, just thinks maybe Luken wants to treat him special because he's doing so well. Once he found out the real reason, he was even angrier than Luken himself.

Allen's wound became infected, he had difficulty breathing, even his body temperature was high and difficult to bring down. Apart from that, he was also having seizures and was in a lot of pain. Nick's eyes immediately went white, he threw his things everywhere and immediately saw Allen's state.

From the first time he saw Allen, he already liked the boy, he didn't want anything to happen to him.

"You're not allowed to get out of bed!" Nick was furious, but seeing him angry was like a nagging mother.

"I'm sorry, Doc. It's my fault." Eva said nervously. "If only I didn't get him in the rain—"

"No, it's not Eva's fault. It's mine. I should have told you the wound hurt," Allen said weakly.

Nick is still angry. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is, but I don't want you to be careless with your own body, ok?"

In the end, after Nick checked the wound, it was well taken care of. Eva explained that at the time of the incident, she was making up for Allen's daily medication, and Luken picked up another doctor. Nick was grateful it was resolved quickly.

At this time Allen was forced to reuse a nasal cannula to help him breathe properly. His face was still pale, but his fever had been contained this morning.

"Besides your chest, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?" asked Nick, checking the boy's blood pressure.

This time Allen was honest. "I feel a little lightheaded."

"After breakfast, I'll give you some painkillers. Keep practicing your breathing, ok?"

Allen nodded.

After having breakfast and taking medicine, he lay alone in his room. Eva said now if Allen needed anything, he could use the bell on the nightstand. She said the bell was prepared by Luken last night.

Hearing that, Allen felt quite grateful, but also confused. He had heard that Luken was a cruel and cold master, even all the servants agreed with the nickname, Eva had also been scolded by him. But somehow in Allen's eyes, Luken was a very good person. He doesn't show it directly, more often than not by gentle action.

Speaking of that, Allen remembered something. He heard that Dena, the maid who helped him yesterday had been fired for no reason.

No one knows what the reason is or maybe everyone just doesn't want to talk about it. But Luken himself really was an unpredictable man, wasn't he?

"Why do you always hurt yourself? Why don't you just die? Huh?!"

Nick's nagging broke Allen's mind that afternoon in his room, he found Nick talking on a phone.

Lunch this time, it was just the two of them because Luken still wasn't back from business. Since Allen wasn't allowed out of the room, he had lunch in bed. Four dishes had been placed on a yellow silk tablecloth. Two meat dishes, one soup and one ginger porridge set in small plates with blue edges and white background. The arrangement is very neat and elegant.

In front of Allen, the warm ginger porridge was still steaming and more choices of toppings filled the table.

"What? I can't hear. The signal is really bad here. Then don't call me again. Ok? Bye!"

Allen grimaced, looking at Nick who had finished the call curiously, but didn't dare to ask directly.

It turned out that Nick noticed his gaze. "When you grow up, don't be a guy like Damian okay?!"

"But I'm a grown man."

The movement of Nick's hand starting to stir the milk stopped, then he looked at Allen, said, "Oh, that's right."

Then he stirred again the milk, which had a little syrup mixed in, slowly this time. It was just that he was still nagging this and that about Damian. Allen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Damian Ackerley was Luken's subordinate, Black Dragon's vice chairman to be exact. Allen had only met him a few times. The man's body was almost as tall as Luken's, with burly arms and a broad back, he looked adept at fighting. He was quite handsome, his hair was golden blonde and his eyes were gray. Overall he could be said to be a girl's dream, just like Allen, but Allen was aware of the fact that Damian was Nick's lover.

"Is he. Damian with Mr. Luken now?" Allen asked breaking the silence.

"No."

Nick poured the stirred milk into another glass and gave it to Allen.

"I'm curious about this ..." Allen's hand squeezed the warm glass and felt comfortable. "Am I really Mr. Luken's bodyguard?"

"Yeah, why are you asking? You don't remember anything, it's natural that you feel confused."

Allen was confused, on the other hand he also didn't understand. Luken already has two personal bodyguards who he said 'replaced' Allen while he was injured, namely Gil and River. When he saw the two of them, and compared them to himself, Allen felt the difference between them was quite big. Even more so when he saw Damian. The three of them looked like they had been trained and good at martial arts, while Allen was very slender and thin.

Was he able to defend himself before? Why can't he remember that?

Allen sighed, clutching his aching head.

"Aish, what are you thinking, hm? You don't believe me? You think I lied to you?" Nick scolded him.

"Can I defend myself?"

"Of course!"

"I need proof."

Hearing that words, Nick was confused, but he was a professional liar in his field. "You can ask Damian when he gets home later, you broke his leg once!"

"Is that true?" Allen was surprised.

"Want me to tell you about the tragedy that time? It was a long time ago, I think many years ago. At that time you were angry because Damian made me cry! He cheated on me!" Nick revealed the lie with a serious face.

Allen listened to him seriously.

Nick continued, "With Damian's temper, of course he wouldn't care even if people told him to stop. You got really mad about it and beat him with a stick."

