Chapter 3 The evil Mafia's bestfriend

Arnold's pov

Well, I am Arnold and I am sure you will love me. I am 21 years old, tall, and handsome. I look and behave too mature for my age, people accord me with respect they would give to a 30-year-old. Because I was blessed with good looks and height, women came to me. I mean, which woman would not? Plus, I did a lot to keep my body in shape; workout routines, dancing, athletics, you name it. I was the perfect gentleman, liked my women petite bit hard to get. What joy was there if I don't pursue the woman. Not like I said no to all the beautiful women who came to me, but it was more intriguing and exciting if she was too stubborn and hard to get. That way, I had to put in work. It is not just me, men take pride in what seems unachievable, we are go-getters, to satisfy ego and pride.

I do not know how I became like this. I never knew my parents and never had their love. I raised myself from childhood, doing all sorts of dirty work from drugs to robbery to anything that could get me money. At one point, I did human trafficking. Yes, I had to live one way or the other. I can not say I became a "playboy" because a girl left me heartbroken or because I never had a mother's love. Let's just say, I am a 'natural born. What I lacked in family, God blessed me with great features, it was a big factor in contributing to my success today.

I think my friends might have contributed to it too. I mean look at Blade, yes, he had it all; money, cars, he had everything he would ever want but he was miserable. Miserable because of love. I will not forget the day Olivia had left, I have never seen my friend so vulnerable with anyone before, not even myself. He would cry himself to sleep for days, had suicidal tendencies and would have died had it not been the gift of love Olivia had left him with. That gift was Willa, it was because of her that Blade got up every morning, she was his strength and love. Because of her, he had hope. Even though blade does not tell him, he sees it in his eyes: the emptiness inside. He never wanted to experience anything like that, never.

Another big rival of blade had lost all he had to a woman, for love. Don Pablo owned and managed one of the biggest drug cartel at the time. He was so named because of his talent which was similar to that of Pablo Escobar who had conquered the world's drug business. He had harnessed a lot of wealth and fame and was a threat and competition to Blade until he met the love of his life or so he thought. This woman made he sell all the shares he had to the drug business and left everything to be with her. Turns out, she did it all for the money. One opportunity, she was gone and left with everything she could carry leaving Don Pablo pauper. Don Pablo would later leave town from much shame and humiliation.

All these had taught him one thing : to never underestimate a woman for great men were brought down by her. Like my friend would say "never trust a woman", it became his principle and lifestyle, to lay wherever he found himself.

Blade has been my best friend since high school. I met him during my struggling year's as a teenager. I had a drug deal gone wrong one time and found myself in big trouble. Someone had suggested I go to Blade who might help me tackle it. I had gone to him and he had helped me without as much as a second thought. I joined his gang and have been there since that day onward. The gang was more like a clique when I first joined. Not much of us, just a bunch of teenagers with bright ideas trying to make it through each day. He trusted me and I respected him, so much that I took him like an elder brother and he took me like his younger brother. I had the talent and skill, he outdid the corps and other gangs. I majorly handled distribution and recruitment because Blade always said I was a good judge of character. He handled other things, we had gone on to seal a lot of other deals and businesses together becoming one of, if not the best drug cartel as we speak.

Blade was the type of guy who liked to get things done and would get overly nervous if things were not done at the right time: so ironic for a guy who was such a "later comer". If I had not called his ass up this morning, we would have missed this deal with Mr. Bruno who was an important client who did not have patience for waiting. How could one forget that? Perhaps, Olivia did not only do damage to the heart but to the mind and mental health as well. The thought of her alone had made me laugh remembering how Blade had forbade me from ever mentioning her name again or anything that concerns her. He does not even tell Willa about her, just gives her stories of a made-up woman in his head named Tyra.

