Ch. 11..20

Chapter 11

Sebastian quietly pushed open Zeno's door and walked into the room. He stopped beside his bed and stared at his sleeping bruised face.

He's never really taken his time to look at his employee's face, but at that moment, he carefully noted that if it weren't for those bruises and plasters on Zeno's face, he was a beauty to behold.

There was a kind of charm he carried, and Sebastian could not understand how a man could be so beautiful and handsome at the same time.

He sighed and quickly cleared his mind of such stupid thoughts. He concluded that there was nothing good about Zeno, nothing at all, he was just useful because his son was so insistent on having him as his Manny.

He felt the urge to punch Zeno's face again when he remembered that he was staying rent-free in his house without his consent, courtesy of his son and father.

It was one of the things that vexed him. He never let anyone stay close to him and his son, but now, a stranger had suddenly waltzed his way into their lives and proved adamant about staying, no matter what he did to him.

He believed that Zeno was pretending not to know about his reputation, as he had displayed a nonchalant attitude towards him most of the time.

He thought that if Zeno really knew he was, he wouldn't even be able to accept the job in the first place. He smirked as he stared hard at Zeno's sleeping face.

"Don't worry, soon, you'll know who I am. And when you want to leave, it'll be too late for you, Zeno," Sebastian said lowly with an evil smile.

He had stocked up ideas on how to set Zeno up with dangerous situations, and if he wasn't careful, he might lose his life if he kept proving stubborn and loyal to his father.

"Mm, um," Zeno suddenly mumbled in his sleep and unconsciously rolled over on his side, almost falling off the bed as he was lying too close to the edge.

But before he could fall off the bed, Sebastian quickly caught Zeno's upper body and gently laid him back on the bed, swiftly removing his hands from him.

He already felt like he was doing too much, he felt like their roles were reversed.

Zeno was supposed to be the one looking out for him, but there he was, playing his role instead.

"I fucking hate you," Sebastian said coldly.

He was about to walk out of the room when he saw a small note on Zeno's bedside table and immediately picked it up to see two sentences written boldly in Ezra's handwriting.

Note:

'Observe rest, and drink more water.'

He angrily crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor as he walked out of the room.

That morning, Zeno groaned painfully as he finally woke up. He slowly opened his heavy eyelids which had reduced compared to yesterday because of the doctor's medication.

The first thing he realized was that he was lying comfortably on his bed inside his room, and suddenly, memories of yesterday's incidents came rushing through his mind.

He remembered how he was ambushed by the other guards, and how he was punched to a pulp by his boss.

His boss!

He spontaneously sprang up in bed as he thought of his boss, but he immediately put his hand over his forehead as an excruciating headache threatened to blind him.

"No shit," He grumbled as he slowly lowered his legs to the floor.

He listened to his body as he sat down on the side of the bed, trying to figure out the extent of his injuries, and so far; his diaphragm felt bruised, his legs felt painfully strained, and his hands felt like it's been cut into different parts and his wrist felt like someone was burning a hot iron on it.

He looked down at his body and noticed he was only wearing his briefs, he wondered who must have undressed him.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes but quickly withdrew his hands from his face. He slowly stood up on his weak legs and strode slowly to his full-length to his full-length mirror to see the extent of damage on his face.

"Damn," He winced as he stared at his swollen eyelids, bruised lips and cheeks.

Zeno released a painful sigh as he looked himself up and down in the mirror. He knew he was in no shape to go for a fight in his current condition. He wondered what Rico must be feeling now as he had missed a night fighting for him.

He wondered what was going to become the fate of his job in the underground boxing arena as the present job didn't give him any opportunity to spend any time outside of the mansion.

He knew asking his boss for some free time would be asking for trouble, so he decided to take it one day at a time and see if he'd have an opportunity to bring it up to him someday.

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

The tablet suddenly beeped inside his drawer.

"Ugh, time to work," He groaned and looked at the clock but was surprised to see that it wasn't yet time to wake Ken from sleep.

So what was the damn tablet notifying him by 5? a.m.?

He slowly leaped over to the drawer and took out the tablet, but he surprisingly noticed some oral medications and ointments in the drawer too.

He couldn't remember putting any form of medication in the drawer, but looking at the medications, he knew they were meant for him.

He proceeds to unlock the tablet just for him to see an alarm reminder to take his medications.

He knew for a fact that it couldn't have been his boss who did all this; it would probably have been Butler Nicole; it was a more pictureable situation.

He skeptically took the medications out and took the oral ones according to the prescriptions written on them.

He dragged himself into the bathroom for a shower after which he applied the ointment to his bruises.

When he finished his business, it was already time to meet Ken.

Because of his wounds, he chose to wear very loose-fitted clothes that day, his off-white shirt and black pants were both loosely fitted to his body. He didn't want to risk worsening his injuries

He stepped out of his room and walked towards Ken's room but he was surprised to see the door opened and Butler Nicole trying but failing to get the sulking Ken out of the bed.

"Hey, buddy, what's the problem?" Zeno asked from the door.

"Zeno!" Ken flew like lightning and ran into Zeno's arms.

"Ouch, ouch, easy there, Ken," Zeno winced amidst smiling as Ken speedily ran into his injured body.

"Oh, sorry. Are you not strong enough yet?" Ken asked worriedly.

He remembered what Butler Nicole had told him yesterday about Zeno recovering his strength. But it seemed like Zeno hadn't fully recovered.

"Don't worry about me, I'm stronger than Superman," Zeno flexed his biceps for Ken to lay his emphasis.

"Yay! That means you can still play with me, right?" Ken asked excitedly.

"Yes, but first, you have to take a shower," Zeno said, patting Ken's head.

"Okay," Ken agreed.

Butler Nicole stood beside Ken's bed and watched with disbelief as the boy who had been fighting him a few minutes ago quietly and obediently followed Zeno into the bathroom.

Butler Nicole sighed and left the room, going straight to Sebastian to give the stationary report.

"I don't want to eat vegetables," Ken turned his face away from the dish in front of him.

"Come on, man, your father's going to"

"Going to what?" Sebastian's voice sounded cold as he asked behind Zeno.

"Uh, oh, good morning, sir," Zeno secretly clenched his fist in frustration.

Why did he have to appear so suddenly at the wrong time?

Sebastian slowly looked Zeno up and down, distinctly noting how Zeno was finding it hard to stand upright, probably from the pain he could still be feeling in his body. He couldn't care less.

"Don't think you're free just because your innocence was proved yesterday," Sebastian warned sternly.

Zeno took an unconscious step back away from Sebastian to avoid getting hit again, not because he was scared, but because he didn't want to risk getting hurt again under his condition. He had learned the hard way to always stand six feet away from Sebastian each time he was talking to him.

Not because he couldn't fight back; he didn't just want to get hit, and he knew a time was coming when he might be tempted to hit back, so he was taking all precautionary measures for the sake of his Nana.

"No, that's not what-how I-"

"Why hasn't he eaten?" Sebastian asked, staring steely at Zeno.

Ken had been sitting on the high chair in the dining all the while, looking from his father to Zeno. He knew his father didn't like Zeno and he felt bad for putting Zeno in trouble for not eating his food.

He wanted to say something but he feared his father may reprimand him for being a bad child.

"I'm sorry sir, I was just trying to make him-"

"Quiet!" Sebastian's voice was low but dangerous.

"Ken, eat," He spoke the words unfeelingly to his son.

"Yes, Dad," Ken reluctantly agreed and started eating his food.

"Follow me," Sebastian said and immediately started walking away.

Zeno knew without question that he was referring to him so he gently patted Ken's head before following Sebastian out of the dining.

He wasn't worried about how Ken would do because Butler Nicole was already standing beside the boy as he left.

Zeno quietly followed Sebastian up the stairs, but when he saw that he had passed the first floor and was heading up to his wing, he paused at the bottom of the stairs remembering the stern and clear warning Butler Nicole had given about the master's wing.

Maybe his boss wanted to test him, to see if he was stupid enough to follow him up to his wing when he knew it was a prohibited area for him, maybe he was looking for something to punish him for.

"Why did you stop, Zeno?" Sebastian asked darkly as he turned and saw Zeno standing at the bottom of the stairs.

 

 

Chapter 12

"uh, um, nothing, I was just wondering, maybe I should take Ken to school, he’s running a bit late..." Zeno trailed off when he saw the look on Sebastian’s face darken.

Sebastian balled his fists in rage.

No one, absolutely no one, has ever tested his patience the way Zeno did. Everyone obeyed his words before he even said them. But, this dumbass down the stairs has proved to be stubborn by trying to refute him in every way.

"Are you disobeying me?" Sebastian asked in a deathly tone.

Zeno felt the chill from Sebastian’s voice and he immediately knew that it wasn’t a wise choice to test his patience. He would just have to follow him with caution.

"No, boss," He replied and immediately climbed up the stairs, but he was surprised to find Sebastian still standing in place, not moving forward.

He decided to stop one stair away from his boss and wait for him to continue walking so he would follow, but, without warning, he was dragged up the stairs by the collar, his back slamming into the wall.

"Ugh!" Zeno groaned, wincing as he felt his diaphragm collide with the strong wall.

Sebastian held Zeno tightly by his shirt as he stared squarely into Zeno’s blue eyes.

"Who’s the boss around here?" Sebastian asked menacingly.

"You," Zeno choked out.

"Keep that in mind, before something bad happens to your grandma," Sebastian warned darkly.

Zeno’s eyes widened the moment he heard Sebastian mention his Nana; he quickly nodded his head in agreement; there was no room for misbehaving when it came to his Nana.

"Words, Zeno, I need your words," Sebastian brought his face close to Zeno’s face.

For the first time, Zeno noticed how spotless his boss’s skin was, too bad his character was nothing like his skin. He risked looking up into his eyes and suddenly realized that he had allowed himself to get carried away.

Sebastian was looking down at him angrily, and Zeno realized that he had wasted time in replying to him.

"Yes, boss, I understand," Zeno replied.

"Good," Sebastian pushed Zeno away from him and continued walking along the long hallway.

Zeno quietly followed and subtly let his eye wander around the new area. It was just a long hallway with a lot of electronic doors facing each other.

Sebastian suddenly stopped in front of a door by the right side at the end of the hallway.

Zeno remained silent, waiting for an order to be issued.

"From now on, this is your room," Sebastian said, stepping away from the door to let Zeno through.

"My room?" Zeno asked with a slight frown.

Didn’t he already have a room downstairs? The one beside Ken’s room? What was this all about?

"From today, I am your primary concern, you have to be accessible to me anytime, anywhere," Sebastian relaxed against the wall and put his hands into the pockets of his black pants.

