The Billionaires Desires novel Chapter 44

Nathan’s POV

The next few days were like a living hell for me. I broke a few bones and I lost a tooth that day. My whole body is covered in bruises and it hurts so bad. I could not move any part of my body for the next few days, I would never have survived it if not for Ray.

Raymond Hartford…

That is his name. I’ve heard of the Hartford’s, I know the role they play in our family, I had no fucking idea that I was going to be given my own personal Hartford. My dad never told me, neither did Gramps. If Ray had not mentioned his name to me, I would never have known that he is from the Hartford family.

Many years ago, several generations past, my great grandfather had adopted a young boy named Richard Hartford. He was visiting the orphanage like he always does, then he spotted Richard, sitting by himself, crying his eyes out because nobody wanted to adopt him. As a fifteen years old boy, he was already past the age to be adopted and the orphanage was looking for somewhere to ship him off to because he was becoming a liability for them, but my great grandfather never saw it that way.

My great grandfather saw potential in him, he saw his body structure and knew that he could be great and strong, and so he adopted him and raised him up, training him to be his personal assistant. Richard had taken his duties quite seriously, he exceeded expectations, and soon after his graduation, he became a personal assistant to my great grandfather, serving him loyally until his death. Ever since then, the Hartford’s have served my family for ages, serving them faithfully until two generations ago when the Hartford that served my grandfather quit on him. He resigned and abandoned his duties, leaving Gramps alone to fight his own battles and defeat his enemies.

That was the very first time that a Hartford had disappointed us, it had caused my grandfather so much pain and anger, making him so furious that he canceled our deal with the Hartford’s, sending them away in anger. Instead of resolving whatever issue he was having with the Hartfords, he had chosen to replace them with the Mafias. My father never had a Hartford by his side when he was in charge of the family's empire. He had used the Mafia Lord, just like Gramps, he never bothered to find out what had happened with the Hartford’s, he had simply gone along with what his father had told him. He is not an inquisitive person, he doesn’t delve deep into an issue or ask too many questions. That is why he never did anything to my uncle and my cousin. He chose to keep silent and let it all slide down his back.

But I have vowed not to be like him, in any way. There is a connection between my grandfather's secret and his fight with the Hartfords. It all happened around the same period of time, it all seems like a random occurrence, but I know that there is a connection between all of it, I’m just missing a piece of the puzzle, a very important part of the puzzle. Something must have happened between Gramps and the Hartfords, I think it has something to do with the secret he has been hiding from everyone, the same secret that Travis had discovered and is now using to blackmail him. I need to find out what really happened between my grandfather and the Hartford’s. Knowing everything that happened between them could help me find out the secret that Gramps is hiding.

I need to get out of this Island, there is so much I need to know, so many questions that need answers. But first, I need to get out of this island. I need to concentrate on getting well don’t can stop leaving clues for the enemies to use and find us. Raymond has set up a perimeter along the path, he had used some things to distract them in their search, we stayed holed up in that cave for two weeks, then we had to change location because they found our cave. Every night, he pulled me along with him, trying to save and protect me from those bloodthirsty killers. He kept changing our locations just to keep them distracted, it was so hard to keep up with him, but I had to, our lives depended on it.

“Why are you helping me, Ray, as far as I know, our families have not had any dealings for over two generations, why did you come here?” I asked him, earning a scowl from him as he scoffed at me. We were scouting the perimeter together, after I recovered from that incident, he doesn’t let me stay alone, he takes me along with him whenever he is leaving our campsite. He thinks I may pull a stunt like that again, he must think that I am stupid enough to try something like that again. I had almost died, it had taken me more than two months to recover from all that beating. Yet he thinks I’m stupid enough to try something like that again. I may be desperate to leave this island, but I certainly do not have a death wish. It’s so obvious that those guys are never going to listen to me, they live by a code and they keep to their code of conduct.

“Come on Ray, it’s been more than two months since you told me your name, hell, it’s almost three months even. I may not know much about our family's dealings, but I know about our fallout and I know that my grandfather cut all ties with the Hartford’s. Why are you helping me when you have no reason to, are you trying to get the families back together, are you trying to redeem yourself before us?” I asked him, causing him to stop and turn to glare furiously at me.

“My family did nothing that required redemption from you guys. We are honorable and we keep to our promise, that is why I’m here. I owe you no fucking explanation, if you want to know what really happened between our families, you will have to come out of your pretty boy shell and carry out real investigations. You can’t sit in your pretty house, screwing your pretty girlfriend, or should I say pretty wife, and you except every secret and information to be presented before you, that’s not how things work, Mr. Trent.” He told me mockingly before turning to continue his movement, moving further away from me.

“You know everything, don’t you? You know exactly what happened between my grandfather and yours, why won’t you tell me, do you feel ashamed of your family's mistake, did your grandfather betray the promise made by your ancestors, is that why you are helping me?” I asked him mockingly, pushing him to say what he knows. I think I pushed him a little more than necessary, he turned around and punched me in the face, shifting my jaw the other way.

“You have no right, no right at all to say such rubbish about my grandfather. I risked my fucking life for you, at least show some appreciation and stop blaming my family unjustly as your grandfather did. He gave the orders and my grandfather complied with his orders like all Hartford’s do, it’s not his fault that your grandfather is a heartless, vengeful man, who wouldn’t let go of his grudge against his friends. If there is anyone to blame, it’s your grandfather, he gave the order, and later on, he blamed my grandfather for listening to him and carrying out his instructions. We never betrayed the Trent's, we honor the promise made by our ancestors, we swore to serve the Trent's until our dying day, we would give our very lives for the Trent’s, that was our promise and we have always kept to our promise down to this day until your grandfather let his emotions becloud his judgment. 

He gave an order that he wasn’t supposed to, and when his conscience throbbed him, he turned around and blamed my grandfather for his mistakes. To add insult to injury, he went ahead to replace us with the Mafia Lord, as if the can do half of the jobs that we do for your family. I see you dining with Costello every other day, why did he not see this coming, why did he let you get trapped in this fucking hell hole?” he asked in that same mocking tone that passes me off. I get that he is pissed off at my grandfather, and talking about it right now just opened up old wounds, but he doesn’t have to remind me of my mistakes too, does he? He doesn’t have to remind me of my present condition because I know that I’m here because of my stubbornness.