“Aaliyah, what are you doing -” Harry looked at his daughter, but before he could say anything else, she cut him off mid-sentence.
“I didn’t introduce him properly last time Dad. Meet Dominic Volkov, my current teacher, my stalker, and my lover,” Aaliyah held Dominic’s hand, and Matthew raised his brows.
He, out of all people, knows how angry his father would be after this kind of introduction. No father in his sane mind would agree for her daughter to be with her stalker.
But since Aaliyah was speaking those words and Harry loved her the most, Matthew knew it wouldn’t be hard for her to pull it off.
“You know he is the leader of the Python gang, right?” Matthew reminded her, and she nodded.
“That’s what attracts me even more, dad. He is a leader. Every girl looks for the qualities of her father in the man she wants to be with. Isn’t this perfect?” Aaliyah smiled, but anyone could sense from her eyes that she was far from joking.
“But how can you be like this? He is your teacher right now, and what about your mother? What will she say if -”
“First, he came to the school to stalk me. He will be leaving soon since he got my attention. Second,” Aaliyah raised her eyes to look straight into her father’s eyes.
“If anyone spouted a word to mom, keep in mind, I have things to say that would land all of you out of the house. Am I threatening you guys? Of course not, but I would rather you guys don’t test me,” Aaliyah smiled innocently, and Harry clenched his jaws.
“Hudson, look at this girl. Is this the same girl who used to agree with whatever I used to say? Look at her speaking to her dad like this. I feel so wounded right now,” Harry scoffed, pointing at her angrily, and Hudson looked at the proud girl with a smile.
“Well, what can I say, sir? She is learning these things from the best,” Hudson said, and Harry looked at him, feeling wronged.
“Are you on my side or hers?!” Harry widened his eyes.
“I am just stating facts, sir. I apologize for any harshness about the truth,” Hudson bowed, and Harry pointed at Aaliyah and Hudson before crossing his arms around his chest.
“You guys are in this together. You planned all of this,” Harry said, and Aaliyah sighed before walking to Harry and hugging him.
“Stop overreacting, dad. You know you love me. I like him, dad. Do you not trust me? You have been in this business far longer, no? His father is your childhood friend, so stop acting like you don’t know or approve of him,” Aaliyah blinked up at him, and Harry raised his brows.
“You knew?” Harry asked.
“That’s what I threatened his father with,” Aaliyah grinned like it was the most normal thing, and Bryce barely controlled his laughter at this.
“Dominic, you are like a son to me, but not close enough for me to give you my daughter just like that. Did you go to the extent of becoming her teacher to stalk her? Is this how you pursue a girl? My daughter was stupid enough to fall for that, but I would like to know what you like about her,” Harry walked to Dominic, and the latter looked at Aaliyah before smiling.
“Is there anything to not like? Even if I write thousands of books, they won’t decipher what I feel, sir. The feelings in my heart for her can’t be described by just a single emotion love,” Dominic’s eyes were dazed before he smiled.
“I fell in love with her eyes when we met at the masquerade party for the first time. Her way of talking and the authority she executed with her charms were enough to capture me. And about stalking, I would do anything she loves. If she loves stalking, I am going to stalk her anywhere and everywhere,” Dominic said, and Aaliyah sighed.
“Something is definitely wrong with this duo. How can they talk about something so illegal like it’s the most romantic thing in the world?” Harry sighed before looking at his daughter, who looked like she only had eyes for Dominic.
Harry could see Aaliyah and Dominic were serious about each other. He would trust his daughter and her instincts for this one. Besides, he has seen Dominic grow even though the latter didn’t know about him. So, he knew he was a man worthy of trust.
“Fine. Do whatever you want. I am not intervening, but I must mention, if something happened to her, you should know that I can wipe out a whole gang. I won’t think twice about calling our members from all over the world just to kill you,” Harry patted Dominic’s shoulders before turning around.
“Let’s go now. I have to deliver you at home to your mother, or she will probably claw me alive,” Harry chuckled with a shudder, and everyone laughed.
“Dad, you should meet with mom or take her on a vacation. She can definitely use it,” Aaliyah said, and Harry hummed.
~~~~~
“What did you do?” Dominic asked the first thing he entered the house, and Nathan sat there looking down like a child who knew he messed up things.
“Well, there was a tiny misunderstanding. I really didn’t mean to -” Nathan started, and Dominic sighed.
“Well, it can’t be helped anymore. I hope you are happy with turning your son single again. It was so hard to find a girl like her. She doesn’t want to be my lover. She doesn’t want me to be her teacher either,” Dominic racked his hand through his hair, pretending to be frustrated as he went straight to his room, and Nathan sighed with guilt.
“What? Don’t look at me like that. I had warned you before you even thought of doing that,” Sandra left Nathan, and Benjamin just chuckled before shaking his head and walking to his room, leaving Nathan alone.
