Chapter Thirty-Eight

Zach

It was the next day, just before breakfast. Zach felt like he needed to question Angelo. Somehow, his instincts told him that Angelo had some of the answers he needed. He descended the stairs into the dungeons.

It was cold and damp, and it smelled; it was definitely not his favorite place to be. He told his guards to let him into the cell that Angelo was in.

When he walked into the cell, Angelo looked up, a nasty smile appearing on his face.

There was a table with two chairs across from each other. Zach sat down on one of the two. “Sit,” he ordered.

Angelo slowly got up and sat across from Zach. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Boss?”

“I was just wondering something.” Zach drew invisible lines on the table with his index finger. He looked at how his finger moved, seemingly uninterested in Angelo’s challenging tone. “Why me?”

“Boss, Boss…” Angelo shook his head. He seemed to enjoy provoking Zach. “Why do you think this is all about you?”

“Because you’re targeting me. First my family, then my company, my destined, and now my family again? I don’t know…” Zach shrugged, still drawing lines without interruption. “Just looks a lot like it’s about me.”

“Well, Boss, you think too highly of yourself.” Angelo smiled again, his eyes glimmering. “Because it’s not.”

“Then what is this about? Enlighten me. If it’s not about me, what do I have to do with it?” Zach kept drawing lines, seeming to be extremely interested in those lines.

“It’s about the past.”

“Tell me more,” Zach encouraged Angelo.

“I think you need to find out for yourself, Boss.” Angelo smiled smugly.

“Tell me more,” Zach repeated with a little more force in his voice, but he kept drawing lines.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be fun anymore. And I like to have a little fun.”

Zach suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Angelo by his collar and pulling him over the table. Their noses were almost touching.

“Tell me!” he roared. He pushed Angelo back and let him go.

Angelo tumbled backward, almost falling on his ass. He laughed loudly, satisfied with the reaction he got out of Zach. “Boss, Boss, losing your patience? You know that doesn’t work.”

“Sit,” Zach ordered him.

Angelo lazily sat back down on the chair, leaning back like he had no care in the world.

“Now, tell me.” Zach leaned back also, but he folded his arms in front of his chest and looked at Angelo with a piercing gaze.

Angelo sighed dramatically. “So much for having fun.” He looked at his fingers.

“What is your link with Mercer? Why do you work for him?” Zach tried another question.

“He pays well.” Angelo shrugged.

“I think there’s more,” Zach leaned forward, his elbows on the table, his fingers steepled. “Why would a tough guy like you work for a rich and wealthy man like Mercer?”

“Maybe he is my father,” Angelo looked at him with an unreadable look. “Maybe not.”

“Your father?” Zach raised his eyebrows. “You have a different last name.”

“So?” Angelo shrugged. “I have my mother’s name.”

“What does your father want from me?” Zach asked again. He leaned against the back of the chair and started looking at his fingernails.

“He wants nothing from you. He just wants to destroy you.”

Zach looked up. “Why? What did I do that I deserve to be destroyed?”

“You did nothing. Maybe it’s someone else he wants to get at. And maybe he does that by getting to you. You’re just collateral damage.”

“Then who is he targeting?”

“You find out yourself. I’m not going to tell you.”

Zach sighed. He knew getting angry and hurting Angelo was useless. He was not going to give Angelo what he wanted. He got up and walked out.

The dining hall was busy. Everyone was waiting for Zach. Irene was at his table too, and he looked at her for a second. He needed to talk to her, he thought to himself. He quickly sat down and started eating.

Boss Vance sat next to him again. “Good morning, Zachary.”

“Morning.”

“Rough night? You look tired.”

“I didn’t sleep much. I got some news that kept me thinking all night.”

“What news? Am I allowed to know?”

“Actually, I’d like to tell everyone at this table. Then I’ll have to tell it only once.”

Zach told everyone at the table about the letter from his father. Everyone was shocked. Nobody expected their former boss to still be alive.

Jackson got up and walked away, not prepared to share his grief with everyone else. It was so silent at the table, you could hear a pin drop. Zach stood up, ready to go after Jackson.

“Let him go,” Adrian interrupted the silence. “Give him a minute. He’ll come back.”

Zach sat back down and sighed. The men at the table started talking among themselves quietly, discussing the things that had just been said. When Zach looked up, he saw that Irene was getting out of her chair.

He frowned. What was she going to do? When she pushed the chair back against the table, she looked at him, a little unsure. When she saw that he didn’t respond to her actions, she moved a little closer, still uncertain.

When Zachary told them about his father, she was shocked. It had to be hard for him to go through all of this.

She could sense his feelings being all over the place, and she could see how hard he was fighting to keep them all in.

When she looked at him, she felt the urge to go to him and hold him, to comfort him. She couldn’t fight it, so she just decided to do it.

Everybody at the table started talking about the news. Nobody noticed that she’d gotten up.

Now she was nearing him, and he looked at her with a bit of confusion. She had no idea what to do, or how to act, but she couldn’t just do nothing.

When she was within reach, he turned to her, looking at her expectantly. “What is it?” he whispered.

She shrugged and looked down, fumbling with her fingers. How could she explain what she was feeling right now? How did she tell him that she couldn’t fight this urge to comfort him?

He moved his right leg a little more to the right, spreading his legs, and patted his leg with his hand. “Want to sit down?” It was as if he felt her need to touch him.

She nodded shyly, moved forward, and carefully sat herself on his knee. He put his right arm on her right hip. His left landed on her knees. He pulled her closer to his chest, inhaling deeply with his nose in her hair.

She felt his muscles relax instantly, his heartbeat slowing down.

“Thank you,” he whispered quietly.

She shrugged and shook her head. “I have no idea why I’m doing this,” she said quietly.

“It’s probably the bond,” he said and looked down at her. His right hand stroked her back. “Do you feel it tingling? Do you feel the warmth?”

She nodded.

“That’s our bond. Did you feel my distress?”

She nodded again.

“That’s the destined bond as well. I feel your nervousness and insecurity too.”

She looked up at him with big eyes. ~Damn! Did he really notice that?~

A small smile appeared on his face. “Don’t be so surprised. When I want, I can feel every little emotion you have. I’m not going to do that all the time; I have other things to do.

“But sometimes, when you’re not together, it’s nice to know how your destined is doing, without having to ask all the time.”

They were quiet for a while, listening to the chatter at the table.

“I’m sorry about your father,” she said softly, a sad look on her face.

“Don’t be. You’re not the one responsible, are you?”

“No, I’m not, but I can sympathize with you. I know how it feels to lose your parents, but I have no idea how I would react if I came to hear that one of them may still be alive.”

He looked at her with a frown. “Your parents passed away?”

“Yeah, they died in a car accident when I was almost sixteen.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said. “You really know how it feels, then.”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“We need to talk, by the way.”

“We do? I think we’re already talking.”

“Privately.”

“About what?”

“About us, about what happened. Irene, we really need to talk. I know you fear me and my lifestyle—I can sense it. I really need to talk to you about it.”

Irene nodded.