Come Closer

Chapter 10

‘Aaaah! So refreshing!’ Lyena thought as she dipped her legs in the pool, closing her eyes.

“Hey!”

She opened her eyes and looked at James. He was sitting beside her, and he too had put his legs under the water. “Hey!” Lyena replied.

“What are you doing here?”

Lyena chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Same thing as you”

“So you’re here to see your crush?” James asked as he leaned towards Lyena a little. His eyes held a mischievous glint when looking into Lyena’s.

“Is your crush that fish over there?” Lyena asked with a short laughter, pointing at the fish tank, trying to appear as she wasn’t flustered by his words. She pushed James away by placing her hand on his shoulder, as she thought the close proximity wasn’t good for her accelerating heart.

“No, I’m talking about someone who is sitting beside me” James smirked.

‘This boy is going to give me a heart attack at this rate’ Lyena thought. But, she chose to give him the ‘are you serious’ look.

“Is this your way of flirting? You better stop it buddy, cause I don’t think it’s working”

“I formally disagree with that statement” James said, keeping his head high.

Lyena folded her arms over her chest. “And why is that?”

“I don’t think, but I KNOW, that it’s working because your face has become red Lyena. Just pointing out, in case you haven’t noticed it”

Lyena blinked. ‘Wait what?’ She touched her face and felt that it was warm, a clear indication of blood rushing to her face.

“Well, that’s because it’s hot in here” and she instantly regretted her words as James came closer to her again, and whispered, “the only thing that’s hot here is you and me baby”

And then….he laughed. “Look at your face! Did you think I was for real?” He asked, rolling on the floor in a laughing fit.

“Why the hell would I think like that? Frankly speaking, I thought you had gone insane for a moment there” saying this, Lyena laughed with him.

‘Screw you James!’ she cursed in her mind.

After a few minutes of silence, Lyena spoke. “How did you become a mafia?”

James looked at her in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“You think that I’m stupid? Well, maybe you’re right at sometimes but, I’m not that stupid to not realize that you’re a mafia, James.”

James looked at her and thought for a second. “Why do you want to know that?” he asked.

“I’m just curious. Your parents were rich and you were a good student. There was no reason for you to become a mafia.” Lyena said.

“My brother was in the mafia at that time. He seemed so powerful to me and I too joined the mafia. I was fascinated by the way how other businessmen were afraid to go against him. And, later, as he passed away from cancer, I took his place as the leader of our gang. Ironic isn’t it? How the person who had so much power just left this world due to a mere cancer.” said James with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry for the loss of your brother. By the way, how did others join you?” Lyena asked.

“You mean Adrian, Noah and Ryan?”

Lyena nodded.

“ About Noah and Ryan, they had already joined with my brother when I joined him. And Adrian joined me after my brother’s death.”

“Hmm…” Lyena nodded at him and again looked at the pool. The comfortable silence stayed for some time. Then James’s phone started to ring.

“OK I’ll come” answered James and hurriedly got up from the floor.

James ran to the living room. “What is it Noah?” He asked as soon as he saw Noah.

Noah’s clothes were crumpled and there could be seen some blood marks on his shirt. His hair was messed up and he looked exhausted. And TROUBLED. James’s eyes widened as he took account of Noah’s state.

“What happened to you?” He asked in an urgent tone. Ryan and Adrian were not to be seen.

Noah made a dismissive gesture and said “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Adrian has been shot at our factory” with an urgency in his voice.

“WHAT?! How could that happen? Where is Adrian? How is he? Where is Ryan?” James asked, shocked at the news.

Adrian, Noah and Ryan were like brothers to him- closer than brothers. They shared a special bond. None of them wanted the others to get hurt. They protected each other’s backs every time. The news of Adrian being shot made Jame’s heart ache. He felt a cold hand creeping out of nowhere and squeezing his clenched heart. “How is he now?” he asked. Fear of losing Adrian could clearly be seen in his eyes.

“Ryan took him to the hospital. I came here to inform you and to make sure that everything is alright here.” Noah replied.

“Let’s go to see Adrian”

“No, the fact that Adrian was shot at our own factory implies that the security there is no longer sufficient there and here also. We have to be careful now.”

“You mean that there’s someone who is going to harm us?”

“Yes, and if we are going somewhere, we need to increase the security around us”

“You’re right. Let’s talk about this later, now we should go to Adrian.” James said and started to go towards the main door.

“What happened to Adrian?” James heard Lyena’s voice. Lyena had just come to the living room when she heard James saying that they should go to Adrian. She caught the unmistakable worried tone in James’s voice.

James turned around and faced Lyena. “He has been shot. We are going to the hospital.”

“Then I am coming with you” said Lyena.

“No you are not. It is not safe out there.”

“I don’t care about that. Adrian is my friend and I need to be by his side” Lyena said, taking a step towards James.