Chapter Twenty-Two
Chloe
I wasn’t as strong as I thought; these people terrified me.
“I’m Jane,” the woman ‘in charge of me’ said, pulling my attention back to her. Her voice was husky but sweet, her short hair framing her exotic features beautifully.
High cheekbones, warm golden skin, and the kind of eyes that didn’t miss a thing. She wore a long pencil dress, modest and elegant, far too refined for what I expected in a room full of felons, which piqued my curiosity.
“You’ve got everyone curious. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Curious about me?
Her smile was warm, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was sincere.
My eyebrows lifted. “Why?”
“Why?” she echoed with a scoff. “You’re living with Zane, Chloe.” She said it as if it was some monumental event.
I pressed my lips together, afraid of saying something that could put me in trouble.
“You’re a suspicious one, aren’t you?” she teased, cocking her head.
I shrugged. “I don’t know any of you.”
“Well, let’s change that.”
She took my wrist and led me to one of the couches, giving me a little nudge, forcing me to sit with her.
“Where should we start?” she paused, her eyes scanning the room. “Well, if you want to get on Zane’s good side, you should start by getting along with Ivar.”
“Ivar? Really?” I asked incredulously, not hiding my disdain.
“I know, Ivar can be... difficult,” she mused. “But he’s Zane’s right-hand man, which means Zane values his opinion more than anyone else’s in this room.”
I frowned, still not convinced. “Why? What makes him so important?”
She eyed between them, as if she was choosing her next words carefully.
“Ivar and Zane grew up like brothers. There were things they went through—” She trailed off, clearly implying something significant had happened to both of them but she quickly shifted the direction of the conversation. “They’ve held this empire together.”
Ivar had the power to influence Zane about me, and that wasn’t good. But the way she talked about them with pride was somewhat admirable.
“I know you’ve already met Andy and Mike,” Jane said, gesturing toward the men by the snooker table.
One of them opened the game with a precise break shot while they chatted casually.
From here, they almost looked normal, two good-looking guys in their thirties, playing a match and having a drink after a long day at work.
But there was nothing ordinary about them.
They were the ones who had been with Zane at Bruce’s club, the ones who’d killed people and done God knew what with their bodies.
The ones who had dragged me into that warehouse, their grip biting into my arm, not caring if it bruised.
I quickly looked away, trying to block out the horrifying images, flashbacks from that night.
“The made men. They’re like the captains in a sense. They lead the teams and—”
“What about you?” I cut her off, more curious to know what role the women play in all this.
“Well…” She tilted her head, a sly smile on her lips. “I handle the logistics of Zane’s life and schedule. If he needs a suit, I get it tailored. If he has a meeting, I’m the reminder. If a contract needs typing or an email need sending, I’m the one doing it.”
She continued, gesturing toward me. “That dress you’re wearing? I actually recommended it.”
Now, the clothing choices made sense.
“So… you’re like his PA?”
“If personal assistants were trained to shoot straight and survive days of interrogation, sure,” she replied, flashing a grin. “But I prefer handywoman.”
I gave her a small nod, unsure whether to be impressed or more intimidated.
She turned back to the room, gesturing again. “Raven and Arianna over there handle intel. That’s undercover work. They’re the ones who have the contacts and get close to the targets to extract what Zane needs—whether it’s information, access, or leverage.”
My eyes landed on the first girl she pointed at, Raven, sitting in a black chair turned backwards near Andy and Mike, watching them play. She had expressive almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, long, perfectly straight black hair, and arms covered in tattoos.
She was both beautiful and deadly and everything about her gave off military vibes. A true femme fatale.
I swallowed hard, feeling out of place in every possible way.
And I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous too. Being surrounded by fiercely strong, capable women highlighted everything I wasn’t.
I took a deep breath to calm my racing mind. It was clear that everyone here had a specific role, and failure was not an option.
My eyes drifted back to Zane. What did he truly expect from me? Would it even be possible for me to leave this dangerous world alive at this point?
My eyes then moved to a blonde woman leaning against a glass wall, who had to be Arianna.
In a room filled with people dressed in black, this blonde stood out in her short red dress, with her perfectly styled curls, and matching red lipstick.
Her black stilettos made her legs look too long compared to the rest of her body.
She was drinking alone as if waiting for something. Or someone.
She shot me a glance that felt like a threat, a silent warning telling me to run.
Jane followed my gaze and sighed. Then she said, “Don’t mind her, she’s not important.”
I watched as Arianna raised her glass to her lips, her gaze never wavering from me. There was an icy detachment in her eyes, a clear message that I wasn’t welcomed.
I nodded, still trying to understand the dynamics. “So, she and Zane—”
“All good here?”
Zane cut in and Jane instantly snapped to attention.
“See you another time, Chloe,” she said with a quick nod, striding off to join the group around the snooker table. Ivar and Arianna joined a moment later too, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out they were talking about me.
I turned my attention back to Zane, who was already watching me with curiosity.
“Are you feeling good?” he asked again.
I paused for a beat, trying to swallow the unease that Arianna’s stare had left clinging to my skin. Forcing a small smile, I nodded and stood in front of him, his size casting a shadow over mine, heat radiating off his skin although he wasn’t touching me.
“I’m fine. Just, you know, taking it all in.”
Zane’s eyes searched mine, looking for all the things I wasn’t saying.
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“It is,” I admitted, exhaling against the tightness in my chest. “But I’ll manage. I’m here to help, aren’t I? The quicker I understand how everything works, the quicker I can settle my debt to you.”
I forced myself to sound compliant, exactly how he wanted me to be. But instead of looking pleased, his brow furrowed at my sudden shift.
“Jane told me a bit about everyone,” I continued and he simply nodded.
“Who’s the blonde?”
I didn’t want to sound jealous or bothered but was curious to know what may have been happening between them. She’d surely looked territorial.
“Arianna?” he repeated as if the name was foreign to him. “She’s my eyes and ears on the streets. Works around a couple of bars.”
“So, you and her…” I pressed, locking eyes with him.
His jaw tightened, and he gave me a hard look. “She’s not important. You’ll stay away from her.”
That wasn’t an answer.
“Why?”
“Why what?” he asked back.
“You just told me to stay away from her, and you haven’t said that about anyone else here.”
He grinned, and that infuriating glint was back in his eyes.
“All that jealousy,” he said, his voice low and amused, “almost makes it sound as if you actually like it here.”
“Just calling it like I see it,” I replied coolly, stepping closer until the space between us barely existed. I tilted my chin up, our faces inches apart. “And what I see is how she’s watching us. And I’m wondering if I get any closer, might it cause you some trouble?”
I breathed into his mouth, deliberately provoking him, testing for any reaction.
Because if Arianna was his wife, girlfriend, or anything of the sort, this would not only give me the answer, but also, I’ll enjoy getting him into trouble for letting me get this close.
But his dark smirk only deepened, daring me to keep going.
He was actually enjoying it, confirming exactly the opposite; whatever was between them, Arianna clearly wasn’t important enough to make him respect her and it gave me a strange sense of relief I hadn’t expected to feel.
“I think this is enough for tonight,” he said, leaning impossibly close until his mouth hovered above my ear, mirroring my challenge.
I didn’t know what to do with myself when his breath grazed my earlobe.
“Go to your room,” he whispered softly, his voice so commanding it electrified my whole body. “We’ll continue this in private.”
He promised, and every nerve in my body sparked like a live wire.