Chapter Eleven #2
I did, far less gracefully than I would have liked.
As soon as my feet were tucked inside, the door slammed shut.
One of the escorts stood in front of the door, blocking any chance of my escape.
The passenger door to the left of me opened and Zec slipped in beside me.
Once he was in place, the escorts got into the front seats, and the doors locked, sealing me inside with my enemies.
“Why were you late?” Zec asked as the car slowly merged back into traffic.
“Why do you care?” I silently cursed myself for tucking my phone into my carry-on with my wallet and passport. I couldn’t even reach out to anyone for help.
“I’m in charge of security for the event. I don’t like surprises or deviations from the schedule.” He shifted in his seat and stared at me. “Why were you late?”
Realizing there was no reason to lie, I admitted, “I didn’t want to come.
I didn’t see any reason to leave my very comfortable hotel in Shanghai to deal with the hassle of the airport and suffer through a flight to Athens.
Not when I could roll over, pull the covers over my head and extend my stay another day. ”
“Your sister is getting married tomorrow.”
“And? I’m not part of the wedding. I’m a guest.”
“You’re family.” He shifted again in his seat, his hawk-like gaze peering out the windows. “What were you doing in Shanghai?”
“You already know what I was doing in Shanghai.” Quickly losing my patience with his questioning, I asked, “Or haven’t you spoken to Kristo?”
Zec made an annoyed sound. “I have.”
“So, stop hassling me about my movements,” I grumbled.
“You spend a lot of time traveling in Asia.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I go where I’m told.” I frowned at him. “Why are you interrogating me like this?”
“I need to understand the risks you bring to the family. We have interests in many different areas of the world, sensitive arrangements, and I can’t have you blundering into them.”
“I hardly think I’m the one you need to worry about blundering and making mistakes in business. I doubt your business interests and mine intersect.”
“What’s your relationship status?” He jumped to another topic, this one even more unwelcome.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you dating? If so, what do they do? Where do they work?”
Bristling at the intrusion, I said, “My private life is none of your business.”
“Everything about your private life is my business. You’re going to be one step removed Luka. You could be used to blackmail your sister.”
I scoffed. “You clearly have not done your research if you think my sister would ever give in to emotional blackmail for me.”
“What if she wanted to keep something embarrassing about you from coming out? Something shocking? A secret that even she doesn’t know? Maybe a big secret that you’d like to keep hidden—.”
“Shut up!” I hissed, suddenly overwhelmed by panic.
Staring into his black eyes, into the fathomless darkness, I saw the truth.
He knew. Somehow, some way, he had uncovered my deepest, darkest, most shameful secret.
Something so much worse than falling for the manipulation and lies of a grown man I trusted and respected.
“Don’t.” The word left me in a whispered rush, half pleading, half threat. “Please.”
Zec’s obsidian gaze bore into me, chilling me to the marrow. He knew all my secrets, every last one of them, and now he was sitting there, inches away, judging me. What was he thinking? That I was a liar? A pathetic slut? A whore?
All the words that I used to describe myself when I was at my lowest points. The words that came to mind when I was alone in bed, unable to sleep, unable to stop thinking about a decision I had made when I was too young to fully understand the ramifications.
“How much?” There had to be a price. A man like this wasn’t going to keep my secret for free.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to bribe me?”
“You blackmailed me first.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Really?” I didn’t believe him. Not for one second.
“I wasn’t,” he repeated. “I was simply making a point.”
“That you can hurt me?” My stomach soured and twisted. “Like you’re the first man who has ever threatened me?”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m communicating to you that your situation puts the family at risk.”
“Which is exactly why I live hours away from my family,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t even want to come here. I didn’t want to come home for that fiasco of a dinner party, either.
I’m here because I was ordered to be here by my grandfather and my mother.
I’m here because I will not leave my sister alone to face this farce of a wedding.
As soon as it’s over, I’m going back to Dallas and then I'm moving to Shanghai. You won’t have to worry about me again. ”
Zec regarded me for an uncomfortably long moment. “I doubt that very much.”
My heart was still racing. My throat was dry. I didn’t want to talk about any of this anymore. “Are you taking me to my hotel?”
“You aren’t going to a hotel. You’re staying with your mother and sister in one of our properties.”
