Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 85: She is not a threat

Chapter 85: She is not a threat

As the sun began to set behind the horizon, the bustling City of Zen was bathed in the sunset making the City’s skyscrapers glisten like diamonds under the golden color. However, far away in the deserted part of the City, a huge mansion could be seen standing alone in the vast desolated forest part of Zen. Outside the mansion several vehicles were parked, glimmering under the sunset.

Inside the mansion, the soldiers were having their secret meeting In the dimly lit dining hall where they all sat in tense silence as Neil stood before them explaining to them their Monday mission strategy. His gaze, like darkened steel, swept across the room.

"Monday’s operation is crucial. Da Kroll’s men will most likely disguise as the students to carry out their shipments, it’s going to be hard to distinguish them from the students. So we also have to blend in to catch them red handed. Remember, no distractions, no deviations, you all are to play the role given to you." He declared while looking around the room.

They had come this far and on Monday was their last chance to catch the men working for Da Kroll and put an end to the illegal activities going on underground. However, that wasn’t the only reason Neil had dedicated his life to the military and even came out of seclusion, he had his own personal mission: to catch the leader of the organisation and avenge his family, he would do anything to get his hand on him.

Neil suspected Kelvin Rodrigo as the monster who killed his family but he had no evidence to prove that the man wasn’t the businessman the world thought him to be. Kelvin was a cunning bastard with many tricks up his sleeves.

"Any questions?" Neil asked them as he looked at each one of them.

Jason, who was seated among the men with his swollen nose still in the process of healing from the punch he’d received that night from the box, shot a disdainful look at Neil and said,

"I have a question. I hope you won’t let your newfound interest in one of the girls at Ivy Grove compromise this mission just like you’ve done once in the past? We will stick to your plan as long as you won’t cause our downfall and blow our covers for some girl." He taunted while glaring at Neil from where he was seated with a bandaged nose.

He didn’t know why someone like this Neil was still allowed to lead them after he had killed those innocent people two years ago out of anger and pride. He was a killer and a psychopath who was supposed to be locked in some asylum instead of leading the soldiers to uncover Da Kroll. He didn’t deserve any of the attention and the position to lead them.

Jason thought as he continued to glare at the man he despised the most in the world. Apart from the fact that he hated Neil for taking the position he desired the most in the military, he hated him for killing those innocent people years ago where his cousin was among them.

Neil’s stoic expression remained unchanged as he heard Jason’s words and met his heated glares. But before he could say anything, General David, who had been seating at the head table quietly listening to his explanation, looked at him with a raised brow at the mention of a girl he was interested in. However, his uncle didn’t speak and quietly tried to gauge his expression.

Neil, who felt his uncle’s stare on him, tried to maintain an indifferent expression and his urge to strike Jason on his stupid face for bringing up Mia into their mission plan. She wasn’t a distraction to his mission nor to his life as she was nothing but a fleeting amusement. He thought, but remembering how she had made him felt when he kissed her, he couldn’t help but feel a strong possessiveness overwhelm him at the thought of her falling into his uncle’s hands. However, he pushed those feeling aside to concentrate on what he was doing.

Mia was not going to be a distraction for him, Neil decided. However, to his uncle, who had ensured that he had no distractions in his life since the day he took him in fifteen years ago, Mia Harrison would pose a threat if he were to discover Neil’s hint of interest in her. Therefore, he chose to ignore Jason’s stupid remarks and the intense gaze of General David, and carried on with his explanation.

General David, with his black hair streaked with a few strands of grey at the front, had a stern expression that commanded respect. The soldiers both respected and feared him due to his influence in the military and the country. He had made a name for himself at a young age, and some believed that his influence was the reason his nephew had escaped punishment for a crime he had committed years ago, which the General had covered up to avoid any scandal that could tarnish the family’s reputation.

However, they were unaware that the young man was still enduring the harsh punishment inflicted by General David. As he continued to gaze at Neil until he finished explaining to the soldiers, the General contemplated this.

Not long, Neil was done with his explanation. His plans were meticulously discussed—routes, disguises, signals—all strategized to perfection. Each soldier knew their role, and the tension in the room dissolved into a sense of purpose. After he was done, General David permitted them to leave and start preparing for the Monday mission. Everyone began to leave one by one.

As Neil moved to leave along with Liam, General David’s stern voice called him back. "Neil, stay."

Neil’s heart involuntarily skipped a beat at the sound of his uncle’s voice but he maintained his composure and appeared indifferent, standing straight before his strict uncle. It wasn’t that he was scared of the man, it was just the discipline that had been carved into his bones at a very young age that made him waver everytime he was alone with General David. He could still remember all of the hundreds of lashes from strong military whips he had received whenever he dared to shed tears as a teenager in the military. He wasn’t allowed to have fun nor do things his age mates were doing, he was a boy on a mission, his uncle would always remind him. He must not get swayed by anything but focus on bringing down Da Kroll and nothing else.

Even his father’s company was considered a distraction by the man because he never liked Neil’s father as he blamed him for causing his sister’s death years ago. Neil had stood up to the General for the first time he insisted he sold all of the Galverra’s company branches in the country, he had refused straight up without any hesitation. If there was another thing Neil cherished other than his mission, it was the Galverra legacy in the world. However, now that he was asked to stay back after the meeting was over, he could already guess the reasons for it, which he wasn’t in the mood to discuss but also couldn’t walk out on the General.

