Hearing the words that left his mouth Layla looked into his eyes and without a say she turned on her heels and left the place leaving Azeem behind.
Azeem watched her retreating back with an unyielding gaze till her silhouette disappeared
"I shall make you mine Layla."
"Master." Alfred called from behind and when Azeem turned. Alfred bowed his head to report
"Liam called,there's a situation at the base."
"Tell me." Azeem said and made his way back to his car. Alfred shot legs quickly followed him.
"The ship that contained the armed weapons got stuck in the hands of customs officers."
"How did that happen?" He questioned making himself comfortable and Alfred started the car.
"The men that were in charge of the ship are new. They recently joined Liam's gang."
"Hmm." Azeem hummed with a frown
"when did he recruited them without me being informed."
"My apologies Master. I intended to do that but slipped my mind."
"Arrange meeting with the head of the custom officers. I shall visit him today."
"Okay Master." Alfred answered and took the right turn to the Mafia base.
Azeem's face blackened over certain thoughts but didn't say anything out and placed his face into his palm to boringly stare out at the window.
Finally for years,he found something meaningful and amusing to enlighten his forever dull life. A life full of boredom,taking care of the underworld affairs since from the young age,caring for his paralyzed mother and dealing with his flesh and blood bound step-brother as his closest enemy . And finally a dead father that left a scar and a tinge of craziness in him.
A crocked grin graced his face as the beautiful face of Layla flashed through his mind. Though she would become his greatest weakness and enemies would have something to threaten him with,but he wouldn't mind dying for her.
That certain dark and murky feelings that engulfed him to the extent that he could kill anyone that have the nerve to mess up with her shook his entire being with happiness.
When his coppery eyes set themselves on her,all he knows was that he must have her.
That feistiness,fierceness that blaze and dance in her blue eyes made him to swore over her. He had never experienced the feeling of falling in love but this must assured him that what he felt for her was love.
"Layla Harris." He muttered slowly
"What a strange girl?"
~~
Layla instead of going back to the apartment she asked the driver to take her to her best friend's house.
Knocking on the door Aysha's mother opened it. Layla hugged her
"SalamuAlaikum Maama." She said and Aysha's mother replied with a smile hugging her back
"Waalaikum salam Layla. How are you doing?"
"I am very fine alhamdulilah." She answered pulling away from the hug
"Aysha told us about what happened. If you ever need any anything remember we're always here to help okay?" Layla bubbled her head
"Yes Maama thank you." After that, she made her way to Aysha's room.
Getting in she saw her bestie. Aysha had immersed herself into the novel she was reading.
"Yo" Layla called and that snapped Aysha out of her world
"Bestie howdy!" She dropped the already forgotten novel to hug her.
"I missed you terribly much!"
"So do i. C'mon i need my lungs to breath." Layla huffed and tried to squeezed herself out and away from the hug
"Sorry" Aysha backed off before her eyes scrutinized Layla from head to toe.
"You look exhausted bestie." Layla found her seat on the bed and started unpinning her hijab.
"Hmm i...
"Is the university pressurizing you?,
Is it that guy again?. C'mon tell me everything, that phone call we had was not giving the right vibe. Tell me everything now that you're here."
"Calm down Aysha."
"Okay okay i will but let me get you something ." Aysha walked and later came back with a try full of snacks and drinks.
After she settled down she stared at her
"Now brief me."
Layla started
"Mr. Morris called me to his office and reminded me about the tuition fees. I lost my job Aysha and.."
Aysha interrupted her as she picked her hands into hers
"Layla I want to help but you know our situation..
"Don't worry Aysha i can deal with it i just need more time." They nodded they heads assuring themselves that everything was going to be alright.
"Okay now enough about this dreary atmosphere tell me about that certain guy."
Aysha enthusiastically asked and Layla's scrunched up her face before she said
"He's is still claiming me as his wife. That he's going to make me his no matter what. 'As he phased it 'Whether it is going rain fire or ice'"
"That son of a bitc.... Aysha started but was interrupted by the look Layla gave her
"Sorry,son of a man"she corrected with a sheepish grin to add
"I don't know if he's a psychopath or something else but how could he just ask you no ordered you to marry him when you just met ."
"Certainly he got some loose screws in his head."Layla added her own judgment with a disgusted look as she pop the potato chip in to her mouth.
"How this guy kept trailing around you gave me that "Layla wa Majnun vibe" you know." Aysha teased and wiggled her brows up.