“No, I’m not.” The very idea of being stuck with my mother made me want to claw my eyes out. As if this day wasn’t traumatic enough! “I booked a hotel, and I will be staying there.”
“You will not.” His tone conveyed this wasn’t up for discussion. “Your family will stay in the flat that’s been arranged.”
“As hostages?” I snarled. “I thought we were done with that.”
“Not until the wedding is over.” He reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. He spoke a language I didn’t recognize. It might have been Turkish, but that was only a guess.
I turned my attention to the heavily tinted window, watching the city pass by. None of it seemed familiar anymore. So much had changed since I left, and what I did remember seemed like a dream now. I had been so young, the memories were malleable and soft, flitting in and out and blurry at best.
I tensed as the car entered a parking garage attached to a high-rise apartment. Zec claimed he was taking me to an apartment, but for all I knew, that was a lie to keep me calm so I wouldn’t make things difficult inside the vehicle.
Zec kept his word. He had, in fact, brought me to an apartment. A very nice one. His goons carried my suitcase and carry-on as we exited the elevator into a penthouse foyer.
Even before the elevator doors opened, I heard my mother shouting. I shrank back with embarrassment and fear. I could practically feel my mother’s hand on my face again, squeezing me, hurting me, shoving me against the wall of the library.
As if he could read my mind, Zec gently pushed me aside and strode into the apartment. My mother continued to berate and scream at Dafina in the background. My face burned hotly, and I wanted to disappear.
“What do you mean there’s not enough in the seams to let out the dress? You’re a fucking seamstress! Make it work!”
“Don’t speak to her like that!” A woman’s voice I didn’t recognize snapped at my mother in Albanian.
“I’ll speak to her however the fuck I want! She has one job! One!”
“Mom! Leave her alone! She’s doing the best she can!”
“We wouldn’t even be in this mess if you hadn’t gained all this weight! If I see anything other than water in your hand today, I’ll—.”
“You’ll do what?” Zec asked, his voice threateningly cold. “What will you do, Ana?”
“What are you doing here?” my mother spat.
“Delivering your other daughter,” he said matter-of-factly.
My mother’s ire shifted to me. “So, you finally decided to show up?
“I was working,” I reminded her.
Before she could start railing at me, Zec stepped closer to her and lowered his voice. He pointed at Dafina who stood on a tufted ottoman in her wedding gown, and in a low growl, he warned, “That girl belongs to Luka now. You put one finger on her, and I’ll be the one who comes to exact payment.”
My mother pursed her lips. She wasn’t used to being the one on the receiving end of threats. “I only want everything to be perfect.”
“It will be.” Zec gestured toward a blonde woman standing next to the harried seamstress. “Drita always delivers perfection for us.”
Drita didn’t react to his praise. Her cold demeanor left me feeling uneasy. She looked at our family like we were lower than dirt. It was clear she hated every last one of us.
“We need to go if we’re to make our appointment.” He glanced at my mother. “Unless you’d prefer to wait here while I retrieve your son.”
“No,” she said hastily. “Let me grab my things.”
“No. Leave your purse and phone.”
Zec’s command rattled her. I didn’t like it either. No phone? No money? No ID? It seemed like a setup.
“Fine,” my mother said, her voice clipped.
I opened my mouth to argue, but she silenced me with a look. I stood still as she left with Zec and his goons. Would this be a moment of regret? Would I look back on this wondering what would have happened if I’d spoken up and urged her to stay?
“She’ll be fine.” Drita must have seen the worry on my face. “There’s no point in killing her now.”
If that was supposed to make me feel better, it didn’t. I caught Dafina’s irritated expression, and she rolled her eyes before gesturing to the sofa in front of the ottoman. I perched nervously on a cushion and watched as the seamstress finished her final fitting.
I couldn’t even see the supposed weight gain. My sister looked exactly as she always did. Maybe a bit more flushed than usual but that was probably from the layers of tulle and satin and silk and all that heavy beading.
“It’s a beautiful dress, Dafina.” I rose and cautiously reached out to trace my fingertips along the embroidery. “You look like a princess.”
“Thank you.” She swallowed hard, and I noticed the flash of panic in her face. It reminded me of her expression a few weeks ago at the engagement dinner.
Realizing she was about to be sick, I asked, “Can we get her out of the dress? She’s looks like she’s about to faint.”