Chapter Forty-Two

Zach

Zach jerked up, woken by the loud noise of his phone ringing. Without looking, he picked up, squeezing the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “Hunter.”

“Good morning, Mr. Hunter.” Christian was on the phone, sounding chirpy and very much awake. “I hope I am not disturbing you, but I really need to talk to you.”

Zach grunted. “I was still asleep. I’ve had a few busy days. Give me a second.” He sat up against his headboard and rubbed his face with one hand.

“Busy with what?” Mr. Hunter asked. “Playing golf?”

Zach promptly dropped his hand and looked offended. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, Zachary, I couldn’t help myself. I know you’re a busy man. Doing all kinds of useful things.”

“It’s alright. You should come and see where I live and what I do. Seriously, you would love it here.”

“Maybe I will when my boss gives me a day off.” Saunders was in a teasing mood today.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Zach asked, getting back on topic.

“Right. I just got a phone call from Mr. Mercer. He wants to sit down and negotiate again. He said he had something you would be extremely interested in.”

Zach was on edge now. “Another early bird. Do you know what he has that should interest me?”

“No, I’m sorry. I asked, but he didn’t want to tell. He only wants to speak with you again.”

“Pff, seriously, that man is annoying.” Then an idea popped up in Zach’s head. It might be the perfect moment to find out where Mercer was hiding his father. “When does he want to meet?”

“As soon as possible. Rather yesterday than today.”

“I’ll see what I can do. When I know when I can come, I’ll let you know so you can set up a meeting.”

“Alright. I’ll be expecting your phone call. Oh, by the way, when can I have my PA back? You said she would be out for a while, but I really need her here.

“And if she’s going to be out for a longer time, I need to know if I have to replace her temporarily.”

“I hope she will be back soon. As soon as the situation is back under control, she’ll be back.”

“Do you care to explain how you both got into that situation together? As far as I know, you didn’t know Irene before you met her here at the office, did you?”

“It’s hard to explain, Christian. I would love to, but I think it’s better when I see you in person. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure. I hope to hear from you soon.”

After a while, Zach sat up and moved over to the edge of his bed. He rubbed his face but couldn’t seem to rub the sleep away. He felt broken, devastated. He hadn’t slept much last night.

Irene’s words kept repeating themselves in his mind all night. It was as if his reason to live had been taken away from him. Irene was his everything and she didn’t want to be with him.

He didn’t know what to do now. He couldn’t force her to stay with him; he had no other option than to let her go. He needed to tell her that he would be gone for a few days.

Maybe when he was busy dealing with the bastard Mercer, he could stop thinking about her for a while.

Irene

When Irene woke up, she felt like she had a major hangover, although she hadn’t been drinking yesterday. She knew why she felt this way; she couldn’t sleep at all last night.

Her heart felt heavy. She was still doubting if she’d made the right choice last night. Choosing to go home and leave Zachary seemed like a safe choice, but leaving him behind was harder than she thought it would be.

She’d seen the hurt in his eyes when she said she wanted to go back home. He did try to hide it, but she saw it anyway. She was thankful that he hadn’t pushed her to stay here.

When she walked out of her room to grab some breakfast, she ran into Zachary.

“Irene.”

She saw his dark eyes looked empty; the glint that was always there was gone. He looked like a mess.

“Good morning, Zach.” She gave him a little smile.

“I wanted to tell you that I’ll be gone for a few days. Business is forcing me back to the city. But I’ll deal with some problems with the intruders while I am there. I just wanted you to know, so you know what’s going on.”

“Okay. Thank you for informing me.” She continued her walk to the dining hall.

“Irene.” Zach’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

She looked at him over her shoulder, then turned around to fully look at him. “Yes?”

“Are you really leaving me?”

“Zachary.” She sighed. “We talked about this. I explained to you why. I really don’t feel like talking about this right now.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up.” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Go ahead, have breakfast, I have some work to do.”

Turning away from him, she sighed and walked down the hallway to the stairs. She ran her hand through her hair while going down, her other hand holding on to the railing.

She saw Jackson coming through the front door, and he looked up.

“Good morning, Irene.” He smiled.

She smiled back at him. “Good morning.”

Jackson frowned. “Are you alright? You seem upset.”

Irene stepped down the last step and returned the little hug he gave her. “I am fine. I just had a difficult chat with your big brother.”

“What has he been up to now?” Jackson looked a little worried.

“Nothing, really. I made a decision, and he had a hard time dealing with it, I guess.”

He grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side. “Are you leaving?”

Irene frowned. “Why are you asking?”

Jackson sighed. “I don’t know... because you’re my brother’s destined. His happiness depends on you, mostly. And because he is our boss, our leader, I need him to be alright.

“There are too many people depending on him. He’s already under way too much pressure right now.”

Irene’s frown deepened. She was getting angry. No one told her what to do, not even a little boy who was still wet behind the ears.

“Excuse me? Are you saying I can’t leave this place just because you think Zach can’t live without me? That he can’t function without me?

“Who are you, my mother? I don’t think so. You don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do.”

She turned around to walk away, but he halted her by grabbing her hand.

“Sorry, Irene, I didn’t mean it that way. I am just worried about him. He already has so much on his plate right now.

“I am not telling you what to do. You need to decide for yourself. But it is true, he won’t be able to function without you. He won’t get over you—he will break, you know.”

Behind them, a shadow appeared. “Jackson, come with me. I need us all together; we have some important matters to discuss.”

They both turned around to see Zach standing there, dark and tall. If he truly was devastated, he had a good way of hiding it now.