Zeno wasn’t understanding anything his boss was saying, wasn’t Ken his primary concern? Why the hell does he have to deal with him now?

"Um, I think I’ll stick to the room downsta-"

"Move," Sebastian walked over to Zeno and forced him to stand directly in front of the door.

As Zeno looked at the door, he immediately noticed the biometric fingerprint-controlled lock on the door.

"Place your thumb three times on the lock, Zeno," Sebastian said behind Zeno’s neck, his breath fanning Zeno’s neck, which left Zeno feeling weird, weird, but...

"Zeno?" Sebastian called when Zeno didn’t move on his command.

"Ah, yes sir," Zeno replied and quickly registered his fingerprint on the third press of his thumb.

"Hello, Zeno, welcome to your new room," Siri’s voice notified.

Sebastian noticed how Zeno’s ears were turning red from behind, he scoffed as he thought that Zeno might have developed a fever from what happened yesterday.

"Enter," Sebastian said coldly.

Zeno slowly entered the room and was shocked by what he saw. He was almost tempted to think that his boss liked him for giving him this kind of room.

This was literally heaven on earth. A king-sized bed, a comfy grey couch in the corner, a giant television, a PlayStation, a small bar, a walk-in closet, and a workspace demarcated from the room by transparent cotton material.

"Don’t get carried away, you won’t get to use any of these, except the bed, of course," Sebastian walked dominantly into the room and sat on the couch, elegantly crossing his legs.

"You’re here for work and work alone. Do not indulge yourself with anything in this room," Sebastian pointed to a transparent glass door by the far right of the room.

"Except for the bathroom and the bed. Everything else is out of bounds for you, you don’t deserve them," Sebastian said degradingly.

He was mocking Zeno for thinking he could actually have access to everything in his house, and he was more than willing to take him down the peg to where he belonged.

Zeno didn’t know when he let a scoff through his lips, he instantly gritted his teeth in regret, hoping Sebastian didn’t hear it.

He wondered why Sebastian had so much hatred for him, or had he somehow offended him without knowing. All his life, he hadn’t seen someone so bitter before.

"Yes, sir, Understood," Zeno nodded his head and turned to walk away.

That was a mistake.

"And where do you think you’re going?" Sebastian was behind Zeno in a matter of seconds.

He speedily dragged Zeno into the room and threw him against the bed, causing him to fall face-first on it.

"Now, let’s make something very clear, Zeno," Sebastian’s voice sounded dangerously close behind Zeno’s ear as he spoke menacingly above Zeno, caging him between his hands from behind as he sprawled on the bed on his tummy.

Zeno found the situation very humiliating, his hands were spread above his head, and Sebastian had his legs better than his lower waist, caging him like a criminal who was under arrest.

"I tell you when to move, when to eat, when to fucking sleep! Because I fucking own you!" Sebastian punched the area that was very close to Zeno’s face.

Zeno gritted his teeth in anger; he was starting to lose his composure with the constant disrespect he got from Sebastian; he balled his fists to tame his anger.

"You will have to behave if you want your grandma to live," Sebastian whispered into Zeno’s ears.

"Uh," Zeno didn’t know when a weird sound left his lips, as he felt Sebastian’s breath hit the shell of his ear. It was his sensitive area.

"Um, I mean, yes sir," Zeno cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up whatever that was.

Sebastian was glad that Zeno was lying with his face on the bed because he wouldn’t have known how to explain the instant change in his facial expression the moment he heard that sound from Zeno.

What was it supposed to mean?

He quickly lifted himself off Zeno’s back, his heart rate a little faster than normal.

"Can I stand up, sir?" Zeno asked still lying on the bed.

He’s just been told never to move if not asked to, he didn’t want to disobey an order shortly after receiving it.

Sebastian stared hard at Zeno for some time before storming out of the room, slamming the door as he left.

Zeno took that as a yes and stood from the bed.

He slowly walked to the large mirror on the wall and stared at his face, slowly raising his hands to his cheeks.

Why were they red? And what was it back there?

"It was nothing," He nodded to himself in the mirror.

It had to be nothing.

So, what was he to do now as his boss suddenly disappeared? Maybe he’s gone to deal with one of his underworld shit.

Zeno sighed, "Was I even permitted to use the mirror?" He chuckled bitterly and walked out of the room.

He walked down the stairs to find Butler Nicole waiting patiently at the foot of the stairs.

"Zeno, the boss is waiting outside you," Butler Nicole informed.

"Um, okay," Zeno replied and went to walk past him, but for the first time, Butler Nicole initiated body contact with him by holding his arm as he passed him.

"Zeno?" Butler Nicole called in his usual collected tone.

"Yes?" Zeno raised a questioning brow at him.

"I took Ken to school," Butler Nicole informed.

"I figured," Zeno replied with a shrug.

Since Ken was no longer home, it could only be him that could have sent him to school.

"He’s not a bad person," Butler Nicole said.

"Of course, Ken’s a sweet little-"

"I meant Sebastian," Butler Nicole said in a direct tone.

That was the first time Zeno heard him call him by his name.

"Oh?" Zeno was confused as to why the butler was telling him this. He didn’t give a shit about the kind of person Sebastian was.

He hated him. Period.

"He just needs patience, Zeno," Butler Nicole said softly.

"Um, I don’t want to get in trouble with him, he’s not too patient with me when he’s angry. Sorry, I got to go," Zeno said and slowly eased his hand out of the butler’s hand. Walking out of the house.

Butler Nicole sighed as he watched Zeno walk away. He hoped Zeno was the right choice as Mr. Orion had told him.

He did pity the boy; he’d just lost his parents, his grandma was in a coma, and he’d been suddenly kidnapped and blackmailed into working for a ruthless underworld king.

He had wanted to help him take care of Ken that morning because he knew how bad his condition was, but Zeno surprised him when suddenly appeared in Ken’s room to resume his work.

He knew Zeno was a strong boy, and he wished he’d have some patience for their boss.

Zeno stepped out of the house and couldn’t believe his eyes. A black 2024 Maybach V12 Haute Voiture was parked in front of the house, the engine noiselessly running.

He fell in love with the car immediately. He took cautious steps towards the car, raising his hand to the tinted back door window but suddenly stepped back as the window was slowly winding down to reveal Sebastian’s stoic face.

"Get in and drive," Sebastian commanded.

 

 

Chapter 13

Zeno’s heart was beating rapidly for two reasons.

First, because it was the first time he was going to enter that kind of car... And drive it! He was ecstatic, over the moon, but he tried his best to comport himself.

Second, he was wary of his boss; he didn’t trust him, and he wondered where he wanted to lure him to.

Zeno sighed as he pulled the door open, only hoping he wasn’t driving himself to his death. Anything was possible with Sebastian, he got more spontaneous as the days went by.

Zeno closed the door as he entered the car; he marveled at the sophisticated interior. He was almost tempted to run his hands over the rich leather that was used on the chair, but his eyes suddenly caught Sebastian’s image from the rearview mirror.

He had just wanted to steal a glance at the brooding man, he never expected him to be staring right back at him.

The moment their eyes locked, Zeno felt a strange feeling wash over him. He immediately remembered the unusual incident that had happened between them earlier in his new room, what was that thing he felt when he felt Sebastian’s hot breath on the back of his ear?

Was he turned... No way!

Zeno stared at him, transfixed in the mirror as he noticed how Sebastian was all dressed up in an all-black outfit which enhanced his dangerous charm.

Charm?

Sebastian was about to say something to Zeno when he saw his bright blue eyes staring strangely at him, he wasn’t a psychic, but something about the way Zeno was staring at him told him that Zeno was also thinking about the untold moment in his room.

Sebastian was shocked at himself as he couldn’t bring himself to look away from Zeno’s ocean-blue eyes.

He felt it again, the weird feeling that zinged through his body when Zeno made that sound in his room; he forced his eyes away from the rearview mirror and away from Zeno’s eyes, looking out his window.

"Follow the map," Sebastian said coldly as he poured himself a bottle of wine, relaxed back into his comfortable leather stitched chair, and elegantly sipped his wine.

Zeno had been lost in thinking about the room incident and, at the same time, trying to figure out why he was suddenly starting to think that his evil boss was hot.

But Sebastian’s voice from behind brought him back to reality.

Zeno blinked his eyes away from him and nodded, "Yes, boss."

He faced his front as he started moving the car, and as he drove out of the gate, he noticed Jasper and the other guards in the far corner in front of another house in the large compound, throwing strange looks at him, and it made him wonder why.

Were they planning on setting him up again?

Sebastian sat behind Zeno, watching him carefully as he slowly drove the car. He’d seen the admiration in his eyes the moment he set his eyes on his car, and the delicate way his fingers held onto the stirring told him that Zeno was a lover of cars, and had never driven one like this before.

"Faster, Zeno, I’ve not got all day," Sebastian said

"Ah, yes, boss," Zeno shook his head to bring his thoughts focused on the road, not on the car, and... His boss.

Sebastian ignored him and focused on the laptop in front of him.

Zeno focused on the road ahead. After driving for a while, he discovered that buildings were getting smaller and smaller as they drove farther away from the city.

Zeno looked at the GPS apprehensively, trying to see if he had missed the road at some point, but it simply showed him that he was right on track and would soon be reaching his destination.

He risked a glance at Sebastian and saw him busy on his computer; he’d been glued to it for the whole thirty-minute drive; he couldn’t help but wonder what sort of business required all his attention.

Drugs maybe? He wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he sold drugs, he looked it.

Zeno slowly came to a stop in front of an intimidating building; from how classy and beautiful it looked, he guessed it must be a hotel. A hotel that did more than letting rooms...

"Boss, Should I drive in?" Zeno asked apprehensively as he stared at the fully armed giants that were positioned at the huge gate as guards.

He knew they were on dangerous grounds and he was going to thread with caution.

Sebastian looked up and saw that they’d arrived at their destination, he finally looked up from his computer screen and fixed his hard gaze on Zeno.

"No. You’re getting off here," Sebastian replied.

"What?!" Zeno couldn’t help but turn his head to the back and look at Sebastian’s face. Maybe he had suddenly learned how to tell a joke.

"Get out and get in there, Zeno," Sebastian repeatedly sternly.

Zeno saw the deathly look on Sebastian’s face and realized that he meant what he had said.

Get off here? Get in there? Why? Was he really setting him up for death? Was all this trouble really worth it? Should he just resign there and then?

No... He couldn’t.

"Don’t make me repeat myself," Sebastian’s voice suddenly sounded close to Zeno’s face.

