Chapter 4 First Night With My Babe

It was 9:17 pm.

Nathan was locked in his room again. He finished half the steak and half the milk. His hands were shaking after what Daniel said in the dining room.

If Jayden comes back, I will kill him in front of you.

He sat on the big bed, wearing the plain black shirt that was too big for him and his old jeans. The shirt smelled like cigarettes and expensive perfume. Like Daniel.

He heard footsteps in the hallway. Heavy. Black shiny shoes. Rolex shining even in the dark.

The door opened.

Daniel entered with a pillow in his hand and a blanket.

Nathan jumped up. "What are you doing?"

Daniel closed the door and locked it from the inside. Click.

Nathan's heart stopped.

"You locked it from the inside," Nathan whispered. "Why did you lock it from the inside?"

Daniel threw the pillow on the big bed. "Because you said the mansion is cold. Your room is cold. So I will sleep here, babe. To make you warm."

"I never said that! I said I will sleep here and you will sleep in your room! That was the deal!"

"What deal?" Daniel said with a cold smile. "You are my babe. My babe sleeps where I sleep. My room or your room, it's the same thing. Tonight I will sleep here."

He took off his black shiny shoes. He took off his Rolex and put it on the table. Tick tock.

Nathan moved to the corner of the room, far from the bed.

"I will not share a bed with you, you cold bastard! I accepted to stay in your mansion because I cannot run, but I did not accept to share a bed!"

Daniel looked at him. He was not angry. He was enjoying it.

"Okay," he said. "You sleep on the floor and I sleep on the bed. Rosa told me the floor is cold for you, but okay, you are stubborn."

He lay on the big bed like he owns it. Because he owns it. He owns the mansion, the guards, the police, and now Nathan.

The bed was big enough for three people. Daniel was on one side, leaving a big space on the other side.

Nathan stood in the corner for ten minutes. His legs were aching. The floor was cold.

He looked at the bed. He looked at the floor. He looked at Daniel who was watching CCTV on his phone but also watching him.

"You are my babe, you know," Daniel said without looking up. "My babe doesn't sleep on the floor. My old babe never slept on the floor."

"I am not your old babe," Nathan muttered.

"I know. My old babe would have already come to bed. You have been standing for ten minutes. You are more stubborn than him."

He took a quiet breath and made a decision.

He walked to the bed and sat on the farthest edge, as far from Daniel as possible. His back to Daniel. He pulled only a small corner of the blanket.

"Don't touch me," he said. "If you touch me, I will bite you again."

Daniel smiled in the dark.

"I like it when you bite, babe."

Silence.

The clock ticked. 9:34 pm. 9:41 pm. 9:58 pm.

Nathan could hear Daniel breathing behind him. Slow, deep. He could smell cigarettes and expensive perfume from the shirt and from Daniel. Same smell. The whole bed smelled like Daniel.

He used to sleep alone in a small room with traffic noise outside. Now he slept in a big bed, in a big mansion, with a mafia boss behind him who said he will kill his own babe.

He couldn't sleep.

"Babe," Daniel said suddenly, his voice not cold now, just low in the dark. "Why do you work at FreshMart? You are a Communications student. You should be working at a TV station, not a supermarket."

Nathan was shocked that Daniel knew. But he remembered the CCTV and his bag with his student ID.

"Because I need rent," Nathan said, still with his back to him. "My place costs money. School fees cost money. FreshMart pays 3000 per night shift. A TV station internship pays zero. If you are poor, you work where they pay, not where you dream."

Silence.

Daniel moved a little closer. Not touching, but closer.

"How much is your rent?" he asked.

"None of your business, cold bastard."

"Tell me, babe."

"50,000 per month for a small room on West Adams. With a leaking roof."

Daniel was quiet. Then he said: "My bathroom is bigger than your room."

"I know. You are rich. I am poor. You already showed me," Nathan said, tears coming now, but he wiped them fast so Daniel wouldn't see.

"I will buy you a house," Daniel said, like saying "I will buy milk."

"I don't want your house! I want my house!"

"You can't go back to your place, babe. It's not safe. Jayden's enemies think you are Jayden. If you go back, they will take you, not me."

Nathan froze. He turned around fast.

"What enemies?" he whispered.

Daniel was looking at him now, face close. So handsome in the dark, but cold and intimidating.

"Jayden had enemies because he was my babe. They will think you are him. So you stay with me and I protect you. That's why you accepted your fate, right? You are smart. You understand."

Nathan felt his chest tighten. He thought Daniel was the only reason he was locked up. But now there are other enemies too?

"You are lying," Nathan said. "You are lying to make me stay!"

"Am I?" Daniel said, and he took his phone and showed a photo. A black car, windows broken, blood on the seat. "This was Jayden's friend who looked a little like him. They took him last month thinking he was Jayden. We found him after three days."

Nathan covered his mouth. He felt like vomiting.

"So you see, babe," Daniel whispered, his hand finally touching Nathan's cold hand under the blanket. Nathan didn't pull away this time because he was too scared. "Only I can protect you. Only my mansion is safe. So sleep now. My babe should not be cold."

Nathan didn't pull his hand away. He stared at the ceiling, tears falling silently.

He accepted his fate. Not because he likes Daniel, but because outside is more dangerous than inside. At least inside, Daniel only says "my babe" and brings warm milk. Outside, people break cars and leave blood.

"Will you... will you really kill Jayden if he comes back?" Nathan asked in a small voice.

Daniel's hand tightened on his hand. Possessive.

"Yes," he said. "Because I don't want two babes with the same face. I only want one. You."

He pulled Nathan a little closer. Not too much, just enough that Nathan's back touched his chest.

"Sleep, babe. First night with my babe."

Nathan wanted to say "I am not your babe" again, but he was tired. He had never felt this tired. He closed his eyes, with Daniel's hand holding his hand under the blanket, with the smell of cigarettes and expensive perfume, in a mansion in the hills far from downtown.

Downstairs, Rosa looked at the CCTV and whispered to Leo: "He is sleeping. Mr. Kravalo is holding his hand like he never held Jayden."

Leo said: "Because this one is different. This one is the real one."

At 10:04 pm, Chase was still awake in his small room, laptop open, searching "Kravalo" and calling Nathan's number again and again. Voicemail. 24 missed calls.

"Where are you, Nate?" Chase whispered. "Please be okay."

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