Harley's POV

He did it again. One second he is weirdly affectionate towards me, then like a switch goes off in his head, he is back to his cold self. It was so frustrating to deal with.

"If you don't stop fidgeting, I'm going to make you sleep with Brooke." Rachel hissed under me.

"Sorry," I whisper yelled.

"What's wrong? You seem anxious." Rachel whispered back. It was close to 1 am now, and yet none of us could go to sleep.

"It's nothing," I answered.

"Just tell me!" Rachel got up from her bed and began yanking at my arm that was hanging over the railing. "And don't even think about saying nothing because I'll kill you."

"All right." I huffed out.

"I might as well get up too." Brooke got up and turned on the room light. "Talk to us, little bit."

"I don't know how to say this." I started. I didn't even know why I was talking about it. I was making up stuff in my head, so it wasn't an exact topic to talk about. I also wasn't sure I could talk about the mission tomorrow. A task I had no idea would end in murder. I never think things out all the way I live in the moment, and at that moment, I was too cocky and volunteered to go on a murder mission with a stony hot-headed man. I have to keep telling myself I was doing this for a reason. For Avery.

"Your thinking about the boss, right?" Rachel deadpanned.

"How'd you know?" I whipped my head to her.

"It's obvious." Rachel shrugged.

"Oh my gosh. What about him? Is he making you want to pull your hair out?" Brooke asked.

"No, not exactly. I just can't read him." I shrugged

"Isn't that a good thing? He does run a cartel." Brooke asked before downing a bottle of water.

"No, I mean, he does things out of the ordinary, then he just switches to being his usual self." I was already saying too much.

"What type of things?" Rachel asked.

"Sometimes, he is friendly and kind to me. He has manners, and it seems like he cares for me at times." I started. "I can feel him open up for a couple of seconds, but then he reverts to his raw self."

"It's strange to hear that the boss even has a soft side." Rachel said.

"Same. He was such a hardass. Picturing him acting nice to someone is difficult." Brooke added.

"He's different now. And I think it's because of you." Rachel looked with a stern look on her face.

"Makes sense." Brooke shrugged.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, for starters." Brooke paused. "The boss never had an assistant before you came. It was never a position, nor was it ever occupied by anyone."

I gave her a puzzled look as she spoke. I remember the first week I was here; the boss told me his other assistant "didn't work out." Did he lie?

"but that's not what-" I started, but Rachel interrupted.

"Yeah, he probably told you something else though I'm sure he meant no harm by it. However, it never existed. He did have a personal maid, but all they did was bring him meals and drinks. They were never involved in cartel business, kinda like us." Rachel finished. Why would he lie about something so small?

"So maybe you changed him in other ways too." Brooke yawned.

"Yeah, maybe." I gazed off to nothing.

"Hey, where is Tessa?" Brooke asked suddenly. The question broke my trance. I looked over to her bed and saw it was empty, but I could tell she previously occupied the bed by the way the covers were laid.

"She must've got the midnight munchie." Rachel shrugged. "She'll be back." she covered her body once again with her blanket and shut her eyes. Brooke followed, turning off the lights and returning to bed.

However, I knew I wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon, especially with what Rachel and Brooke told me. It was insane how often my mind goes crazy thinking about sir. I wish he didn't occupy my thoughts at all.

He's different now. And I think it's because of you

I thought of those words over and over again. It was foolish to believe that someone sir barely knows could've changed him. I hopped down from my bed onto the cold floor, grazing the bunk bed's metal bars.

"Don't stay out too long; it's not safe at night." Rachel said to me while her eyes were still shut.

"Okay," I responded softly.

I continued out the door, shutting it behind me and continuing down the hall to the lobby area. I wasn't sure where I was walking to, but I couldn't stay in bed, fidgeting around. The main areas, such as the viewing area and dining room, were empty, yet I still heard noise from the entertainment room. Loud, hearty laughter rang across the entire first floor. I never realized how much I've gotten used to sleeping with all the noisy chatter at night. However, the other night I experienced the loudest night yet. I could hear cheering from outside like a festival was being thrown.

I thought of wild things as I walked around the long-stranded hallways. However, it didn't last long when I walked towards Tessa, who emerged from the basement door. I remember it from when I first got here. Why would she be down there? My brows furrowed as I looked at her. She didn't seem to notice me standing in front of her. She was looking around frantically as she closed the door behind her. Her eyes finally landed on me. I could see her eyes physically droop down to glare, and a smirk appears on her lips. She crept over to me quickly until she stood in front of me.

"If it ain't the bitch herself, Harley" she smirked. It was late into the night, and the basement wasn't an open area for the whole staff. I knew better than anyone since sir had told me over and over again that I wasn't allowed down there. Not to mention how weird the manner she left the lower floor.

"What were you doing in the basement?" I ignored her snarky comment.

"Oh my god, Harley." She giggled as she placed her hand over her mouth. "Who do you think you are? Just because you're the boss's bitch doesn't mean you get to question me." She lowered her face down to me while she talked. The closeness of our faces and the amusement in her voice instantly ignited my wrath.

"From what I remember, you were very persistent on being the boss's bitch ." I sneered. It was out of character for me to be so snarky, but this all was built up from all the shit Tessa had thrown at me the past month I'd been here.

"Oh," She let out a hearty laugh, "I see the little attention the boss gave you has really gotten to your head," the smile on her face was growing. "You don't actually think he cares about you, right?" She asked with a giant grin.

A part of me did think sir cared for me. Rachel and Brooke made me believe that. I said nothing but looked away from her glistening face. This conversation was dredging up a lot of unfamiliar feelings.

"Oh my god, you did." She laughed and clapped her hands together. The sound of her cackling and bone fingers rattling together echoed against the walls. "Harley, you will never be anything to him. You're just a slow pitiful girl that wasn't even worth killing." She shook her head as she peered into my eyes.

"Why is your problem with me, Tessa." I spat. "This can't just be because of the boss." I shook my head. Her hate for me ran deeper than some petty crush.

"Nope, that's more than enough reason to hate you." She acted as if she was thinking hard. "Get over yourself, Harley." She scoffed and started walking away.

"You don't know me, Tessa. You don't know my feelings. I don't need the boss's validation to live, but I see you do." I started. "I hope you can learn to have more respect for yourself, Tessa." I began walking away again. This time walking all the way back to my room without stopping. Perhaps I was only angry because she was making me think of things I never did before. She had to be right. Sir has shown his disinterest and his disgust in me multiple times, but my unconscious fondness of him blinded me. I wanted to run, run all the way home and hug Avery. I wanted her comfort and advice. I didn't mind his presence, nor did I mind anything he did. I care for a man that has no regard for me. With that, I turned into my dorm; tears filled my eyes as I tucked myself into bed. Why did I even care about anything Tessa said? Why should it matter if sir sees me as special or not? But it did matter to me. It mattered to me a lot. ————————————————- PLEASE STOP AND READ!!!!!!!!

Hey, hey hey! This is a shorter chapter for y'all since the next one will probably be longer. This is also a sequel to the last chapter. I didn't think it was worthy of being a full chapter.

I THINK yall are really going to enjoy the next chapter. The build-up is going to be great!! STICK WITH ME THE BUILD UP IS NEXT!!!!!

any confusion or question will all be answered in the next chapter.

also, did you guys peep the foreshadowing and the connection to Xanders pov in the last chapter.