He had leaned forward, stopping mere inches from Zeno’s face. He didn’t like it when his patience was tested.

Zeno reeled back when he felt the metal mouth of a gun on his forehead. He was lost in thought and had forgotten that he had stupidly turned his face to the back to look at Sebastian like he had suddenly forgotten the type of person his boss was.

And Sebastian didn’t fail to remind him.

"Uh, sure. Getting out," Zeno fumbled with the door before he successfully let himself out.

He immediately realized that the giant guards had been staring at their car from the moment he pulled up, and when he came out from the car, he felt their unfriendly scrutinizing gazes at him.

He looked left and right and realized that certain kinds of people went through the gate from time to time, none of them went in with their car, but they were surely dropped off by fancy and flashy cars.

Sebastian suddenly winds down his glass, getting Zeno’s attention, "Get the bag from the trunk, deliver it to Meyer. You have five minutes."

Zeno was left in utter confusion as he stared at the glass wind up slowly and smoothly.

"Great,’ He murmured to himself as he walked over to the trunk and took out the heavy black briefcase.

He wondered what could be inside the bag; Cocaine?

Maybe there were cops in there already waiting for him to search him so they could easily arrest him then Sebastian would finally be rid of him.

He took a deep breath as he started walking towards the huge gate.

"State your business," An average security guy asked him in a mean tone.

Zeno was surprised, he didn’t expect to see someone with an average height among these tall giants. That’s probably why he missed him in the first place.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t apprehensive, the guy was rugged in his way and fully armed. He knew better than to take anyone he saw here for granted.

"Chill it, Zeb, he’s with the boss," A tall guard came behind Zeb and pointed to the Maybach parked in front of the building.

"My bad, please enter," Zeb said as his countenance changed immediately, he stepped away from the gate, allowing Zeno entrance.

Zeno hid his shock and nodded at them as he proceeded to enter the gate that automatically opened as he neared it. What kind of reputation does his boss have that makes everyone shrink at the mention of his name?

’So, he owns this place?’ Zeno thought.

What was he expecting, of course, he owned the place, it was probably one out of the many investments he had, his wealth was out of the world, and it was sensible that he had huge businesses that generated billions of income.

That’s why he was a billionaire.

"Now what?" Zeno asked as he stood in front of two large buildings.

He suddenly realized that he didn’t know where to find this Meyer dude.

And time was ticking, he now had four minutes to return to his boss.

He would have asked one of the security men outside about Meyer, but he didn’t. And now, his mind was battling with him whether to return and ask them or not. What if one of them was Meyer?

One of the buildings looked reserved, like something the rich families would lodge in for business trips, while the other one looked more like a Mafia nightclub.

Zeno sighed, he was about to walk into the reserved-looking building when he heard a lady’s voice calling someone in front of the nightclub.

"Come over here, Meyer. We don’t want to risk getting caught," The lady’s voice was thick with a Mexican accent.

Zeno quickly turned to the voice and saw a very beautiful and curvy lady dressed in a sexy red dress and waving to someone behind the sliding door she just come out from.

Zeno was entranced by the lady’s ethereal beauty, but he quickly snapped out of his admiration when he recognized the name she had just called.

Meyer.

That was his man.

He quickly walked toward her, and the moment he reached the lady was the same time a bald young man in his early thirties walked out the door.

"Lower your voice, Florence, he’ll soon be here- ah, behind you, Flo," Meyer announced with a smirk.

Florence immediately turned and was surprised to find Zeno behind her.

"Oh, hello, Zeno. When did you get here?" Florence asked, flashing him a blinding smile.

 

Chapter 14

Zeno looked from Florence to Meyer; he noticed that they had an air of suspicion around them, and remembering what Florence said earlier when he was calling Meyer made him apprehensive of them.

He didn’t know why, but he felt something wrong with the duo. Even though he was attracted to Florence’s beauty, he wasn’t going to let it blind his instincts or judgment.

"Um, I just got here, you’re Meyere?" Zeno asked, looking at Mayer and noticing the dragon tattoo peeking out of his collar.

"Oh, I like him. Direct," Florence said and walked toward Zeno wearing a sexy smile.

"He is," Meyer chuckled darkly.

"Hi, Zeno, allow me to officially introduce myself," Florence stretched out her hand to Zeno, "I’m Florence Orion," She smiled brightly at him.

’Not again!’ Zeno mentally facepalmed as he reluctantly shook her hand.

As if two members of the Orion family weren’t trouble enough for him, he just had to meet another one of them, he wouldn’t be surprised if Meyer was also an Orion.

"He-he, your face says it all. My cousin has that effect on people," Florence said with a giggle.

"Ah, no, that’s not it... I-"

"But, you don’t have to worry, we’re in this together, right Meyer?" Florence turned her face to Meyer.

Meyer only nodded while staring meaningfully at Zeno.

"The bag," Meyer said indifferently to Zeno.

"Sure," Zeno walked over to Meyer and handed him the bag.

He couldn’t wait to get out of there, he felt something off with the environment. And he only had two minutes to return to the car, he didn’t want to get in another trouble with that devil sitting in the car outside.

"Then, I’ll be leaving," Zeno turned back to leave but Florence grabbed his arm, stopping him.

Zeno closed his eyes and sighed. He knew this would happen.

He slowly turned to face her, trying his best not to let his annoyed feelings show on his face.

"Come have a drink with us," Florence said softly.

Zeno would have really loved to have a drink with such a beautiful lady if they had met under a different circumstance, but the fact that it was like this and she was also an Orion just made everything impossible between them.

"I’m sorry, Miss Fl-"

"Flo. Call me Flo," Florence corrected with a smile.

"Uh, sure... I’m sorry, Flo, but I have your brother waiting outside for me and I’m running out of time, so-"

"It wasn’t a request, Zeno," Meyer said in a cold tone.

Zeno immediately noticed four armed and mean-looking security men appear stealthily behind him, blocking his way out.

He knew he couldn’t misbehave now, but in the end, he was going to get the same result it’s either they killed him now as he tried to fight them off and leave, or his boss killed him later for not keeping to the time he gave him.

He sighed and took a look at the security men one last time, trying to see if he could have any luck if he tried to fight them off, but he knew that would be stupid, this was their territory, and any slightest chaos would alert the others.

He looked at Florence, who had a sweet smile on her face, then at Meyer, who had no smile on his face.

Psychos.

He had just been led into the arms of two Psychos.

"Okay," Zeno said.

"Awesome! I’m sorry about Meyer, he’s always trying to show off. Please forgive him," Florence said as he led Zeno into the sliding door she just come out from.

"Sure," Zeno replied.

Like he had a choice.

Zeno was right. Immediately he entered the building, he noticed it was a very grand casino, not the local ones you’ll see all sorts of people around the tables and flights happening at a corner or two, no.

This was a Mafia casino. The people here looked like they’d been bathing in money from the day they were born.

Armed guards were placed around each table, he guessed they were there to literally eliminate any form of imbalance in the casino.

Zeno felt Meyer behind him as they walked across the huge casino. He noticed the girls there were all wearing a very sexy outfit, sexy, but not too revealing, which surprised him.

He had expected to see half-naked girls prancing around the whole area, but they looked quite conserved for this kind of place.

They walked past the tables until they reached a dark corner that had a lift.

"We’ll be going up, Zeno," Florence said as she pressed a button on the elevator.

"Sure," Zeno replied as walked into the opened lift.

Meyer walked in after him, and the whole ride to the 50th floor was the most awkward moment in Zeno’s life.

"Come, Zeno," Florence held his hand again as the lift opened and led him out into a long hallway way.

Zeno realized that this building was a hotel and a casino. Rooms were adjacent to each other and they walked all the way to room number 366 in the middle of the hallway.

"Here we are," Florence placed the card on the door, pushing it open as it unlocked.

She ushered Zeno inside, Meyer following behind.

Zeno was surprised when he saw a suite instead of just a single bed and some other things that are normally found in a simple hotel.

’How rich are you?’ Zeno thought to himself as he stared at the luxury that was worth over a billion used to decorate the room.

He’s yet to discover what really gave Sebastian this unbelievable amount of money.

"Sit," Meyer said, pointing Zeno to a white sofa.

"What would you want to drink?" Florence asked, going to the fridge to get some drinks.

"Um, nothing, I’m fine," Zeno quickly replied.

Were these people trying to get him killed?

He could understand his boss punishing him for being late but being drunk? He was sure he would just be asking for death.

"Sure?" Florence waved a bottle of margarita at him.

"I’m sure," Zeno nodded.

Florence shrugged and poured herself a glass of wine.

Zeno noticed Meyer going into one of the connected rooms that were separated by transparent glass. He couldn’t help but watch as Meyer took something out from a bedside table. He couldn’t see what it was but he knew it was a black object.

"Good thing he’s not drinking; he’ll be able to remember our instructions well," Meyer said as he came out of the room.

"Oh," Florence puckered her lips, placing a finger beside her mouth, "That’s true," She blinked her eyes cutely.

Zeno just sat there, looking from Meyer to Florence and wondering what the hell they were talking about. What instructions were they talking about?

"Take this," Meyer handed Zeno a very tiny squared-shaped black object.

’Not again,’ Zeno thought.

"Uh, what’s this?" Zeno asked cautiously.

From his previous experience, he knew what that was, but he just needed to confirm. And there was no way in hell he was going to make the same mistake twice, he hadn’t even recovered from yesterday’s event.

"You don’t know what this is?" Meyer asked agitated.

"Let me, Meyer," Florence said as she came and took the object from Meyer’s hand.

"Again, I apologize for his attitude," Florence dropped her wine on the table and sat on the sofa arm, beside Zeno.

"What he’s trying to say is, we want you to kill Sebastian," Florence placed her hand on Zeno’s thigh.

Zeno’s brain froze for a second before he suddenly understood what Florence had said.

He quickly jerked his face towards her, disbelief and shock written all over his face.

He can try and understand if it was only Meyer that was in on this, but, his cousin too?! The Mafia world was indeed a crazy place.

But those are actually the least of his problems. He was more concerned for himself, these people were really planning to kill him!

Just a few weeks ago, he was a normal person looking for a simple means to make money and pay off his Nana’s medical bill, but right now, he had suddenly turned into an assassin who had been hired to kill a Mafia lord!

There must be something wrong with these people, he knew they were psycho from the onset.

"Why are you quiet, Zeno, take the chip," Meyer said, dragging Zeno out of his thoughts.

"I- I don’t think I heard you right," Zeno cleared his throat and shifted away from Florence.

"You did, Zeno. Now take the chip, plant it in his car, and when you get the chance, kill him," Meyer dangerously strode closer to Zeno, pulling out a gun and casually holding it in his hands.

