I gained consciousness. I was still on the floor, but my hands were tied together. I groaned in pain and tried to get up. I looked up to see the Luxe Family members pointing their guns at my face. Was Jay still alive? I glanced at the slumped body next to me; his hands were tied too. I sighed in relief. However, we had another problem to face. We needed to survive this situation. Another surviving crew member, Derek, gained consciousness and started to verbally abuse the members. The younger man in the trench coat approached and stood over me. I finally was able to get a look at his face and I was surprised.

He was a lot younger than I expected him to be. In fact, he was probably around my age. He had chocolate brown hair which matched the colour of his eyes. He was reasonably tall, probably the same height as me and I’m just over six feet. The one thing that caught me off guard was how attractive he was. He could have been a model. I found myself staring at him for a few seconds without saying anything. He smirked and played with the gun in his hand.

“What are you staring at? Didn’t realise how handsome I am?” He teased. It was probably my imagination, but I think he was checking me out too. Was he into guys? I broke the stare and turned my attention back to Jay, who was still unconscious, “So, you said that no one sent you? So, you were just planning to mess things up for us?” I nodded, still trying to not look at his perfect face, “Well, that was a stupid thing to do. Most of your crew is dead, and our client is dead too. At least we can have the money and the ‘products.’ So, I guess this situation did work out for us a little.”

“We don’t want to hear you speak. Let us go, you pretty boy!” Derek, the loud-mouthed idiot spat at him, “I didn’t know the famous Luxe Family was full of fa-” One of the members lifted his weapon and in a split second a gunshot erupted. Then silence. Derek slumped on the floor, blood spilling from his head. I started to heave, using all my energy to shuffle away from the body. The young man didn’t even look fazed; he just stared at the corpse in pity and looked back at me. Our eyes met once again.

“What was I saying?”

“Please.” I managed to breathe, but the air was practically suffocating me. The leader raised his eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“Please let me and my friend live.” I begged, “We won’t get in your way anymore. I just needed the money. I have a mother who is a drug addict and a ten-year-old sister that I’m looking after. I just need a bit more money to move out of here, to get away from all of this. I’m begging you. Please let us live, and we’ll never bother you again.” There was a silence before he started to chuckle.

“You’re that desperate for cash?” He stopped for a moment and thought, “Tell you what? Why don’t you work for me?”

“W-What?” I could hear Jay groan, gaining consciousness.

“Work for me. Do what I tell you, and I’ll pay you. Simple. Plus, it’ll keep you out of our projects.” Projects? I guess that was a codeword.

“What about Jay?” The man glanced at Jay, who was glaring daggers at him.

“Well, he did refuse to cooperate earlier, so he missed that bargain. I’m only asking you. Besides, I like you. You’re honest. If you cooperate, I’ll let you and your pathetic friend out of here alive. Deal?” I hesitated. How could I trust someone who displays no remorse to someone getting murdered in front of him? Was he going to react the same way towards me? Was I disposable to him? Or was he giving me work out of pity? I couldn’t understand him at all. However, I was going to die if I refused, so I had no choice.

“Deal.” I eventually gave in. The man smirked and extended his hand towards me, paused, and then chuckled.

“Forgot I tied you up. Alright, boys untie them. Don’t try anything, especially you,” He looked at Jay, “Otherwise, I’ll blow your brains out.” The other members untied us. Jay was furious, his glare was now focused on me. I know I was betraying him and the crew, but I saved his life.

“What’s your name?” The man asked. I could feel his eyes on me again, glazing over my body. I realised that I was slightly taller than him, only by an inch or two.

“Nathaniel Reeves.”

“Sebastian Luxe.” He extended his hand again, and I hesitantly shook it. The smirk never left his perfect face, “Give me your number.” I chucked my phone at him, he typed something into it and threw it back to me, “I’ll call you when I need you.”

“You will pay, right?” Sebastian raised his eyebrow at me.

“Well, that is what I said. The Luxe never go back on their word. You need to watch out for your friend here.” I turned to Jay, who shook his head at me and proceeded to walk away. I didn’t need to explain myself. He knew I had no choice. He knew I saved him, and I was only trying to protect my family.

“Pathetic. Anyway, get out of here, now.” Sebastian ordered. I didn’t argue. I ran out of the park away from the terrifying group and managed to catch up with Jay.

“Jay!” He turned around and glared at me again, “What’s up? I saved your life!”

“I didn’t ask you to! I can handle myself. If I’m gonna die, I wanna die being loyal to my crew. Unlike you, literally eating off his hand.” Jay shouted, shoving me back.

“I have a family to protect! I’m not going to die doing something that I disapproved of in the first place.” I argued back, “Listen, I’m not thrilled working for this guy, but he’s from the Luxe Family. Imagine the opportunities and the cash I can get from them. Don’t worry, you won’t miss out.” Jay didn’t say anything else, thinking logically about the situation for once.

“So, you’re saying this can be a good thing?” I nodded, “Man, I don’t know. He killed off half of our crew. Don’t know where T is, but I don’t think he’s going to be happy knowing about your deal.”

“Well, you’re the only one who knows about it. So, please, keep it a secret. I’ll give you half of what this guy gives me, I promise.” Jay thought for a few seconds and let out a sigh, shaking his head.

“No, don’t do that. You’re right. You have a family.” Jay still didn’t look happy, but he’s my friend. I knew he wouldn’t snitch on me after I saved his life. We walked back home in silence. We were still recovering from the shock of what happened. I had a strange feeling that this was fate. I was meant to meet Sebastian. I wonder what kind of work he will give me, or what the Luxe Family is like? Does he trust me enough to do the job, or does he have ulterior motives? It’s bizarre that he would offer work to a hijacker. Maybe he’s used to this, making people like me do all his dirty work, at his disposal.

It didn’t matter anyway because I don’t have a choice.