Allen tried to imagine the scene, now he became afraid to look at Damian. "He must have a grudge against me."

"What can he do?" said Nick sneeringly. "If he dares to bother you, then Luken will come forward."

"Why?"

"Because ..." Nick glanced at Allen, saw his face, then paused, and then said nothing for a long time.

This situation was quite awkward, so Allen didn't dare to make another sound. He drank the milk until it was gone.

"Ah, forget that one. Anyway I have business tomorrow, so I won't be coming." Nick took the empty glass, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood. "If you're bored, talk to Eva, ok?"

There was still a lot Allen wanted to ask, but in the end he could only agree.

Outside the room, Nick took a deep breath, cursing himself. Actually, the story that was told to Allen wasn't a complete lie. It was just that at that moment, it wasn't Allen, but someone else who had hit Damian until he broke his leg.

"If Luken finds out, I'll be the one beaten to death," he grumbled.

***

In a place far away from the Glourham Mansion, Luken was in a private room specially rented by the leader of the Night Owl, or his own uncle. His uncle is the younger brother of Luken's father, his name is Cody Vaughan.

Cody was a heavy smoker in his youth. Traces of a cigarette addict still remained on his blackened and dry lips. Since he was already suffering from lung disease, he finally realized to stop.

"No need to think about me, it's not like you. If you want to smoke, just do it, why hold back?" Cody joked, which was actually quite sarcasm.

Luken put down his cigar again. Previously he had intended to take a sip, but had stopped it. "I don't want to make small talk. There's no need for a formal meeting like this, Uncle."

"It's been a long time since you called me that, dear nephew. Your business has been so smooth lately that you've become arrogant." Cody laughed.

A waiter came in to send an expensive wine to the table, it was a Cheval Blanc which had a high price and was known for its delicious taste. If you look at this banquet, it looks like you are welcoming an important guest.

"Drink it. This wine has been in stock for a long time and they offer a good price. It must be good."

"Uncle, I told you I didn't want to mince words," Luken said dryly. But after his glass was filled, he took a sip to satisfy his uncle.

"Do you want to discuss the auction mess?"

"You guessed well," Luken replied. "That was my original goal, but now I don't want to go into that."

"Why? You don't mind if that kind of mess happens again in the future?" Cody laughed contentedly, his bodyguard pouring him flower tea instead of expensive wine. "I'm telling you, although you must have known, the cause of the mess was Falco. It's because you kept fighting with him."

Luke's expression darkened.

"Come on, make up with him. He's your cousin."

"This is the last warning for him, if he dares to do such a thing again ... I'm not sure I'll hold myself back from killing him."

After this words fell, the atmosphere around them started to heat up. Everyone knew Luken's temper and he never went back on his word. All this time he had been holding back from eliminating Falco, it must be because he had a reason. If he could now say that, he definitely didn't need Falco to live in this world.

Cody who started thinking about this immediately got angry until his heart ached.

"You dare?!"

Luken looked at him in slow motion. "Why don't I dare? Is it because he's the son of the leader of the Night Owl? Is it because he's the former leader of the Night Owl or because he's my cousin?"

Cody gritted his teeth.

"I can kill my father, then why can't I kill my cousin? We are very distant by blood." Luken looked at his uncle half-jokingly this time.

On the other hand, what Luken said was true. Thinking about his future, Cody almost vomited blood. "This little bastard has grown. You're just like your goddamn father."

Somehow the old man laughed. The sentence was enough to provoke Luken's irritation.

Cody said again, "Falco is envious because he keeps being compared to you by that old geezer. If only I could kill him, maybe Falco wouldn't be causing trouble."

"So why can't you?"

Cody didn't answer.

"Want me to do it?" offered Luke. "After a long time, Falco started looking for trouble with me again. I thought what the problem was, it turned out to be just an inheritance."

Again Cody didn't answer. In his head he thought about what reasons might make Falco throw another tantrum, but it didn't seem like it was his grandfather's legacy who was the head of the Vaughan family.

"I gave up my grandfather's legacy a long time ago. Falco can enjoy all that." Luken drank his wine again, the bitter sensation on his tongue numbing his feelings a little.

Cody hissed. "If only the old man would just hand it over."

Irwin Vaughan is the main founder of Night Owl, and is the head of the very elderly Vaughan family. He was rich and miserly, while his children and grandchildren were very greedy and money-mad. Fortunately, Luken was not included.

Maybe it was for that reason that Irwin liked Luken more than his other grandchildren. He even fell ill when he heard Luken wanted to leave this family.

“Then … if grandpa doesn't want to give it away, will Falco keep looking for trouble with me?” Luke asked coldly.

"I made sure yesterday was the last one."

The anger still lingered in Luken's mind. He took a cigar from his silver case, forgetting his etiquette for smoking in front of sick person. River approached to light a fire.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Cody coughed badly, but Luken purposely blew out a lot of smoke.

His gaze was very cold. "Make sure you take good care of it, Uncle. I don't want to play with dirty mice for long."

tbc.