Zeno sat up on the chair, things were getting out of hand real quick.

"Hold on," Zeno tried standing up but Florence gently placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back down to the chair.

"Relax, Zeno. You see, Sebastian might be my brother but that doesn’t mean I must like him," Florence crossed her legs together and slid his arm around Zeno’s neck.

"I hate him, and I’m sure you hate him too... We’re not asking for much, just for you to kill him, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely," Florence stood up and picked up her empty wine glass, walking to the fridge to fill it up.

Zeno was officially out of time. He sat there brooding his anger.

He wished Sebastian would have given him a gun. What type of bodyguard walks around without a gun?

He sat up on the chair and stared squarely at Meyer.

"Sorry, I can’t do it," Zeno said firmly.

They were starting to get on his nerves.

"Don’t, Meyer. Be nice," Florence held Meyer’s hand as he was about to pull out the gun again.

"Get the bag," Florence said.

Meyer sent Zeno a nasty glare before he went and got the bag Zeno had delivered to him, dropping it before Zeno.

"Open it," Florence pointed to the bag in front of Zeno’s legs.

Zeno knew from the moment he had carried that bag that there was something wrong with it. Were they really trying to bribe him with Cocaine?

He looked from Florence to Meyer, and when he saw the serious looks on their faces, he sighed and reluctantly unzipped the bag.

’No way!’ Zeno’s eyes widened as he stared unbelievably at the opened bag.

 

Chapter 15

"It’s all yours... If you agree to do what we’ve asked," Florence walked over to another sofa and elegantly lowered herself unto it, her glass of wine gracefully wrapped by her fingers.

Zeno stared at the clean bundles of money stashed up in the bag and he couldn’t believe someone could have this amount of money just lying around in a bag.

Zeno went quiet for a while, not that he was considering their offer, he knew that once he accepted it, his freedom for life would be gone. That’s how the mafia world worked; they never let anyone who had done their dirty deeds go scot-free, and he wasn’t naive to think that if he ended up taking the money and somehow managed to kill Sebastian, they would just let him go.

No, he knew better.

If he accepted, Sebastian would be dead, and the money would be enough to cover his Nana’s medical bill, which would be killing two birds with one stone, even though the offer was very tempting, he wasn’t going to do it.

He sighed and zipped the bag back up.

"I won’t do it," Sebastian pushed the bag away with his feet.

But it seemed like his actions got to Meyer because, in the blink of an eye, Meyer fired the gun toward Zeno.

"Shit!" Zeno quickly sprang up from the chair, looking Meyer calculatingly in the eye as he raised his hands in the air.

"Fucker! Do you think you’re worth all this money?!" Meyer barked.

"I’m sorry to disappoint you both. But I can’t do what you’ve asked. Kill me now and end everything," Zeno said as he slowly approached Meyer.

Meyer scoffed as he saw Zeno approaching him, "Next time, I won’t miss, Zeno," He pointed the gun straight to Zeno’s forehead.

"Tsk! Drop it," Florence came and took the gun away from Meyer’s hand.

She strode toward Zeno and hooked her arms around his.

"I’ll tell you a story on our way out, Zeno," Florence said, flashing her signature smile at Zeno.

Zeno followed her without question. He’s been wanting to leave the moment he came. He didn’t miss the murderous stare from Meyer as he followed Florence out of the suite.

"Goodbye, Zeno. See you soon," Florence said.

He was so sure he wasn’t going to see her again, he’d make sure of that.

"Goodbye, Florence," Zeno replied.

Florence tipped her legs a bit a placed a kiss on Zeno’s cheek before walking away.

Zeno stood frozen in front of the Casino for a second before he turned and hurried his way out of the hotel. He would learn how to forget about the crush he had developed for Florence. She was no good.

He took a deep breath as he approached the Maybach that was still parked in the same spot he had left it. He looked down at his wristwatch and noted that he had spent forty minutes inside the building, instead of five; this time, he really woke the sleeping dog.

Zeno reluctantly opened the door and entered the car.

He didn’t know what to say or how to act with his boss who sat quietly at the back, working on his laptop and not sparing him a glance as he entered.

The silence was deafening.

Zeno felt awkward with the situation inside the car, this wasn’t the reaction he expected at all; he had expected Sebastian to act as he used to; point a gun at him, curse him out, or even throw a punch or two, but he did none of those, he was just busy tapping and clicking away on his laptop.

Zeno felt a foreboding in the presence of that unsettling Silence. He thought maybe he should just quickly drive him to the next destination which was already displayed in the GPS, or he could try and explain what happened with him inside the hotel to help lighten the awkwardness.

"I was-"

"Drive," Sebastian said without looking up from his computer.

He had watched Zeno as he was walking toward the car, he saw the contemplation on his features and knew he was thinking about how he would exonerate himself.

But he didn’t want to hear anything from him, he preferred to remind Zeno that he was not a man to be messed with.

Zeno clenched his jaw and angrily stared at Sebastian through the review mirror.

He’s had enough of this sick family, and remembering what Janeth had told him made him even more angrier at him.

He dared to rape her when she was just a helpless teenager, and now, he had the guts to pose all high and mighty before him when he should be behind bars.

"I just want to explain why I’m late, boss, or, am I going to get killed for doing that?" Zeno asked haughtily.

Sebastian smirked and finally looked up from his screen, locking his eyes with Zeno through the mirror.

"Drive, Zeno," Sebastian commanded.

Zeno held Sebastian’s gaze for a second before he removed it and marched on the pedal.

Zeno drove the car passed unfamiliar places with dangerous-looking buildings. He wondered what else he was going to encounter on this dreadful journey.

"Stop," Sebastian’s chill voice sounded from behind Zeno.

Zeno slowly came to a stop in front of a dangerous-looking warehouse. He wondered what Sebastian would be doing in this kind of place.

"Step out," Sebastian said coldly.

Zeno clenched his fingers around the stirring, he had a feeling he was going to experience something worse than what he had experienced back at the hotel.

He took a deep breath and opened the car door, stepping out of it.

He was surprised when the back door opened. He first saw Sebastian’s clean black shoes before he elegantly brought himself out of the car.

Zeno was lost in staring at his boss and didn’t realize that he had walked closer to him.

"Step aside," Sebastian said, placing his hand intimidatingly on top of the car, beside Zeno’s head.

Zeno blinked his eyes to refocus on the person who was now standing too close to him. At that moment, he realized that Sebastian was a head taller than him, and more muscular too. He wondered what his workout routine would look like for him to maintain that kind of ripped look, even though he, as a boxer, didn’t look as hot as he did.

Hot?

He shook his head and looked away from his boss, "Sorry," He apologized for stalling and quickly went to move away but he was grabbed by the arm and slammed back against the car.

"Sorry, boss, would be more like it, don’t you think?" Sebastian lowered his head to Zeno’s ear as he whispered.

He placed his other hand beside Zeno’s head, now caging him between his hands.

Zeno finally understood what his boss was upset about.

Petty.

Zeno slowly lifted his face to Sebastian, his musky scent wafting into his nose as it was now directly aligned with Sebastian’s neck.

"Yes, boss," Zeno looked him directly in the eyes.

"May I be excused, boss?" Zeno asked, trying his best to tone down his sarcasm.

"I don’t appreciate that tone, Zeno," Sebastian said menacingly.

"You know? You would’ve died a long time ago if it weren’t for my son," Sebastian smirked evilly as he brought his hand down to Zeno’s exposed neck and gently wrapped his fingers around it.

Zeno felt that same weird unidentified feeling again as he felt Sebastian’s hand around his neck. His anger intensified; he didn’t like the way he made him feel. He couldn’t explain it, but he was sure he felt something each time this Devil tried to make skin contact with him, even though he knew the skin contact intended to hurt him.

It wasn’t supposed to be so, he was supposed to be repulsed by him.

"Then, why are you still trying to kill me, boss?" Zeno asked, a certain kind of power coming over him.

And it seemed like whatever came over Zeno, affected Sebastian too.

Sebastian suddenly forgot what he was about to say as he stared into the darkening eyes of his bodyguard.

Why was the change he noticed in Zeno’s eyes affecting him? What was this unfamiliar feeling he felt each time he stared into Zeno’s eyes?

"Mother fucker," Sebastian angrily tightened his hand around Zeno’s neck, pushing away whatever those feelings meant.

Zeno coughed a bit but didn’t try pushing him away.

"I’m the boss and I do the questioning here, got it?" Sebastian increased the pressure around Zeno’s neck, choking him.

*Cough* "Yes, boss," *Cough*

"Good," Sebastian suddenly stepped aside and dragged Zeno harshly out of the car, pushing him toward the warehouse.

Zeno quickly balanced himself from falling and looked back, Just for him to see the car zooming off with unimaginable speed.

"Fucking asshole!" Zeno screamed after the speeding car, angrily kicking a stone away from his front.

"Not nice, Zeno," Zeno felt a hand tap his shoulder from behind, and he immediately knew that shit was about to go down.

He hated Sebastian.

"Who are you?" Zeno turned to see four hefty bare-chested men, all bald, and they all had a matching dragon tattoo on their exposed chest, exactly like the one Meyer had.

He immediately understood that these were Sebastian’s men. What was he planning by leaving him here with them?

"Wrong question," The tallest of them replied and dangerously strode up to Zeno.

Zeno readied himself for a fight, and even though he hadn’t fully recovered, he wouldn’t stand and let these idiots intimidate him.

"What you should ask is, are you going to leave here, alive?" The tall guy asked.

"No one disobeys the boss and goes scot-free," The second guy said as they rounded up on him.

"Then, let’s get started, pussies," Zeno wanted to get on their nerves, and he did.

"Get him!" The tall guy ordered angrily.

 

Chapter 16

Zeno wasn’t expecting them to be that strong, but he tried his best to dodge and fight back, but in the end, he was outnumbered and he was still weak.

But he refused to give up. He had already managed to knock two of them out.

"Ugh!" He groaned as the second guy landed a kick to his diaphragm.

He staggered back but maintained his stand; he noticed him trying to land another kick and quickly caught his leg, then used the back of his elbow to hit hard against his knee; a painful cracking sound filled the air.

"Argh!!! Bastard!" The second guy fell to the floor yelling and screaming painfully.

The sun cast the tall guy’s shadow before Zeno, letting him see when he took out a dagger from his boot and ran towards him with unimaginable speed.

"Die, you bastard!" The tall guy leaped high in the air with the dagger towards Zeno, aiming for the back of Zeno’s neck.

