The Royal Contract

It sucked.

He felt like crap.

As soon as he heard his phone ring that morning, he knew it would be one of those days where everything would go wrong.

In all his years of working, he had never felt drained, except today. Maybe the stress and the pressure of his work and the other circumstances in his life were finally taking a toll on him.

"And the nerve of that woman..." He mumbled to himself, remembering the dream he just had. Or was it a nightmare?

Probably, it was more like a memory of her rejection. But whatever it was. Mike could not fathom the nerve of that woman to reject him and laugh at his face.

No woman had ever rejected him and humiliated him at the same time. And he did not like it. Now, it kept replaying in his head like a broken record.

"Damn that woman." He hated that she kept creeping back into his mind. But he knew he had to forget about her. Soon, rather than later.

He guessed, in his current situation, it was better not to get involved with a woman. It was a distraction he could not afford.

And he would only be putting her in harm's way. Not that he was concerned about her safety. He believed he did not need another thing to think about.

"Samson," He called the only man he trusted at that moment besides Gerald. "Have you heard from him?" He asked, still worried that his friend had not made contact.

Based on his intel, he had not returned to his other safehouse. Therefore, where could his friend be hiding? More importantly, did he escape Don's men?

After the shooting, he had lost touch with reality. He eventually fainted after saving Don when he hit the ground. Therefore, he had no idea if his friend had made it alive.

He hoped Gerald did, but he needed to hear from him. He needed his friend to call or at least send him a sign that he was still alive and safe.

"No, Sir. Not yet." That was not the answer he wanted to hear. But sadly, it was all he got. "But I am still trying to gather some information."

Samson assured him that he was not stopping until they found Gerald before their enemies beat them to him.

Now that Don was aware Gerald was alive, he knew Don would not stop until he could guarantee to kill his friend and him if Don ever learned of his betrayal.

"Keep me informed." He ordered his loyal man before he hung up the phone to deal with his other activities. He had to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. He did not want anybody else to suspect he was up to something. The last thing he needed was for their enemies to snoop into his affairs.

"Have you completely swept the entire house?" He asked Mario, one of his men who was guarding his home.

He acted as his handyman, but he was more than that. He was a trained mercenary who decided to work for him after he had helped him in a case.

Now Mario lived at his house with his wife, who served his every need in exchange for helping them. But in truth, they had been more than hired help. They had become his family.

"It is clean," Mario informed him.

He could not take the risk that his house could have a bug. Now that Don had learned about Gerald, he could not let his guard down.

Don might act like he still trusted him, but he could also be testing him. He could have planted a hearing device or a video camera around his place and spied on him.

"Check regularly and inform me if you notice any unusual activities inside the estate." He instructed, believing one of his men could turn against him and betray him.

He needed to be on top of everything. The sooner he knew any changes, the sooner he could deal with the problem.

"Yes, Mike. I already installed a few of our cameras on the blind spots. I will make sure I will not miss anything." Mario ensured him before his man left him to be alone.

He returned to his private office at his home to check on some of his work. He still needed to go to court in a couple of hours. For now, he had to prepare.

But before going to business as usual, he remembered something he had ignored due to his chaotic situation. Nonetheless, he believed he could not continue neglecting it anymore.

"Hi! Before you say anything..." He breathed into the phone receiver as he took a deep intake of air into his lungs. "Let me say I am sorry for not calling. Things had been chaotic."

He knew that she might have heard of the news by now. But how much of the truth she suspected, he had no idea.

He could only speculate and hope she was still clueless about the real story. He believed it was better she remained unaware that Gerald was still alive.

He thought she would be safer in that way. Marcus told him that, so far, she did not seem to show any sign that she suspected it. But still, he would like to be cautious.

"Mike, is that you?" Her voice sounded more concerned than mad at him, which was a good sign. "I thought something might have happened to you since you have been silent for a while."

He would have called her sooner. But he had to deal with many things. And besides, he also had to recover for a day or two from his injuries.

"Yeah, Haley. I am ok. Just busy." He spoke again on the other line, glad that she sounded ok.

But the last time he talked to Marcus, he assured him his sister was doing well, considering the news she received.

Although he was slightly concerned by her plans, he would admit. After Marcus told him about her decision, he was unsure if he could agree.

Still, he had a few months to convince her to reconsider since she still planned to stay on the island until she had the baby.

At any rate, his immediate concern was to keep her safe until the situation had stabilized. He only hoped that whatever Gerald had in mind. It would work this time for Haley and the baby.

"What is this that I am hearing about Gerald? Do you know anything about it?" Haley could not wait to ask the question.

He could only guess that she was dying to know the answers. As far as Marcus was concerned, he could not say much about Gerald.

Nevertheless, Haley knew he would know more about Gerald since he was his bestfriend. But how much of what he knew should he reveal to her?

It was one of the reasons why he wished to find Gerald. He had to ask him what to do with Haley. But now, he was on the spot where he had no idea what to say.

Should he tell her the whole truth or, at least, some truth about the news, confirming what she heard? Or should he just blatantly lie about it, denying any involvement in the allegations placed in Gerald's name?

"Do you trust me? More importantly, do you love Gerald?" He knew he had to play his cards right. But he guessed he also needed to buy himself some time.

There was a long silence on the other side of the line. Suddenly, Mike thought Haley might have hung up. But eventually, he heard a faint sound of her breathing, as if she might still be thinking of how to answer his question.

"Of course, I trust you. And you know I love Gerald." She answered him with no hint of doubt. "But what does that have to do with what I asked you?" She added, sounding a bit confused.

"Because I will need you to trust me and Gerald. One more time." He told her, unable to disclose to her the truth just yet. "I know this is hard to understand right now. But I will tell you the truth in time."

Hopefully, he would not have to. He wished it would be Gerald telling her the entire story. He could only dream that they would still have a happy ending.

Truthfully, he never thought he would ever feel this way about anyone. But meeting Haley had changed him. He suddenly saw the rainbows in the sky, believing that magic existed and dreams did come true.

Haley had shown him that the darkness in him was not permanent, that there was a way out of the black, dreary tunnel and into the light.

He still had a chance to change and have a happy life. But first, he had to help fix their situation.

"Mike, what is going on?" She asked him again, sounding confused, begging him for answers.

"Trust me for now. And I promise things will get clearer in time." He only hoped he could deliver on that promise.

He might be a crook, but he always tried to honor his words.

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