Illusion

Prologue

Illusion. The most secret and deadliest gang in the world. Run by the most feared man alive. A man who nobody knows. A man who nobody's seen. His second-in-command being the only person in direct contact with him. Threats are just the beginning of what this gang deals with. So why is this time so different?

No POV

Harry glanced down at his watch.

Two minutes.

His hands sought out the cold metal of his rings, twisting them to distract himself from what was to come. His eyes found his watch again.

One minute.

His breath hitched, he couldn't keep doing this.

'Harry, the boss will see you now.' One of the guards spoke and jolted him out of his own head, a frightening place to reside.

Harry immediately changed his demeanor to appear confident and strode through the grand oak doors into the office of the most feared man alive.

The guard shut the door behind him, but Harry didn't turn around, his eyes were fixated on the man sitting behind a large oak desk, writing something onto papers stacked neatly around him. His almost black hair was slicked back professionally, his body clad in a fitted navy suit, a black satin shirt turned over the collar. 

When his gold emblazoned pen had finally finished moving, the man flicked his dark brown eyes up to meet Harry's, piercing him with a lethal stare. 'Sit down.' Harry immediately obliged, taking a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

The man's hands clasped together over the desk, his gold signet ring sitting boldly on his little finger. Harry waited patiently, not daring to breathe.

A heavy exhale, followed by an uncomfortable shift in his plush, tall black leather chair made Harry realise this wasn't going to be the regular drill. Feeling a sense of unabashed nausea enter his stomach, he focused on twisting his rings, the cool metal heating up from his sweaty palms.

'Now,' his voice was calm, but there was something in his tone that Harry just couldn't place, 'as my second-in-command, it is your duty to not only obey me, but to protect me.' Harry just remained silent, stoically staring into the eyes of his unknown fate.

'And with that duty, comes the responsibility to find and kill whoever is trying to harm me, before they succeed.' Harry kept his mouth shut tight, but nodded his head once. It felt like everything the man was saying was warning Harry that whatever was to come was going to be bad, but he'd have to agree.

'I need you to find a man for me.' His boss' voice dropped, no longer hiding the threatening tone. 'A man from my past who poses danger to us all. He will stop at nothing to find me.'

Harry's boss paused and leant forward on his desk to close the distance between them. His voice dropped an octave as he spoke gravely, 'You cannot reason with him. You cannot believe him. You cannot trust him.'

Harry's eyebrows creased in confusion. Why would he trust him?

His boss lent back in his chair, creating space between the two men. 'This man will kill you if he knows who sent you. You must be careful. I take it you have a team?' Harry nodded his head once, contemplating whether or not to open his mouth. His instincts took over and Harry abruptly said, 'I need information if I'm going to find this man.'

His boss looked at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes, 'The only information you need is his name.'

Harry sat patiently, waiting for the name of his new task to fall from the lips of the only man he's ever listened to.

'Alex.'

Harry felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. His mind spun. He started to shake his head. No. It can't be him. Anyone but him.

His boss looked at Harry intently, speaking lowly, but it carried so much consequence, 'Do we have a problem?'

Harry's eyes flicked up, meeting his boss'. He forced his voice to carry, as he spoke with fake confidence, 'No. We don't have a problem.'

His boss looked back down at his paper's and began scribbling away. 'Shut the door on your way out.'

Harry timidly stood up, feeling like his legs were about to give out. He slowly strode over to the door, his hand hesitating over the handle. Harry spoke quietly, but his voice carried throughout the whole room, 'Richard?' His boss looked up at him. 'Why me?'

Richard just smirked and looked back down at his papers. 'Because you're the best.'

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[A/N: Hey everyone, hope you're enjoying the book! Please vote, as it helps so much x]