Chapter 16: Espositos

The stranger keeps mumbling in his sleep, calling the name of the person they both know. Albert who happened to witness the situation confusedly looks at to his boss

"Shizi? Is he talking about–?"

"Probably. I don't know either. We will only be able to confirm it when he wakes up" the secretary only nodded as a response. Sean checked the time on his wrist watch before calling the attention of Albert who is currently packing the things they used earlier "You must be tired coming all the way here and treating his wounds at this hour. You can just sleep in one of the rooms here. I'll rent it for you so that you can rest already" Sean said as he was about to exit the room, but before he could do so he heard his secretary refused his offer

"I can just drive back to my own place, sir. I'm not comfortable sleeping here as my things are in there" said the secretary. Sean just let him go, knowing his secretary, Albert is more stubborn than him.

After the secretary left the hotel where Hanlon should be staying, the man in suit decided to also leave. It's already 5 in the morning when he arrived at their hotel. Sean tiredly entered his room when he saw his fiance sleeping on his bed. He was stunned for a while before he slowly approached the sleeping lady on the bed. With a smile on his face, instead of taking a rest, he decided to watch Anacia dreaming peacefully. For some reason, he suddenly felt comfortable, and all his exhaustion just went away. While watching the lady, he wanders–is this the feeling of falling in love? It felt so magical.

Minutes later, Sean didn't notice that he had already fallen asleep besides Anacia.

It's already late in the morning when Sean woke up. He looks at to the side of his bed where Anacia was sleeping last night, but he didn't find her there. Despite waking up late, his body still feels heavy. Instead of getting up, he closed his eyes again to go back to sleep, but then a knock disturbed his creation of Dreamland.

The door opened, revealing Anacia with a cart of food. When she saw Sean's eyes on her, she gave him a smile before awkwardly avoided his eye contact

"You should eat first if you want to sleep again" Anacia said while preparing the food. Realizing the reason behind the awkward actions of the lady, Sean smiled michevously. He teasingly watched his fiance as he cleared his throat

"I caught someone sleeping on my bed last night, my lady. Is this person missing me?"

"Shut up, Mr. Gwenu and eat your food" although her face is turning red, Anacia didn't back down

"Would you like to join me, Mrs. Gwenu?" Of course, Sean won't easily let it go. Feeling flattered from being called Mrs. Gwenu, Anacia smiled secretly as she gathered all of her courage and strength to counterattack.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Mr. Gwenu. Who knows, I might not become your Mrs. Gwenu. Don't jinx it" full of confidence and standing proudly, Anacia gave Sean a wink after saying those words before she left the room, while Sean is still dumbfounded. His brain suddenly can't process anything at the moment

'My girl changed overnight'

Still feeling dizzy, Hanlon forces himself to open his eyes. His body is still numb because of the toxins, while the part where he took some blow is still aching. A sting on his body, made him hiss. He tried to reach out his nape only to find out his current unpleasant situation. Hanlon recapitulates what happened before he passed out, and to his disappoinment, he wasn't able to finish the foods he brought, especially the milk!

'Stupid!' He cursed in his thought when he remembered

Hanlon is currently tied on the chair, with his hands on the back of the chair. Simply trying to break free from it won't do any help. Instead of wasting his remaining energy, he decided to roam his eyes around the place. Aside from him and the chair, there's nothing to see in the spacious room.

"At least they're not cheap to use a light that will only lit up the hostage. My situation is better than those heroes I saw from the movies" Hanlon mumbled to himself. His thoughts were disturbed when the door suddenly burst open, revealing his capturer and its men.

"You came here right after I woke up. I'm guessing there are hidden cameras here" Hanlon deadpanned

"Omoo! You're right, babe! After all I like watching you all the time" Esposito's son said maniacally that made Hanlon grimace

'Pervert!' Hanlon whispered to himself

"Not really, sugar. I'm only like this towards you. You're special, my dear, so don't be disappointed" Hanlon didn't respond with the boy's craziness as he was afraid he'll catch its illness. The young man pretended like he didn't hear anything and started humming his favorite song while swaying his head "You're ignoring me now, honey. Anyways, I only came here to let you know that I'll be going somewhere. I won't take too long, so don't be too sad. See you!" Suddenly, Luca pulled up his chin, and aggressively kissed his lips. It lasted for 10 seconds before the boy let him go. Hanlon coughed a couple times, he then sent the person in front of him a death glare. For him, he just lost half of his life because of what the boy did

"You look hot with that blood on your, lips" after saying those words, Luca left the room, leaving Hanlon and his three men inside

"F*ck! I must have been infected by his illness now" he cursed. The remaining three men stare confusedly at each other before they all turn to Hanlon with knitting brows. One of them bravely approached the hostage

"Are you perhaps… Our boss's boyfriend?" A man hesitatingly asked.

Upon hearing the ridiculous question, Hanlon looks at him with horror in his eyes

"If I turned out to be gay, there's no way I'd date your boss!" The three men just nodded their heads and didn't dare to disturb the hostage anymore. They go back to their assigned place, and act as if nothing happened. Although, they appear calm on the surface but their heads became messier than the wire of an earphones after witnessing the scene earlier

Hanlon on the other hand wanted to vomit so bad that he repeatedly coughed. He can actually escape and break free anytime he wants but because of the mission, that he was not assigned to do so, he just heaved a sigh to calm himself, despite being disgusted and wanting to rip off his mouth at the moment.

'I'd rather eat poop than being kissed by that psychopath!!'

