Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion 18 novel Chapter 40

“So, how do you know Hayden?” Josh asked as he tried to make light conversation with me.

Unknowingly, he’s causing both Hayden and me much discomfort. I glanced over at Hayden, begging him to answer the question. I bet Hayden had decided not to tell anyone about our strange living arrangement and relationship. I mean, even I decided not to tell anyone about our bizarre situation.

“She’s just a girl that I know…” Hayden answered vaguely.

“Oh yeah?” Josh replied, clearly dissatisfied with Hayden’s vague answer.

Thankfully, Josh didn’t push the topic any further and switched to asking me random questions about myself instead such as what I was up to lately. He showed genuine interest when I told him that I’m studying art. Overall, Josh and I seemed to get along just fine, and he was a very sociable person.

“Do you have a good memory by any chance?” Josh asked out of nowhere.

“I guess my memory is decent…” I replied, a little surprise at his seemingly random question.

“Good…read and remember this,” Josh said as he took out a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it over to me.

I looked down at the paper in my hand and realized that it was a mini factsheet about Josh. Details such as his birthday, favorite food, favorite color was among the various things listed there.

“I see…” I muttered.

I guess I must learn this in case I’m asked. I found this quite amusing and began chuckling a little to myself.

“I see why you think this is funny,” Josh said.

“Do you really think that she may ask these questions?” I asked.

“You never know…I hope these questions are the only thing she asks…” Josh muttered under his breath as if he was talking to himself.

I couldn’t help but notice that he was the stark contrast to his best friend, Hayden. I wonder how these two became best friends despite being polar opposites. The more I chatted with Josh, the more I managed to relax, and I began to enjoy myself and his company.

Reflecting on Josh’s situation made me realize that his situation wasn’t exactly that different from mine and Hayden’s. I guess parents of the rich and wealthy had a thing for arranging marriages for their children. The big difference was that I owed Hayden’s father a huge debt while the other girl in question was a rich heiress in her own right. I guess I could understand him…

I studied the paper and committed the details on the paper to my memory as best as I could.

“Miss Janine is here,” a bodyguard came in to inform us.

At his notice, I sat up straight and alert on the sofa. Janine is here! Switch into fake girlfriend mode now! What am I supposed to do?

Josh sighed loudly and I could tell that he was dreading the arrival of this moment a lot more than I did. Slowly, as if his body weighted a ton, Josh got up from the sofa and extended a hand towards me.

“Let’s go face our princess…” Josh said as he beckoned me to take his hand.

Although I was confused, I decided to take his hand and he pulled me firmly to my feet. I guess we’re not meeting that Janine person here in this private lounge after all.

“We’re not meeting her here?” I asked.

“No…we’ll be meeting her in another room. This private longue is usually reserved for Hayden, me and a couple of our other friends,” Josh explained as he headed for the door.

I glanced over at Hayden who was still seated. Was he honestly going to let me go with Josh alone? How heartless could this guy be. However, just when I reached the door, Hayden sighed loudly and got up from the sofa. I turned to look at him in amazement. For some reason, I felt more reassured now that Hayden was coming with us.

“What are you looking at?” Hayden asked as he walked past me and out the door.

For the life of me, I could never figure out what Hayden was thinking. I shook my head to clear my thoughts before following the two guys out the door. We followed Josh through the throng of people who were enjoying themselves. Dancing and networking seemed to be the main activity of his party.

Josh greeted and was greeted by many people along our walk there. Hayden was greeted by many people as well, but he only responded by a brief wave of his hand. We arrived at our destination much faster than I had thought.

Now that we’re standing right in front of the door to the longue where Janine was waiting for us, I felt extremely nervous. I could feel cold sweat on my hands.

“You don’t have to do anything…just hook arms with me and sit by my side, ok?” Josh said as he offered me a cheerful smile.

Josh took my left hand and placed it on the crook of his arm. I glanced over at Hayden nervously only to see his expressionless face staring back at me. His light blue eyes were completely void of emotions. The next moment, I heard the door opening and I was being led into the room by Josh.

This is it…

“Josh…and Hayden”

A woman with beautiful sun-tanned skin and long auburn hair greeted Josh and Hayden the moment that we entered the room. She obviously knew the two guys. After that she narrowed her eyes at me as she seemed to have registered my presence and how I was holding onto Josh’s arm. However, she did not say anything to me at all and perhaps, that said it all.

“It’s good to see you again,” Josh said, sounding very diplomatic.

The smile that was on Janine’s plump lips fell and tension rose exponentially in the room. I tightened my hold on Josh’s arm as my nervousness returned. Janine’s presence was somehow very intimidating. I wasn’t sure if it was her beauty or the way she handled herself but there was something about her that felt like serious business.

--To be continued…