Just A Bit Ruthless

The next day, he got that call.

"Mr. Whitford," said an unfamiliar voice with an accent. "Because of your father's passing, we were magnanimous to give you some time, but our patience is almost worn out."

Luke suddenly felt dry mouth. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean."

"We have paid in advance for a shipment of [-] pieces in total, and hope to receive it before the end of this Saturday."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, kid," the man said.

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

"kidney."

Luke's heart sank.

Hold.It is illegal organ trade.His father even dabbled in the illegal organ trade.Luke couldn't explain why he wasn't surprised anymore. "Look, whatever my father promised, I don't know-"

"I don't care, kid," said the man brusquely. "My buyers are waiting in line. I want my stuff. If you can't get it, or if you go talk to the police, I'll take your organs from you."

Before Luke could ask his identity, the other party hung up the phone.

Twelve hours later, Luke was sitting in the office his father had used, his face in his hands.After doing some research on his father's computer, he was left churning with frustration, anger and fear.

Feeling helpless, he had planned to kill the shady business in Whitford Industries as soon as possible without looking at it-he didn't want to follow in the footsteps of his own father-but it was easier said than done.Father obviously has some things that he has not done after receiving money from others, and now he has to take over and complete them.Luke couldn't get away without cleaning those asses, and he had no idea what to do.His father's cronies never took Luke seriously, and since his father passed away, they have gone somewhere-either quietly hiding, or finding other ways to live their lives up.Luke also wants to live his own life well, but first, he has to get rid of the mess at hand first, before it goes wrong, and he can't take his own life in it, and he can't send himself to prison.

It would have been nice to go straight to the authorities, but he wasn't naive enough to think that the police would catch everyone who did business with his father.If he did that, he would not survive a few weeks.Not to mention, he didn't want the company's reputation to be tarnished by wading into this puddle of sewage—it would be inevitable if his father's illegal dealings were discovered.

Angry tears filled Luke's eyes, and he quickly wiped them away.God, he has never hated his own father so much as now.Not to mention that this person has a bad character and a poor fatherhood, and he even got away with dying and leaving a mess for his son.

Surrender two hundred kidneys by the end of Saturday.

Luke choked out a harsh laugh.He could either manage to get two hundred kidneys by the end of this Saturday, or he would lose his life—and after seeing what happened to his father, he had no doubts that the gang would be serious.

He didn't know what to do.

All this is completely beyond his ability.What else can he do?

unless……

With trembling hands, Luke took out his phone.He opened the contact list and scrolled down all the way to find the name he needed——

Roman Demidov.

Roman's phone number was found in his father's file a week ago, and he saved it, and although he kind of hated himself for doing it, he did it anyway.He'd tried several times since then to delete the number; he'd tried, really, but something would always have come up to interrupt him along the way.Luckily he didn't actually delete it.From a rational point of view, Roman is the only one he knows who knows how to deal with this situation.It was reasonable to call him.Luke didn't call Roman because he wanted to hear Roman's voice, because he wanted to feel safe from him or something, he wasn't so pathetic.

After the phone rang four times, a woman answered.She asked for Luke's name and contact information, told him that she would pass the information on to her boss, and sounded as if she didn't trust Roman to call back.Luke didn't quite believe it himself.

It was late in the day, when he had almost decided that Roman would not be calling him, and that he was probably no longer in England, when his phone rang.

Luke stared at the phone screen for a long moment before taking a deep breath and answering the phone.

"What do you want?" Roman said. "I'm very busy right now."

Luke turned over on the bed, trying to drive away the waves of uneasiness in his heart.Why would Roman want to help him? "I need your help."

The other party paused for a while.

"What help?"

"I got a call this morning," Luke said. "Someone said they didn't receive the two hundred kidneys my father promised, and he was very upset. Now they are..."

"Threatened you," Roman finished for him.

"Yes," Luke said with a short laugh. "Did you just happen to have two hundred kidneys stored somewhere?"

This was originally just a joke—a very cold joke—but Roman's answer was too serious: "I don't engage in any form of human trafficking."

"You... you're quite decent, I didn't expect that."

"I don't want to disappoint you, but it has nothing to do with decency. It's not worth the trouble you're getting into."

"You're a horrible person," Luke said dryly.He should have been disgusted by Roman's unapologetic and cold-blooded speech, but he couldn't handle it.He tried not to let himself think about what such a reaction meant.

"Isn't that why you called me?" Roman said, his tone dry. "Because I'm a horrible person, and a nice guy like your Bomer can't handle that kind of thing."

