When they arrived at Zeke's apartment, Zeke realised that he had never told Althea where he lived. That realisation roused two questions alongside it; How had she found out his address and what more did she know about Zeke?

If Althea could easily find out about his house, she must have access to more information about his life... to more intimate details. This fact started scaring Zeke more than he wanted it to.

As they got out of the car, Zeke looked at Althea. Really looked at her. And for the first time, he saw more than the beautiful façade she had put up for the world to see. Inside, deep under her skin there lurked a dangerous person. A person who Zeke knew nothing about other than the fact that she ran a Mafia.

Who was to say that she wouldn't use the information she had found on Zeke against him. He had weaknesses. It would be foolish to deny that fact. The current situation with the unfriendly people searching for Zeke was a delicate matter. Fiona, Zeke's sister, the root of his current problems was a issue that shouldn't be looked into.

If the whole picture of Zeke's messed up problems came to daylight... he didn't know how Al the mafia boss would react.

He needed to deal with it before Althea learned about any of it.

The black jeep had just parked behind Althea's car and the four burly men exited the vehicle in unison. They were like one body, one unit. Zeke was sure even the generals in armies would be envious of the way these men seem to work as a team in perfect harmony.

Two of those men stayed by the cars while the other two followed behind Althea and Zeke.

Zeke opened the main gate for the apartment building and guided them upstairs to his loft. They came to a stop in front of a brown door on the fourth floor.

Zeke made a move to go open his door but stopped short when Althea extended her right hand in front Zeke. It took him a couple seconds to understand what she was asking but then it dawned on him that she was asking for the keys to his house.

Zeke quickly obeyed and dropped his keychain in her upturned palm. The keys jingled as she pushed it into the lock.

Before she turned the knob, Althea turned her head and looked at Zeke. "Wait here with Renz while Mark and I secure the apartment." She said.

Her tone obviously made it clear that this was not open to discussion and Zeke kept his mouth shut. He was not experienced on having people look for you, for malicious intent so it was the wisest choice to leave it to the people who did this for a living.

After receiving the nod of acknowledgment from Zeke, Althea turned the knob and entered Zeke's house. The blonde guy, whose name as Zeke had just learned as Mark, entered the loft right on Althea's tail.

Zeke turned to his side to see the other guy, Renz, look directly ahead with a stoic expression. Does these guys ever talk? Zeke wondered. They moved on command, they never spoke up... maybe they were robots. Or a more reasonable explanation, they just chose not to talk on the job to give a hundred percent focus.

Zeke could bet money on the fact that Renz used to be a marine. Giving one glance to the dark-skinned, muscled guy and the way he simply stood his ground, it was a safe bet to say that he had military background.

Just then, a loud thud was heard from the apartment and the distinct sound of a gun's safety being clicked off. Zeke hadn't been around guns much but Hollywood movies were an excellent reference to recognise the sound of one.

Zeke knew very well that Althea had told him to wait outside with Renz. And he also knew that disobeying her would probably not a great idea but that distressing sound coming from where Althea had went in just minutes ago made Zeke jump in action without really thinking.

It was like an impulse his body had recently acquired. Run into danger where it concerned Althea.

So without even sparing a glance at Renz, Zeke entered the apartment. The living room was empty so he quickly made his way to the kitchen. Zeke could hear Renz telling him to stop but Zeke was at the doorway of his kitchen in a flash.

To say that he wasn't expecting the sight before him was an understatement.

There, in the middle of the ordinary kitchen, kneeled Mason Cardini, Zeke's father. And standing before Mason was Althea with a gun pointed right in the middle of his eyebrows.

Mark was standing close to Mason's side, ready to immobilise him if it came to that.

"Wait! That's my father." Zeke said in a rush.

Althea tore her gaze away from Mason and looked at Zeke with a questioning glance.

Zeke slowly, carefully made his way beside Althea. His father had his brows furrowed like he was annoyed and angry at the situation he was in but Zeke knew him good enough to see that it was only a brave front he was putting up. Zeke could see his father was scared because of the gun that was pointed at him.

"I thought you lived alone." Althea simply said.

"I do. So if you can lower your gun, maybe I can learn why he is here." Zeke said.

Althea looked at Zeke with slightly raised eyebrows. Zeke wanted to cringe at what he had said. He could almost hear what Althea was thinking, 'Are you giving me an attitude?' If Zeke could crawl into a hole, he would certainly do it right now. Luckily, Althea seemed amused at Zeke's words and she lowered her gun and tucked it in the back of her jeans' waistband.

Zeke was certain his father released a deep breath in relief. Althea motioned to Mark and Renz with her head and the three of them exited the kitchen, leaving Zeke and his father Mason alone.

Mason rose to his feet, dusting himself off with a dissatisfied look etched on his face. Then he turned his angry eyes at Zeke.

"Who are those people Zeke?" Mason spat.

Zeke thought about how he should answer that. The time when Althea had warned him about not revealing her mafia boss Al identity came to his mind. Zeke couldn't trust his father about this. He would blab about it to wrong people.

"That is none of your concern." Zeke simply said.

Mason huffed out a breath in frustration. Before his father could ask something else about the subject, Zeke changed the topic.

"Why are you inside my house dad?" Zeke asked.

"Because you fucked things up." Mason said in a hushed angry voice. Usually he would yell this into Zeke's face but he probably didn't want Zeke's companions to overhear.

"I told you not to go messing around with their business! And what did you do? You did the exact opposite of that." Mason whisper yelled.

