Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zach

This was it. This was the moment of truth. Zach and his brothers sat at the dining table. Ethan was there with them. As Lara was serving coffee at their table, Adrian started the conversation the brothers had talked about.

“Zach, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you,” Adrian said, pulling a serious face.

“What do you have to tell me?” Zach asked, not looking away from his food. From the corner of his eye, he saw how Lara tried to scoot a little closer to hear their conversation, just as he’d expected.

Ethan looked up, all ears. “What news?”

“My boss won’t support you in your battle against the intruders,” Adrian said, with a little dread in his voice. He was a good actor.

“What?” Zach jolted up, acting as if he was outraged. “Why doesn’t he want to support me? Your family has been attacked by those bastards as well! Does he want to give away his land to them for free?”

Ethan looked shocked.

“I’m sorry, Zach.” Adrian looked down at his plate, feeling intimidated by the aura Zach radiated. Zach apparently was a good actor too.

Lara hurried away, looking around to see if someone noticed her. Little did she know, three pairs of eyes followed her all the way to the door. When she was out, Jackson got up, winked at Zach, and followed Lara out.

Ethan looked around confused when he saw their smiling faces. “What’s going on?”

“We just confirmed that we have a mole in our midst.” Zach folded his arms in front of his chest and looked content.

“It isn’t me.” Ethan raised his hands in the air, his eyes wide as saucers. “I mean it. I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Adrian and Zach laughed out loud.

“It isn’t you, dummy.” Adrian laughed. “I’ll tell you later.”

~“Zach,”~ ~Jackson texted him. ~“She just grabbed her coat and her purse. I think you should get ready to leave as well.”~

~“I am on my way.”~ Zach got up from the table.

“I have some business to attend to. Adrian, you know what to do? Explain to Ethan what’s going on.” Adrian nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Now go!”

From the distance, Zach could see Lara going into a large warehouse, the one Jackson had been talking about before. Zach had come here with Jackson and a couple of soldiers.

A multitude of cars following Lara’s would have drawn too much attention, so Zach decided that just one truck at a safe distance would follow Lara’s car and the rest would stay further behind then walk when they got close.

The truck carried all their belongings. He decided to wait; maybe some of them would come out of the warehouse.

After a while, Lara came back out. She took her car and went back the way she came. Zach knew she was going home, so he didn’t pay attention to her anymore. He’d wait for Angelo or Mercer to show up.

They waited a long time for anything to happen. Zach and the soldiers had left in the morning, and now it was already sometime in the afternoon.

He had almost given up when he saw a person coming out of the warehouse. When he took a better look, he saw it was Angelo. Angelo got into a car and sped away.

Zach decided to follow him, together with Jackson, in the truck. The rest of the soldiers stayed in the vicinity of the warehouse. They’d get in touch if anything changed.

Angelo’s car rode all the way into the city. He stopped in front of a cheap-looking apartment building; they all looked the same in this part of town. Angelo got out of the car and headed to the main entrance.

Zach followed him at a safe distance; he didn’t want to get caught. Was this where Angelo lived? Or did he have some accomplices here?

When he walked by the mailboxes at the bottom of the stairwell, he saw a familiar name on one of them. What the hell was Angelo doing here? How did he know where the girl lived?

He quickly ran up the stairs with Jackson right behind him. He could hear Angelo pounding on one of the doors. Zach could only hope that he’d get up there in time because Angelo didn’t seem to have come here for a friendly visit.

Angelo shouted something unclear.

They heard someone unlock a door and then they heard Angelo shouting and calling names. They were almost at the entrance where Angelo had gone in. The door was still open, and they quietly snuck in.

“Did you really think you could get away with what you did last night? Your biggest mistake was to underestimate me, bitch!” Angelo was clearly audible. They could hear a slapping sound and a woman’s cry.

It sounded like someone was being threatened. They could clearly hear the stumbling of a fight. A female voice cried out again in pain.

Zach wasted no time and barged into the apartment with Jackson hot on his tail. His instincts were on edge; he would recognize those cries anywhere. This was his destined being threatened!

When his destined and her attacker came into sight, Zach didn’t hesitate to pull Angelo off of Irene. Irene screamed, scared by everything that was happening.

Angelo stumbled backward; he obviously hadn’t heard Zach and Jackson come in. Zach punched him straight in the face and he stumbled backward once more.

“Leave her the fuck alone!” Zach roared.

“Mr. Hunter!” Angelo looked at him in shock, his eyes wide as saucers. He put his hands in front of him, to protect himself from the enraged boss in front of him. “I— I—” He couldn’t get a word out of his mouth.

Zach grabbed him and pushed him against the nearest wall.

“No, please!” Angelo cried. “I didn’t do anything. Please!”

“Shut your mouth!” Zach grabbed him by the throat and squeezed a little. “What did you think you were doing? Taking on a regular person. Even worse, a female?

“You must be very pathetic. Couldn’t you get someone your own size?” Zach was still roaring; he was livid.

He dragged Angelo out and looked at him menacingly. “Get out of here! You piece of shit!” Zach yelled. “Get out of here before I kill your sorry ass! Don’t ever come back!” Then he went back inside, slamming the door behind him.

Once back inside, he took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then he walked into the living room of Irene’s apartment.

When he saw Jackson hugging Irene, his anger rose again. Irene’s and Jackson’s heads jolted up.

“Goodness, Zach, calm down.” Jackson looked surprised.

“Let her go,” Zach warned slowly. “Now.”

“Zach, what’s going on?” Jackson didn’t understand his brother’s behavior and didn’t let go.

“I can’t tell you right now, but you have to let her go,” Zach said threateningly. “Now.”

“Mr. Hunter,” Irene said softly. “This gentleman was so kind to comfort me when you pulled Mr. Angelo off me. I don’t think you should be threatening him.”

“As I said”—Zach was getting impatient—“I can’t explain myself right now. I will when the time is right. But for now, I suggest you do as I say. Let her go! Goddammit!”

“Alright, alright!” Jackson held his hands up in defense. “Is it the time of the month or something?”

“Jackson, would you be so kind as to step out for a minute and leave us alone?” Zach’s impatience was rising, and he was grinding his teeth. His instincts wanted to be with his destined, hold her, comfort her. But he couldn’t.

“Zach! Seriously? What’s going on? You tell me right now!” Jackson stepped in front of him, not scared of his big brother.

“Jackson! Out! Now!” Zach roared. The boss was giving a direct order.

Jackson obediently walked out, muttering something about his big brother being an ass.