Zeno instantly turned around and managed to step away from his attacker, but not without the knife slightly cutting the side of his neck.

He grunted as he quickly grabbed the tall guy’s arm, which he held the knife with; without wasting time, he punched him straight in his left eye; in the blink of an eye, he twisted the guy’s hand to himself and pushed it forward, driving the knife right into the guy’s shoulder.

"Argh!!!" The tall guy screamed as he fell to his knees, holding his pierced shoulder.

Zeno was surprised when he noticed someone coming up behind him again. He had thought he had handled all of them, but he needed to act fast; it wasn’t the time to think rationally.

He quickly withdrew the knife from the tall guy’s shoulder, ignoring his heart-wrenching cries, and quickly turned to fight off the next attacker.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, Zeno, I’m just here to help," Nicholas said with his hands raised.

Zeno was beyond shocked to see Nicholas there.

How did he get here? Why was he here? What business did he have here?

A lot of questions ran through his mind but he didn’t ask any. He wasn’t familiar with Nicholas, he had barely held a conversation with him.

"Oh! I’m sorry, Mr. Nicholas, I didn’t imagine it would be you," Zeno quickly threw the knife away in the distance.

"I understand; I’d have acted the same way, too. Come in, let’s get you out of here," Nicholas said and walked over to Zeno.

"It’s alright, I can walk," Zeno shifted away from Nicholas who was reaching out to hold his arm in support.

"Okay, Zeno," Nicholas said with a little smile.

"Come on," He says to Zeno and starts walking forward.

Zeno followed him immediately, not wanting to stay here for more of Sebastian’s men to come out.

He winced from pain as he felt the stinging sensation in the place where he was grazed by the knife by the side of his neck.

He sighed and silently followed Nicholas until they got to where he had parked his army-green 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto.

Zeno felt like he was going to have a repeat of what happened in the morning, he had now become wary of classy cars since bad things happened to him after he rode in them.

"Come on, Zeno, get in," Nicholas said, pointing to the opened wing-like door.

Zeno snapped out of his thoughts and reluctantly nodded at Nicholas, "Okay."

"Can you hold on till we get you home?" Nicholas asked in concern as he started the engine.

"Yeah," Zeno replied.

He felt kind of weird being in an enclosed space with Nicholas for the first time.

"Okay, just relax, Zeno; you seem a little stiff; I don’t bite, you know?" Nicholas said as he drove the car.

"I’m sorry, it’s not you-"

"It’s me..." Nicholas smiled at Zeno.

Zeno got the gist and chucked too, Nicholas thought he was going to say the infamous breakup line ’It’s not you, it’s me,’

"Nah, that’s not what I wanted to say," Zeno shook his head, smiling.

"That’s more like it, you have a charming smile, Zeno," Nicholas complimented.

"Uh, thanks. You too, "Zeno replied politely, he returned the comment because he didn’t know how to react to a man suddenly complimenting his smile. But he seemed to notice that his compliment meant a lot to Nicholas.

He noticed Nicholas looking at him with a wide smile on his face. He decided to let it be, he was probably just happy that someone complimented him. Compliment meant a lot to some people, maybe he was just one of them.

He couldn’t help but wonder why Nicholas didn’t ask him how he ended up in a fight in that kind of place; he appreciated that, though, unlike some people who would dive into your business the moment they saw you.

Zeno noticed that they’d driven into the vibrant city and suddenly realized that he hadn’t given Nicholas an address. But again, he didn’t want to seem like a disturbance to him; he had already done much by bringing him out of that secluded and dangerous area, and he wasn’t expecting more from him.

"Um, I’ts okay if you just drop me off here," Zeno said, pointing at the nearest gas station.

"Nah, what kind of person would I be? Leaving a wounded person unattended? No," Nicholas shook his head.

"Um, okay... Can you drop me off at"

"The Orion mansion? Sure, I will," Nicholas grinned.

And at that moment, Zeno believed that everyone in that country worked for Sebastian.

How come he didn’t suspect it at first? He should have connected the dots when Nicholas suddenly appeared on Sebastian’s territory and didn’t ask him any questions when he saw him in that state.

And there he was, thinking he was respecting his privacy.

"Less thinking, Zeno. Everything will make sense to you soon," Nicholas briefly tapped Zeno’s knees.

Zeno scoffed like he would believe what he just said. Nothing will ever make sense with Sebastian.

"We’re here," Nicholas announced as he drove into the opened gates.

Zeno watched as Sebastian’s guards opened the gates without asking any questions, he immediately understood that Nicholas was a frequent visitor here.

"Thank you, Mr. Nicholas," Zeno said and immediately opened the car and started walking out, going towards the house.

"Hey! Wait," Nicholas grabbed Zeno’s arm from behind.

"Ouch!" Zeno winced as the wound on his neck strained and Nicholas dragged his arm.

"Ah, I’m sorry, I just wanted to follow you in and make sure you don’t get in trouble with him, can I?" Nicholas said.

Zeno stared at Nicholas’s face for a while before nodding when he saw the sincerity in his green eyes.

"Okay," Zeno agreed and reluctantly let Nicholas hold him.

The door unlocked as Zeno neared it, letting him and Nicholas in. As they walked into the living room, they saw Sebastian and Ken in the dining, but Ken was the only one eating.

"Zeno!" Ken abandoned his food and flew down from his chair, running straight to Zeno in excitement.

Sebastian was surprised to see Zeno alive; he had planned to tell Ken that Zeno had decided to run away and never come back, but seeing him back in his house with Nicholas left a lot of questions in his mind.

He masked his shock and sat indifferently on the chair, staring daggers at Zeno.

"Hey, how was school today, buddy?" Zeno asked, masking his pain.

"It was so fun, I made a new friend today!" Ken told Zeno in an excited tone.

"Good, friends are good," Zeno patted the boy’s hair.

"Aw, Uncle Nick is hurt, I’m no longer your favorite," Nicholas put his hand on his chest and pretended to be hurt.

Ken looked at him and reluctantly turned to him but didn’t hug him.

He patted Nicholas’s thigh and told him, "Yes, Uncle Nick, I love Zeno the most," Ken gave him a small smile and turned back to Zeno.

Sebastian clenched his fists as he heard his son profess his love for his bodyguard.

"Were you hurt?" Ken asked as he saw the blood stain on Zeno’s shirt.

"No, buddy, it’s just a little scratch, come on, go finish your food," Zeno held Ken’s hand and led him back to the dining.

Nicholas followed them behind, noticing how Sebastian hadn’t taken his eyes off Zeno since he came in. He silently took a seat opposite Sebastian and observed the relationship between him and his bodyguard.

He knew the type of person Sebastian was, and he did pity Zeno for landing himself with such a person.

"Be good, okay?" Zeno said after he carried Ken up onto the chair.

"Okay," Ken gave Zeno a thumbs up to reassure Zeno that he’ll indeed be good for him.

Zeno’s smile disappeared the moment he raised his face and locked eyes with Sebastian who was sitting next to Ken. He remembered all the things he’d put him through today and he felt like putting a hole through his head.

He was more devilish than the devil. But in the end, his Nana was at stake; he had to behave for her sake.

"Good afternoon, boss," Zeno said and immediately turned to leave.

He didn’t want to be in the same space as him anymore, his mere sight of him annoyed the hell out of him.

"Why are you back so late?" Sebastian asked, his tone detached.

Zeno gritted his teeth in anger as he heard that question.

How dare he?

Had he suddenly forgotten how he set him up by abandoning and leaving him in the hands of his deadly men?

"Maybe If you hadn’t-"

"Um, ahem! Zeno, why don’t you excuse us, I have something I’d like to discuss with your boss," Nicholas interrupted.

Nicholas knew that Zeno was angry, and letting him finish what he was about to say would land him into another problem.

"Zeno?" Ken called as he saw Zeno walking away.

"Yes, buddy?" Zeno slowly turned to look at Ken, not missing Sebastian’s darkened gaze on him.

"Will you come down and play with me this evening?" Ken asked, scooping a spoonful of food into his mouth.

"Of course," Zeno smiled then continued on his path.

He didn’t care to know what those two men were going to discuss, but he had to admit that Nicholas was kind of his saving grace that afternoon, because he was sure Sebastian would have continued torturing him from where he started.

"Why’d you bring him back?" Zeno heard Sebastian ask Nicholas as he went up the stairs.

 

 

Chapter 17

Zeno sat in his room, his towel tightly tied around his waist.

He was applying the ointments to his wounds when a knock suddenly sounded on his door.

He furrowed his brow to the unfamiliar knocking pattern. He was sure it wasn’t Sebastian; he never knocked, and he knew it was Ken who would straight up call out his name from behind the door, and it didn’t sound like the carefully thought pattern of Butler Nicole’s knocking.

He sighed and walked toward the door just for him to pull the door open and find Nicholas standing there, with a small first aid kit in his hands.

"Mr. Nicholas?" Zeno called in surprise.

"May I?" Nicholas asked.

Zeno thought about it for a while before deciding to let him in.

"Sure," He stepped aside to let him in.

He closed the door and went to pick up his shirt from his bed.

"Don’t," Nicholas held Zeno’s arm as he saw him trying to put on his shirt.

Zeno slightly frowned, looking at Nicholas with confusion. Why was he stopping him from dressing up?

"Let me dress your wound, it’ll get infected," Nicholas said, releasing Zeno’s arm.

"You don’t have to, Mr. Nicholas," Zeno said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

He wasn’t familiar with Nicholas and had only spoken to him once, but now, he had just ridden in his car and had him inside his room, offering to dress his wound.

He felt their relationship just go from zero to a hundred in the space of an hour.

"Call me Nicholas Zeno, we’re friends from now on. And I insist on this," Nicholas pointed at Zeno’s neck, then pointed at the bed.

Zeno knew arguing would be fruitless, he sighed and lowered himself on the bed.

"I’m just going to gauze it up, try not to strain the area to avoid reopening the wound," Nicholas said as he plastered the gauze over the side of Zeno’s neck.

"Thanks, Nicholas," Zeno raised his hand and touched the gauzed area; he did feel better with the wound dressed; he wouldn’t be bothered with worrying if the collar of his shirt was going to reopen the wound or not.

"You’re welcome, hey!" Nicholas caught Zeno’s arm midair, examining his wrist.

"What’s this mark?" Nicholas asked, a crease appearing on his forehead.

He already knew Sebastian was responsible for it, but he needed to know how it happened.

"It’s fine, Nicholas, I-"

"You can leave now, Nicholas," Sebastian suddenly walked into the room, an eerie aura filling the room as he entered.

