Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“For her sake, she better be.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
WARREN
“You know, if you want to murder people because they make me cry, you should already be six feet under.”
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” I pause in the hallway. “Do I make you cry often?”
“No.” She waves her hand. “I was trying to lighten the mood.” Tova’s bottom lip puffs out. “You think she used me?” Fuck, I want to tell her no so badly, but I’m not sure. She’s joking because she’s worried about being hurt. Marks is the one that should be worried. I’ll dismantle her whole world.
“There is a possibility she didn’t. I can understand wanting to be close to you. It’s why I brought you here. So no one else would take you.”
“Wait, what?” Tova tilts her head to the side, her nose scrunching. “I know you mentioned you wanted me here, but you did that because you didn’t want to share me?”
I could share her with her family and, I suppose, girlfriends. “If I wanted you so badly, I was positive so would others. If I had you here, then no one could try and take you.”
“Except you.” She lifts a brow, and I know she’s teasing me again.
“I’ll do whatever I need to.”
“I know.” Tova goes up on her tiptoes. I lean down to press my mouth to hers. When her lips part, I greedily slip my tongue inside to get a taste of her sweetness. My fix, really. Each one of her kisses soothes something inside of me.
“Do you guys have to do this outside my bedroom?” Z asks, leaning up against the doorframe.
“My wife wants to know about Marks.”
“Right.” Z shakes his head, turning to go back into his bedroom. He leaves the door open for us to follow him in. “You’re not the only one who wants to know who she is.”
“How do you know her?” Tova’s eyes go to the wall of computer screens while Z’s go to me.
I give him a nod. “She’s my wife now.”
“Marks and I play in the same world. We have even worked on a few projects together.”
“But you don’t know who she is?” I ask.
“Don’t know who a lot of people are in my world. People don’t know who the fuck I am. I don’t actually exist. I'm Zero to them.”
Z isn’t wrong. Technically he doesn’t even exist. What feels like another lifetime ago, our father brought him home. Z was presumed to have died when his parents were murdered. My father said it was best if people thought that he had met his death so they wouldn’t come looking for him. We never asked my father questions. What he said was law, and we all accepted Z into our family.
Who Z’s parents were, I’m not sure we’ll ever know. If my parents know, they have kept that secret close. The rest of the world believes Zenzo is my parents' son. My mother said it was for the best. That we must pretend. It was to protect him. I don’t see him any differently than I do Ronan. I actually might be closer with Z.
“But if she befriended me because of you guys, then maybe Marks does know who you are.”
Z’s eyes lock with mine, and I hear his unspoken words that nobody knows who he truly is.
"She doesn't know who I am in her world, but she does know who the Marino family is. That much is clear from the messages she's been sending you."
"What's she been saying?" Tova asks.
"I have the phone." I turned it off and put it in the safe.
"I know. It took me all night, but I locked in on the messages, chasing them down. I spent fucking hours, and I got them, but I couldn't get a trace on her." Z shakes his head. "She's fucking good, I'll give her that. It wasn't something she did for me to get them. That was on the Signal app."
"So now what? I just can't be her friend?" Tova stares up at me with watery eyes. "Can we call her?"
"Z?"
"I don't see why not. The only thing that was an issue is Tova's phone." Z walks over to his computer. "Which is why I got her a new one." He holds it out to me, but Tova grabs it quickly. Z's eyes bounce between the two of us, and I'm sure he's waiting to see what my reaction is going to be.
“Why was my phone an issue?”
“She could hack it. Listen in on anything. There is a lot she could do if she wanted.”
“Really?” Tova’s face turns to one of panic.
“What?” I ask.
“I let her fix my laptop once,” she admits to Z. “It was being weird, and she remoted in and fixed it.”
“Bring it to me and I can check it over,” Z tells her.