Honestly, Benjamin already heard what happened today. He still doesn’t know that Aaliyah’s father is the leader of the eagle eye gang because that’s what Dominic and Bryce promised everyone.
However, Benjamin knows that things between Dominic and Aaliyah are good.
Meanwhile, Aaliyah sat in front of her mother with a serious look.
“Are you happy now? After worrying your mother to death? What was the need to rush out of the house like this? Do you even know how much I care for you? I couldn’t stay still for a second,” Laura said, and Aaliyah pressed her lips into a thin line.
“I won’t take over the gang, mom,” Aaliyah’s sudden confession made Laura widen her eyes, and Lily and Katherine were no better.
Everyone knows that, all her life, Aaliyah has only dreamt of following her father’s path and steps, so for her to say she won’t take over the gang suddenly like this, something must’ve happened there.
“Aaliyah? Did something happen there? You can share anything with mom. You know that, right? Come here,” Laura didn’t know what else to do other than hug her youngest daughter, who was not talking like herself today.
“I am serious, mom. All my life, I only talked about being like a dad, and it made you worried. That’s why today I am saying I don’t want to join the gang. You don’t need to worry about it anymore. The only reason I left was to save my dad. He is my parent as much as you are, and I love him equally,” Aaliyah looked into Laura’s eyes.
“I am sorry for making you worried, but if something like that happens next time, I will have to leave that time too. However, other than that, I won’t get involved in any illegal activities. Huh, I am tired and want to rest now. Please have dinner without me,” Aaliyah smiled and walked to her room, leaving everyone surprised by the sudden change in her behavior.
“Mom, something is not right. She isn’t the type of girl to say something like that. She almost looked possessed right now. I think you should call dad and ask him what happened there,” Katherine said, and Laura hummed.
“Do you want me to talk to her, Laura? Maybe she would tell me what’s bothering her,” Lily asked while placing her hand on Laura’s shoulders, and Laura shook her head.
“I don’t know, Lily. Ever since I heard those words from Aaliyah’s mouth when she was little that she wants to be like her dad, I always imagined a day like this when she would stop. However, when she is herself saying she wants to stop, I don’t feel happy,” Laura stood from her place.
“I feel like something inside her died. You didn’t see how sad she looked when she said that. She might be doing this for me, but do I really want that at the stake of my daughter’s happiness?” Laura bit her lower lip before calling Harry.
“Hello, my sweetheart. To what honor do I owe a call from you?” Harry said, and Laura sighed before walking to her room and closing the door.
“Are you alone now?” Harry asked, and Laura hummed.
“Yes,”
“God, I missed you,” Harry immediately became romantic, and Laura smiled.
“I miss you too, honey. When can we meet again? Should I drop by your base? I don’t think we need to hide from our children that we meet secretly,” Laura sat near the window, and Harry chuckled.
“Well, it was your idea to keep our kids from my profession, so I agreed. If you think it’s okay, I can come back and start living with you guys,” Harry smiled at the man in front of him before asking everyone to leave.
“Leave all that aside. Tell me how you are. Matthew told me what happened. Why don’t you get admitted to the hospital where I work? That way, I would be able to take care of you. I know you are not heavily injured, but we would be able to meet,” Laura suggested, and Harry hummed.
“Sounds like a plan to me. How is my princess doing? Today was the first time she was exposed to things like that, and though she acted tough to the end, keep checking on her. It might have been traumatizing,” Harry’s words made Laura remember the thing for which she called Harry.
“That’s why I originally called you, honey. I actually wanted to scold her a little for leaving the house and making me worried, but she suddenly said she doesn’t want to be a part of the gang anymore, and she won’t follow your path,” Laura said.
“And that is supposed to be a problem? Isn’t that what you wanted?” Harry asked, and Laura clicked her tongue.
“You don’t understand. For a girl who dreamt of being like you for half of her life, she can’t suddenly say no. What exactly happened there?” Laura asked, and Harry chuckled.
“As I said, things must have traumatized her. Not everyone can take deaths and blood casually. Speaking about it and actually witnessing it are two different things, honey. Did you know your daughter blew off two whole bases?” Harry’s words made Laura gasp.
“That’s right. Don’t take her lightly. She might be saying this because she doesn’t want to make you worried anymore or because -” Harry was about to mention her likeness to Dominic, but paused when he remembered Aaliyah’s threat to reveal all the secrets.
“Because?”
“Because she loves all of us and doesn’t want to see us like this,” Harry said.
“Anyway, sweetheart. I will call you later. I need to check a consignment. Also, clear your schedule soon. We are going on a trip, and I am not hearing no for an answer. You have a month for it,” Harry said before blowing a kiss through the phone, and Laura did the same before ending the call, sighing a little.
“You know, for someone pretending to hate him, you are actually romantic,” Aaliyah’s sudden voice made Laura drop the phone on the carpet before she looked out of the window in shock, where Aaliyah was standing with an amused smile.