Chapter 223: MINE
After cleaning herself up, Hazel fell asleep in her towel. She didn’t stir when Ranon dressed the wound on her palm and asked the hotel staff to bring him a first aid kit.
The wound was not as deep as he had thought it would be, to his relief. He saw it in the dimly lit room with much blood on her, making the wound appear worse than it actually was. It would heal within a few days.
After Ranon finished, he set the first aid kit aside, removed the towel from her body, and covered her with a blanket. She let out a satisfied moan, curling herself in a fetal position.
After that, Ranon stared at her for a long moment, recalling what had happened earlier. He recognized the way she looked in the Lozen family’s house. Those were the cold eyes of a seasoned assassin.
However, it didn’t align with her background and upbringing. There was a loophole here. He knew she could fight, hold a gun, and kill without qualm.
But that look was different. It came from years of experience and countless hours of training. That look was not something that one would possess without having gone through it many times, which didn’t align with everything that Ranon knew about Hazel.
Even though this woman had thrown him off any expectations, where did it go wrong? He had looked deeper into her childhood and adulthood, but there was no indication that she had a record of violence.
The more Ranon tried to untangle this mystery, the more questions he had. It was like a knot; if you pulled the wrong thread, it would only tighten even more.
Ranon then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and walked to the balcony to make a few phone calls. He had asked Ares to clean up the mess in the Lozen family’s house, if Arlo had not yet done that.
Of course, Ares was not happy in the slightest with the task. He was still adamant that Hazel was bad news; that had been proven by now. He disliked her even more.
Ranon called Lucian, and he was not happy because he was woken up very early. It seemed that Ranon had pissed off his two best men quite often nowadays.
"We have looked into River. I have put all the reports about her on your desk, remember?" Lucian yawned.
"No, I want something personal."
"You know River’s size; what is more personal than that?" Lucian remembered he had included that information in his report, even though it didn’t help with anything. Now that River was dead, what else did Ranon want to know?
"I want to know about her habits. Small things that not many people will recognize. The quirks that only people close to her know about."
Lucian was sure Ranon had gone insane. "Ranon, what is your end goal?" All sleepiness disappeared; he sat up on his bed, and his eyes were alert. "Is it because of Hazel? Because of her involvement with River? Did she do anything?"
Ranon didn’t explain what happened; he knew for certain that Ares would fill him in with the story later, as he needed someone to vent out his frustration on.
"Tell me if you find something," Ranon said. He then hung up the call and reached into his pocket; he couldn’t find his cigarette, but only an old black Zippo. He lit it up and stared at the tiny fire from it.
He stayed on the balcony until Hazel woke up, and they had breakfast as if nothing had happened the previous night.
Somehow, Ranon’s indifference made Hazel confused. Normal people would ask a thousand questions, interrogating her. If Ranon did that, she could understand.
It was his calmness that made her overthink everything. It was not like he didn’t care. The affection that he showed her didn’t change at all. She couldn’t understand him. How could he be so chill with her?
Hazel couldn’t hold it in any longer, so she decided to bring up the topic on their way back home.
"Why don’t you ask me any questions?" Hazel asked. She thought, by this time, she would have been on her way to Goscht Country to look for Arthur after Ranon had seen her almost kill his business partner.
She would have never thought that they would be inside the car on their way back home, and he acted normally about everything.
"Will you answer my questions?" Ranon glanced at Hazel, who was tongue-tied.
"I..." Well, she wouldn’t answer his questions, but she still wanted him to ask them. Ugh. She couldn’t explain this feeling. Hazel couldn’t even say that he didn’t care, because he did.
Ranon was playing a mind game with her, and Hazel could see how she was losing in this battle. She was now confused about what she actually wanted.
It was as if you were asked what you wanted to eat, but you couldn’t give a specific answer. Yet, you were craving something.
"Well, you can try. I will answer the questions if I can."
"Where did you learn how to fight?"
"Hm. Next question."
"Have you killed someone before the one that I knew of?"
"No."
Ranon believed that. Hazel hadn’t exhibited violent behavior before this incident. "Why do you want to kill Arlo? Do you have a personal grudge against him?"
"He accepted a hit on you again." This didn’t really answer the question, but it gave Ranon a perception.
"So, do you want to take him down before he makes a move on me?" The car stopped at the red light, and Ranon looked at Hazel with a smile curled on his lips. "How cute."
"You are okay with that?" Hazel subconsciously leaned in to his touch when he caressed her cheek. She liked it whenever he showed her this small gesture of affection. "I mean, I was about to kill your business partner."
When the light turned green, Ranon drove again, but this time he put his hand on her thigh and traced small circles with his fingers.
"He has an intention to kill me, Hazel. It will get to the point where I will not sit idly and let them plan my death. I would have killed him that night if you had told me about it sooner." Ranon glanced at Hazel. "Why did you stop me? I thought you were going to kill him."
As absurd as it sounded, here they were, discussing the prospect of murdering someone in the same casual manner as they would discuss the latest celebrity gossip.
"I don’t want you to kill Michael," Hazel admitted after some contemplation.
"His younger brother? Are you close with him?" Ranon tried to read the situation. Hazel shouldn’t have had anything to do with Arlo’s younger brother, but he couldn’t say anything for certain when it came to her.
"No..." Hazel didn’t, but River did. "I don’t want to kill him because he looked so young." What kind of reason was that?
But Ranon didn’t ask any further, sensing that Hazel was trying to make her excuse justified.
"Don’t come after him. I will deal with him." Ranon tapped his fingers on her thigh. "No more sleepovers in the McKennas’."
"I agreed with the sleepover, but Arlo is mine," Hazel said indignantly. She felt miserable when she had to sleep there; she wanted to avoid that experience again if it was not necessary, but she also couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else killing Arlo. She was going to do it herself.
However, her last words came out so wrong; Ranon stepped on the brake, and Hazel’s body jerked forward. Ranon pressed his hand against her chest to push her back to her seat. The car stopped, and Ranon put all of his attention on her.
"Care to explain?"
"What?" Hazel was shocked. They were going to have a car crash if it were not a quiet road. There were only two or three cars that drove past them. Thankfully, they were on the side of the road. "You are going to get us killed."
Yet, Ranon ignored that. "What do you mean, he is yours?" He squinted his eyes dangerously.
Only then did it click with Hazel what was wrong, and she almost laughed. Ranon was scary; he had this murderous look on his face. But somehow, deep down, Hazel was not scared of him. She found his reaction amusing.
She could understand why Ema said Ranon could be intense and overreact. However, Hazel didn’t mind it.
This was... interesting. Her toes curled when she saw the jealousy in her husband’s eyes. Did something go wrong with her brain? She was aroused to see him being possessive and jealous.
Hazel crossed her arms defiantly and lifted her chin. "Arlo is mine. Don’t touch him." She didn’t mean it in the sense that she cherished that man, but he was her target, her prey. She wasn’t going to let anyone get the joy of getting him.
"Yours?" Ranon raised his brows. His hand on her chest fondled her breast, and he saw the mirth dance in her brown eyes. She was clearly teasing him. Well, Ranon didn’t appreciate that. "Let’s see who will get him first."
Somehow, the words sounded like a challenge for Hazel, and her smile grew wider. She didn’t know why, but she was thrilled with the challenge. It was much better than a bouquet of flowers or a date in a fancy restaurant.
Hazel leaned over and kissed him hard. Gosh. She liked this man!