Chapter Thirty-One

Irene

Irene pulled her hands out of Zach’s and moved to the other end of the couch. This was all too much—the attack, the dangerous situation she found herself in, Zach’s sudden care, and now his confession.

She wanted to scream, throw things. Run far away and forget about all of it. “I…” She didn’t know what to say.

“I am not going to force you into anything. I only hope you want to get to know me, give me a chance. If it doesn’t work out for you, you can always back out again.

“The only thing I ask of you right now is that you let me take care of you and the situation. I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

“No.”

“Irene—”

“No!” She shook her head. “I will make sure I have a bodyguard. But I’m not coming with you! I need time, I need space! It’s too much!”

She held up her arms to keep him at a distance when she saw he wanted to move closer. “Don’t touch me!”

“Irene—”

“No, stop. Please.” She felt her eyes tear up and tried to hold them back. She closed her eyes, trying to fight her feelings—her shock—but the tears escaped anyway.

The couch dipped down next to her, then a comfortable warmth surrounded her. She found herself held tightly by his strong arms.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Let it out. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”

Her head tilted to the left, against his chest. And finally, she let herself go.

After a while, her tears stopped. Her eyes felt puffy and red, but she didn’t care. She looked at him and saw his eyes looking back with so much love, so much care.

How did he do that? Have all those feelings already when this was the second time he’d seen her? She didn’t understand.

“I know you have questions, and I’ll answer them all if you’d like. But right now, I think you need to sleep first.” He looked concerned.

“Do I call Joanna? Maybe you can sleep at her place? Would you like that? I’ll keep my distance as long as you need.”

She nodded. His eyes looked distant for a minute, then he looked back at her. “Maybe you should pack some things.”

She nodded again and reluctantly tried to get up.

“Do you need some help?” He got up, too, and walked in the direction of the front door to open it and let his brother back in.

Irene shook her head and left for her bedroom. While packing, she heard the muffled voices of Zach and his brother, but she couldn’t hear them well enough to know what they were talking about.

A little while later, she stepped out of her bedroom, and immediately, Zachary came to her. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Irene nodded, then she put down the weekend bag she had in her hands and wiped away some stray hairs.

“Ready to go, Zach? It’s getting late. The woman needs sleep.” Jackson came out from behind Zach.

Zach turned a little to look at his brother. “I know. I know every little feeling she has.”

Jackson’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “What? She—” He shook his head, then smiled widely. “Well, it’s nice to meet my sister-in-law. It’s about time Zach got himself a wife.” He winked at Zach.

“Normally, I would love to give you a hug to welcome you into the family, but as this man here is a big, bad, possessive boss, and I don’t have a death wish, I’ll just welcome you like this.”

“Well, let’s not scare her away. She’s not your sister-in-law just yet. We’ll have to get to know each other first.” Zach tried to tone his brother’s enthusiasm down a little.

He turned his head to Irene again and looked at her with inquisitive eyes.

She smiled at Zach. “He’s not scaring me away. I think he is adorable. I am fine, for now.”

“Well, let’s go then.” Zach walked to the front door and opened it for her. “After you.”

It was dark outside when they drove away. Irene sat in the passenger seat, and it didn’t take long until she fell asleep. When she was asleep, Jackson started a quiet conversation with his brother.

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” he asked. “She was quite shaken up, wasn’t she?”

“I don’t know. I hope so.” Zach shrugged and, for a second, he looked at the sleeping girl next to him, a concerned look on his face.

“I truly hope she’ll accept me, but I’m not so sure she will. The only thing I can do is give her time and space. And when she’s ready, a lot of love.”

“I hope you can control your instincts for that long.” Jackson looked at his brother in the mirror, a little worried.

“I know. If not, it’ll be a major problem.” Zach looked at the rearview mirror for a second to look at his brother.

I have to accept she’s an outsider and that she would want to make her own decision. She doesn’t understand how powerful a destined connection is yet.

“If we ever get together, it will be because she made that decision herself. Not because it’s our way of life.”

“I think it’s very noble of you. I hope your instincts agree with you.”

“There’s one thing my instincts and my rational brain agree on.” Zach smiled.

“And that is?”

“That we want to see her happy, make her happy, and we want her to be happy.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll keep that in mind whenever it becomes difficult.”

“I hope so too.”

Zach turned left and drove onto the long forest road. They were almost home.

“Did you announce our return and make sure Irene has a place to stay?” Zach asked Jackson.

“Yes, I did. I made sure the room next to yours was made ready for her. I know she’s going to stay with Joanna, but she’ll probably be asleep already. If Irene really wants to sleep at Joanna’s, she can move tomorrow.”

Zach nodded in agreement. “Well done. Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Jackson smiled.

Zach drove through some deep potholes in the road and Irene jolted up.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?” He looked to his right to check on her.

“Are we there yet?” She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. They were still stinging from the crying.

“Almost. Just about another thirty minutes of these bumps and holes in the road.” Zach focused on the road. It was dark outside, and the trees made it even darker. One little mistake could be fatal here.

Irene stretched. “What time is it?”

“Almost one a.m.”

Half an hour later, they arrived at the compound. Outside, everything was quiet. The front door was open, and Adrian stepped out. He quickly walked to the car to greet Zach and Jackson.

“Hey, brothers.” He hugged them. “Who is this?” He looked at Irene.

“This is Irene. She’s been attacked by Angelo, and we took her with us so we can be sure of her safety.”

Adrian looked at her and smiled. “Welcome to our family, Irene.” Adrian spread his arms to give her a hug, but Zach blocked him. He looked shocked. “What—”

“Don’t say anything further, Adrian.” Jackson laughed. “If you don’t want to be killed anywhere near soon, I advise you to stay away from this lovely lady here.”

“Why?” Adrian looked in confusion from Zach to Jackson and then to Irene.

They were quiet for a second. Zach didn’t say anything, just walked around the car to get Irene’s weekend bag.

“She’s his destined,” Jackson answered.

Adrian looked at Irene with new interest. “Really?” His eyes widened with surprise.

Irene smiled shyly.

“Irene, this is our other brother, Adrian.” Jackson introduced him to her.

Zach returned with the bag. “Let’s get inside, shall we? We need to sleep. We’ll discuss everything in the morning. Irene, I’ll walk with you to your room. Is that alright?”

Irene nodded and followed him inside.