Heartless || •OG• ✔️

Chapter 3 - Charlotte

Kayden Armani had been Charlotte's right hand for years. He crawled into the lower ranks of her mafia five years ago, but his talent allowed him to prosper. It was almost as if he did work like that before because of his efficiency, and Charlotte promoted him to underboss within less than a year. Of course, she had heavy background checks on him and even hired her most trusted to stalk him for a full week to ensure he wasn't an undercover cop. But nothing came up, and she decided to trust him with her life.

Not anymore.

Her office door swung open as she entered, and the first thing she saw was her empty desk. It was void of anything. No decorations, only her closed laptop was planted on the wood. She could see the dust settling on the corners from here. Both dust on her laptop and on her desk.

Kayden was sat in the corner of the room, his legs crossed over one another. The tawny-shaded chair matched his skin tone. The color palette of her office matched his narrow eyes, his hair not quite black, but not quite a deep chocolate either. It was somewhere in the middle. His build was wider than Jimin's, taller too. He was a bit above average height, and his agility was admirable. His core strength was the best in her entire organization. That was why she chose him as her right hand. She didn't regret her decision, but she did regret that his reign as her right hand had to end like this.

She shut the door, and he snapped up into an attention position. She didn't let him ease up. "Care to explain what the hell you were thinking?"

Kayden's posture didn't falter by an inch. His shoulders were set, his eyes burning through the wall across from him. "Ma'am, Jericho Novak is a dangerous man."

"That you have a history with."

That time, his posture did slip. His shoulders slumped, his eyes twitching and flickering down for a beat. "My history with him has nothing to do with this." Ah, he really did have not only a history, but an important history with Jericho. Wonderful, her right hand knew her rival this whole time and never bothered mentioning it. "He's been trying to get into our territory for the longest time. Why aren't you trying to kill him?"

"You know the system. Killing a leader leads to a new type of war where it doesn't end until revenge is taken. Why do you think he hasn't tried to and won't kill me? There's no purpose. We're equal in firepower, and a war would bring mutually assured destruction."

"We're already in a territory war."

"I'd rather a territory war than a war where they're actively hunting down my men. Even if we manage to beat them in a war, the other, smaller mafias will come in after our war is finished so they can have a chance at taking us down. Peace is our only option."

"There's no such thing as peace in our world," he said, keeping his eyes on the wall instead of on her. "What if peacefully doesn't work. Did you ever think of that?"

"Then you let me deal with that. This isn't your call." She paused, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jimin was right. He should be my right hand."

That was what brought Kayden's eyes over to her. "What? You can't be serious. You're just saying that because you love him."

She circled around him like a predator hunting its prey, her reaching her desk and leaning against it. "Look at you. Denying what you did because of your past with Mr. Novak, but claiming I'm agreeing with Jimin because of my past with him. Oddly hypocritical, don't you think?" At his silence, she clicked her tongue and continued. "Mr. Novak lives. That's an order. Don't you dare try to manipulate Mr. Seong into doing your bidding again, or you'll find yourself out of this operation permanently. Consider yourself demoted. You're lucky I'm not executing you for this."

"You're demoting me for doing what was right?"

"I'm demoting you for trying to murder a man after I gave him my word he wouldn't be harmed. You were going to get both me and Mr. Novak killed. That's unacceptable. I expect you to be cleared out of your office by tonight and trade with Jimin. Report back to me tomorrow. Don't think this is the only punishment you'll be getting. I hope you don't mind scars, Mr. Armani."

She pushed herself off the desk, shoving his shoulder as she went to the door. As soon as she turned the golden knob, Kayden spoke up with words she expected, but not the ones she wanted to hear.

"He was my friend," he said, his voice almost cracking. "I don't want to kill him. I loved him, Char. But I thought of what was best for us. I left him because I didn't want to watch him die. He was my family. This mafia, you, Jimin? You're my family now. And if I have to sacrifice my old family to protect my new one, so be it. If we don't kill him, he'll slowly take more and more of our territory. I truly believe this is a mistake. I want to be wrong. I really do, but I don't think I am. Please believe me."

Charlotte let his words replay in her mind until they clicked. The silence bounced around the walls, Kayden's breathing too heavy to be natural. She didn't so much as peek at him from over her shoulder. She let him suffer in silence, opening the door.

Then, she left.