"Oh shut it up, it will never be that way. I won't encounter him again insha Allah"
"I pray so."
The two girls continue to spend time together till it was around 7:30 after magrib pray that Layla decided to leave.
Saying her goodbye to Aysha Layla got into the taxi and the drive drove away. Not reaching to her destination the driver complained about his engine steaming and the car would stop anytime. so she got no choice but to get out of the car.
Paying him his bill she walked away hoping to get another taxi but no luck so she decided to trek under the pale moonlight back home since it was not that far.
Azeem who finished his meeting with the head of the custom officer drove into the street where Layla lived to check on her . Not driving far he saw a figure that looked familiar walking silently on the pavement by the road side.
Parking his car by the side he got down and walked by opposite side where she's walking,not interrupting her.
She was close to the apartment when Azeem's calculated and sharp eyes caught something swiftly moving in the shadows.
He observed her from afar and he caught someone following her. When he saw her safely entering the apartment's compound Azeem entered the middle of the ominous alley. He didn't hear a sound.
"Come out."
There was no response.
"I am saying it for the last time because if I find you, Mr. Armed Robber, then it wouldn't be a good ending for you."
Something ever so slightly stirred from his back. It moved akin to the lightning speed that was about to strike Azeem .
Azeem smiled and flawlessly moved a step sideways.
As I thought, it was a knife indeed.
The robber froze in his steps. He hadn't expected such a quick reaction from Azeem .Azeem grabbed his wrist, knocked out the knife from his hand and jabbed on his knee. It happened within a span of just one short second. The robber yelped and collapsed.
Azeem picked the knife and twirled in his hand lazily. "Who were you looking at? Me or her?"
He held his knee that was hurting like hell. "You bastard...Who the hell are you?"
"You don't deserve to know. So, how many have you killed?"
"I am just a robber."
"Your eyes are that of a murderer's. I know those eyes. I have seen them a lot of times. So how many?"
He sweated. "Those fucking people deserved to die! Have such a nice home, wear such nice clothes and what about me? I eat dirt on the road!"
"I don't wanna get into philosophy stuff. That's not my style," Azeem yawned. "If my mother had been here, she would have lectured you for hours about the difference between the right and wrong path. My dead Dad, my step brothers and I take the easy way out. So how many have you killed for money?"
He gritted his teeth. "...Five. I didn't have a choice!"
"Everybody has a choice."
"Why are you even asking me!?"
"Because depending on your answer, I will either kill you or think about your life perhaps," Azeem's gaze was calm, but his smile wasn't.
"You..."
"Who were you looking at? Me or her?"
The robber was actually keeping an eye on both of them. Azeem's watch looked pricey while Layla had a thin bracelet on her hand.
But gauging his expression, he instinctively felt that he shouldn't take Azeem's name.
"Her! That woman. I was looking at her chain!"
Silence.
"Would you have killed her?" His voice quietened by several decibels.
He sneered. "If she resisted, then yes. I only care about her money. Might have had some fun with her too before killing her since I am so unlucky with women."
The frost in Azeem's 's eyes deepened and so did in his voice. "Wrong answer."
He stiffened.
"I said I know a murderer's eyes. Do you know why? What do my eyes look like right now?" Azeem tilted his head and raised his brow in amusement.
The robber felt it difficult to breathe.
His eyes...They looked like a predator to him.
A malevolent smile curled Azeem's lips upwards. "You killed five people. But in the darkest and evilest place where I have worked for a spell, I have killed more than five not so innocent people like you. Do you know what that place is called?"
The robber gasped in pain as Azeem poked the tip of the knife into his neck.
He grimly answered his own question, "The Mafiaworld."
The robber widened his eyes in horror.
"And the Mafia world doesn't forgive people like you."
With one strike, Azeem stabbed the knife into the robber's neck. He swiftly turned to avoid the blood spurt on his face and clothes.
The robber struggled in vain for a few moments, and then he breathed his last in an excruciating manner.
Azeem kept the knife on the ground and wiped his fingerprints. Then he made a call. "Alfred"
"Yes Master."
"Dump the body and weapon from here. Clear up all the evidence . I have texted you the
address."
He hung up and dusted his pants. "Problem solved."
Then he thought about something else and dropped another text.
'Build new street lights in this area by tomorrow.'
Azeem kept his phone back in pocket and left the alley with a bored expression as if nothing had happened.