CHAPTER 4

Two months later...

"Zeno! Zeno! Come on! You're gonna miss this, it's very interesting!" Ken shouted at Zeno who was washing dishes in the kitchen.

"Be right with you, buddy," Zeno replied from the kitchen.

By the time he was done and went to the living room, Ken was fast asleep, and the last episode of Avatar The Last Airbender was playing on the television.

He turned off the television and carried the boy to his room, tucking him in on the bed.

The last two months have been fun with Ken.

He managed to make him come out of his shell and open up to him, he played and chatted with him most of the days he was free, but he never really mentioned anything concerning his parents, it felt like he wasn't even avoiding the topic, it seemed like he genuinely didn't have anything to say about them, which he found kind of sad.

He also familiarised himself with some of the security men; they weren't overly friendly, but at least they were no longer pointing a gun at him each time they saw him, and that was a good sign.

He imagined how boring Ken's life was before he came, being the only child in a mafia-like world.

He settled down on the sofa and brought out his phone from his pocket, texting Anna.

Zeno: Hi, Anna. Sorry, I missed the last two fights; this job is kind of weird; they won't let me out until their boss returns from his trip, like...a month more. Help me talk to Rico, he listens better to you.

The moment he sent it, he got a notification immediately.

Anna: Not a problem, anything for you?

He smiled as he read her reply. He placed his phone on the centre table and relaxed on the huge sofa chair, deciding to sleep there for a while before he went to his room. Soon sleep overtook him.

Approaching footsteps sounded from the entrance, but Zeno was too far go to hear them.

The footsteps sounded closer, and closer, and closer, until he faintly heard Siri's voice welcoming someone into the house, but before he could open his eyes to see who it was, he felt a large hand gripping his neck, his legs were locked tightly between much larger ones, and, he felt the cold metal of a gun placed directly on his...gun.

Zeno quickly opened his eyes from instinct, ready to fight off his attacker, but the moment he did so, he was met with mesmerising dark grey orbs, staring dangerously at him.

The face of his attacker was too close, he couldn't make out his features, but he knew they were sharp, even from a closed look.

He didn't bother fighting, he didn't want to lose his junior member down there, and his Nana still expected grandchildren from him. He couldn't disappoint her.

"Who. Are. You?" The voice of his attacker was so deep, dark, and commanding.

Zeno was a fighter, but he felt a chill run down his spine from the sound of the voice.

The hand around Zeno's neck tightened, but he endured it, he was a fighter.

Judging by his attacker's looks and actions of confidence, this was his boss. And, he had just landed himself in trouble with a seemingly dangerous man by lying comfortably on his expensive leather sofa.

He remembered Butler Nicole's words telling him to feel at home; now, look where it landed him; he was about to lose his most cherished body part.

He carefully thought of how to respond to the angry-looking man above him, he didn't want to mess with him.

"Your Manny, Sir," Zeno managed to answer with his constricting airways.

'This man is a devil!' Zeno thought in his head.

He hated him already.

"Who the fuck are you!"

POW!

A hard punch landed on Zeno's face, close to his eyes.

Sebastian had wanted to come home early so that he could send away the Nanny they had found for his son.

But, he wasn't expecting to see the Nanny's boyfriend lying comfortably on his sofa like it was their home.

And his instincts told him there was something off about the man on his sofa, he might be a spy from his enemies.

He had lost his patience with the intruder.

"Answer me!" Sebastian punched Zeno's lips, bruising them as he did.

He was lucky he didn't burst his balls the moment he walked in, but, it seems like the fucker was still trying to play games with him, taking his kindness for foolishness.

"Shit! I'm your Manny!" Zeno said angrily, licking the blood off his lips.

If not because the man who was using him as a punching bag was going to pay him a huge sum of money, he would have fought back, but he didn't, and not necessarily because of the money, but because he also had a gun to his junior Zeno.

"Daddy! Let Zeno go!" Ken rushed down the stairs and pushed his father away from Zeno.

"Who is he, Ken?" Sebastian asked, putting his son behind his leg, hiding him from Zeno.

Zeno palmed his bruised face as he stood up from the sofa chair.

This was not how he expected his night to go. He thought the boss wasn't back until one month later?

"He's my Manny and my best friend," Ken ran from behind his father's legs and went to stand beside Zeno, holding him with his hands.

"Good evening, sir, my name is Zeno Evander; your son's Manny," Zeno straightened up and introduced himself officially.

"Who hired you?" Sebastian asked in a cold tone, frowning hard at Zeno.

He didn't like him.

He stared at the way his son protectively held this stranger's hand like they shared a deeper bond that he would never understand.

"Butler Nicole, sir," Zeno answered, feeling hurt and humiliated.

"Siri? Call Butler Nicole," Sebastian commanded.

"Done, sir," Siri replied.

Not long enough, Butler Nicole was seen walking towards them, his head bowed. He was surprised to see the boss in the living room, everyone had thought he still had one month more to stay.

"Welcome back, boss," Butler Nicole greeted with his head bowed as he reached the living room.

"Pay him in full, and get him out of here," Sebastian stated, putting his gun back in the holster.

"Yes, boss." Butler Nicole replied.

"No! Daddy, you can't do that!" Ken hugged Zeno's legs tight like his actions would prevent his father's decision.

"It's okay, buddy. I'll come visit you sometime," Zeno patted the boy's head reassuringly.

"It's past your bedtime, Kenneth, up to your room," Sebastian said coldly to his son and drew him away from Zeno's leg, taking him upstairs with him.

"Be gone before I come back down," Sebastian paused and said to Zeno without turning back.

He carried the struggling Ken up to his room, not listening to his protests.

Sebastian didn't want strangers in his home. The people he trusted wholeheartedly before had betrayed him without remorse, it hardened him and made him security-conscious around everyone.

Before anyone worked for him, he made sure to check their records and their family's records and do a thorough background check on them. They also had to sign an undertaking that if he so found out that any of them betrayed him, or were into something fishy, or even harboured an ill thought toward him or his son, he would kill them on the spot without further questions.

But look what happened in just two months he's been away, they brought in a potential threat into his home, leaving his son under the care of an unverified identity.

"Daddy, please don't make Zeno go," Ken pleaded as his father carried him into his room.

"He's a threat, Ken. We can't trust him. You let me down," Sebastian said to his son as he placed him back on the bed.

"Sorry, Dad, but-"

"I thought you better, Ken. Do not trust strangers, but you did, what if something bad happened to you?!" Sebastian asked, trying his best to control his anger, but his son still felt his withdrawn rage.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Ken said, going deeper into the covers.

He knew there was no changing his Father's mind when he decided on something.

"I bought you a present, I'll give it to you tomorrow. Goodnight, son," Sebastian gently patted his son's hair before leaving the room.

"Mr. Zeno, the sum of forty thousand dollars has been transferred to you, check your mail for confirmation." Butler Nicole said to Zeno.

Zeno immediately received a notification, confirming what Butler Nicole had said.

"Confirmed," Zeno said.

He was supposed to be one hundred percent happy but his happiness wasn't complete because of the way he was leaving.

He had already bonded with Ken, and he felt pity for him having such an ignorant and unloving father, he wondered why his parents treated him so awfully.

He went upstairs to get his original clothes which he had come with, but Butler Nicole told him to go with everything that had been given to him. He did.

Sebastian stood beside his window, watching his son's ex, Manny, drive away on his bike.

He wondered why they had to find a dangerous man to take care of his son instead of a docile lady.

He never wanted to set his eyes on Zeno again. His instincts told him that something was going to happen to him.