EATON'S STRATEGY

I was locked up in the closet for the past two hours. Hector's friends are downstairs and he didn't want me to be there. He thinks that I would embarrass him. But it's difficult to breathe here. I opened the closet door just a little. I noticed that there was no one in the room. I came out and started to walk slowly towards the kitchen.

Suddenly I tripped over someone. A guy with a bird tattoo on the neck helped me get up. " Who are you little birdie?" he asked me.

Oh my God. He saw me. He must be Hector's friend. He is going to rat me out to Hector and he is going to hit me again and lock me up in the darkroom.

"Please don't my brother. I'll do anything."

He studied me for a second. " By 'anything' you mean anything, right?".

I nodded feeling confused. What does he mean by that? Then he wrapped his hands around my waist started to kiss me. " Leave me alone," I yelled as I tried to push him away. But I couldn't free myself from his grip.

" How dare you come outside you slut?" shouted a voice from behind me.

It was my brother. The guy pulled away from me. I started trembling in horror as he dragged me by my hair and pushed me on my bedroom floor.

" You fucking slut. How dare you come outside and make out with my friend."

" I wasn't making out with him. He only pulled me and started to kiss me." I said sobbing on the floor.

" Stop lying," he said and took out his belt. He started to hit me with it.

" Hector, please don't hit me. I'll not come outside again when your friends are at home. Please don't hit me." I screamed as he whipped me with his belt again.

" Hannah, wake up. You are just dreaming." said a familiar calming voice. I got up and was relieved to know that it was just a dream.

Liam hugged me and I still couldn't stop crying.

" You are fine, sweetie," he said and kissed my forehead gently.

" Hector is still alive, right. " I asked him weakly.

" He is for now. But you are safe with me sweetheart. I'll make sure that he will never come near you."

I buried my face on his shoulder. I am really lucky to have Liam in my life. He is a blessing in disguise for me.

" Sweetheart, I need to ask you something. You will always trust me, right?"

" Of course, you are my guardian angel. Why would I not trust you?"

It felt strange. Why is he asking me this question out of the blue?

" It is just that, in the future, some circumstances might lead you to suspect everyone around you. You got to trust me, okay? Because I care about you and I never wanted to hurt you." he said.

My eyes got teary again. He just said to me that he cared about me. Oh my god. " I love you, Liam. I'll trust you always. " I replied.

He kissed me gently and looked me in the eye. " Sweetie, I have to run some errands for the next two days. I need to visit the manufacturer's site. "

I felt like someone stabbed my heart. " I am coming with you," I begged him. How can I be apart from him for two days?

" Listen to me, sweetheart. This is a very important thing which I need to take care of. After I come back, I'll take you to Belize. Okay?

" Okay," I replied. " And Belize sounds amazing. I have never been there." I said while faking a smile. I feel dejected that he still doesn't include me in his circle even after everything we have been through. It sucks to just sit around here in my room doing nothing all day long.

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𝙇𝙞𝙖𝙢'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑:

I stood at the front porch of my farmhouse waiting for Patterson. It is the same farmhouse where I set up my fake married to Hannah. I looked down at my watch. It is 2 pm now and Patterson will arrive here by his chopper any minute now.

I felt guilty as I thought about Hannah. I didn't want to do this to her. I hate using her as my play card now. I thought that I could take down Russians on my own. But my Uncle being alive changes everything now. I have no other choice. I need to know what the fuck is happening here. I have a hard time believing that he is wicked and trying to kill me. And how did Hector survive the plane blast magically?

The only person who can help me now is Patterson. Suddenly, a white chopper arrived and landed on the ground. Finally, I get to meet great Reynolds Patterson! An old man wearing a white tuxedo came out of the chopper. Behind him came two young men who were at least six feet tall. They must be his sons Hugo and Harry. They both were so identical that they could be mistaken for twins.

Patterson stepped forward and shook my hand. "So finally we meet," he said. As he smiled I noticed a slight resemblance he had with Hannah. His eyes were dark blue just like hers.

" Please make yourself comfortable," I said. We all sat on the wooden couch on the front porch. I signaled all of my men to leave except Ricky.

Patterson studied me for a while and he began to talk. " I don't want to beat around the bush. What are your demands? "

I paused for a moment. " I'll come to that later. First of all, I need to know some details. Tell me why my uncle Erickson Eaton faked his death and joined with the Russians?"

