Chapter 9
Zeno's body felt battered as he woke up the next morning, his body was protesting from being overstressed.
He knew he needed to rest, but he couldn't, not in this present environment.
Rest equaled death in his current condition.
"Good morning, Zeno," Ken hugged him softly as he came into his room.
"Whoa! You're up early, that's a change buddy," Zeno patted Ken's soft hair.
"Yeah, and also brushed my teeth and took a shower," Ken said excitedly, waiting to be praised.
"You're awesome, Ken, high-five?" Zeno lowered his hand to Ken.
"Yay, I'm awesome!" Ken said as he gingerly high-fived Zeno.
"Come on, let's get you fed, and off to school," Zeno lifted Ken in his arms and carried him downstairs.
He was surprised to see Sebastian sitting broodingly on the sofa, there was a scowl on his handsome face.
He wondered what it would be like to see that face free from scowls and resentment, probably not in this lifetime. A devil doesn't know how to smile.
Zeno always believed in keeping a friendly relationship with his employers, but he knew it would be hard with this one, if it'll ever be possible, the man was simply impossible.
"Good morning, boss," Zeno greeted as he gently placed Ken down to meet his father.
Sebastian ignored Zeno completely as if he hadn't said anything and wasn't even standing there.
"Good morning, Dad," Ken said from a distance.
Zeno felt bad witnessing such a heart-breaking sight of a father and son.
This was not how it was supposed to be.
No warm morning hugs, no kisses on the forehead, no loving words. Everything was wrong.
What kind of a man was he? Being cold to even his son.
A devil, that's what he was.
Zeno concluded within himself that Sebastian had no heart within him and he realized that he had to thread with caution with him because a person who is unfeeling towards his child could kill you in the blink of an eye without remorse.
"Morning, Kenneth, have your breakfast and go to school," Sebastian said, only raising his head for a second to look at his son.
Zeno quickly looked away from Sebastian's direction when he saw him looking his way.
He didn't want trouble early that morning. It would be better if he just kept ignoring him.
"Make him something healthy," Sebastian ordered in a cold tone.
"Yes, boss," Zeno replied and held Ken's hand, leading him to the dining.
Sebastian watched Zeno as he freely interacted with Ken. It was no doubt that his son had bonded with the bastard.
He wasn't yet comfortable with him, and learning that he was employed by his father left red flags all around him.
But he only relaxed a bit because he had run a background check on him yesterday night and discovered nothing special about him apart from him having a black belt and his secret job as a boxer which wasn't stated where he worked.
He believed he was clean, for now, or he was just a good spy who knew how to cover his tracks.
But whatever he was, Sebastian made sure to always be one step ahead of him.
"Will you come pick me up after school too?" Ken asked in the car.
"Yes, boss," Zeno replied, playfully saluting the little boy.
"Awesome!" Ken said giddily from the back seat.
Zeno was driving him to school, he carefully followed the map on the screen as it was his first time driving to that area.
He was in a hurry to go back as Sebastian's voice rang in his head.
'Be back in thirty minutes, or your Grandma dies,'
He didn't know how Sebastian found out about his Nana, but it didn't matter anymore, what mattered was to drop Ken off and quickly return to his boss.
Working as a Manny and a bodyguard were two challenging jobs.
"See you at noon, buddie," Ken said as he walked Ken into the school gate.
"Okay, bye Zeno," Ken waved and ran inside his school.
Zeno stood there for some time, smiling at the happy boy.
He came to and quickly turned around to walk away. On reaching the car, he suddenly bumped into a young lady with blonde curls.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't careful enough. Are you okay?" He asked as he caught the lady from falling to the ground.
"Ah, I'm fine, it's okay, it's my fault, I was carried away," The lady straightened herself, tucking her hair behind her ears.
Zeno thought the lady was pretty but she wasn't his type, but that didn't mean wouldn't appreciate good things when he saw them.
"I'm Georgia," She stretched out her hand to him.
"Oh, I'm Zeno. Even though we met quite dramatically, it's still nice meeting you, Georgia," Zeno politely shook her hand.
"Ha-ha, same here, Zeno," Georgia chuckled.
"Yeah, have a good day, Georgia, hope to see you again, under a nice circumstance," Zeno said naturally.
"You too, Zeno, see you around," Georgia said with a wave and continued on her path.
Zeno waved and hurriedly entered the car.
He was running late.
Zeno parked the car and stepped out of it. He hurriedly jogged up the stairs, but, the moment he reached the door, alarm sounds went off and he heard Siri's voice.
"Access denied, Zeno. You're a threat to the boss,"
"Access denied, Zeno. You're a threat to the boss,"
Siri's voice kept repeating the same thing louder and louder, and in a matter of seconds, guards surrounded Zeno in a circular form, with their guns pointed at him.
Zeno was embarrassed, to say the least.
What and how was he a threat to the boss?
He had no idea how everything turned out the way it did, he was struggling to keep up with how fast the event was unfolding.
"On your knees, Zeno," He recognized the voice as the one from the alley the other day he was kidnapped.
He slowly lowered himself to his knees and put his hands up behind his head.
The door opened and Sebastian slowly approached him, the guards made way for him as he walked into the circle.
"Hand it over, Zeno," Sebastian said darkly.
Zeno really wished he had something to hand over, but, unfortunately, he didn't have any idea about what his boss was asking of him.
"I'm sorry, boss, I don't know what you're- Ugh!" Zeno's face roughly in flew the other direction as a hard punch landed on his jaw.
"Let's try answering that again, spy. Who are you working for?!" Sebastian cracked his wrist, getting ready to deliver another punch.
"Your father, Uhg!" Zeno bent over as a kick landed on his diaphragm.
"Search this bastard!" Sebastian ordered.
Zeno was roughly searched from hair to toe, and when he thought they wouldn't find anything, someone brought out a tiny black object from the pocket of his pants.
"What the fuck?!" Zeno's eyes widened like saucers as he stared at the strange object.
Where the hell did that thing come from?
He'd never seen anything like that t his entire life.
"Here boss, it's a tracker and a recorder," The guard handed the chip to their boss.
"You son of a bitch!" Sebastian tackled Zeno on the floor and punched him brutally in the face.
Zeno blocked the punches the best he could but he still wasn't able to save himself from the calculated punches aimed his way.
"Lock him up!" Sebastian commanded and angrily walked away, he entered his car and drove away.
Zeno coughed out blood as they took him into a dark room and chained his hands above his head.
He was left alone in the dark, quiet room. He could hear the sound of a pin if it were to drop on the floor, that's how quiet the place was.
He regretted not making breakfast for himself in the morning, now, his tummy growled in hunger and he knew it was going to take forever before he ate something...
It felt like hours since he'd been locked away, his hands had gone numb due to blood loss, he felt dizzy and his whole body shook from hunger and fatigue, to sum it up... He felt like shit.
His hatred for his boss was already verified from the first day they met, but at that moment, his hatred grew, it ran deeper than the deepest oceans.
He wished his parents had never gotten into that accident, then he wouldn't have had any medical bills to pay, and he wouldn't have met his monster of a boss.
The door suddenly opened and a very bright light streamed into the room, Zeno had to narrow his eyes to let it adjust to the sudden lightening.
"You're full of surprises," Sebastian said as he slowly approached his chained guard.