Ember's Pov

I resumed immediately, not ready to waste any more time. I was dead serious about not going back to Kelvin even in my dreams. My plan was to stay here till I had enough money to flee the country, I would go to the other side of the world and start afresh with a new identity. Kelvin wouldn't be able to find me there.

I was given a simple uniform and shown where the kitchen, cleaning supplies and everything were. The man who did the tour introduced himself as Duke and was surprisingly very friendly. He had orange hair and his baby face made him look innocent and younger. I remembered he was one of the men who dragged me out of Kelvin's house, I was so scared then to get a good look at his face.

It was awkward at first as I still had some fear towards him after last time, but after some minutes touring, I finally got some courage to ask him some questions that had been bothering me.

“So this is the kitchen, those cabinets are supposed to be full of ingredients, but we mostly order food instead. I cook simple meals on occasion, though I haven't in a while because business has been busy. Just write down what you need for a week, and I'll get it for you,” he said casually, like he wasn't talking to a kidnapped victim. What part of this was normal to him?

I nodded in understanding and asked cautiously.

“Um, I know this is unrelated but what business do you people do?”

He gave me an incredulous look and asked back, “You don't know who we are?”

I shook my head in the negative and he doubled over in shock, “Have you been living under a rock? How do you not know the Arcane men, the biggest Mafia gang in the country?”

It was my turn to double over in shock, this was a Mafia gang? It was bigger than I thought. Being holed up in Kelvin's house, treating wound after wound, secluded me from making friends and made me unaware of what was happening around me. I have never seen a Mafia in real life but I have watched movies about them. Everything now made so much sense, the debtors and the killings. To think such an innocent face like Duke was involved in such illegal shenanigans… from the open killing last time, I could guess the police were scared of them too. They literally owned the town.

“Uhm… Do you know if Mr Aaron is serious about selling me to investors?” I asked again in a more nervous voice, now that I knew who he was, I was sure he had the connections to do that, and that realisation scared me.

“Oh, he's serious, no doubts about that”, Duke answered without missing a beat, and my heart fell. Then he added, “But then again, you are the first girl he's bringing home and given a chance to earn her keep… so good luck and try to avoid getting on his bad side”

***

Duke had gotten everything on my list and more, the entire dining table was filled with food that would last for more than a month. Thankfully, one of my ex-foster parents owned a restaurant and I was made to cook and serve customers non-stop, so my cooking skills were very good… I never knew I would be this grateful for such a bad experience.

I was slowly sorting out the items when Mr. A walked in. I greeted him and he grunted in reply and started walking away while I took the pack of eggs inside the kitchen. I came back out to see him with a bag of chips, probably from the counter. He was on the living room couch, absentmindedly scrolling through his phone and taking out a chip to eat.

I wanted to ignore him and continue what I was doing when I noticed the type of chips he was eating. I knew about the chips cause it was my favourite, it was a chocolate-flavoured one, and I remember Duke had told me he was allergic to chocolate. My eyes widened in shock and in that moment, I rushed towards him to stop him from putting it in his mouth.

Luckily, I arrived just in time to slap the chip from his hands before it entered his mouth, but at the same time, I lost my footing and fell on him.

“What the hell?” I heard him cuss, and I was immediately flipped over, and he was on top now with his huge body caging my petite ones. Our faces were inches apart, and each other's breath fanned our faces. Time felt like it was still as we remained in that position for a few seconds longer, his green eyes captivated me, it reminded me of forest greens and I had a soft side for nature.

Does that mean I have a soft side for Mr Aaron?

Whoa, where was that thought coming from? I immediately brought myself back to reality and tried to get out of such a compromising position. He got the memo too and moved away with the speed of lightning like I was poison.

He cleared his throat and asked as he picked up his phone, “Care to explain what that was for?”

“Sorry, Sir, I noticed you were about to eat a chocolate-flavoured chip, and Mr Duke said you are allergic to chocolate”, I explained as I got up to clean up the chips on the floor.

“Oh! Just talking would have stopped me” he said as he got up too.

“Sorry, I panicked that it would be too late”, I apologised again with my head slightly bowed.

He grunted in response and just left without a reply, I couldn't resist rolling my eyes and huffing. Such an arrogant man, he couldn't even say thank you to me for literally saving his life.

You would think the so-called Mafia leader of a deadly gang would be more cautious about eating something that could kill him.

I sighed and took the bag of opened chips and was about to return it to the kitchen when I saw a piece of paper on the couch. Aaron must have forgotten it when he left.

I couldn't push aside my curiosity and took the paper to see what was in it and what I saw made me stagger backwards weakly