Luke's forehead is wrinkled: is Roman jealous?

He cleared his throat and said, "Whatever you say. That's not all. I've looked at my father's file, and it seems he owes more than just kidneys. It's...not a good situation." Luke closed Eye. "I'm done," he admits quietly.What kind of magic is in Roman that allows him to admit his powerlessness so easily? "I just want to live my life well. But now I have to figure out how to deal with that group of people, how to get rid of them all."

"You want me to help you with this," Roman said, which wasn't a question.

"Yes," Luke said, trying to sound as firm as possible, as if he were making a deal. "I didn't tell anyone that you kidnapped me. You owe me that, Roman. If you don't help me, I'll tell MI6 that you did it."

Roman laughed, sounding amused. "My hairball kitten can scratch people."

He felt a rush of emotion in his heart. "Don't call me that," Luke said, burying his blushing face into the pillow. "Are you going to help me?"

Even if he couldn't see the other person's face, he could feel the smile on Roman's face fading.

"First of all, I don't owe you anything at all, dear," he said in a low voice. "It's not that I asked you to lie to the authorities. And you should know that threats are not a good way to find me."

Luke's heart tightened. "You mean you won't help?"

"I mean, let me help you, I need something better."

His mouth was dry all of a sudden, and his heart was pounding so hard that it almost popped out of his throat. "what do you want?"

"20.00% stake in Whitford Industries."

Luke's eyes widened suddenly, and he let out a laugh. "You think I'm crazy, don't you? I won't allow you to get involved in my company."

"Why?" The joke in Roman's tone returned.

"What I want is to get rid of those illegal transactions in the company. Letting you buy shares is completely the opposite."

"Cute," Roman said, and Luke shuddered at the deep voice and intimacy that radiated. "You know, 70.00% of my business is absolutely legal, right?"

Luke frowned: This is really unexpected.

"So what?" he said. "I don't want you to have anything to do with my company." Anything to do with me. "Exchange other conditions."

The silence on the other end of the phone made the atmosphere look dignified, something was gaining momentum.

"I'm afraid you have nothing else that interests me," Roman said at last. "Either accept my price tag, or pull it down."

"Pull it down," Luke said, as lightly as possible, before hanging up.He bit the cheek in his mouth, trying to ignore the stupid, ridiculous heartbreak in his chest.How could Roman care about his life?How can it be.Roman only cares about his own interests.

The phone rang again.Luke glared at it, but took it anyway.

"You disobedient little—" Roman squeezed these words through his teeth angrily. "The people who deal with your father are not easy to mess with. If you don't agree to my terms and don't let me face them, you will end up like your foolish father."

"Is this threatening me?"

"I'm not the one threatening you," Roman gritted his teeth.

The sadness in Luke's chest subsided, and a warmth spread through him.Luke told himself not to be a fool, but he couldn't take the smile back from his lips. "Be careful, you sound like you're worrying about me."

"20.00%," Roman said, his cold tone undeniable.

"No," Luke whispered, his heart beating fast.Roman wasn't as aloof as he tried to be.Luke felt a burst of joy at the realization, even though he knew nothing would change.Even if Roman felt a certain way about him, they wouldn't make it.They sure don't get along well together.Roman had no interest in the kind of life he wanted.But...but, knowing that it wasn't me, that Roman was affected as much as he was, it felt really good.He felt empowered, ironically, because he had never been as submissive and dominant to any man as he was to Roman.Perhaps there is power in being the one who is dominated, which is true.Maybe it's a bit cold-blooded to use this... this mutual affection to protect your own interests, but Luke is tired of feeling like he can't control anything.As long as he doesn't lose his heart in the process, there should be no problem... right?

"I need you," he said, so sincerely that he felt embarrassed. "I really need you."

There was deathly silence on the phone.

The longer the silence lasted, the more embarrassed Luke felt, and his face started to heat up.

At this time, he heard Roman's exhalation. "Where's your perfect boyfriend?"

"He was never my boyfriend," Luke said. "I found out later that he wasn't perfect either. There was another person who came first to him. He couldn't give me what I wanted."

"I can't give you what you want," Roman said tentatively.

"You can't give it," Luke agreed. "But you can give me what I need."

Roman took a breath and said, "I'm not going to help you clean up your father's mess just because of those dimples and that pretty little mouth." His tone was mean, but he couldn't fool Luke.

He closed his eyes, and there was only unmodified sincerity in his voice, and he murmured: "I'm so scared. I need you to help me out. Come and help me."

Roman cursed in Russian and hung up the phone.