Betting On Him

Chapter 4

HER FINAL FREEDOM

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"Yes uncle, I understand... No uncle, everything is fine... that isn't necessary... I'm sure... of course... okay... yes... yes..... yes... goodbye, uncle."

Y/N had to resist the urge to throw the device across the room as she let out her frustrations with a sigh. Over the past couple of days, she had felt as though the weight of the world rested on her shoulders and nothing she could think of could cure her of that.

Ever since she had walked into Tom's office that night things had been different: she couldn't necessarily say that things were worse in the Holland Headquarters because things hadn't really been good to begin with. But still, she now found herself walking on glass around the building, anxious about stepping somewhere she shouldn't in case she walked in on yet another mortifying scene.

And ever since that night Y/N had done anything and everything in her power to avoid him: her mornings were spent in the gym alone, while her evenings were spent locked away in her office working on making sure every single last detail of her business was up to date and running smoothly. She even found herself doing the tasks she normally hated doing; organising 'meetings' with clients who hadn't given her the money they owed her and even going so far as to schedule appointments with some of the clients herself, something she rarely ever did.

But even despite her attempts to keep herself busy, Y/N couldn't help but let her thoughts drift off to Tom and his whereabouts. It had quickly become an unspoken agreement that both he and Y/N would stay out of each other's ways as much as possible and so far, both parties had been holding up their end of the bargain thus far – not that it was particularly hard. Every night as she stayed up late in her office, Y/N could hear Tom stumbling throughout the many corridors of the building and he was almost never alone.

He was her opposite in every way; seeming to never taking his position as leader of the mafia seriously and always being completely unaware, or uncaring, of every consequence that his actions had. Y/N couldn't even begin to imagine acting in the way that Tom did. She had been raised by her uncle to always put the business before all else and to always keep her business separate from her personal life – though that was a lesson she'd eventually had to learn for herself.

Of course, she'd made mistakes in the past, she was human after all. But Y/N's mistakes stemmed from being young and naïve in a time where she didn't really have much to lose. And since then, everything had changed, she'd grown and learnt and forced herself into the most painful of decisions, knowing that they were all for the good of the business.

And that was the main difference between Y/N and Tom Holland – she'd grown whereas he evidently hadn't. His staying out all night and stumbling home in the early hours of every morning showed Y/N that Tom wasn't ready to take his role as leader seriously, even though it had been a role he had stepped into years ago.

Just that thought alone made Y/N clench her fists in anger at the very thought of Tom. Where she had to work to prove herself capable of running her uncle's business, Tom just waltzed into the position. Where Y/N ensured her every decision was the right one for the business, Tom acted on impulse without much thought.

And yet from the all-too-long phone call with her uncle, the piece of information that registered in her mind the most was the fact that she was going to have to spend her evening at Tom's side.