Nicholas subtly let Zeno’s hand go as Sebastian neared the bed, he stared at Zeno’s reddened wrist for a second more before he turned to face Sebastian with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Can I have a word with you? Please?" Nicholas spoke quietly to Sebastian.

"You can leave now, Nicholas," Sebastian said without even looking at him.

He had his sight glued to Zeno who was still sitting on the bed with the towel wrapped around his waist.

"See you soon, Zeno," Nicholas smiled to Zeno.

"Goodbye, Nicholas, thanks for today," Zeno said as Nicholas was leaving his room.

"No worries," Nicholas turned and replied to Zeno when he reached the door then he finally left, closing the door after he left.

Inside the room, Zeno felt uncomfortable with the way Sebastian had been looking at him without removing his eyes from the moment he entered the room.

He didn’t let himself look Sebastian’s way, but from the side of his eyes, he saw Sebastian covering the remaining distance between them.

Zeno went to stand up but Sebastian’s hand suddenly pushed him down on the shoulder, near the area Nicholas had just gauzed.

"Fuck!" Zeno grunted, wincing painfully.

"You’re quite stubborn, Zeno," Sebastian said coldly as he stared emptily at Zeno.

He stared down at him and wondered how he was able to survive his men; he thought he’d be heavily wounded or even dead.

But here he was, his skin glowing under the light even with his wounds. It annoyed him.

"I don’t get it," Zeno stood up angrily, not caring that he was now standing almost nose to nose with his boss, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Sebastian tilted his head to the side, looking down at Zeno in a bored manner.

He didn’t step back, he wanted to see what his bodyguard had planned to do or say.

"Why do you hate me so much?! Have I ever offended you?" Zeno asked angrily.

He was just holding himself back from punching that stupid face that was looking down at him with amusement like he was some kind of stupid entertainment to him.

"Like I said, Zeno," Sebastian stepped forward and covered the remaining space between their bodies.

"You don’t get to ask me questions, I’m the boss," He gazed coldly into Zeno’s angry blue eyes.

He reached his hand on Zeno’s injured neck, but instead of placing it on the wound, he slowly sneaked it around his neck, tilting his neck up to focus on his eyes and holding his head in place.

This action surprised both of them, this wasn’t the kind of situation they ever imagined themselves to be in.

Sebastian smirked when he saw the shocked expression on Zeno’s face, and instead of pulling back, he sneaked his other arm around Zeno’s waist.

He noticed Zeno’s blue eyes display multiple emotions, and how he bit his lips to keep his words from pouring out his lips.

"You’re quiet, cat got your tongue, Zeno?" Sebastian lowered his head and whispered into Zeno’s ear.

Zeno didn’t know when he took a rasped breath into his lungs.

What was happening? How did everything suddenly turn this way? And more importantly, why the fuck was his heart beating so fucking fast?!!

"Let go," Zeno managed to say in a steady voice.

"No?" Sebastian suddenly dragged Zeno and pressed against himself.

"What are you-"

"Shh," Sebastian quietly shushed him, gripping the back of his neck tighter as Zeno was trying to remove his head from his hand.

"You didn’t say a word when Nicholas had his hands all over you," Sebastian’s gaze darkened as he said that.

He remembered how calm Zeno was when Nicholas had his hands on his neck and wrist, in the name of dressing his wounds.

He knew who Nicholas was, and he knew what he wanted.

His mood turned sour as he thought about Zeno and Nicholas, and an unidentifiable feeling overtook him.

"That’s none of your-"

"Fuck this!" Sebastian angrily slammed his lips against Zeno’s and, without wasting time, started working his skilled lips hungrily against Zeno’s lips.

Zeno’s eyes widened to their fullest, his brain was too shocked to understand what was happening to him at that moment.

Sebastian, his cold unfeeling boss, was kissing him!!!

What the fuck was happening?

When he finally came to understand the situation, instant rage overtook him.

"Get off me, you bastard!" Zeno was breathing heavily as he harshly pushed Sebastian away from him.

The furry in his eyes as he looked at Sebastian was enough to kill him.

Who the fuck does he think he is?! How dare he think he could do whatever he desired with him?

He could tolerate any form of punishment and beating, but definitely not this from him.

"What?" Sebastian scoffed, as he slowly started to walk toward Zeno again.

Zeno tightened his towel around his waist, not wanting what happened before to repeat itself.

"You’re sick. What the fuck is wrong with you?!," Zeno was fuming.

He was controlling his anger because he didn’t know how he would explain to little Ken that he was the one who killed his asshole of father.

"Quit acting, isn’t it what you wanted from Nicholas?" Sebastian stood a foot away from Zeno, looking scornfully at him.

"Wh-no-how- Fuck you!" Zeno covered the distance and threw a punch to Sebastian’s face.

Sebastian easily caught his hand before it could reach his face, dragging him closer by the hand.

Zeno couldn’t do anything but stand and wait for when his hand would be released because he was using his other hand to secure his towel around his waist.

"Don’t get ahead of your stupid yourself, you should be grateful to me for showing you what you’re going to witness with Nicholas if you don’t stay away from him, trust me, he doesn’t leave a target till he conquers it," He slowly looked Zeno up and down, his eyes pausing at Zeno’s waist and he scoffed when he saw how tightly he held his towel in his hand.

"I don’t do men, Zeno. Even if I did, I’d never do you," He threw Zeno’s hand out like it dirtied his hand.

"Be in front of the mansion in one minute, anything later shall have consequences," Sebastian informed indifferently and walked out of Zeno’s room.

Zeno stood frozen for a second before he quickly turned and grabbed his shirt and pants.

As he dressed up, he thought about what just happened in his room a few seconds ago. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his boss had just kissed him.

Even though it was just a lip-to-lip contact, he still couldn’t have imagined that Sebastian could do that kind of thing with him, and just so he could warn him about Nicholas?

Zeno sighed in relief when he didn’t find Sebastian anywhere in the house as he was going out to see why he was summoned in front of the mansion.

But the moment he stepped out of the house, his heart almost lurched out of his chest as his eyes locked with Sebastian’s, who was facing the guards who had their back to the house.

And in that moment, the questions he’s been avoiding to ask himself raised their heads in his mind.

Why did his boss have such a strong effect on him? Why wasn’t he repulsed by what happened in his room?

 

 

Chapter 18

"Join the line, Zeno," Sebastian ordered, removing his eyes from those mysterious ocean eyes.

He still hadn’t had time to process what happened in Zeno’s room, and he wasn’t in a hurry to think about it, because he didn’t want to know the answers.

Zeno snapped out of his dream state and quickly climbed down the stairs. He went ahead and joined the front line, standing near the guard he remembered as Jasper.

"Come here," Sebastian ordered indifferently, using his head to gesture to Zeno to come and stand beside him.

Zeno walked over and stood beside Sebastian, ignoring the stares that were directed his way.

"You all already him. He’s my bodyguard. He’ll train with you from now on," Sebastian announced.

"Yes, boss!" The guards echoed.

Butler Nicole suddenly came and whispered something into Sebastian’s ear and then left.

"Now, a threat has been issued by one of our rivals, and we don’t take threats lightly," Sebastian slowly walked along in front of his guards, looking each in the eyes.

He put his hand in his army-green pants and paused, regarding their reactions with an icy cold glare.

"An intel tells me that one of you has been providing insider information to them," Sebastian’s voice turned icy as he spoke, his guards cowered as he walked past them, returning to his position in front of them.

"You know very well how I handle snitches," Sebastian said, fixing his hard gaze on Zeno’s side profile.

Zeno held himself from scoffing; of course, he would suspect him at the mention of every bad thing. He wasn’t surprised.

"Three of you will be joining Zeno to go undercover and find out what we’re dealing with," Sebastian said formidably.

Zeno was shocked to hear what Sebastian had just said. Under what?

He doesn’t even know the first thing about spying on someone from a distance! Now he had to go undercover, like, being there and mingling with the real enemy.

Could his life get any worse with Sebastian by his side?

"Ida, Jasper, Cody," Sebastian called out.

"Yes, boss!" The three guards answered uniformly.

"Prepare to leave tomorrow morning," Sebastian said and fished out his sunglasses from his pocket, elegantly fixing it on his face.

"Yes, boss," The guards replied again.

"You already know, if you’re caught..." Sebastian paused.

"We go down alone!" All the guards echoed their response at once.

"Good," Sebastian nodded coldly, turned and superciliously walked away.

Zeno sighed as Sebastian walked away from him. One problem was gone; now he had to find a way not to go for that life-threatening undercover shit.

Since Sebastian thought he was the all-mighty and invincible, why didn’t he go himself and find out whatever information he needed to know?

"Hey, man," Someone walked up to Zeno and stood before him.

"Hey," Zeno replied.

He immediately noticed that most of the guards had dispersed, heading over to that house on the other side of the large compound.

Only the three guys who Sebastian had called out earlier were left.

"I’m Ida, that’s Jasper and Cody," Ida introduced, pointing to the two guys beside them.

Zeno looked from Cody to Jasper, pausing when he saw Jasper.

He knew him.

He was the tall guy whom he had kicked first when he was kidnapped, and he was the person who had led him into the mansion and untied his hands. He couldn’t forget that face and height.

"Zeno," He simply replied, not wanting to be friendly with any of them.

"We look forward to working with you, Zeno," Ida said.

Zeno managed a little nod and went to walk away.

"The gym’s that way," Cody called out to Zeno who was heading in a different direction.

"Right," Zeno turned and headed back in the same direction the guards had previously gone.

He reached in front of the second building and stood, not knowing which way to go and he didn’t want to talk to those people who helped kidnap him.

"Come on, let’s go," Cody came from behind and grabbed Zeno’s arm, leading him into the building.

Zeno wanted to complain but didn’t, because, in the end, Cody was just trying to help him around.

He looked back and saw Ida and Jasper following them behind; he noticed that Jasper was the tallest amongst them, Ida was average, while Cody could be considered almost short from his angle as he looked down upon the center of Cody’s head.

"This place is almost like a hotel, look," Cody pointed Zeno to the left, "That’s our loaded cafeteria. To the right are two doors; one’s an elevator that carries everyone up to their respective floors and rooms, while the other is more like an emergency unit... You know?" Cody said gingerly.

Zeno was immediately reminded of Thomas back at the boxing arena; he thought he would be free from chirpers, but I guess he was wrong.

Cody here was even worse.

"Emergency unit?" Zeno asked, wanting to know the kind of emergency they got into that they had to dedicate a hall to it.

"Ah, like a mini hospital, you know, when you’re injured and dying-"

"Enough, Cody," Jasper’s voice sounded from behind.

