Zeke was walking down the corridor towards the dining hall to serve Althea his dish.

In his hands, he held a perfectly cooked salmon with seasoning and lemon sauce to give that tangy bit of taste to it.

Zeke was confident in his cooking abilities but his hands were still close to shaking and tipping over the plate.

He reached the double doors and with one hand, opened them.

At the end of the long table, in her usual spot, sat Althea in all of her beautiful glory. Zeke lowered his gaze to the ground but he could still feel her piercing eyes burning through him.

Zeke quietly walked over to Althea's side and then lowered the plate in front of her.

He then pulled the silver lid off of the plate, revealing his dish. Zeke turned her gaze to Althea's face to see her expression. It was frustratingly unemotional. He couldn't figure out her thoughts on his cooking and for some reason, he desperately needed her approval.

Althea turned her head away from the plate to look at Zeke and a smirk formed on her face. "Fish?" She asked, amusement clear in her tone.

Zeke nodded his head. "Fish."

Her smirk widened into a smile and Zeke was star-struck to see her full out smiling for the first time. Not grinning, not smirking but smiling.

And it was beautiful. God, she was beautiful.

Those full lips stretching into a smile, her eyes forming crows feet in the corners and her eyes sparkling...

The magical image of her smile quickly made its way past the guards, protecting the entry way to his heart and took permanent residency there. And Zeke couldn't find it in himself to try to erase that image because god knows it belonged there, in the centre of his heart.

"I should warn you before I try it, I don't particularly like fish." Althea said, snapping Zeke out of his daydream.

"Yeah. I know, Nia told me." Zeke said.

Althea's right brow arched in question and her eyes reflected her confusion. Zeke could almost read the question on her face, 'why did you make fish if you knew I didn't like fish?'.

"Well, I trust in my cooking abilities so much that I knew I could make you like eating fish." Zeke admitted. He was aware that he sounded a little bit egoistical at the moment but all his flaws seemed to rise to the surface when he was in the presence of the West Coast Mafia Boss.

Althea chuckled at his answer, clearly amused at his words, but didn't say anything.

She picked up the fork and the knife and gracefully cut a piece out of the salmon.

Zeke watched in nervous anticipation as she brought the fork to her mouth, parted her lips and ate the fish.

He watched as she chewed and he felt as if he was one aftershock away from a wreck. Never in his life had he felt this strong of an urge to please someone.

When Althea stayed silent and simply reclined back in her chair, Zeke expected the worst. Unstoppable insecurities wormed their way into his head; was it too salty? Did he not use enough seasoning? Maybe if he was more lenient with the lemon, she might have liked it.

All the unanswered questions in his mind were killing Zeke so he spoke up.

"Say something." He almost pleaded.

Althea turned to him and said, "It's delicious."

A breath of air left Zeke's mouth in relief as he said, "Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

Althea shook her head. "In all honesty, I'm a little bit surprised. I didn't expect to like it. You are the first chef that has made me want to eat fish."

Zeke's chest swelled with pride at Althea's words and he felt as if he could melt in to a puddle of happiness.

Althea continued eating her dinner and Zeke just continued standing there with a shit eating grin on his face. He had tried bringing his lips down, it was a futile attempt, they were never coming down again.

Althea noticed Zeke was standing there like a goof and pointed to the chair to her left with the knife, "Take a seat Zeke, we should discuss your employment."

Zeke quickly pulled the seat back and sat down on it. "I'm all ears." He said.

"Well, the first action in order will be you calling your previous place of employment and telling them of your resignation." Althea said.

Zeke didn't think that would be a problem. He hadn't been to work for three days, for all he knew, they might have already replaced him.

"Alright. I will do that first thing in the morning." Zeke said.

"Do you know Phantom Softwares?" Althea asked.

"Of course. They are one of the biggest malware and online security companies of the continent." Zeke said. He wondered why she had suddenly asked about that.

"I own the company." Althea said.

Zeke somehow managed to choke on his own drool. "You own Phantom Softwares?!"

"Yes, amongst other things, I own the company. Althea owns the businesses, not the West Coast Mafia Boss Al." She explained.

So she pretends to be two different people, Zeke thought. One is a successful business owner Althea, and the other is the feared Mafia Boss Al.

Well, that was a useful bit of information. Maybe she even used the businesses she owned as a front to run her dirty Mafia work, Zeke thought. He wanted to ask Althea if what he was thinking was true, but he imagined that would be asking too much questions and asking a mafia member too much questions was never a good thing.

"Why are you sharing this with me? Not that I am complaining..." Zeke quickly added. "It's just that, I would guess these are sensitive informations."

An emotion that Zeke couldn't decipher passed before Althea's eyes as she looked at him. "Well, if you are to work for me, you need to know these kind of informations so you won't call me Al in public. I keep my identity as a Mafia Boss in the dark and I would like to keep it that way." She said.

Zeke nodded his head. 'No spilling beans on Al's identity, got it!' Zeke thought.

"Great. Now that this is out of the way, I also happen to own a restaurant chain called 'Sole Mio'."

Yep, Zeke was going to die by his own fucking saliva. "Sole Mio! You own that too? I can't believe it. I practically worship that restaurant. I dreamed of cooking there since I graduated from culinary school."

Althea chuckled at his enthusiasm. "I guess you won't have an objection to working there then?" She asked.

"Objection? Objection? I will practically give all I have to work there. Not that I have much to give anyways, but that's besides the point. The point is I would be honoured to work at Sole Mio. Thank you for this opportunity, I will not let you down." Zeke took a deep breath after he had said all of that in one breath.

"You talk when you're excited too. That's two things so far. Nervousness and excitement. Now I know what I have to do if I want you to give me information. Get you nervous and excited." Althea said with a hint of a smile. Zeke was embarrassed at his slack jaw and a pink tint burned his cheeks.

Althea leaned forward towards Zeke. She smelled so good like a freshly plucked jasmines and her dark eyes were alluring as they bore into him. "Does anything come to your mind that I can have you both nervous and excited at the same time pretty face?" She whispered.

The sexual innuendo did not escape Zeke and all of the nerve endings on his body became alert like 4th of July. "Yeah, a couple of things come to my mind." Zeke said before he realised he had said that out loud. Her closseness, intoxicating smell and words were having an effect on him. Like his mind was in a sweet trance of alcohol but much more stronger.

Althea placed a finger under Zeke's chin and slightly brought his face closer to hers. Their lips were barely apart and Zeke had stopped breathing.

Her lips moved against Zeke's as she spoke, his lips were on fire as her soft lips touched his, moved against his. "I look forward to interrogating you Zeke." She whispered.

In the next second, Althea was already half way out of the room, leaving Zeke dealing with the effect her words had on his body and mind.

*****************

Sorry 😁 I realise that is the second time I have done that.

I'll see what I have more than teasing I can give you. 😝

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Thanks lovelies 💙