He smirked at me. " You Eatons always use women to get the work done, don't you? Your father used women to built his Drug Empire. You are now using my daughter to save your ass from Russians. "

I clenched my fists to contain my anger. Hugo and Henry started giggling. I should control myself now. I've come this far and I can't lose my cool now. " You might be right about me. But my father was an honorable man and don't you dare to insult him."

He stared at me pitifully. " You poor thing don't even know about your mother I think. Your father didn't tell you about her?"

I felt like he had hit my head with a rock. " You know who is my mother?" I asked.

" Your mother's name is Lianna Romano. At that time, her father Marco Romano was running the drug network in LA. She was such a beautiful woman. I am not going to lie, even I rooted for her. But your father stepped in. He seduced her and manipulated her into marrying him just like you did with my daughter. He used her as bait to take over the network from her father. When your mother finally realized the truth, it was too late. There is a rumor in the underworld that she killed herself."

Now I know what he is trying to do. He is trying to make me feel guilty by making false accusations about my parents so that I would deviate from my point. I am not going to give in to his tactics.

I just glanced at him blankly." Enough about my parent's history. I need to know about Erickson Eaton."

" I don't know much about the details. But somehow your uncle managed to make a deal with the Russian Mafia leader Daria Ivanova. They both made some sort of deal. If Erickson gets to rule your territory, he should give fifty percent to the Russians."

The name Daria Ivanova stuck to me like lightning. Of course, it had to be her. She recently lost her husband and she took over as the leader. A few days before Chris got assassinated, he and my uncle were arguing about something and I am pretty sure it involved Daria Ivanova. I didn't involve in their argument. Maybe my brother found out about my Uncle's evil plan of involving Russians. That's why my uncle got him killed first. But I still can't understand why my Uncle would betray us for Russians. That doesn't make sense.

" Now tell me what are your demands? " he asked.

" I know that Hector is in Russia now. He was spotted along with Erickson Eaton in a club just one week ago. I just want your son to capture Erickson Eaton," I answered back.

He dropped his gaze down and his expression gave away the sadness. " My son doesn't work for me anymore. He is with the Russians. I told him to not get involved with the Russians but he refused to give up."

By the way, he said it with pain, I realized that he is not lying. " Why would your son go against you?"

" It's because of you," he fired back in anger. " You killed his girlfriend Natasha. So he is busily plotting his revenge with Russians to end you. You turned him into a blood-thirsty vampire that he stopped listening to his father."

I chuckled after hearing what he just said. " Are you seriously blaming me for your son's madness? Then you don't even know your son. He used to abuse Hannah when she a child. She gets nightmares about it."

He looked startled. " You just lying. Hector told me that he is taking good care of her even after she ran away from Oregon."

" Believe whatever you want, but that's the truth. And you have to capture Erickson alive and over him to me. Unless you do that, I won't hand over Hannah to you." I said.

He looked at me with determination in his eyes. " I agree. But I want you to not touch my daughter or take advantage of her. She is in a very vulnerable state right now and I don't want her ending up like your mother."

He is now just messing with me by insulting my mother. I am not going to let this slide. I should mess with him even more. " Listen to me carefully Mr. Patterson. Hannah is deeply in love with me now. She is even ready to take a bullet for me. So I am not taking advantage of your daughter. She throws herself at me every time. I believe that right now she is starving for my touch like a hungry kitten."

His eyes were flaring like a volcano. " You are just manipulating her with your charms. She is not one of your escorts. I am warning you, Eaton. If you touch her one more time, then you would face serious consequences."

" I am sorry that your daughter is not immune to my charms, Mr. Patterson. " I answered back in a sarcastic tone.

He frowned at me and got up from the couch. He walked away to the ground where he parked his chopper.

" Mr. Eaton, I'm impressed today. He tried to mess with you, but you finally managed to kick his ass," Ricky said.

" Yea, and we should find about more details about my mother Lianna Romano. And also we got our rival name. Search about her too."

He nodded. I was feeling extremely tired. I got inside the farmhouse and went to the bedroom directly. My heart almost skipped a beat after I opened the bedroom door. Hannah was standing inside!

" How the fuck did you get here?"

" I thought you would be happy to see me," she answered casually while I was freaking out.