"Let go," Cody led Zeno ahead.

Zeno followed Cody through a short passage and reached the last door that was right at the center that adjoined the walls.

"And this... Is the gym," Cody said and pressed a green button beside the steel door.

Zeno watched as the door slickly slid open, reviewing a heavily equipped gym.

"What the fuck!" Zeno said in disbelief.

What were these people training for? Why did they have all sorts of weights and machines in this gym? Were they assassins?

Zeno suddenly stopped his thoughts. Maybe they were.

He thought back to the guy Mr. Orion was calling about his Nana and concluded that they were indeed assassins.

"Come on," Cody ushered him in.

"What do you want to do today? Train Leg?" Cody asked seriously.

Zeno looked at him like he was crazy. Why would he do a leg day today of all days when they were sending him to an undercover job the next day? So he wouldn’t be able to escape when he’s caught?

"Of course not, that was a stupid question, so tell me, what-"

"Go practice, Cody," Jasper came forward and stood between Cody and Zeno, subtly nudging Cody away.

Ida grabbed Cody’s arm and dragged him away.

"I heard you’re a boxer?" Jasper asked in a quiet tone.

"Mm," Zeno replied, looking around the gym, instead of Jasper.

Jasper chuckled lightly, "Hey, I know you dislike me, but I was just following orders, I couldn’t go against my boss," Jasper explained.

He knew Zeno was angry at him for the kidnap incident. But he couldn’t have disobeyed orders, there would’ve been grave consequences.

"Yeah, I know," Zeno replied and sighed.

He knew all along that Jasper was just following orders, just like he was now doing, but he still couldn’t be friends with someone who kidnapped him, he felt wronged.

"Okay, You don’t have to like me, but we need to talk to each other since we’ll be working together from now. Come," Jasper said.

Zeno reluctantly followed him, walking past people who were deadlifting, doing cardio, stretching, and different types of workouts.

Zeno noticed that the walls of the gym were all covered in thick black grapes, from the roof to the floor.

They reached the end of the wall and Zeno watched as Jasper took a small remote from the top of the small table that was near the wall.

He was shocked and immensely impressed when Jasper pressed a button and the drapes parted to review a very beautiful and calming sight behind the glass walls.

"Wow," Zeno smirked.

"Come on," Jasper said and walked toward the glass door.

The door slid open and Zeno breathed in the fresh air that rushed into the air-conditioned room.

He couldn’t remember when last he felt this kind of calm and refreshed by just staring at a beautiful view.

"Let’s go," Jasper said.

Zeno followed Jasper into the most beautiful arboretum he’d ever seen in his life. He never pegged Sebastian as someone who loved and conserved nature.

Zeno was awed by the multiple-colored trees and well-trimmed flowers. The place was heaven amidst the ugly and dark nature of the mafia world they lived in.

"Over there is the archery, that side is just for chilling beside the river..." Jasper pointed Zeno to his left.

Zeno hadn’t even noticed the streaming river and the benches that were placed beside it under huge trees.

He loved this place already.

"And to your left...is your area," Jasper announced.

Zeno detected a hint of a smile in Jasper’s voice, he wondered what could be making the mean guard smile. He decided to turn and see what Jasper was showing him. And, when he did, he was left speechless and excited.

Zeno couldn’t believe his eyes. He walked toward the black punching bag that was hung around a very strong sturdy-looking branch.

He ran his hand over the very smooth and heavy leather material.

"Want to practice?" Jasper asked behind him.

"Yeah," Zeno chuckled.

 

 

Chapter 19

"Someone’s starting to love this place," Cody pretended to talk to himself as they were leaving the gym.

Zeno ignored him, knowing he was the one Cody was talking about.

But, to be fair, he did enjoy his time at the Arboretum. That could be the only thing he’s ever liked about this place.

"Not going to admit, huh?" Cody came and blocked Zeno’s path with his arms stretched, raising his brows at him.

"Move, Cody," Zeno looked down at Cody’s stubborn figure.

"Wow, he knows my name," Cody mused. He was happy he finally got Zeno to talk to him.

He understood how Zeno felt being forced to stay here against his wish, he was only trying to make his stay here fun in the littlest way possible.

"Stop nagging him, Cody. You’re not a pussy," Ida said with a straight face as he came and pushed Cody out of the way.

"Hey! That was rude!" Cody whined as Ida dragged him away from Zeno.

"Hey, how’s your shoulder, I saw your left hand was weaker than your right, so I guessed something was wrong," Jasper asked as he came and started walking alongside Zeno.

Zeno scoffed and wanted to tell him that their boss was the cause of all his injuries, but, instead, he simply shook his head and said, "Nothing serious."

He knew Jasper was loyal to the boss, so, bad-mouthing him before Jasper seemed like a bad idea, he’d be shooting himself in the foot.

They were heading to the cafeteria for lunch, and Zeno decided to join them since he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to eat from Sebastian’s kitchen.

Zeno walked through the door and was surprised to find small Booths instead of the long tables and benches that were normally seen in cafeterias.

He wondered why Sebastian was trying his best to provide his bodyguards with as much luxury and comfort as possible.

On the other hand, he thought maybe it wasn’t a luxury for Sebastian; he was rich, and this might just be a below-average lifestyle for him. But for Zeno, it was already screaming expensive to him.

"Sit with us?" Jasper asked as they entered the cafeteria.

Zeno thought for a while and nodded. Seating alone would attract others to talk to him, and he wasn’t in the mood to get familiar with more people, he was already overwhelmed by these three beside him.

"This way," Jasper pointed to the last booth at the corner.

"I’ll take the inner spot," Cody said and rushed towards the booth to sit down.

"Don’t worry about him, he’s just been released from the asylum," Ida said seriously, then walked off to sit beside Cody.

"Come on, let’s go sit down," Jasper said.

Zeno could still feel the curious eyes of some people on him as he walked behind Jasper. He knew everyone was curious and suspicious of him, but he cared less. They could think whatever they wanted.

"What do you want to eat?" Jasper asked as he took his seat beside Zeno.

Zeno was confused about something for a second. He looked around and couldn’t find any food display in the cafeteria.

"You won’t find it. We order," Cody said and picked up a card from the table, scanned the code on the card, and turned his phone to Zeno, showing him the food menu that was displayed on his screen.

"Oh, okay," Zeno nodded.

Sebastian could have just made it known to the world that he owned a five-star restaurant in his home instead of disguising it as his guards’ cafeteria.

"I’ll order for everyone," Cody announced and tapped away on his phone.

"Uh, I can-"

"You can’t; you’re phone died long ago here. Sorry, I haven’t returned it," Jasper brought out Zeno’s phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, placing it on the table, in front of Zeno.

Zeno took a second to register what was happening. He’s been so occupied with Sebastian and his troubles that he had forgotten about his phone which was taken from him when they had beat and accused him of being a spy.

"Thanks," Zeno said and took his phone, pocketing it.

Jasper nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Ah, our food is here!" Cody said excitedly, almost bouncing off the chair.

Zeno was awed. If this was a restaurant, he’ll be leaving them with a five-star and a dashing review, cause Damn! They’re more efficient than the restaurants out there.

"Thanks, Dianne," Cody said as the short Asian girl with bulb hair placed their food in front of them from the serving rack.

"Enjoy your meal, guys," Dianne said and pushed the serving rack to the next table.

"Sure will, Dianne," Ida said with a smile.

"Like your order?" Cody asked Zeno, already forking meatballs into his mouth.

"Yeah, thanks," Zeno looked down at his pasta with chicken breasts, it looked delicious, but even if it didn’t, he would still have eaten it because he was starved.

"I always make the best choices when it comes to food," Cody said proudly.

"Yeah, right," Ida scoffed.

Cody rolled his eyes at Ida and kept eating his food.

Jasper turned to say something to Zeno, but the food particle by the side of Zeno’s lips caught his eye, "You’ve got something... Gone," Jasper said, licking his thumb.

*CLINK*

Cody’s fork fell loudly onto his plate, his meatball falling out of his opened mouth and his eyes widened to their greatest lengths.

Cody’s reaction didn’t help with Zeno’s confused mind at all. Zeno’s hand that was taking food to his mouth froze mid-air, and his brain, too.

"Um, thanks," Zeno cleared his throat, "But you didn’t have to, I could have just used the napkin," Zeno said, drinking his glass of water to hide his disgust and embarrassment.

Why would a guy act that way with another guy? His mind immediately went back to the incident that took place in his room, instantly pausing his discrimination and judgment toward Jasper.

"My fingers work better," Jasper casually replied and kept eating his food like what he said was just some random thing to say.

"Oh shit, he’s fast," Cody turned robotically towards Ida.

"Shut up and eat Cody," Ida said, not sparing him a glance.

Zeno felt speechless, even if he wanted to pretend he wasn’t aware of what Jasper was getting at, he was definitely aware after hearing his response.

But, why was he feeling repulsed?

After eating with the other guards, Zeno exchanged contact with his new acquaintances. Jasper had an unreadable expression on his face when he asked for Zeno’s number, but as a guy who’s dealt with many girls, he knew what that expression meant, but he only hoped he was wrong.

He bid them goodbye and headed back to the mansion.

He prayed he wouldn’t have to meet Sebastian, he didn’t want to be reminded of what had happened between them a few hours ago.

It was already late in the evening, and he wondered if he’d be able to catch enough sleep before tomorrow.

He climbed the stairs to his room but was surprised to see the door open.

He hastened his steps to see what could be happening inside his room, and reaching his door, he saw Sebastian sitting on the edge of his bed, holding something in his hand.

His heart skipped a beat for two reasons; first, Sebastian. Second, the thing in his hand.

He slowly walked in, wondering what Sebastian would be doing in his room by that time of the day, but, with that thing in his hand, he understood the matter at hand.

"Sit," Sebastian commanded, tapping the space beside him on the bed.

Zeno sighed and walked over to him. He knew he just had to obey at that moment; even though he wasn’t guilty, Sebastian would still think he was because he didn’t know the whole story, and trying to be defensive with him right now would only make things worse.

Zeno lowered himself beside Sebastian, leaving some reasonable space between them, his eyes glued to the object in Sebastian’s hand.

"What’s this?" Sebastian asked, his tone brewing anger.

He had called Butler Nicole into Zeno’s room and asked him to pack Zeno’s things up to his new room when he suddenly saw something fall from the clothes Butler Nicole was folding.

He almost believed Zeno was innocent from the last incident, but this? He wasn’t taking this lightly. Seems like he’s been too lenient with Zeno for the sake of his son, from now on, he’ll let him see how he treated unfaithful subordinates.

