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Luis Jones' POV

"Luis" She croaks.

My heart pounds in my chest and my blood roars in my ears.

Even though the room isn't hot, I can feel myself breaking into a cold sweat.

She is here!

Right now.

After a soul crushing break up, hardly an exchange of even simple words and nearly 10 whole ass years, she is here!

Standing right in front of me!

Then it clicks.

She isn't here for me.

She's in Diav's office.

As the co-Don of the Golden Phoenix.

Diav called me as his lawyer and friend.

They're doing business.

I'm here to arrange.

"You both seem to already know each other, well" Diav says, cutting into my thoughts, taking a sip of his wine.

Jayla gets up, shaking her head as if to clear mist.

"Excuse me" She says, snatching up her own wine glass and taking a swift gulp finishing it.

She walks over to the table and picks up to bottle, pouring the contents into her glass until it nearly reaches the rim.

She goes back to the desk, her long red dress sweeping after her.

Her body is slimmer, her toffee coloured skin is smoother and her lips are fuller.

Her thick black hair is also in dreadlocks, making me internally chuckle.

I always said that I didn't like the look of dreadlocks and she always joked about putting her hair into dreadlocks, just to see how I would take it.

I was clearly wrong.

She looks stunning.

The dress shows off some of her more defined curves and then leaves the rest to my imagination.

She sits down, setting her wine on the table.

"So now that introductions are really clear- -" she starts, but Diav cuts her off.

"No. They're not. How do you both know each other." He asks.

Is that jealousy I hear in his tone?

I glare at my friend.

What is he doing?!

Jayla sighs.

"I used to know him" She says and when the look on her face becomes hardened, he stops.

My heart feels cut slightly when she says 'used to know'

She still thinks I did it.

"Is how I know him important?" She asks, staring at him.

He shakes his head and starts to speak.

"Don Santiago. What is this about?" He asks, taking a sip of his brandy, eyes still on her.

"Some of your people people are selling on our plain and they need to stop" She says.

As she talks, I notice the way his eyes travel over her body, a little bit longingly as he sips his drink.

"Stop?" He asks.

She nods her head "Yes".

He chuckles, putting the cigarette back to his lips.

"No" He says simply.

She sighs slightly.

"It's not a question" she says brittle-y.

"I have condition, for things like this" he says, taking a long drag of his cigar, blowing it out of his mouth and into her face.

She doesn't flinch.

"You also have a lawyer, Mr Kuznetsov, no?" She asks, eyes not leaving him.

He leans forward slightly.

These conditions don't need a contract, Don" he says, his tongue dragging over his lips a little.

"Then why do you need a lawyer present?" She asks, a slight hint of frustration in her tone.

"Because he's part of my conditions" he says looking at me.

What?

Now it's my turn to be confused.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask.

She looks at me briefly and then back to Diav.

"You will stay here in New York, for 3 weeks. In that time, during the day, you will come to the field with me and see exactly why I said no." He explains.

"And in the evening?" She asks.

"Do what you want" he replied, with a shrug.

"While you are here, you will stay with Luis" he says.

I nearly choke on my spit as her head snaps in my direction, eyes now on me, making my soul shake.

"What?! When did we decide this?!" I ask, standing up and approaching Diav's desk.

"I decided this, as soon as you walked in and I saw your reaction to each other. You clearly have some unresolved issues." He says to me.

"And if you are to be working with us, you both need to fix it" he says, facing her.

"I'd rather stay at the hotel" she says sharply.

"Then deal is off" he shrugs.

I groan and rub my hands over my face.

"Jayla, this might be the only way, we've got. Why don't you call Leo, and- -" I start, But she cuts me off harshly, holding up her hand.

"First of all, it's Don Santiago to you, while I'm here. And secondly, don't mention my brother's name, like you're friends. I'm capable of handling myself, unlike some of us..." she says, glaring daggers at me.

She then turns to Diav.

"Excuse me" She says, before turning on her heel and storming out of the room, with two security guards, I don't recognise.

Once she is gone, Diav turns to me.

"What exactly did you do?" He asks, with a slight grin on his face.

I sigh and look at the door.

"She thinks I cheated" I say.

"Yeah?" He asks and I nod.

"Well did you?" He asks, blowing out some smoke.

I look at him as if he's lost his damn mind.

"Hell no!" I respond.

He shrugs.

"I was just asking" he says and I sigh again.

"Do I get a say in this?" I ask and he chuckles.

"Yes, but I made the decision between either you or Valentine, so if you'd rather leave it to him..." he says and my eyes widened.

Valentine is the Russian mafia's biggest player by far.

He is in charge of physical training and he is definitely a ladies man and Jayla is beautiful!

If he saw her, it would be a wrap.

His parents should have called him Casanova with the amount of women he's slept with in the space of weeks.

But I guess the name Valentine is suitable too.

"Not a chance" I fume and Diav laughs loudly.

Just as I do this, Jayla walks back in.

The room is silent, waiting for her to respond.

"My partner and I accept your conditions" she says and Diav starts to speak, but she continues.

"But we have some conditions of our own." She says, looking him dead in the eyes.

He seems surprised.

Not a lot of people challenge Diav.

He seems to have met his match.

"I'm listening" he says, putting out the cigar.

"My security stays. They will be treated as well as you treat your own and everything that we need will be provided in full context" she says.

He nods.

"That seems reasonable" he says with a shrug.

"Also!" She continues and he raises an eyebrow slightly.

"I get to continue my physical training with the rest of your team and I get Saturdays off" She states rather than requests and he chuckles.

My throat tightens as she mentions 'physical training'. I guess she will be in contact with thag idiot after all.

"You have a very high standard, Don Santiago" He says and she returns his smile with a smaller grin.

"I pride myself on it, Mr Kuznetsov" she responds.

"Now take it or leave it."

He studies her for a moment, eyes blank as he gets deep in thought.

After a moment, he blinks it away and nods.

"I'm willing to keep my end of the bargain, Mr Kuznetsov, but I'm skeptical of you" She says truthfully and his grin gets wider.

"If it means that much to you Don Santiago, I will have Luis write up a contract." He says and she nods.

"Until then, I will stay at the hotel and make arrangements for some of my things to be sent over" she says and Diav nods in agreement.

She holds out her hand for him to shake and he takes it, leaning down and kissing the top of her knuckles gently.

Her mouth drops open in surprise but she quickly closes it, cheeks becoming red.

She pulls her hand away and walks out, not giving me a second glance.

Once she is out of the room, I turn to Diav, who is still staring at the door.

"What was that?! And what is this really about?" I ask, trying and failing to keep the jealousy out of my voice.

If he wanted... He could do what he always does and send the person away without batting an eyelid.

So why not her?

"She's more than you think she is?" He says.

"Meaning?" I ask, agitated at his distant tone.

His eyes fall on mine.

"Have you heard of Bonnie?" He asks.

"The person who's been going around killing those high end criminals?" I ask.

He stays silent, eyes telling me all I need to know.

All of a sudden the realisation hits me like a loaded truck.

Fucking hell.

She's Bonnie.

————————————————
Hey all!

What do you think will happen next?

How do you think Jayla will react to knowledge of Luis's son?

What will she think of Kofi's mother?

~ Xo