Love Slave to the Mafia Boss's Passion

Now that he mentioned it, maybe some fruits would be good?

"Maybe some fruits? I think there’s a store over there that has some," I replied, pointing a finger in the direction of the store.

"Let’s go," Hayden said before reaching for my hand.

He held my hand as we walked towards the store. I couldn’t help but feel conscious of his warm hand holding mine. Hayden’s been holding my hand most of the time if not all the time now when we were together and, surprisingly, I didn’t hate it.

I wondered if people thought that we were a real couple when they looked at us walking hand-in-hand this way. We purchased the fruits together and made our way up to my grandmother’s hospital room.

Coming to visit my grandmother reminded me that I need to make some solid progress on her painting. So many things have been going on that I haven’t had the time to concentrate on it. I’ll get to it first thing when we get back to the penthouse.

"Hi grandma!" I said cheerfully when we entered her room.

As always, my grandmother was laying on her hospital bed with a white blanket covering her body and there were multiple machines hooked to her body. She seemed excited and very happy to see me. However, her eyes widened in slight surprise when she saw that Hayden was with me.

I guess the last time that he was here, he gave her a little shock as well.

"It’s good for you two to visit," my grandmother said before smiling kindly at us.

"We got you some fruits," Hayden said as he held up the basket of fruits that we had purchased.

"Oh wow, how nice of you," my grandmother said before her smile widened.

It looked like my grandmother had taken a liking to Hayden and his gentlemanly acts and angelic face. Looks can be deceiving, grandma!

"How have you been feeling?" I asked, trying not to sound overly worried.

"Good…quite well. I think I’m getting used to the medicine. I feel less sleepy than before…" grandma said followed by a relieved laugh.

"That’s great. Maybe if you get better, the doctors will allow you to go outside…for a walk or something," I said, encouragingly.

"That would be nice, it’s sort of boring being stuck in here…" grandma said, and I could see her eyes straying towards the window where she could see a glimpse of the world outside.

"Do you like flowers, grandma?" Hayden asked.

I didn’t miss the fact that he had just called her ’grandma’ either. This guy is sucking up so much to my grandma, seriously…

"I love them, yes," my grandma said.

"If that’s the case, I can arrange for the florist here to bring a bouquet for you everyday to decorate your room. It might help you to freshen up," Hayden suggested.

"If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great…" my grandma said happily.

"Great. Let me go and arrange it now. Malissa, I’ll be back to pick you up in a bit…" Hayden said as he excused himself.

I knew that Hayden probably wanted to give us some privacy to be alone so that we could talk, and I appreciated his considerate gesture. We watched as Hayden silently headed for the door and left the room.

"How’s Hayden? Is he…a good guy?" my grandmother asked once the door to the room had closed.

Ok…does she think that we’re dating because of what Hayden told her last time?

"Umm…I guess he’s got his rough points but…I think he’s ok…" I replied honestly.

I had decided to let it slide and go with the flow. It wasn’t true that I was dating Hayden but if I tried to correct what he said then I would have to tell her that I’m still with Ethan and that wasn’t true either. Lies will just lead to more lies.

"I see. Well, that’s a relief," she said before sighing loudly.

I hated to see her so worried for me when there wasn’t much that I could do for her. I’ve probably been a burden to her my whole life since I moved to live with her in the countryside.

"As I keep telling you, there’s nothing for you to be worried about," I told her, plastering my best smile on my face.

I wasn’t sure if I could fool her though.

"I’m a little scared, you know…" she said softly.

"What are you scared of?" I asked.

For a moment, I thought that she was going to tell me that she was scared of dying. I would have absolutely no response for that.

"I’m scared…that you will be all alone when I’m gone…" she confessed softly.

"Can you please stop saying things like that?" I said with a sigh.

"It’s no point trying to fool me or anyone at this point. Malissa, I just want you to find happiness and live life for yourself. Many things happened, but I don’t want you to suffer," she said as she looked me deep in the eyes.

"Grandma…" I whispered.

"When I’m gone, I will no longer be a burden to you. You can focus on yourself more without having to worry about me," she said.

"I have never thought of you as being a burden. You helped me so much and you took me in when I had nowhere left to go…" I said passionately.

"Do you like Hayden?" she asked abruptly.

--To be continued…