“I’m going to do a bit more studying and then I’ll text you when I’m on the way.”
“You know you can just study at my place, right?”
I shook my head. “The last time we had a study session, neither one of us actually studied because we were binge watching Martin. I almost put You Go Boy in my thesis paper.”
“Girl, bye,” Akira laughed out loud. “Okay, okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”
I waved goodbye and slumped against the door. As much as I loved my best friend, I really didn’t want to spend the night at her house. I mean, she had acozy one bedroom apartment next to the campus, but I wanted to sleep in my own bed, not toss and turn all night on a pull out couch. Unfortunately, this was my only option. I was on strict orders to be with Bruno, my personal driver, whenever I went outside of the campus — per Mr. L’s orders. If I did anything on my own, my driver snitched, and all hell would break loose.
I sighed. There were times when I wanted to tell Akira everything that was going on. When I couldn’t hang out or had to come up with an excuse for something so trivial like meeting at a location, I felt the tension in our friendship grow. I didn’t think she’d stop being my friend, but maybe she’d start distancing herself to match my energy. I mean, would it be so bad if I told her what was happening in my life?
Chapter 8
Seojun 3 Months Ago
The golden hue of the sun sprinkled sporadically through the room as the blinds on the patio windows swayed against the breeze. I caught glimpses of the large oak tree me and Ayzo use to play under. Jay was too little to play with us, but he followed us around anyway. I sat next to my father as he puffed on a cigar and watched a few reruns of his favorite TV show.
I had been out of hiding almost a year and this was my first time seeing my dad. Not because I didn’t want to, but I was being cautious. I still did not know who set me up to lose the jaguars, but I was getting closer. There were only twenty names left on my list and coming to Chicago to visit my dad was the perfect reason to knock off a few more names.
“Adeul-a, eonje gyeolhonhal geoya?” (Son, when will you marry?)
“Abeoji (father), please.” I huffed, taking a sip of water.
“You’ve been out of hiding for a while and have been chasing those cobras down. With all of the strategic planning you concocted, you didn’t have an outline for when you would settle down to upend our deal?”
I rolled my eyes. “It is not time for me to marry.”
Snatching the remote control from the side table, my father muted the TV. “Seojun, do you not understand how important it is for you to marry? I made a deal!”
I huffed out a breath of air, before folding my arms across my chest. I hated when my father brought up the fact that he bargained his only son for wealth. When we were financially struggling and barely surviving, my father met, Ernest, the leader of a group called The Reapers down in Texas. Ernest was an older man and did not have an heir to pass down his dynasty. Well, he had a daughter, but she was too concerned with spending his money instead of leading. So, he made a deal with my dad that as long as his first born son married a woman in the Reaper clan and continued the legacy, then he would help my dad out financially. The Reapers and Jaguars would merge as one and since my dad would become the new leader, the jaguars would be dominant. If for any reason the deal was broken, then the reapers in Texas, would murder us all.
Everything had been smooth for years. My dad would join The Reapers once a year to for their annual meeting. When my father stepped down and l I fully took over, I took over that responsibility. When I informed them about what happened to me and the Jaguars last year, they were understanding but put a deadline on our agreement. If I didn’t marry by the time we were to meet again for our next annual meeting, they’d kill off the rest of the Jaguars. Us included.
“It is well past time for you to settle down. I understand that you want revenge for whoever did this to us, to the Jaguars, but you have to remember that we have a deadline. Do you want everything we’ve worked hard for to go to waste?”
I stared down at my hands.
“Exactly! My boy, you have to look at the whole picture. Your eyes cannot be fixed on one thing. If we want our legacy to continue and to keep the peace with the Reapers down south, then you must find a wife. Luckily for you, I found a woman you can marry that is a part of the reaper clan.”
My eye brows shot up as I stared at my dad. “What are you talking about?”
“Her name is Bernice. She’s been a part of the reapers for years and knows the ins and outs.”
“Yeah, I know who Ms. Bernice. She’s sixty-five! I don’t mind an older woman, but how the hell do you expect me to have an heir if she’s no longer able to have kids?”
“Well, you better find someone!”
I groaned. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to marry or understand how important it was, but my mind was not on that right now. Besides, there wasn’t anyone who caught more than a day’s worth of my attention. Not to mention, bringing someone into the middle of this war could be fatal to not only myself but to them. I already had to keep Ayzo, Denice, Ashlynn, and Nicholas in mind when it came to safety. I sighed.
“Father, I will not only get the Jaguars back, but I will marry a woman of the Reaper clan, of my choice, and produce an heir before our time is up.”
He stared at me a long while before he nodded his head.
Chapter 9
Addison Present
With each house that I assisted Akira with over the past few months, I could see why she did this as her side hustle. I already cleaned, so the fact that I was getting paid now was an added bonus. I didn’t go to every job with my best friend, but when she had a huge house and minimal time, I came along. Besides, we were finally at the end of the school year, and I was graduating at the end of the week. Helping Akira these past few months was a wonderful distraction from my studies. The beautiful part of it all was that Bruno didn’t suspect a thing. Therefore, he didn’t have a reason to blab to Mr.L.
