Come Closer

Chapter 47

It has been two days since Avelyn was taken to Hayden's place to after being rescued. In these two days, Nathan and Jayden stayed at Hayden's mansion with her.

It was evening. Avelyn was sleeping in her room. Hayden, Jayden and Nathan were sitting in Hayden's office.

"Why did you call us here?" Jayden inquired, sensing something was up. He saw the serious look on Hayden's face.

"We have some unfinished business," Hayden said, leaning back on his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nathan sighed. "Can't we wait till Avelyn recovers? I don't think stressing her mind at this time would do any good."

Hayden was already shaking his head before Nathan finished. "That won't do. I want to solve this matter now."

"Then why isn't Avelyn here?" Jayden asked.

Hayden suddenly broke the eye contact, making Jayden frown. "She's asleep."

"Well, if you want to solve this matter with just us, it doesn't make sense. Avelyn was the one who attacked you."  Nathan turned his head towards Jayden with a questioning gaze. Jayden shrugged. "I am just stating the facts."

Hayde nodded, several times. "I don't think Avelyn is required here. I'll discuss with her later. Now...," he leaned forward, placing his hands on the table, "I want to clear some matters with you."

Jayden and Nathan looked at each other. What was this man after? Though he was Jayden's brother, he couldn't understand what Hayden's mind was working on. Nathan wondered if they had fallen into a trap.

Nevertheless, they nodded, signalling Hayden to continue.

Hayden turned to Jayden. "You lied to me." He simply stated, and stared at Jayden. He watched his brother look down. One will think it was guilt, but Hayden knew better than that. Jayden might be guilty, just a little, for lying to him, but he will never apologize for sparing the life of The Ghost, Avelyn.

"I'm sorry, Hayden. I didn't have a choice."

"You had a choice, a few, actually. But you chose to lie to me."

Jayden looked up at Hayden accusingly. "What choice did I have?"

"You could have simply told me the truth."

"Then what? Reveal her each and every secret?"

Hayden shrugged. "I wouldn't have told anyone."

Jayden sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"For what exactly?"

"For lying."

"Hmm." Hayden gave a satisfied nod, and then turned to Nathan. "So, Nathan..."

"Yes?"

"I would like to forgive you and Avelyn for attacking me."

Nathan let out a relieved sigh.

"But, you should swear that you are not going to go against me in the future."

"I've left the mafia world" Nathan stated.

"Well, that's settled. Now, let's go to the real reason I called you two here." Nathan and Jayden looked up in surprise.

"What reason?" Jayden asked.

"About Avelyn."

Nathan frowned in suspicion. "What about her?"

"Since she is still recovering, she should be under constant care..,"  the other two nodded, "I can provide that. But, it is still not safe for her to go out. As far as I know, and have witnessed, I don't think any of you could provide her with enough protection."

"What do you suggest?"

"What I am suggesting is, that Avelyn should live here till her recovery."

"Then what about our company? She's one of the CEOs! She wouldn't like this."

"Nathan, you can take control for the meean time. You're also the CEO."

Nathan nodded. "Yes, I can do that."

"That would help her get well soon," Jayden added.

"But...I'm not delivering this news to her. She'll choke me with her bare hands!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Me neither." Jayden also chickened out.

"Well, seems like the task is up to me!"

...............

Avelyn was looking out of the window, sitting on her bed. The doctor instructed her to stay in bed for now. The maid had opened the window to allow the cool breeze to come into the room. Avelyn was bored, but she was still tired.

She turned her head left, when she heard the knock on the door. She didn't reply.  She felt to lazy. The door wasn't closed anyways. Soon, the door was opened, and Hayden came in with a tray full of food.

"Oh you're awake!"

Avelyn smiled at him. She watched Hayden placing the tray beside her."I've brought you supper." He said taking a seat on the chair beside her bed.

"Thank you!" But Avelyn didn't make a move to eat.

After a moment of contemplating, Hayden asked, "Why don't you eat?"

"I'm not hungry now. I'll have it later."

"You should eat on time."

"Hmm."

"How are you feeling now?"

Avelyn shrugged. "A little tired."

"Hmm...How's your leg?"

"Better now. They've given me pain killers."

"That's good." Hayden nodded. He wondered for how long he could delay giving the news to Avelyn. The fact that Jayden and Nathan, were the closest ones to Avelyn, refused to tell her their decision, was bothering Hayden. The girl was weak now, he knew, but there was a small doubt in the back of his mind. Better get in her good side.

Avelyn seemed to notice his odd behavior. "Why the small talk?"

"Huh?" Hayden laughed nervously. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to....talk! That's it... umm... shall I feed you?"

Avelyn raised her eyebrows in surprise. "My hands are completely fine."

"Oh..yes....but.. may I?"

Avelyn tilted her head. Should she say no? Or yes? She was lazy anyway.

"Hmm...okay."

............

"I've something to tell you." Hayden said, after Aveyn drank her medicine.

"Shoot!" Avelyn gave the empty glass to Hayden.

"The doctor said that it will take at least three months for you to fully recover. So I discussed with Jayden nd Nathan sbout this. We decided that you should...." Avelyn nodded encouraging Hayden to continue. "...stay here till you get well."

"I can rest at my place, you know...?" Avelyn tried not to offend Hayden.

"Yes, but it is also for your safety."

"Kaden is dead now."

"Yes, he is. But that doesn't mean that something like this wouldn't happen again. Nathan and Jayden are unable to provide the required protection. So I think you should stay here."

"Why would you protect me? I was your enemy."

"Yes, but then we became business partners in several projects, don't you remember?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm not obliged to answer you." Hayden said in an assertive tone. But he changed it as soon as he saw Avelyn's frown. He smiled. "So, what do you say? Do you agree with our decision?"

Avelyn stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "Okay, that's not a big deal. I'm fine with that."

"And...in the mean time, Nathan will take care of the company alone."

"WHAT?" Avelyn snapped.

"Only until you recover!" Hayden was quick to raise his palms in front of him to protect himself.

"YOU ALL DECIDED THIS WITHOUT ME?? I CAN PERFECTLY RUN MY COMPANY! MY BRAIN IS WORKING FINE!!" Avelyn's anger was coming out in the form of words.

"Avelyn, calm down. We decided that it will help you recover fast."

"BUT I WANT TO RESUME MY WORK! AND WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE DECISIONS ABOUT ME?"

"I saved you, remember? I wouldn't like to see my work go to waste."

Avelyn crossed her arms over her chest and looked outside the window. She was sulking. She knew that she would get bored and all without her work  but she knew Hayden was right.

"Did Jayden and Nathan send you to tell me the news?"

"Well, yeah." Hayden smiled as he saw that Avelyn's anger had subsided. A small chuckle left her lips. "Are they scared?"

"A bit"

"Good for them. Telk them that I will kill them both the next time I see them."

"Hmm..I'll tell them." Hayden helped Avelyn to lay down on the bed. "Good night! The maid will stay right outside. If you need something, call her."

"Hmm. Good night!"