"Leyla, go in the office." Eli instructed.

"What? Why?"

"Go in. The office." he commanded. I figured that meant don't question him so I did what he told me.

When I got in there I heard slamming and banging. There were a few screams and I think someone was crying.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW!" Someone shouted outside in panic.

"What's going on out there?!" Gio asked.

"I umm...some...guy...he...he kept grabbing onto me and...he wouldn't let me go...and he grabbed my ass and Eli found out. He told me to come in here..." I tried to explain. For some reason I felt bad.

"Oh god." Gio said with a worried expression. He hurriedly ran out of the office room.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Jason said. He got up and walked over to me. "It's not your fault. That guy's a dick." He hugged me and pat my head like I was a little kid. I hugged him back and then heard something slam through the door.

Gio and Teddy had pushed Eli in here. I let go of Jason and looked at Eli.

"I wasn't done." he stated. He was breathing heavily and his voice was low. His wet hair covered his eyes and he threw his head back to get it out of his face.

"Yea, well, he was." Gio said.

I looked at the tape on Eli's hands and noticed there was some blood splatter. He had to have beaten that man to a half dead state.

"I'm sorry..." I told him.

"Good. You should be." Gio said.

At the speed of light, Elijah's hand was tightly wrapped around Gio's throat and he couldn't breathe. His knees collapsed and he held onto Eli's wrist.

"What'd you say, bitch?" Eli asked him.

"I just...she..." Gio tried to answer but couldn't.

"That's your second strike. I don't think I have to tell you what happens on your third," said Eli. Gio's face was red and veins popped out of his forehead. "You get where I'm goin' with this?"

Gio nodded and Eli let him go.

"She could fucking blow your cover! You just beat that guy to a pulp, what if he goes running his mouth?!" Gio yelled while he rubbed his neck.

I didn't think about that and I felt even worse. I looked down and played with my hands while I tried my hardest to hold back tears.

If Eli gets arrested it'll be because of me.

"SHE WAS ASSAULTED, YOU INSENSITIVE FUCK!" Jason shouted. "MAYBE THINK LESS ABOUT SHIT THAT HASN'T HAPPENED, YET, AND MORE ON SOMETHING THAT DID!" he yelled.

Eli pushed Gio by his face.

"Come here, Leyla." Eli instructed.

"I'm sorry..." I said and slowly walked towards him.

"I know, baby, but you didn't do anything wrong." He pulled me by my hand into him and hugged me.

"Where's the guy?" I heard Jason ask.

"Outside on the floor." Teddy responded and I listened to them both leave through the door.

"Go make yourself useful." I heard Eli tell Gio and Gio left too.

Eli's arms left from around me and he held my face in both hands, picking it up to look at him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry.."

"Stop saying you're sorry, everything's fine." he said and kissed me.

"No, because if he snitches it's my fault, then you'll go to jail for two reasons."

"No, if he snitches it's my fault. Stop thinking that when someone touches you I'm not gonna do somethin' about it. The only way that would've been avoided is if he hadn't put his hands on you, it's not your fault at all." he stated and kissed me again.

____________________________________

It was time to go and the four men had a talk with the guy Eli assaulted. They convinced him to not tell anyone about what happened and to apologize to me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were his girlfriend. It won't happen again." he said.

The guy looked terrible. If Eli would have hit him just one more time he probably would have died.

"You shouldn't do it even if I wasn't his girlfriend. You grabbed onto me after I told you to stop. Whether I'm his or anyone's girlfriend or not shouldn't matter. Don't put your hands on people that don't want them there," I said this and Jason slapped him in the back of his head.

"Get out." Eli demanded of him.

He got out of his chair and left.

"You're not coming back here." Eli told me.

"What?" I asked.

"You heard me."

"But-..." I thought about it and it was fair. I could've gotten him in trouble. "Okay..." I agreed.

"And before you think about it, no, it is not because he could have ratted. It's just for your safety. New guys come in here everyday and they don't know anything about us or me, yet. Which means this shit could happen more than once and I can't hush everyone." he explained.

"You could just not kick their asses." Gio offered.

"No. I couldn't." Eli said and shot a glare at Gio.

"I get it. It's fine," I stated.

"Does she have to leave permanently?" asked Teddy.

"Yea, man, why punish her?" Jason added.

"I'm not punishing her. I'm keeping her safe," Eli explained.

"Fine, then at least let her come on Friday's. We'll keep her safe while you fight and she can watch." Jason offered.

Eli sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"Come on, man." Teddy pleaded.

Eli looked at me.

"Alright. Fine. But if one more thing happens to her-"

"Then we'll kill the guy, bury his body in the backyard, and she won't come back." Jason stated and Eli chuckled lightly.

...

Since I start working for Eli tomorrow, he took me to the head office where I would spend most of my time.

The headquarters office was about half an hour away from the branch I used to work at which meant I'd need to wake up earlier than before.

"The PIN number is 7172 to get past the gate." he told me.

'7172.' I repeated the numbers in my head to remember.

The building was tall and modern. It looked like it could hold my branch inside of it at least twice.

We got out of the car and headed inside. It was all dark, except for a few light fixtures, which made sense since it was 12am. We took the elevator and went to the 25th floor, which was the top floor. We walked through and there was a secretary desk on this floor just like the first floor. As we kept walking we got to a large metal door, Eli opened his wallet and took out a card then swiped it and the light turned from red to green. He opened the door and his office was huge. About twice the size of his bedroom. The far wall was just a large window with an aerial view of the city.

"You'll be in here with me. That's your desk." he said and pointed at a desk that was bigger than my last one.

"You remember your job, correct?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. We'll make you a card tomorrow morning when you get here that way you can get in without needing my assistance." he stated. "I want you here at 9am sharp, naked and bent over my desk."

"Okay-...Wait, what?"

"I said I want you here at 9am sharp, getting work done at your desk. Keep up."

"That is definitely not what you said."

"I don't know what you mean." he said and I followed him out the door.