Although Hanlon appears to be irresponsible and immature, he is a very committed and dedicated person. He might complain about giving him a useless task, but he still would do it and will never leave it undone. Just like when he was assigned to a paperworks when he was in the care of Chief inspector, Dion Lee, before going back as a secret agent he made sure that his pending tasks had been completed.

During the days that they were holding Esposito's son as their hostage, Hanlon made further research, and studied carefully the information he had from Charlie to formulate a plan. He didn't let Sean know about it because he can't take a risk to let the people watching them take a hint of his actions. Ever since after the scene at Leonardo's party, Hanlon already felt that someone is watching Sean's every move. He wanted to alert the man but it's too dangerous for him to act recklessly, as he always does before, and put both Sean and his fiance at risk.

In those days, though it was still not completed and clear, Hanlon gathered enough information to start his plan already. All he could hope for now is for Sean to find and understand the hints he left before he could die from the disease of his abductor.

A man who's currently busy aiming his golf ball to the target was interrupted when one of his men approached him. Upon hearing what his dog–it is how he addressed his men–reported to him, he nodded slightly as he continued playing golf. Seconds later, Luca walked elegantly towards his father, Alessandro Esposito, and snatched a bottle of wine from the table. Watching his father playing golf like a noob, he directly chugged the bottle of wine as he waited for his father to finish playing.

The wide greenfield gives a tranquil vibe that anyone would be able to clear their mind and soul. The quietness, and the fresh air added to the perfection of the place, but unfortunately it is filled with a mental illness humans.

All of them just minded their own business that anyone would think they are just a normal rich citizens, trying to show off their not so cool skills. The men standing still at their post like they are some kind of a statue, a young man chugging a bottle of wine likes there's no tomorrow, and an old man who's playing golf aimlessly. They all stayed like that, and silence dominated them for almost half an hour. After Alessandro got tired of playing, he went to the direction of their small table, where Luca is currently finishing the bottle of wine of his father. Alessandro drank from his water bottle before sitting on his chair, a table in between Alessandro, and his son.

"Speak" the old man ordered

"The wine is good but mine is still better" Luca simply said. Alessandro gives off a dark aura that anyone would shiver at his sight. People who work for him would never dare to make any small mistake as they were afraid of the consequences. They have already witnessed how crazy the old man can be. But Luca is on another level. If his father is crazy, Luca is even crazier.

The boy was just 7 years old when he got scolded by his father for breaking it's favorite vase. As a punishment, Alessandro made his son kneel on the broken vase. The wife begged her husband to just let it go as Luca is still a child, but Alessandro ignored her and even pushed her away. The boy who witnessed the situation just laughed. The mother who was sick at that time had a hard time getting up from being slumped on the floor. She looks at her son, and to her surprise, Luca knelt on the broken glass while scratching himself using a piece of broken vase. Instead of crying from pain, he seems to enjoy what he was doing, he even giggles whenever his blood splatter. Luca turned her gaze to his mother, and offered the piece of broken vase to her "Want me to stab you too, mother?" Luca asked excitedly. The mother screamed in horror seeing how his son acted abnormally. She hurriedly got up to run and escape from her crazy family, but before she could save herself, her legs betrayed her, and fell down the stairs. The woman bathed with her own blood at the bottom of their stair, lying on the cold floor, and lifeless. The father and son just took a glance of her corpse, after being bored by the sight, Alessandro ordered his people to clean what he called 'the mess'

Remembering the action of his son earlier, Alessandro looked back to Luca who's currently wearing his poker face while watching the lifeless body of his mother. From that day onwards, the people in Espositos' property have become wary not just of the master but also of the kid. As the years passed by, Luca's craziness became worse and he somehow surpassed his father. Some unlucky servants were forced to take a part of their body and give it to the young master, prior to Luca's request. Despite being aware of the darkness in Espositos' residence, a lot of people choose to work for them as they get paid higher than the other company could offer.

"How's the task, Luca?" Alessandro took off the gloves he had worn for playing golf while asking the question to his son. He seemed unbothered by the boy's attitude, and still maintained a calm composure. Though, Alessandro is capable of doing inhuman things and acts like it is a normal everyday routine. While enjoying the view of the field, the old took a sip from his wine

"Sean's buddy is in my hands. I tried looking for more information about the guy but I found nothing unusual. He is just a stray dog that was adopted by the police to make him take care of their sh*ts"

"Sean's buddy? When did that kid become close with anyone?"

"Met accidentally, and just acquainted" Luca shrugged as he finished the bottle of wine. After shallowing the last drops of the wine, the boy signaled one of his men to get him another bottle of wine

"What's the point of holding this person hostage, Luca? Revenge?"

"Not at all. I just like him. Additionally, he was present during your best friend, Leonard, execution. Although he came out to be a normal citizen, it's better be safe than sorry"

"What's your plan for him now?"

"Don't know yet. Maybe, get him pregnant? You'll gonna be a grandpa soon, be prepared" when Luca's men arrived with his wine, the boy got to from his seat, and just walk away with chugging the new bottle of wine

'Surprises are meant to give someone either a happiness or a heart attack'

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Suddenly, there is a blow up from the green field, making some of Luca's men look back with wide eyes. The peaceful and beautiful place a while ago was now being devoured by the fire. Black smokes scattered in the once a blue sky, while a scream of begging was heard from the field. On the other hand, the boy just continued to walk towards his car like nothing happened while smirking 'handsome

"Mini heart attack gives him happiness" he stated as he ordered his driver to start the car