General David’s dark eyes stared up at Neil as if he was trying to look through his soul while tapping his fingers on the table. Without looking away, he questioned Neil,"What’s this about a girl at Ivy Grove Wallace mentioned? What is your relationship with her?"

Neil’s expression remained unchanged, a mask of indifference as he replied, "Just someone I’m assigned to supervise at the University. Nothing more than that. If you are worried that I will jeopardise this mission because of her, rest assured because she’s nothing but some annoying student I have nothing to do with." He assured with a cold detachment in his tone.

If he dared to show the tiniest signs of interest in the girl, then he would be sealing her fate to death. She would be announced dead in a way it would look like an accident to everyone. Even though she didn’t mean anything more than his amusement, he didn’t want her dead. He still wanted to explore her and make her open up to him both physically and emotionally until he’d fed his curiosity about her childhood lost memories. But that was also an impossible desire because he planned to wipe her out of his life the moment he was done in Ivy Grove, which would be in two days.

General David didn’t look convinced by Neil’s words despite his expression not giving anything away but his impatience of being asked to stay. He stood with his hands behind his back like the soldier he was. David narrowed his dark eyes suspiciously as he asked, "I have always told you, emotions and attachments are just a weakness that will stick to you pulling you down into failure. Are you sure this said girl means nothing to you, Neil?"

Neil, knowing the underlying question and what it would lead to, affirmed sternly. "She means nothing, and won’t interfere with my mission or life, Sir."

General David chuckled darkly, "Really now?" He said as he retrieved a few of photographs and placing them before Neil. "Then tell me about this? Why were you in a local market with her when you should be working on the plan?" He asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous whisper.

David had been away for awhile but he had his eyes on the young man, his men were hidden in every angle to keep an eye on him to know what he was doing. General David had come back because of the importance of the mission on Monday. He had worked hard in disciplining this stubborn nephew of his into the soldier he was today, he wasn’t going to let some stupid random girl ruin all of his hard work before Neil faced the enemy. Thus, he had to know what all this was all about before taking care of the girl.

Neil looked down at the photographs where he was walking in the local market carrying the grocery bags for Mia, whose face wasn’t clear in the photographs as she had turned to the side looking at something. In another photo, it was when he leaned down to drink from her straw.

Neil’s eyes darkened as he noticed how Intimate the moment seemed in the photographs. His hands clenched behind him as he held himself from cursing and slamming his fists on the table. Who was the fucking person that followed him without his knowledge?! All of his senses were honed by his years in the military, he used to know when someone was following him despite the distance, but surprisingly he hadn’t sensed this bastard who took all of the photographs in the market. How unusual...

One thing Neil was yet again thankful about, was the fact that in all of the photographs, Mia’s face wasn’t clear. She had her back to the camera when he leaned down to drink from her Coke. He then straightened up and schooled his irritated expression to reply to his nosy, controlling uncle, who always never knew to stay the fuck out of his personal life. Neil had grown up from that teenage boy he used to beat and control, but after he had killed those people two years ago, his uncle had come back to controlling him again, and he couldn’t do anything but follow everything he said to save himself from rotting behind bars before avenging his family.

"I have no relationship with that girl, it was you who told me to get the girl who gave the information to the media into giving me more information. I was doing just that in a way she wouldn’t suspect my intention. If you don’t trust my judgement, you shouldn’t have brought me back to the mission when I gave up and went to live in seclusion on my island." He remarked calmly but his expression was darkened, a mixture of frustration and anger bubbling beneath his calm surface.

General David’s expression still didn’t look convinced because he knew how much Neil would never step out of his principles just because he asked him to get some information from the girl. It was either he tortured the girl or manipulated her into giving him the information he wanted, but he would never go to a local market and even carry all the bags for her because he wanted some information.

His nephew was a prideful man with the stubbornness of his Spanish, Galverra ancestors, which he didn’t like in Noah__ Neil’s father__ when he came to marry his sister years ago. They had an ego and the features of a face that looked as if it had been cast in steel by an artist intent on portraying cold, ruthless, determined and ancient Spanish nobility. They didn’t bow down to anyone regardless of anything, and that trait Neil had inherited from his father’s side, he wouldn’t even use his hands to clean after his own mess. He would throw caution to the wind when doing things and not care about their consequences. His temper could make him kill anybody regardless of how much they meant to him. He was like a devil from the underworld when angered, and that, David hated so much he want to wipe off the Galverra’s traits from him.

The General thought while staring at Neil. However, he didn’t say anything. He had taken it upon himself to make sure the young man would take the trait of his mother’s side of the family by giving him a good discipline, but it seemed he would never learn to yield to him completely until the day he would kill every little thing he cherished_and Neil hadn’t seemed to cherish anything again from the day he got rid of the street dog the young Neil had rescued from a whore house. But now there was a girl...

General David leaned back on his chair, scrutinizing Neil before he said,"Prove it to me that she is nothing. And Make sure she won’t jeopardize our mission because if she does, you’ll give me a reason to take action on the girl just like every other thing I have gotten rid of from your life." The middle aged man warned, his voice laced with threat, and before Neil could reply, he added, "And don’t forget, I have already spoken to Davina’s father, Edward Hopkins about your engagement with her like we’ve agreed last year. Once she’s back from aboard, we will arrange everything."

Neil clenched his jaw tightly to control himself and the raw rage boiling inside him. He hadn’t agreed on marrying Davina nor did he deny it as he knew what would happen if he dared to deny_he would be sent to prison. He clenched his fists and nodded in reluctant agreement. "Understood."