Zeke started to become angry at his fathers as well. "What did you expect me to do? Sit around and do nothing?! This is Fiona we are talking about! My sister. I was trying to get her out of the mess you had piled on her."

"Everything was sorted out. I had made a deal with him and all you had to do was stay out of it. But you couldn't even do that. Now, they want you dead for meddling and not following orders. They came after me and threatened me to find you. Thats why I'm here looking for you in your apartment. You fucking disappeared after you messed things up. You left all the blame on me." Mason said.

"Good. You deserve it." Zeke said in a deadly calm voice. He took a step closer to his father and looked straight into his eyes. "Maybe now you will get your punishment for giving your only daughter to a mafia organisation to close off your debts."

"Now get out of my house." Zeke said in a low voice.

Mason would argue or even drag his son back to the people that had threatened him but the fact that Zeke had people with him that carried weapons probably stopped him from doing that.

Without another word, Mason rushed out of the kitchen and a couple seconds later the sound of Zeke's apartment door being forcefully closed was heard.

Zeke stood still in the middle of his kitchen and took deep breaths in and out to calm himself down. Fiona. Zeke's heart ached whenever he thought about her. His sister was suffering right now because of his father's reckless behaviour.

It was unfair that Mason got away with it while Fiona had to pay for her father's mistakes.

"I take it you don't get along with your father?" Althea's voice spoke up behind him.

Zeke quickly turned around to face her. She was leaning against the kitchen's archway casually. He hadn't even hear her come close to him. It was as if she didn't walk but silently floated.

"Yeah you could say that." Zeke said as he simply shrugged. "I'll gather what I need and then we can be on our way." He added.

Althea nodded and then moved to give Zeke space to go. Zeke collected his clothes and other essentials into two bags and in less then ten minutes, they were leaving his apartment again.

They silently went down the stairs and exited the building. After placing his bags in Althea's cars' trunk, Zeke was seated in the passenger side again.

Althea started driving and the two of them were enveloped in silence. Zeke was still brewing over the fact that his father knew no shame. Even after throwing his daughter to the wolves, he wanted to track down his son to hand him over to the people that wanted to kill him.

Mason Cardini was a bastard and Zeke hated the fact that he had blood relations to the man.

"Family can be a lot to handle." Althea said bringing Zeke out of his angry thoughts.

Zeke looked over at Althea whose eyes were focused on the road ahead. Was she trying to make small talk? Zeke couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was not sure but she seemed uncertain which was strange for the strong, independent woman Zeke had started to glimpse pieces of.

Then he wondered if she even had small talks. It probably wasn't her strong suit so it made her fell awkward. A happiness rose inside Zeke's chest as he started understanding what this meant. Althea finally, in her own slow pace, was opening up to Zeke. Or at least trying to by attempting small talk.

So not to discourage this step their relationship had taken, he spoke in the hopes for her to open up to him. "I know. Is your family causing problems for you as well?" Zeke asked. It was a risk he had taken by asking something so personal but he hoped she would share a tiny bit of information to him.

"Well they caused one big problem and I have been living through it's repercussions ever since." Althea said in a neutral tone. She didn't take her eyes off the road.

Zeke mulled over Althea's cryptic response and decided to push his luck more. "What do you mean?"

Althea was silent for a while and Zeke was certain that she wasn't going to answer. But she spoke up. "My parents left me to an orphanage when I was a newborn."

Zeke stilled as Althea's words sank in. She was an orphan? The gravity of the fact that Althea had confided Zeke with this information was immense. Now that Zeke had seen a piece of her, he wanted to know more.

"Foster parents?" Zeke asked.

Althea's hands slightly tightened around the steering wheel and Zeke immediately wanted to take his question back. Obviously it was not a topic she was comfortable talking about.

"I had a few of those." Althea answered. Her response seemed to be forced and she seemed less than happy to talk on the matter. Zeke wisely stopped talking and they spent rest of the car ride in silence.

Soon they arrived at Althea's house and they exited the car. Zeke gathered his bags from the trunk and turned around to go inside the mansion. Althea's voice stopped him and made him turn around.

"Starting tomorrow, after work, you'll be starting training with the rest of my crew." Althea said.

Zeke's brows knitted. "What does training entail?"

"Self-defence, fighting... whichever you prefer. Everyone under my roof is required to learn how to defend themselves." Althea walked up to Zeke and looked into his eyes. "And now that applies to you as well."

Then Althea walked away from disappearing into the mansion, leaving Zeke standing there.

As soon as Althea stepped inside the mansion, Valdos was at her side, mirroring her steps as she started walking up to her study.

"Do you think its a good idea to allow him to train with us?" Valdos asked.

Althea casted a glance at her right hand man from the corner of her eye. "Eavesdropping does not suit you Val." She said as she continued walking.

"What if he's the enemy? We do not know where his loyalties lie." Valdos said, effectively ignoring Althea's words.

"I don't think that's the case but if it is... Well, then all the more reason why we should be doing this. I don't think any enemy would have the guts to go against us after seeing my people fight." Althea said with a smirk.

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

So here you go another long chapter!

I'm sorry I had been kinda neglecting the book but I finally figured out what to do for the upcoming chapters. It may have been dull in the last few but I decided to fast progress the story.

Otherwise you readers are gonna stop reading. :)

What do you think about Zeke's father Mason and the thing he did at Fiona?

And what about Althea opening up about herself to Zeke? I know it may not seem much but trust me, for her, its a big deal.

The song is called 'Vanity' by Highly Suspect.

Love,
Blake Alexander 💙