Chapter Twenty-Five

Irene

Irene woke early, way before her alarm went off. She decided to stay in bed for a little while. When she thought about the day before, she frowned. It was a hectic day, and strange things had happened.

First Mr. Saunders, who was extremely nervous, then Mr. Hunter who appeared to be ill. After that, Mr. Mercer and Angelo came, and Angelo had tried to arrange a date with her.

The yell of Mr. Hunter, who looked furious… And when she went into his office later, he’d seemed so different when caught off guard. She’d wanted to leave and then he kissed her.

He kissed her! She still didn’t know what to think about it all.

Mr. Hunter wanted to go on a date with her. How would that go? The big boss was interested in her, a mere personal assistant. The kiss was good though. Sparks seemed to fly—there was really something there.

She wanted more. If he had asked, she would have done so much more. She would do anything for him, for another kiss like that! She shook her head.

~Irene~, she scolded herself, ~Don’t get too carried away!~

~Who knows? Maybe Mr. Hunter always chased after his personal assistants.~

It didn’t mean that he was really interested in her.

Or maybe he just wanted to get laid and thought she was an easy target. She’d have to wait and see what Mr. Hunter had in mind.

When she got up and strolled into the kitchen, she came across Luca. Luca hadn’t had much time lately—he’d been working a lot—so they hadn’t talked lately.

After she greeted him and poured herself a cup of coffee, she told him all about what happened the day before. When she was done, he looked skeptical.

“He did what? And you let him? You even agreed to date him? He is so out of line.” Luca was getting agitated.

“I know, I know”—she lifted her hands in defeat—“but when he kissed me, I really believed there was something more. There really was a connection.”

“Seriously, you are defending the guy? You have to report him for sexual harassment.”

“What? No! He didn’t do anything wrong except for kissing me. And on top of that, I didn’t stop him from kissing me. Actually, I liked it! He is a good kisser, you know.”

“Irene—”

“No,” she cut him off. “I let him. He didn’t force me—I could have walked away, I could have slapped him, I could have done something to stop him, but I didn’t.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t dare to. It was because I liked that he kissed me. So stop complaining. Be happy for me, please.” Irene gulped down the last bit of her coffee. “I have to get ready for work. Will I see you tonight?”

“I don’t know, I have a lot of work to do.” Luca looked tired. The late nights he’d worked lately were taking a toll on him.

Zach

Back in his room, Zach dropped down on his sofa. Being in pain and not feeling well could make a man very tired. He rubbed his face with his hands. All that was going on right now was weighing on him.

He decided to lie on his bed and take a nap. He hadn’t taken a nap since he was a kid, but his body needed rest, and his mind could use a break as well.

Later, he woke up but kept lying on his bed. He was feeling way too comfortable. He heard a knock on the door in the other room and someone came in. He listened intently to hear who it was. He decided to get up to see.

When he peeked around the door, he saw it was Lara, one of the females of the family. She had asked for shelter a couple of years ago. She was incredibly young, bruised and dirty, and had nowhere to go.

When she appeared to be trustworthy, he allowed her to join the family and, ever since, she was the one who was assigned to clean and maintain his quarters.

“Good afternoon, Lara.” He stepped into the other room. She jumped up.

“Oh my.” She placed her hands on her heart, eyes wide in shock. “Boss Zach, I didn’t know you were back already. I wanted to clean up your room before you arrived.”

“No worries, Lara. Go ahead.” He smiled gently at her.

“Thank you, boss. Was there anything you needed?”

“As long as you keep my bottle of whiskey filled, I am a happy man.” He laughed.

“I will, sir. You know I always keep it filled.”

“And you’re doing a great job. I’ll go outside for a while, so I’ll be out of your way.”

He walked out the door and decided to walk over to the clinic. He had to ask Jordyn for the test results. He was anxiously waiting for them; he really wanted to find out what was going on in his body.

Once at the clinic, he immediately headed for Jordyn’s office and knocked on the door. When he heard a “come in,” he opened the door and shut it behind him.

“Good afternoon, Boss.” Jordyn looked surprised. “How are you doing?”

“Er, I’m doing very well, actually, especially under the circumstances.” Zach felt like a kid who had misbehaved in class and now had to go to the principal to be scolded.

He had left the clinic without Jordyn’s consent.

“Can I have a look at your back?” she asked.

“Sure. I am certain you’ll be surprised how good they look. It was yesterday evening that they suddenly started to heal.”

Zach turned around and sat astride the chair, so Jordyn had easy access. He pulled his shirt over his head, and he heard Jordyn gasp.

“You are right, they are almost fully healed.” She slid her hands over his back to feel the depth of the cuts.

“It’s looking incredibly good. When they still feel tight, or when they hurt, you can apply some cream to relieve them. You can put your shirt back on.”

She sat back down on her chair while Zach put his shirt back on and sat normally on his chair again.

“Leaves us with the question of how I got so weak in the first place and why it took so long for my wounds to heal at first. And on top of that, why did my wounds start to heal so suddenly last night.”

Zach frowned. “Do you have the results of the tests you ran?”

“Yes, I just got them from the laboratory. I was about to call you when you knocked on my door.” She smiled and grabbed a folder from the stack on her desk.

“Tell me, please. I’m dying to know.”

“Well, the results indicate that a high dose of poison was found in your blood.

“The amount of poison was lethal, although we didn’t test immediately, so the dose that you received was even higher. It is a miracle that you’re still alive.

“Though you’re a boss and you can handle a small amount of poison, the amount found in your blood could’ve killed you. The immunity you built up in your training helped, but it was still a close call.”

Zach looked astonished. “Wow, I did suspect I’d been poisoned or something like that, but that it could’ve been lethal… I did not expect that.”

“The high amount of poison explains why you didn’t heal as fast as you’re used to. It explains your nausea, your dizziness, your passing out—it explains everything.

“Except for what you told me just now. Did you say you started to heal last night? Did you take anything, did anything out of the ordinary happen?”

“Not that I know of. I didn’t take painkillers. Ethan only applied some cream that numbs the pain and helps heal the wounds. I didn’t ingest or apply anything else.”

“There’s only one thing I can think of that could have sped up your recovery.” Jordyn looked at him, a little unsure.

“What is it? Spit it out, doctor.” Zach looked at her expectantly.

“Could it be that you have met your destined?” Jordyn fidgeted with her fingers.

“Not that I know of.” He thought a little. His hand stroked his chin, raw from his stubble. Then he thought about meeting Irene, and the sparks that he felt when she touched him, when he kissed her.

His eyes grew wide. “No…could it…no way.” He stumbled over his words. “I didn’t even notice.” He was taken aback. It all finally made sense.

How could he not notice that she was right under his nose? He’d even asked her out. His instincts must have taken over, and thank God they had.

Jordyn smiled. “That explains a lot. Congratulations on finding your destined, boss.”