Aaliyah walked inside the room where the meeting was happening with a cold look to cover up her emotions.
She opened the button of the coat as soon as she sat, and everyone paused to look at her.
“Dad, Mom, Nathan, Sandra,” Aaliyah greeted all the elders before sitting on the empty chair, and Harry could feel something was wrong with his daughter. Why does she look so flustered and annoyed?
“Aren’t you proud of having such a cool daughter?” Nathan whispered to his childhood friend, who chuckled at him and looked back at his daughter before Dominic Volkov walked inside the room in long, steady, and powerful strides.
Even if no one knew about their supremacy, their walk alone was enough to halt a crowded place.
Dominic looked up at all the elders before addressing and nodding at them.
Dominic looked at the empty seat beside Aaliyah, but before he could go and sit over there, Aaliyah turned to him with a glare that made him sigh.
The stare meant one thing. ‘If you dared to come and sit close to me, I will kick you,’
This interaction didn’t go unnoticed by the elders in the room, who were well aware of their relationship.
Was something wrong? Why were these two acting like they were some kind of archenemy?
The elders didn’t know that before they came here, Aaliyah had a hard time pacifying Dominic to hurry up and not mess with her in the car again when he tried to kiss her. When she denied it, he bit her n*pples, and she had to push him away to come inside the hotel. She wore this outfit after a long time with his constant interruptions, and Aaliyah didn’t want to mess up the outfit again.
With a roll of his eyes, Dominic clenched his teeth and sat beside his father. Everyone could feel the tension between the two before they started talking again.
“Is everything okay?” Katherine asked Aaliyah, and she looked at her sister before nodding.
“How is the meeting going?” Aaliyah asked.
“Meeting? This is not a meeting to discuss our marriage proposal. They have been reconciling their past and childhood since the beginning. It’s been two hours already,” Katherine sighed.
“So? Where have you guys reached? Is everything already decided? The date of the engagement and other such things,” Aaliyah looked at her dad, and he looked at Nathan, who thinned his lips when they realized they went off topic again and didn’t address what was needed.
“We had talked to each other about this when Laura told me about it. I have checked Bryce’s background, and he is clean. Their relationship won’t be a problem. We can fix a date suitable for everyone. If the kids don’t have anything urgent lined up. Does that sound good?” Harry looked at Laura and Nathan, who nodded.
“I had a personal meeting with Bryce, and I approve of him,” Laura said before looking at Dominic.
Remembering how she had promised to talk to Dominic about this later, Laura dreaded he would start the topic in front of everyone, and this meeting might become a marriage proposal for Aaliyah.
That’s the last thing she wanted to happen right now.
“Great, I will -” Aaliyah paused when she looked at her vibrating phone on the table.
Danny’s Girlfriend? Why would she be calling her right now?
“Hello?” Aaliyah answered the phone amidst the chatter.
“H-hello? Is this Miss Aaliyah?” Danny’s girlfriend whispered softly.
“Yes, this is her,” Aaliyah said.
“My boyfriend Danny said I should call you if I feel something is wrong and he isn’t here. You would help me,”
“I would. Danny is a good friend of mine. What is it? Are you feeling wrong? Do you need to see the doctor? Where is he?” Aaliyah asked with scrunched brows.
“Can you come over, please? I don’t feel good,” Aaliyah could feel the uneasiness in her voice, and she sighed before standing from her place.
“I am sorry. I have somewhere to go urgently. A friend needs my help, and before anyone gets worried, it’s my friend’s girlfriend who is pregnant and is feeling uneasy,” Aaliyah answered the unquestioned things before she looked at Dominic and walked out of the room.
She hailed a cab to the address she knew as Danny’s home.
Knock! Knock! Aaliyah knocked twice, and it wasn’t long before she heard footsteps approaching.
“Who is it?” The girl asked without opening the door.
“It’s Aaliyah. We talked,” Aaliyah said, and the girl immediately opened the door.
“Thank you, Miss Aaliyah, for arriving at such short notice. I couldn’t reach Danny, and my heart was feeling heavy, like something bad might happen. It started affecting my baby, and now I am having a few cramps,” she said, and Aaliyah understood.
“What is your name?”
“Emily. Would you like to have something?” Emily placed her hand on her stomach and was about to stand when Aaliyah held her hand to stop her from getting up.
“Don’t bother with it. I am coming directly from a restaurant. Besides, I am not a guest. Danny has been one of my good friends. When will he return? I will accompany you till then,” Aaliyah looked around the house.
Though it was only a 1BHK apartment, it had a homey feeling, and Aaliyah knew from Emily’s personality that it was her doing. That’s probably the reason a rogue boy like Danny fell for her.
“He was supposed to return 3 hours ago but hasn’t. I have been calling him nonstop, but the call isn’t going through. That’s why I became so worried. I didn’t mean to trouble you, but I didn’t want to risk my health and -”
“It’s okay, Emily. Do you see me complaining? Let me call someone to see if he can find out where Danny is,” Aaliyah smiled at Emily before dialing Ashton’s number.
