Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

"I have a plan.' Jayden said sitting across is his uncle.

"What's it?" Mr. Alexander asked, eyeing his nephew curiously.

"These seem so suspicious to me, Uncle. Why the hell is Justin appearing now after ten years? And the fact that he was in jail instead of Mr. Amorino seems off." Jayden finished looking up at Mr. Alexander.

"Yeah, I do, but we need to be careful. Our hunch that Justin is related to Amorino Vittorio's may be wrong… Mr. Alexander warned.

Jayden nodded. "It may be, but all these just seem too close to be a coincidence; I have to figure this out."

"How? " The old man raised his eyes at his nephew.

"It's okay, uncle." Jayden chuckled. "Something just seems so fishy in all these, and I want to get to the bottom of it."

"What are you planning to do?" Mr. Alexander asked again.

"I can't tell you now, uncle; I haven't constructed my plan yet, but when everything is ready, I will let you know." Jayden said he was getting to his feet.

"I just want to know how long and well the Italian heir can hide from us." Jayden continued with a smirk, feeling his hands in his pocket.

"Whatever you do, be careful." Mr. Alexander warned again, and Jayden nodded with a smirk before walking out of the study.

.

.

"Well, hello there." Justin called out to Jayden, taking his seat in the chair in front of him.

"Hello Justin." Jayden greeted him back, his eyes trained carefully on the man in front of him, as if he were trying to study him.

" Woah! I must say that I was really amused when you told me where I was going to meet you… Justin said, looking around at the extravagant designs in the seven-star restaurant they were in.

"I see the Alexanders are still good at lavishing money they don't have half work for." Justin said with a smirk, looking at the man across the table.

Jayden cleared his throat. "What a nice suit." He said, complimenting the Brioni suit Justin had on.

" Thanks. Benefits of working close to the Italians. " Justin said it with a smirk.

"Jayden nodded his head. "So you work close to Mr. Amorino?" he asked.

"Not telling anything." Justin said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back into his chair.

"So bad, I thought we could have a nice conversation among ourselves, just like we used to in the old days." Jayden chuckled.

"Well, let's just say the old days have taught me quite a lot, all right." Justin said.

"Like?" Jayden raised a brow, placing his wine glass on his lips.

Justin waved his hand in dismissal, looking around the restaurant.

"I would love to order, but then I would rather not get poisoned or, worse, drugged by you guys." Justin shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head in mockery disappointment.

Jayden chuckled.

"Go straight to the point, Jayden. What do you want?" Justin asked, looking at the young man in front of him.

"Mr. Amorino." Jayden stated it with a straight face. "I want you to get me close with Mr. Amorino. Even just a meeting is enough for me…" Jayden said.

"No," Justin answered, waving his hand again.

"Why? " Jayden said, leaning back on his chair.

"I actually want to confirm whether my suspicions are true or not." Jayden continued.

"And I am supposed to ask what suspicion is right?" Justin said, raising his brows.

"Why were you in the cell yesterday when the report clearly stated that they had captured Mr. Amorino?" Jayden stated, looking at Justin with a straight look.

"Why was I in jail ten years ago for a crime Alexander committed?" He said it in a mocking tone.

"So you took the hit for Mr. Amorino, then?" Jayden asked, but Justin said nothing.

"Where have you been during these ten years, Justin, and just how bad did you get yourself involved in this? I'm just trying to help, really…" Jayden said.

Justin chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, it looks like I don't seem to need your help presently." He smirked.

"Really," Jayden said.

" Yeah. So if you will excuse me," Justin said, getting to his feet and turning around to leave.

"I am really suspicious about a sudden mysterious heir that appeared ten years ago with no one knowing his face, and then suddenly my best friend appeared ten years later in jail instead of this mysterious heir." Jayden said this before Justin could leave.

Justin turned around, looking at Jayden for a while, before walking back to him.

"Well, I wouldn't say we were exactly best friends, and about Amorino Vittorio's, I suggest you butt off them before you get yourself killed." Justin said, his face clouded with a dark look, before he turned around and left.

"Well, I am still not yet satisfied, Justin. So what are we going to do?" Jayden asked, looking at the man walking away.

.

Melissa clutches her phone to her chest, walking towards the front desk of the hostel.

Jayden had asked her to come see him here after his meeting to talk about her research and the amount she needed to finish it.

"Hey, I am here to see Mr. Smith; I have an appointment with him." She informed the receptionist just like Jayden had told her to.

Apparently, you needed to talk to them downstairs if one wanted to get access to the kind of suite Jayden was staying in.

Melissa took a deep breath. She was nervous. It had been long since she had sat down to have a conversation with Jayden, not after she had told him about her crush on him, then ran away.

She was fifteen at the time; of course she had run away, she thought, wondering if things would be awkward between them.

"Go ahead, ma'am; it's the elevator to your left." The receptionist said it with a smile.

She said a small thank you before walking to the elevator, her mind beating all the way.

She had a feeling in her gut that she couldn't quite explain; she was trying to push away the numerous thoughts coming into her head.

She trusted Jayden enough to be left alone with him. He was nothing like the Alexanders; he was a Smith and the nicest human she knew on earth after her mother.

She repeated it in her mind, constantly trying to push away the negative feeling bubbling inside of her.

.

.

"I won't be around this evening." Rico said, standing beside Justin.

"Are you dealing with Duncan's case already?" Justin asked, his gaze trained at the wine placed inside the bucket of ice at the small glass table in front of him.

" Yes. I need to check something out tonight… Rico answered.

"Aria called for a report this evening. Everything is alright. Rico continued.

Justin nodded his head before dismissing him, opening the glass of wine, and pouring a drink for himself.