A yawn left Zane's lips the moment he sat up in bed, and he did a little stretch before grabbing his phone from off of his nightstand. Abruptly, it started ringing and that startled him a little, but after a few seconds and a couple quick blinks, he answered, deepening his voice a lot, and said, "Morning,""Tonight is the night," Vel said, and the sleep immediately cleared from Zane's eyes."Seriously?""You want your pound of flesh off Wu, right? Join us at the wirehouse tonight... It's now our turn to make him pay and suffer by betraying and playing us..." It took Zane a second, but he got what he meant, and he felt his jaw start to clench as he replied, "At what time?""Eleven on the dot. Don't be late." Vel said, then he hung up the phone. It went silent for another couple of minutes after that, and Zane didn't move. Instead, his mind was racing, and when the sound of a knock echoed in his room, he snapped out of his trance."Come in," Zane called, and he heard the door cre
Unlike the outside of the Warehouse, the inside was crowded with a group of men, and all of their attention turned to Zane the moment he stepped in.Like a graveyard, the place went dead at the sight of him, and Zane froze in his step, feeling his heart thumping loudly in his chest, his blood running cold."What are you waiting for?" Zane heard, and he turned his head towards the voice, meeting the cold and dark look of Vel.His mind became alert at the thought that this could be a command to the others, and Zane was about to take a step back when a bald, full-bearded guy by Vel said, "What's wrong with this guy?""Come sit down. Wu will soon be here." Vel ordered Zane with a small tilt of his head, indicating the direction of a large chair next to a smaller table where a bottles of vodka was.A slight sense of relief spread through Zane and he quickly made his way over to where Vel had indicated and took the seat.The warehouse went dead silent again, and Zane felt like they were a
After a few moments, they all began raising their hands except for Vel, whose expression didn't change as he kept looking at Zane, and Zane could tell that his luck was running out fast.With all eyes fixed on him, he knew it was now or never, and knowing that the earbud hidden under his hoodie would get him killed the moment it was discovered by these thug, he reluctantly raised his hand and said, "I agree with the guys. We should take care of this." It took a couple of seconds, but Vel finally drew his eyes off Zane and looked over to the others, saying, "I'm in."With that, Wes pulled out his gun and so did the rest, and Zane watched the others slowly advance towards the entrance of the warehouse, taking a couple breaths as he prepared himself mentally for whatever he had to do next.Drawing in a deep breath as Vel reached for the door handle, Zane closed his eyes, feeling every beat his heart made, and praying hard, 'Please start the car. I still want to be the man she fell in lo
When Emma's eyelids raised, a smile graced her lip at the sight of Zane staring down at her, and she whispered, “I wasn't dreaming. You are still here.”Smiling, Zane softly stroked her cheek as she closed her eyes again as he murmured, “Of course, I'm here, Em. I promised, remember?”With a content sigh, Emma snuggled closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder, and said, “How could I forget? Last night was one of the best nights of my life.”“Mmmh... Me too. And you have no idea how many times I wanted to kiss you.” Zane replied, making Emma blush heavily. “It's annoying that I fell asleep right away.”With pink cheeks, Emma gave a half-smirk as she gazed at him and said, “Well... You are not asleep anymore...”Knowing what she meant, Zane shifted position, hovering above her, and took a long look at her face before planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, and then he moved to her nose, pecking it softly.Her laugh rang throughout the room as Zane continued kissing every spo
When Yoko walked into the garden, Zane had just gotten off the phone with someone, and he waited for him to acknowledge his presence before drawing a chair. "What did you find out?" Zane asked. "After digging into how Jason got the money to buy off most of Vex's shares, I found no records about a loan with him from any banks," Yoko said as he placed a folder on the table. "But what I did find out is that he has a drinking buddy who is a Loan Officer from Offex bank. The two seemed to have a tight relationship recently." As Zane opened the file to see the photos of Mr. Berry and Briggs coming out of a bar together with two young, attractive girls hugging into their arms, Yoko added, "My guess is, he got the money through some illegal way." "It takes a couple of hundred of thousand to buy off such a large share, and Jason doesn't have the financial standing to get access to a loan of such a huge sum of money. So your assumption is right. We just need to find out how this happened to
A knock on her office door made Emma raise her head from the documents on her desk and smile at Zane, standing in the doorway with Yoko.“What are you doing here?” Emma laughed as she put her pen down, a smile still lingering on her lips.“We brought you lunch,” Yoko answered as he lifted two bags and Zane stepped forward with three bags, asking, “Is anyone down for some sushi?!”“Yes! I am!” Belinda cheered, jumping up from where she sat by the window, rushing over to the two.She grabbed a bag, and Emma joined them, smiling at Zane who grinned in return as she took one of the bags from his outstretched hands.They all headed over to the couches and plopped their bags into a pile on the table.Soon, the office smelled amazing and it was filled with happy chitchats, laughter, and smiles as they ate and talked.They were so comfortable and cozy and Emma felt herself relaxing, leaning against Zane as she ate.“I can’t believe he would lie though, on your father's name like that. Jason is
Time seemed to be going in slow motion as the car engine sound echoed through the air, and Emma watched from the windshield of her vehicle, tears unknowingly rolling from her eyes as she lost her voice to scream. Belinda on the other hand was shouting at the top of her lungs as she tried to unlock the door, failing at every attempt, "Zane, get out of the way! He's aiming to hit you!"Without thinking, Yoko tried to make a run for it, but he knew the distance between Zane and the car was too short for him to make it, at least to save them both, yet the only thought on his mind was, 'If I can just push him out of the way.'Everything was happening too fast for Zane, the shouting, the speed of the car, and his mind blacked out, his body going into a state of shock, freezing at the realization of what was occurring, all of it happening at once.When he finally accepted his faith, he heard a gut-wrenching scream, "Zane!"Emma's voice made him snap out of it, and he turned to see her throu
The door to the hospital lobby opened, and Richardson, Velvet, and Greg Taylor walked inside, wearing dark shades and dramatic fluffy coats with really luxurious accessories to highlight their appearance.As they marched toward the front desk, people stared, whispering, in disbelief that they could overdress to come to a hospital.The nurse behind the desk finally looked up at them when Velvet tapped her nails on the wooden surface. "Good morning. How may I help you?" The lady asked with a small smile. Frustrated that the nurse was not recognizing them behind all those materials, Richardson slowly took out his shade, commanding, "Point us to which room our father is in.""And your father is?" The lady asked with genuine concern."Are you kidding me right now?""Sir, I will need your full name and that of the patient too."Richardson's face grew red as though he was about to explode from anger. But as he was about to unleash all of that, Velvet cut in, removing her glasses, and said,