Oh, and how can I forget to introduce you to Willa? Willa is not just a sweetheart and blessing to Blade but me as well. This little girl makes me so free and vulnerable with her. When I am with her, all my walls come crashing and I suddenly go soft. The girl was just as beautiful as her mother and strong-hearted like her father, avid reader, fast learner, asks too many questions, and untamed. She is playful and loving, I let her call me uncle. I am very sure Blade is envious of my relationship with his daughter cos I see the way he monitors our time together like I am going to take his daughter away from him.

Tory's pov

I have not remained the same since my parents passed. I was overcome by revenge and darkness. I wanted to do to the killer what he did to me, give him pain. I searched and looked, I could not find him anywhere. It just seemed like he was a ghost, he just disappeared. All these years, I have worked and walked in the sun sweating hoping to one day, maybe just see my parent's killer. Only if I avenged them would I have peace.

But as time went on, I began to lose hope even though the darkness was still there. I had stopped looking, I had stopped searching. I learned the hard way that vengeance would not put food in my mouth, shelter me or help me survive this. I will leave my life in the hands of fate and see what it had in store for me. I did minor jobs here and there to get by each day. I did house chores until my last boss had tried to have his way with me. I had to leave before his wife found out. Women like that would kill you even with no-fault and no one would question, we were nobodies after all. Nobody cared, no one will look for you when you are dead. A lot of young girls like me have lost their lives to cruel bosses they worked for. I could not be a victim of such, not when I have not had my revenge yet.

This would have been bearable for me if I had siblings to go back home to. Sometimes, home is not found in a place but a person. I am so lonely that would sometimes just talk to myself. I had no one to listen to me, I would cry myself to sleep. Every day, I pray and hope that it would get better.

I began to look for another job, to be a nanny. I have heard people are kind to those who look after their children. Most houses I have gone to have nannies whom they trust their kids with. Seemed less dangerous problem was, that they preferred persons with experience not amateurs like me. I decided to continue doing my minor chores until when I got the nanny job. I just needed to work to be able to eat and have a place to go home to after work.

I would not have to work so hard if my parent's properties had not been seized by one of my uncles. He took everything and threw me out in the streets to die. From that day onward, I knew life was not going to wait for me.

Blade's pov

"Thank God for Arnold, I would have lost that deal with Mr. Bruno. Damn," I said to myself sighing. Every time he drank, it was like that, long nights that never seemed to end. It was on days like this that I think Arnold is a blessing. On other days, he is a complete asshole and piece of shit. He is my friend and all that, but I still do not trust him completely, I felt something was off. Do not get me wrong, he has been there countless times for me but I made him the man he is. He just seemed to be overstepping his boundaries subtly. There was no harm he could do, I am just overly worried for nothing. And he has been very helpful with Willa. That girl loved to play and most of the day, he did not have the time. Arnold always showed up for him and Willa, she even calls him godfather. It was just that he could not trust Arnold around women, so it was with his daughter.

Taylor's pov

As you might already know, I work for Blade Liam as his secretary. Everyone said I was beautiful and irresistible, I knew too and made it count. "A girl like you can not be beautiful for nothing" was what I said to myself every morning in front of the mirror. I would not like to use the word "sexy" to describe me as I am very sensitive to words. I just want to tell you I have it all; brains, body, and beauty. I could not lack in those areas. How did you think I got this job? My brains and beauty of the course. Well, maybe my body did a little work as I had to work on Mr. Arnold to recommend me for the job. Now, I think I like Mr. Liam. When I started working for him, I saw he was very different from his friend. This had given me the impression that he might perhaps be only attracted to modest and decent women. But it turns out I was wrong because he had not seen what I was endowed with. Today, I had worn something to get his attention and I might have done it because I saw the way he looked on with interest. I kept his attention for longer than 10 seconds. I am going to make him like it. Imagine I became his wife, the power I would wield, all that I could do with this power. There was only one problem, I have heard Mr. Liam had lost interest in women since his baby mama left him, I understood why he looked like he was oblivious to me during my first few months here. A lot of ladies as I have been told have tried and failed, I was a sore loser and not just about to fail. I work hard and get what I want, and that will I do. Things are about to get different, it was time to shake things up around here.