“Hey, Ashton -”
“Aaliyah! What the hell? Where have you been? I heard from Momo what happened at school. Are you out of your mind following Maria like that? And where are you right now? Why didn’t you come back? I heard from some people that a mysterious man came to save you. Was that Mr. Dominic or someone else?” Ashton launched the questions one after the other, and Aaliyah thinned her lips.
Meanwhile, in the meeting, Dominic looked at his dad when he saw him making useless comments about his childhood.
“Mrs. Laura, you said you would talk to me at an appropriate time about my proposal. Can we talk right now? All the elders are here. You can ask about anything you want to know or confirm,” Dominic finally said the words Laura was dreading, and she pressed her lips.
“Proposal? What kind of proposal?” Sandra looked between Laura and Dominic.
“I want to marry Aaliyah,” Dominic said, and Nathan widened his eyes.
This insolent child of his! How can he say something like that with a straight face?!
“I am not sure about that. Aaliyah is barely nineteen,” Laura looked at Harry with a scared expression, and Harry’s eyes immediately softened.
Laura might not tell anyone because of her proud nature, but Harry can see through her facade.
Laura was afraid of losing her daughter so soon.
“I know, Mrs. Laura. I assure you that Aaliyah won’t have an ounce of hardships with me. You took care of her really well, and I know I might not be able to surpass that care and love, but I will try my best to reach that level,” Dominic said before looking at Harry.
“I really love your daughter, sir. My whole life, I have never felt a need for anything as bad as I need her presence around me. She keeps me in control. Her smile makes me a good man, something that I never thought I could be. As a gang leader, I hope you can understand what I meant by that,” Dominic leaned forward politely.
Harry had already met Dominic and seen his love for her daughter when they came to save him, and he knew that every word this young man was spouting was true.
“Dominic, we believe what you are saying. What Laura meant to say is, don’t you think it’s a bit early to come to this conclusion about marriage? We don’t have a problem with you dating our daughter, and I think it was clear last time we met,” Harry’s words shocked Laura.
“You guys have met and talked about this before?” Laura asked, and Harry told her what happened there at the gang base, and everyone looked at Dominic.
Even Nathan and Sandra were shocked to hear the story. The guy who never flinched, no matter what, went berserk for Aaliyah?
“Will you be okay if your daughter starts living with me before marriage?” Dominic asked stoically.
“Dominic!” Harry raised his voice.
“That’s exactly my point. I want to live with Aaliyah. Now that I know what being loved feels like, I don’t think I would be able to stay at peace without her anymore,” Dominic took a deep breath before a smile appeared on his face.
“Whenever I sleep, I think about her. When I cook something, I wonder how good it would feel if she was there to look at and praise my cooking. I want to share my ice cream with her while we watch movies after a tiring day. I want to sleep -”
“Hahah, that’s enough. We got your point, child,” Nathan interrupted Dominic, thinking he was going to say something obscene.
“I want to sleep with my head in her lap after a rough day so that she takes my demons away,” Dominic completed his sentence before he looked at his hands.
“I know you might be thinking that I am being too much, and it might be hard to feel what I -”
“That’s not true. I know what you are talking about,” Harry said before he grabbed Laura’s hand.
These were almost the words that he had used to pacify Laura’s father when he wanted to marry Laura when they were teenagers. Harry knew exactly what it felt like to have that kind of need for your partner.
However, understanding that need and letting someone take away your daughter for that purpose were two different things. Now he understands why Laura’s father was so against the idea. You indeed understand a parent’s decision when you become one.
While they were talking about their marriage and other things, Aaliyah was trying to find where Danny could’ve gone.
“Aaliyah, he was last seen near the Black Robes Garage. No one has seen him after that. Where else should I look?” Ashton said, and Aaliyah looked at Emily.
The poor girl was getting more worried as time passed, and honestly, even Aaliyah was getting worried now.
Where did he go that no one knows about her whereabouts?
Seeing Aaliyah struggling to find Danny, Emily stood from the couch to offer her juice. The girl has been working since she came without even drinking water.
As she walked to the kitchen, her phone rang, and she held the receiver close to her ears.
“This is Emily. How can I help -”
“Don’t you want to know where your boyfriend is?” A cold voice spoke from the other side, and Emily’s blood ran cold.
“W-who are you? Where is my Danny? What do you know -”
“Emily! Don’t talk to him! Don’t do what he says or – mmmmmmm!!” Emily heard Danny’s shouts from the other side, and she immediately understood what was happening.
The receiver fell from her hands with the glass, making a loud shattering voice, and Aaliyah rushed inside the house to see what happened.
“Emily, what’s -” Aaliyah stopped before she walked and held the receiver close to her ears.
“Well, I believe you finally understood what kind of situation this is. Shall we talk about the deal now?” The man said, and Aaliyah looked at Emily, who looked too shocked to speak.
Aaliyah was about to speak when she heard a sentence, making her eyes turn cold.
“Your boyfriend’s life in exchange for the girl in your house. Send Aaliyah here. A life for a life,” the man said.