-A rare moment of Zanos smiling.

Poisonous: Ch. 3

"I don't think we should touch him in that way."

"Why not? He wouldn't object to it. Maybe he'll like it."

"....I'm not sure."

I heard voices above me but I chose not to acknowledge them. I was too busy having a dream. A dream about my mother getting me my favorite animal, a Bengal kitten.

Ah, that would be the dream life to live.

"I'm just gonna pick him up and take him to his room."

"How'd ya manage to get 4 rooms separately?"

"I'm Alejandro Ivanov. That's how."

I felt myself being picked up bridal style, the person's right arm under my back and their right arm under my thighs. They were damn near my ass, but I was too tired to function.

"I hope he doesn't wake up and see that you're carrying him. That's a disaster waiting to happen." Someone chuckled from the side of me. "I doubt he will. Zanos is a really deep sleeper despite the fact he doesn't look like it. He can hear us talking yeah, but he can't figure out whose talking so I can use that to my advantage."

I scrunched up my subconsciously. How does this person know my sleeping habits?

".....you really know your stuff, don't you Ale?"

"I sure do."

I feel myself elevating as the person carrying me walked around, trying to get to their destination.

You see, I would open my eyes to see who was carrying me but you just don't normally go, 'Hey there's a sleeping person! Let's pick him up!' I had a feeling it was someone I knew, I just couldn't pinpoint who. I was so exhausted, my eyes refused to open.

I heard a ding that sounded like an elevator and winced at how loud it sounded.

"What room is he in?" Another foreign voice asked. I really should open my eyes to see who it was talking but I wanted to sleep.

"Room 331."

"That number has significance to you?"

"...yes."

I heard a click and a door was being opened. I smelt the aroma of a freshly cleaned hotel room. It smelled lemon and it felt cozy. I felt myself being placed on a comfy bed, with the covers pushed up on me and I fell into a deep slumber.

~
I jolted up with a deep vibrating in my pants. It felt so uncomfortable and I couldn't help but let out a loud groan, and the vibrations shattered my body.

"Oi, what the hell?" I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone, the vibrating buzzing in my hand to signal that someone was calling me.

It just didn't show who the caller was.

"The fuck is this?" I asked, warily of the other person. I was on a mission, anyone could call and pose a threat against me.

"Mr. Zhukarti, we are outside ready to take you to Mr. Ivanov. He's waiting for you in the conference room downstairs." My bodyguard spoke, dismissing my rude tone. "What the hell does he want?" I groaned and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand beside me.

It read 7:23 AM. Who wants to get up that early?

"He said it was to discuss the case sir." My bodyguard still didn't care about my being rude.

"Fine. I'll be out in 2." I hung up the phone and went over to the closet which was surprisingly, filled with all my clothes.

I narrowed my eyes into slits.

Someone was in here while I was sleeping, putting my clothes away? They could've stole something.

I knocked those thoughts out of my mind and grabbed a pair of grey sweats with a white v neck.

I put my clothes and put on a pair of white sneakers. I grabbed my phone and headed for the door.

"Hey Bob. Hey Randy."

Bob and Randy were my two bodyguards that watched over me 24/7. It was the company's idea or so Alejandro says but he doesn't have any people guarding him.

"Hey Mr. Zhukarti." We began walking down to the elevator and I grinned. "How many times do I have to tell you, call me Zanos? Mr. Zhukarti is my father."

Hunter Kingman, or who I liked to call Bob, was my 27 year old bodyguard who was my first bodyguard when I first came to work for Reed Milligan. He was 6'4, with blazing black hair that was short and swept over like a typical white boy hairstyle and hazel eyes. He was pale and skinny, but he was a force to be reckoned with.

His husband on the other hand was James Kingman or who I called Randy was my second bodyguard who came shortly after Bob did. He was 6'5, had long brown hair like Harry Styles, piercing blue eyes and he was big and buff. He didn't hesitate to put his life on the line for people who mattered to him.

"So why couldn't Alejandro talk about this on the phone? Our phones are wired so no one could trace in and hear our calls." I asked and raised an eyebrow.

Randy smirked. "Gotta let boss tell you that one."

We got off the elevator and walked out into the lobby.

"Down this hall."

We turned left and then walked down a narrow hallway with various rooms. "Where are we going?" I whispered. "A room where all connections are cut off." Bob explained as we walked down to the last room which was surrounded in darkness. There was no light and the door was made of steel, the kind of steel that required a fingerprint to enter.

"Whose fingerprint needs to go there?" I questioned as I looked to both of my bodyguards and they shrugged.

"Yours, Mr. Zhukarti."

I put my finger on the slot and it clicked open. "Good afternoon, Zanos Zhukarti." The voice in the fingerprint system said and I held the door so it wouldn't close on me. "You coming in?" I asked the bodyguards. "No. Mr. Ivanov informed us to stay and keep watch out here." Randy said and I nodded and descended inside the room.

"Zanos! You're here!" A voice shouted and I turned to see Dominic running towards me. "Oh fuck." He crashed into me, pulling me into a hug and I hugged back. I hate hugs, but I only hug people I care about.

"Good morning Zanos." Alejandro said from his seat at the small conference table in the center of the room. There were only 4 seats. One for him, Dominic, Nikolai and I.

"Yeah, mornin'." I took a seat in the chair and sat opposite of Alejandro, not missing the way his eyes roamed my body. I felt a nudge and I looked over to Dominic to see him smirking and I scowled.

"We need to discuss the details of this case." Alejandro stated and we all nodded. "What's the victim's name and date of birth?"

"Maria Markova Sanchez, born November 22nd, 1981." Nikolai muttered as he pulled out the files. "What's her date of death?"

"January 1st, 2014."

"Who are the recent suspects?"

We only have three suspects in mind. Her ex boyfriend Peter Krantz, her current boyfriend Alexander Parker and her mother, Arielle Sanchez." I spoke, kind of confused for a second.

"Hey Alejandro, why did we even suspect the mother in the first place?" I raised an eyebrow as the man stared at me, not hiding any shame that he was blatantly checking me out.

Any other time I would be flattered because I am Zanos Zhukarti and I am sexy.

But right now, I just wasn't feeling it.

I twitched my eyes over to Dominic, who as always found the situation amusing.

"She was nowhere to be found the day Maria was murdered. She told us she was at the hospital, but the nurse there told us she was never there. So where was she?"

"But that's cruel... To kill your own daughter." Dominic drawled as he sat with a look of unease present on his face.

"The world is cruel. Don't forget that."

We all looked around at each other, the intense feeling of dread filling the air.

"How did the victim die?" Alejandro continued with the questioning. "She was. Brutally raped, stabbed 26 times, 5 in each leg, 5 in her stomach, 5 in her chest, 1 in her head and the rest in her face."

"We need to start going through our suspects and witnesses, seeing if there's something we missed last time. There has to be something that can conclude this case." I said, biting my cheek at the thought of this unruly case.

Someone had pure intent to hurt this girl. It's like they wanted to rid her of this world.

We talk to the mother tomorrow. Deal?" Alejandro grinned and we nodded.

"Deal."