Chapter 6
Jedidiah squirmed in his seat slightly; James had called him a little over five minutes ago to inform him about the arrival of Mateo Montero, so why weren’t they here yet? Jedidiah was getting impatient, and he was generally a very patient man.
Honestly, he was curious about Mateo Montero. The man who saved his life and vanished shortly after, without so much as allowing Jedidiah the knowledge of his name.
Jedidiah fully intended to repay Mateo for saving his life. There was only one other person whom Jedidiah had never repaid for saving his life, and he planned to keep the list to just that one girl. He would make sure to repay Mateo Montero.
So when his door was finally knocked upon and James entered, Jedidiah was basically unable to sit still; his curiosity was eating at him. He wanted to know more about Mateo; where he learnt his martial art skills, why he never went professional with them, why he stepped in to help a random man.
As soon as Jedidiah laid eyes on the man he was so curious about, he instantly sat still, regarding the man opposite him coolly. Or so he thought. From Mateo’s perspective, he had just entered a room and was greeted by the sight of a hyperactive puppy with sparkling eyes and interest bubbling from his very presence itself.
Mateo had to look in the other direction; he couldn’t hold eye contact with a man that intense for very long. Luckily, Jedidiah seemed to realise how intently he was regarding Mateo and instead looked to James.
“Thank you, James. I’ll just go over what I need Mr Montero to do, and if he has any additional questions about how to do certain parts of his job, can he call you?”
James nodded, smiling at Jedidiah before patting Mateo on the shoulder and leaving. As soon as James left, Mateo took the seat which Jedidiah gestured to. “I have a question,” he asked quickly, before Jedidiah could get a word in.
The man nodded, trying to not stare at Mateo with too much obvious interest. “Well,” Mateo began, clearing his throat. “I just wanted to check the reasons for being offered this job. And if this is some way to try and repay me-“
Jedidiah quickly shook his head, clasping his hands together in his lap. “Not at all- you were suggested to me as my assistant, and I just said that they should contact you about the bodyguard position too, because I knew about your skills. And your salary is also not a way to repay you; this job is just a predetermined role which you accidentally stepped in to. I will keep trying to repay you, but you will know if what I am doing is to repay you or not,” he clarified.
Mateo nodded slowly, absentmindedly pulling his blazer jacket closer to cover more of his chest, as he always did in clothing which didn’t close by itself. “Alright. I’ll believe you. I have another question, Mr Hargrave. Which you don’t have to answer if you don’t want, but do know that my opinion of you will depend on your answer,” he said nonchalantly.
Jedidiah blinked a few times, not used to his new hires acting so forward with him and actually asking questions which could be insensitive. “Go ahead,” he urged, leaning back in his chair. Mateo looked up, finally meeting Jedidiah’s gaze after a while of looking at the floor.
“Are you involved with the mafia?”
“No,” Jedidiah responded immediately, sitting up straighter in his seat. “However, it is true that my family used to be involved in some…underworld affairs. But, you’ve met my family; my mother is only interested in protecting her sons, and my brother is a child. My job is exactly as it seems: I run a hotel.”
Mateo nodded again. “And your father is also not involved in anything illegal?”
Jedidiah broke Mateo’s gaze, looking down at his hands instead. “No, he passed away some time ago.”
Mateo was silent for a moment before saying gently “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Jedidiah glanced up again, his gaze holding a little sadness but looking stronger again. “Thank you. I will admit that my reasons for needing a bodyguard are because of our past underworld affairs; although we have been clean for three years, there are a lot of people which still act as though we are involved in those dealings still, hence why I was attacked two weeks ago. Ah, I have a question of my own, actually.”
Mateo absorbed all of Jedidiah’s words, grateful for his honesty. “Yes?” He asked, meeting the man’s gaze. Jedidiah rested his cheek on his hand, gently brushing his hair from his eyes to see Mateo better.
“Why did you help me? You were there with someone who could have been hurt if you stepped in and things went south. Why did you intervene? You yourself could have been injured.”
The Spaniard shrugged, trailing his gaze across the many books on the shelf to his boss’s right side. “I’m not sure. I just…don’t like seeing an unfair fight. I knew that I could have gotten my sister involved by interfering, but. I took that chance. And I’m glad I did,” he said genuinely, returning his stare to Jedidiah’s.
The two held each other’s gaze for a moment, before Jedidiah smiled warmly. “You’re a good person, Mateo Montero. Thank you for saving my life; I truly mean it. If you won’t let me repay you, then I hope that at least, you will accept my thanks.”
Mateo returned the smile, nodding in agreement. “That much, I can do. You’re welcome, Jedidiah Hargrave.”
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Jedidiah kissed his mother on the cheek goodnight before hugging his little brother and heading to his room, closing the door gently behind him.
“Mateo Montero,” he whispered lightly into the night, switching off his bedside lamp. “What an interesting man.” Finally, he’d been able to have a proper conversation with the man who saved his life.
That night, Jedidiah was visited in his dreams by a similar scene; one which happened when Jedidiah had been only eight years old. It was a time when things were particularly bad between the Hargraves and another underworld family, the Lincolns, and this family had realised that Vincent Hargrave’s adopted son could be used against the leader of their opposition.
So, the Lincolns had attempted to kidnap Jedidiah. He had been waiting at the park for Alice to pick him up; she was so close, literally just a few minutes away from her son, when a van had arrived and Jedidiah had been grabbed.
He would have been kidnapped, possibly murdered, if it wasn’t for a little girl in the park. Jedidiah would never be able to forget the sound of her screams as she ran towards him whilst he cried and screamed at the men, fighting back the best he could.
This girl was young; quite a bit younger than him, and she could have been kidnapped also. But her screams were loud; much louder than his. She had screamed and screamed until her mother appeared and called the police; the men had to drop Jedidiah or risk being caught by the police; his struggling and the increasing presence of other people made the kidnappers lose their chance.
And so, Jedidiah had been released. Just minutes after the van left, Alice arrived to find her eight year old son crying on the ground surrounded by worried people, who explained to her what had happened, or as much as they collectively understood of the situation.
Alice and Jedidiah had looked for the little girl and her mother after that, but they never found either of them. However, there was one tiny piece of evidence which Jedidiah found whilst scouring the park.
A little pink hair clip of a butterfly.
With this little thing, Jedidiah had never given up hope. Hope that one day, he would find this girl again, and finally be able to thank her for saving his life.
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