"I know you’re not going to believe it when I tell you that I don’t have anything to do with it," Zeno sighed.

He felt conflicted, not because he had a crush on Florence, but because she was his cousin, he didn’t want to risk putting her into trouble with her cousin by exposing her.

But he felt foolish, how could he not know when she put that tracker in his pocket? He felt used and stupid.

"Sure, I believe you," Sebastian scoffed, holding the object up.

"How would you know anything about it, Zeno, you don’t even know where it came from, right?" Sebastian asked, his tone dangerous but his features looked as calm as still water.

Zeno knew better than to think Sebastian was honestly supporting him. He had to look for a way to make him believe him.

"I-"

"I’m sorry to interrupt. Zeno, your new room is ready," Butler Nicole announced in front of the door and left.

Room? Ready?

That’s when his mind recalled that he’s been transferred to the room upstairs. Zeno looked around his room and discovered that his things had been all packed out. He wondered when they did it, and without his consent too, seems like human rights weren’t regarded in this house.

But he wasn’t going to say a word about that, he had a more pressing issue at hand, or... In Sebastian’s hand.

"How about someone pays a visit to your grandma, Zeno?" Sebastian asked quietly.

He didn’t make threats, nor did he play games; if someone threatened his family, he returned the favor double folds.

"No!" Zeno said firmly.

"Please, don’t. About this tracker, I was set up, just like the last time. I’m not working against you for someone," Zeno pleaded.

"I can’t be that stupid when I know my Nana’s life is in the hands of your family," Zeno said tiredly.

If it was anything concerning his Nana, he would never put up a fight. What he said was the truth; his Nana’s life was literally in the hands of the Orion family, and, any little dissatisfaction would lead to dangerous consequences.

"You expect me to believe you, Zeno?" Sebastian stood, his tall figure towering over Zeno.

He looked down at Zeno and the images of Zeno in his towel flashed through his eyes. He clenched his fists in anger, this wasn’t the best time to think about such thing, in fact, there isn’t any best time to think about it, he shouldn’t be thinking about it at all!

"No. I don’t expect you to believe me, I’m only telling you the truth. After all, you’re the boss..." Zeno said, running his hand through his hair.

"Good, we’ll talk about this when you return from the mission," Sebastian said in a dismissive tone.

Zeno stood, walked halfway to the door, and paused, "I’m ready to take any punishment, Boss, just leave my Nana out of all these,"

Sebastian watched Zeno’s back as he left the room, he kept asking himself why he was letting Zeno go without punishing him.

He remembered the shreds of glass that was lying on the floor of his room which he had shattered when he was trying figure out why he did what he did earlier in that same room.

Was he starting to grow soft on Zeno just because of a meaningless kiss?

That couldn’t be. He was as straight as a meter rule, Ken is the evidence of that, but then, what was this thing with Zeno?

 

 

Chapter 20

Zeno woke up from his alarm and sat up in bed. He was still trying to get used to the new room, it was too lavish to get used to.

He brought his legs down by the side of the bed, placing his elbows on his knees and palming his face. He sighed heavily, he didn’t know what awaited him that day, but he just hoped it would be something he could handle.

He walked into his bathroom, brushed, used the toilet, and showered.

After cleaning his wound and gazing at it, he pulled over a black body-hug shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. He couldn’t see himself wearing any other thing that wasn’t dark or any of the full colors. He always felt funny wearing bright colors.

He was up early so he wasn’t in a rush to do anything. He slowly walked around his room, gathering his stuff and putting it into his portable black backpack.

He was told they’d be staying over at their rival place for four days, so he was only getting the most necessary things, he wanted to pack light.

He put the last item into his backpack and zipped it close, satisfied with the way the bag was looking. It wasn’t bulging like something that had been over-packed.

He carried the bag and was almost out of his door when he remembered his phone which he had plugged in to charge yesterday night. He quickly took it, together with the charger, and left his room.

What he didn’t expect was to see Sebastian leaning against the opposite door, wearing grey pajamas and leaving the button of the pajama shirt completely open at the chest.

He was also wondering why Sebastian was standing in front of his room that early.

Zeno found himself staring at Sebastian’s smooth and muscular chest as it shone under the light.

"Where are you going?" Sebastian asked, putting a hand in the pocket of his pajamas and regarding Zeno with a frown.

But, that wasn’t the question he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask him why he was up so early, did he finally feel threatened and was planning to escape while nobody was watching? Or, did he want to run away because he had kissed him? Was he uncomfortable because of that?

He had gone down to work for a while and when he was coming up, he heard some noise inside Zeno’s room. He even checked his phone for the time, and when he saw that it wasn’t even time for Ken to wake up, he grew suspicious.

Zeno sighed quietly; it was too early to have a baseless conversation with his boss; he had hoped he wouldn’t run into him, but there he was, standing before his narcissistic boss.

"I was going to prepare Ken’s breakfast, and ask Nicole to feed him when he wakes," Zeno replied in a formal tone.

"Why would Nicole take him to school when it’s your duty?" Sebastian pushed himself off the door and moved closer to Zeno, scowling.

If he thought he could simply walk away now, he was gloriously wrong.

Zeno saw Sebastian coming towards him and backed away from him, but when his back suddenly hit the wall, he knew had to stay and face him.

"Uh, I think you’re misunderstanding me, I just wanted to"

"Quiet, Zeno," Sebastian said as he stopped in front of Zeno, his voice was as cold as the North Pole.

The welt of Zeno’s shoes was touching the front of Sebastian’s slippers, reminding him that they were almost as close as they were yesterday down in his old room. He wished he could move away from him, but he couldn’t, a steel door was right behind him.

"Remember, I gave you chances to walk away from me, Zeno, you missed them. Now what? You’re trying to escape?" Sebastian asked in a menacing tone.

He didn’t know why the idea of Zeno trying to escape infuriated him, probably because of his son’s closeness to Zeno. Yes, it had to be it.

"Yes, I remember, but that’s not what I’m trying to do," Zeno said, shifting his body to one side as Sebastian suddenly placed a hand beside his head, but before he could escape, Sebastian’s other hand was placed on the other side of his head, making him return to the center.

Now, his boss was towering over him, his chest completely bare before his eyes, and his musky scent seemed to be stronger that morning as it wafted into his nose.

"Now listen," Sebastian hooked his finger below Zeno’s chin and tipped his head upward.

"I told you a time will come when you’ll beg to leave, but I won’t let you. So, if you think you can come into my son’s life and just waltz out whenever you want, then, I suggest you think again," Sebastian warned steely.

Zeno sighed quietly, he slowly removed his chin from Sebastian’s hand and looked him in the eyes.

"It’s not that, it’s just-"

"The kiss?" Sebastian slowly asked in a deep voice.

Zeno’s face froze as he heard Sebastian’s unexpected question.

That was supposed to be long buried between them, and he had thought they had moved on from it, so why did he bring it up again?

He felt his heart beat faster and his face started feeling warmer. He quickly noted in his head to go get a medical check-up later, he didn’t seem to be understanding what he was feeling anymore.

"I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about," Zeno lied, avoiding meeting Sebastian’s eyes.

"You don’t?" Sebastian asked incredulously, was he the only one who couldn’t sleep last night? The thoughts of that scene left him unable to sleep as he kept asking himself why he kissed Zeno.

He felt anger build within him as he heard Zeno say he couldn’t remember it.

He hated him that much huh?

"Yes, boss," Zeno nodded.

Sebastian scoffed and painfully held Zeno’s cheeks between his thumb and index finger, looking down at him condescendingly.

"Liar," He slammed his lips to Zeno’s... Again.

Zeno never believed he could kiss his boss two times, within the space of a day.

He tried pushing him off but Sebastian quickly caught his hands and pinned them above above his head on the door.

This kiss wasn’t like the last one, Zeno felt Sebastian’s fingers press hard on the sides of his jaw, forcing his lips to part and immediately forcing his tongue into Zeno’s mouth.

Zeno suddenly felt his junior member downstairs stir, he quickly shut his eyes tight and refused to kiss Sebastian back. This was wrong.

Everything about Sebastian was so wrong.

Sebastian closed his eyes this time. Just like before, he didn’t plan on kissing Zeno, but, he just wanted to confirm something, but all he got was more confused.

He felt Zeno’s unwillingness to kiss him back, and he felt like someone punched his ego.

He slowly withdrew from Zeno’s lips and coldly commanded, "Open your eyes and look at me."

Zeno slowly took a deep breath to calm himself down, before he slowly opened his eyes.

He was met with Sebastian’s angry-looking face.

"Boss, I think we should keep things professional between us," Zeno suggested, trying to control his breathing so Sebastian wouldn’t notice that his kiss affected him.

"And, I’m sorry. But I’m straight," Zeno said with a frown.

He was starting to feel like that statement wasn’t entirely true.

"You’re so stupid, Zeno," Sebastian moved away from Zeno, folding his hands across his chest.

"I’m sorry if I’m not-"

"Don’t think so highly of yourself, Zeno," Sebastian said and went back to lean against the door opposite Zeno’s.

"That’s not it, I just wanted to"

"Trust me, I don’t want to kiss you either, but if it’s the only thing that gets to your nerves, then I’ll do it," Sebastian smiled evilly.

"I kiss you only because I know you hate me; I’ve noticed you take punishments quite well, so I won’t be doing that anymore," He moved again into Zeno’s space.

"What’s more annoying than getting kissed by a person you wish to kill?" Sebastian whispered against Zeno’s lips, running his thumb across his lower lips.

Zeno tried but failed to control his breathing, he summoned courage and pushed Sebastian away from him.

"I’m your bodyguard and Nanny by a forced contract, I can accept punishments from you, but I’ll never let you abuse me this way, it was never stated in the contract, please, do not try this next time, boss," Zeno said, his voice slightly higher than usual from anger.

He gripped his backpack tightly and walked away, boiling in rage. He’s never felt so insulted in his entire life. If not for the sake of his Nana, he would never become a puppet for such a devil.

Who on earth kisses someone just to get on their last never, even to their detriment? This just goes to show how sadistic Sebastian was.

Sebastian stood there and watched as Zeno zoomed off in anger.

Honestly, he didn’t know why he kissed him again; he just did; he had come to realize that using force on Zeno didn’t work, and he’d never be submissive to him with force.

But he just discovered that kissing Zeno mellowed him down a little, and if that’s what it takes to get respect from Zeno, he’ll do it as often as the need arises. He doesn’t care if it violates Zeno’s human rights or some shit.

He took out his phone from his pocket and sent out a text, asking one of the guards not to let Zeno out.

Did he want to escape? The chance was long gone.