Chapter Forty

Irene

Irene walked around the compound. She was still using the room next to Zachary’s. For some reason, she didn’t feel like moving to Joanna’s cabin. She felt safer here in the compound.

The beautiful woman who had sat between Jackson and Adrian at the dining table walked her way. “Hey,” she smiled. “I don’t think we have been introduced properly yet,” she said.

When Irene looked at her, she noticed how the woman was holding her stomach. “My name is Rose. I’m Adrian’s destined.”

Irene smiled politely. “Hi, nice to meet you. I am Irene.”

“Adrian told me everything about you. How do you like it here?”

“I love the surroundings here,” Irene said, trying to avoid talking about what had happened the last few days and how she really felt about that.

“Must be hard,” Rose said with an understanding smile. “To be ripped away from everything you know so well and then to live among mobsters, who you don’t even know.”

“I know a few. Irene looked into the distance and shrugged. “Joanna is one of my best friends. I know Ethan pretty well because they’re destined. And I know Adrian and Jackson because they’re Zach’s brothers.”

“Well, you know me now too.” Rose smiled again and looked at her. “You know, if there’s anything you need to talk about, you can talk to me. You can’t just keep it all in.”

“I need to talk to Zach about the things that are bothering me. I don’t really want to talk about it with anyone else. I’m sorry,” Irene turned around to walk away.

She really didn’t need anyone else talking about her and Zachary. She felt bad already about the whole situation.

Another person talking about how Zachary loved her so much already would only make it more difficult for her. It would only make her feel guilty. And she didn’t want to feel guilty.

She just didn’t feel the same way. Maybe she would feel the same about him in the future, but not right now.

She needed time, and she needed space, not someone else trying to convince her to jump into something she didn’t feel comfortable about.

When she walked up the steps of the compound, she bumped into someone’s hard chest, and she almost fell backward. But before her butt reached the ground, two arms reached her waist and pulled her back up.

“Careful, love. I love you falling for me, but you don’t have to do it literally,” Zachary smirked.

When she looked up, she saw him smirk, his eyes twinkling mischievously. They stood chest to chest, almost touching. She noticed how close he was. If he lowered his head, his lips would touch the space between her eyes.

The familiar glow when Zach touched her warmed her from the inside. She looked at his lips—he was so close, she could kiss him if she wanted to. She’d just have to put her arms around his neck and pull him closer.

She felt she wanted to. She felt the urge to claim his lips, pledge herself to him—let everyone know he was hers.

When he saw her looking, when he saw the desire in her eyes, the corners of his mouth went up slightly. He lowered his head a little bit, their lips almost touching, but not quite. The tension was palpable.

Someone behind them cleared his throat. “Boss, we have to go.”

Zach ignored him and kept looking into Irene’s eyes. “Do you want me to go?” he whispered.

She swallowed. “I think you have to. They’re waiting for you,” she whispered back, but she kept staring at him.

He placed his hands on either side of her face, dipped his head down, and kissed her softly on her lips, then pulled away. “I have to go now, but when I come back, you and I are going to talk.”

He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it and gave her a piercing look. Then he turned around to walk over to the guy who’d asked for his attention. “Let’s go, Ron. We’ve got a lot to do.”

When he walked away, he looked over his shoulder and gave her a wink.

A while later, Irene walked into the large kitchen of the compound. She was impressed. It looked like the professional kitchen of a restaurant.

But she had seen how many family members ate in the compound, so she knew this was not just luxury, but very much a necessity. She decided to look in the pantry and took out the ingredients to make an apple pie.

When she was halfway through making her apple pie, some female family members walked in. They stopped abruptly at the door when they saw Irene working on her pie.

“Miss, you don’t have to do this. We can do this for you,” one of the women said. They all quickly surrounded her and tried to take away her stuff.

“No, please. I really want to make my pie.”

“But you don’t have to, Donna. We can do that for you.”

Irene sighed. “I was just bored. I don’t have anything to do here, and I really enjoy baking. Can I please finish my pie? I thought I could give back for your hospitality.”

“Well…” One of the women started to smile. “Let’s help you then. We will make enough for everyone to enjoy a piece of apple pie.”

“Yes.” Irene smiled. “That would be great.”

They all started to get busy and chatted away. Irene smiled. She was making friends, and she felt actually a lot better now.

Zach

To say that the last hours had gone by excruciatingly slowly was an understatement. Especially since Zach had someone at home he longed for occupying his thoughts.

He and Ron, his captain, were busy the whole day. They scoured the whole area together but didn’t find anything, not even a tiny clue as to where his enemies had hidden his father.

It was almost dark, the sun was setting, and Zach was heading home. He hadn’t heard anything from Darian, so he assumed that nothing serious had happened while he was away.

The other guys that were on lookout approached Zachary as soon as he arrived at the open space in front of the compound.

“Boss,” Ethan said, as soon as Zach opened his door. “We haven’t found a single clue. Did you find anything?”

Zach sighed and got out of his car. He brushed his hands through his hair. “No, we didn’t find anything either.” He looked at the men surrounding him.

They all had expectant looks on their faces, as if he would have all the answers.

“Give me some time to think, guys. I don’t know what to do. As soon as I have a plan, you’ll be informed.” Zach’s captain and advisor turned around and walked away.

Jackson walked up to Zach, grabbed his shoulder, and squeezed a little. “If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll stay here until we’ve safely returned your father.”

The tall man turned around and followed Ron and Darian inside the family house.

Only Ethan and his brothers were left. Zach stepped away and leaned against the hood of his car.

“Are you alright? You look as if you haven’t slept in days,” Adrian came a little closer.

“I don’t know,” Zach shrugged. “There’s a lot expected from me. I don’t know if I can handle it all. I don’t know if I’m able to find our father.” He looked down at his feet.

“Hey, Zach,” Adrian walked closer and gave him a hug. “You are not alone in this, you hear me? We are here to help you. You don’t have to carry this burden on your own. You’re doing great.”

Jackson and Ethan nodded in agreement.

“We’re here for you,” Ethan said. “Let us help you carry your burden.”

Zach pushed himself away from the car and stood up straight.

“I forgot I still have my informants to find out if there’s a trace of Mercer in the city. I’ll call them and check on him. It could take a few days, though, before I get the results.”

“Well, we just have to wait and see then,” Jackson said. “Once we have those results, we’ll see what we can do.”

They all nodded. Then Jackson and Adrian started to sniff.

“What is that wonderful smell that makes my mouth water?” Adrian asked and looked in the direction of the family house.

“Smells like the kitchen is busy cooking unbelievably delicious things.” Jackson smiled. “Let’s go see and find out what they’re making.”

As they took the steps to the family house, Irene walked their way with a big smile on her face.

“Hey, guys.” Her smile grew wider. “I just baked some pies with the kitchen crew. You’ll be able to taste them when dessert is served.”

“So it was you who’s responsible for the mouth-watering smell.” Adrian smiled.

“Yes.” Irene smiled again, then she looked at Zach. “You’re back.”

“I am.” He smiled back at her and took a step closer.

“You wanted to talk to me. Do you think you have time right now?”

“I think so, but I would like to shower first. Is that alright with you?”

“He’s afraid he stinks, and that he’s going to scare you away because of that,” Adrian teased.

They all laughed, and Zach shook his head.

“I’ll see you in a minute,” he said to Irene, and walked away. But after he took the first step up the stairs, he changed his mind and turned around.

He quickly walked to Irene, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her close to his chest. When she looked up, he lowered his head and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

He smiled, quickly turned around, and sped away to take his shower.