Sleepiness overtook Heather, but she was afraid of falling onto the ground. Hence, she would stir a little and wake up at once as she curled herself up on the tiny sofa. She turned up the heater to full blast, but she felt chilly no matter what since she had only a thin blanket on her. She wondered if Zayne didn’t have enough time to fix up this shelter or if he was deliberately pulling pranks on her. She appeared to be in a bad mood as she rubbed her nose in a very unladylike fashion.
She was bored stiff as there wasn’t even a TV inside the cabin. She couldn’t sleep well, nor could she watch a soap opera even if she wanted to. At this moment, she missed the bustling scenes of Bradfort City terribly. Now, it seemed so hard to get what had been within her easy reach. Heather buried her face in the sofa and took a deep sniff at its genuine leather, for it smelled way more pleasant than the stench in the cabin.
Since she couldn’t sleep no matter what, she decided to play her trump card by putting herself to sleep using the most primitive method. “One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…” There appeared to be countless little sheep before her eyes, yet drowsiness failed to sweep over her.
Heather’s head throbbed with pain, for she was in a situation where she wanted to sleep but couldn’t do so. However, she couldn’t do anything about it since she couldn’t even find a book in such a place. When she thought about this, she felt very displeased since Zayne was being rather inconsiderate.
Meanwhile, the same man sneezed while sitting in the car that was moving at a high speed. He pinched his nose and thought to himself, Is someone thinking about me?
There was still a long way to get to Bradfort City; it wasn’t small, and it deserved to be called a cosmopolitan. Zayne liked this city because Heather had been born and raised here, but the current situation had become increasingly complicated right now. Even though he described it to her as though it was easy to solve, the situation was actually difficult to turn around. Besides, he wasn’t the person who could turn things around either.
It wasn’t easy to put things back in order, and Zayne regretted promising Heather to come here since he had to face a complete mess of things now. Just then, he wondered if she was getting used to living there right now. After all, she was the daughter of a wealthy family, so he thought that she probably couldn’t get used to sleeping in that kind of place at all. Upon thinking about this, his lips curled into a sly smile. He admitted that he had selfish motives in arranging such a shelter for her, but this was nothing. Worse things might happen in the future, so this could be considered an advance warning for her.
As the car drove into the city, Zayne found a comfortable posture for himself and rearranged his position in the vehicle. He estimated that they were at least 20 minutes away from their destination, and the journey would take longer if they got caught in any traffic jams. “No third person can know about what happened today,” he said from his seat at the back of the car to the driver in front, using an authoritative tone that allowed no rebuttal.
The driver responded in a deep voice, “Okay.”
Zayne closed his eyes with satisfaction. The driver in front of him was no ordinary person. Instead, he was an all-around bodyguard that Zayne had specially hired from abroad for his personal safety. This guy was an assassin who typically sought refuge in remote areas, but he would occasionally work as a bodyguard. He was almost capable of everything, and his ability to kill was even more unbeatable. Meanwhile, Zayne was a person who was on friendly terms with both the government and the underworld. He disliked fights and killings, but since his personal safety was being threatened this time, he couldn’t find a more reliable protector than the man in front of him.
Just then, the driver in front of Zayne lowered his voice and said to him, “I have to remind you as a friend, Zayne.”
The latter, who had just closed his eyes, opened them once more. This guy rarely spoke, so Zayne wouldn’t ignore him when he opened his mouth on such a rare occasion. “I know what you’re going to say.” He didn’t want this guy to advise him since that would make him appear stupid.
“Don’t ruin yourself for a woman, Zayne,” the all-around bodyguard reminded in a caring manner.
Zayne propped himself up with his arms and narrowed his eyes as a smile of resignation played on his lips. “Are you advising me in your capacity as my younger brother, Jason?” He leaned forward. Perhaps no one would’ve thought that this man, who could kill people without batting an eyelid, was the younger brother of Zayne, the great detective.
“Don’t coerce me using our brotherhood. We aren’t related by blood,” Jason Lee retorted contemptuously. I shouldn’t have reminded Zayne, he thought to himself.
“Yeah, our relationship is one between an employee and his employee.” Zayne laughed. He shouldn’t have brought up the subject of brotherly affections at such a time, for he should’ve known long ago that Jason had no regard for affections.
“Either way, remember to take care of yourself. I don’t want to collect your dead body,” Jason replied coldly.
“Just be rest assured, you brat. I’ll probably be the one who collects your dead body instead,” Zayne retorted, refusing to show any signs of weakness. Nonetheless, Jason still cared for him a little bit, and this was more than enough.
With that, Jason returned to his usual and indifferent self without saying another word. Zayne had long been accustomed to this side of him, and he sometimes even suspected that he was a robot. He recalled the scene where he first met Jason as a child; Jason looked like an alien at the time, for his big head and tiny body made him look funny yet pitiful.
Zayne had gotten himself a house in the city this time, and it cost him a lot of money. The houses in Bradfort City were insanely expensive, so much so that even single apartments were unreasonably overpriced. I must make Heather pay for all this. She has lots of money in her personal vault anyway, he thought to himself with a smile. Why can’t I use anything else but money to communicate with those close to me? He would arrive at his apartment in another while. He was a bit tired, and he couldn’t wait to go back and get some sleep.
The car stopped in the apartment’s underground parking lot, and Jason protected Zayne as they got out of it one after another. This kind of underground parking lot was where accidents were most likely to happen, so he shielded his employer with his own body out of his professionalism.
Meanwhile, Zayne patted Jason on the shoulder from behind. “Relax, they don’t have spare time to deal with me at the moment.” Zayne was a detective, so he had these details well within his grasp. Needless to say, he wouldn’t let himself be killed so easily.
Jason frowned at Zayne. The two wisps of the latter’s mustache looked gentlemanly and mirthful at the corners of his lips with an inexplicable ludicrousness to it. When the siblings were compared to each other, Jason was virtually a giant with a height of approximately two meters. If he didn’t work as an assassin, he could join a basketball team instead. His stocky build made Zayne appear a few sizes smaller, and it was totally believable that he could shield Zayne with his sturdy body when danger befell.
As such, they returned to their apartment on the 21st floor without any danger along the way. After looking at the doorknob, Zayne shot Jason a glance. He discovered that someone had sneaked into the apartment, but no one dared to guarantee whether the person was still inside right now. It seemed like the intruder had bad intentions, so Zayne took out his keys and opened the door first while Jason removed his silenced gun from the holster. As soon as Zayne opened the door, Jason rushed into the apartment with big strides and held his gun at Leon, who was currently sitting on the sofa.
The only reason Jason hadn’t fired his gun was because he recognized this man. On the other hand, Zayne was also surprised to see Leon. He made a gesture to Jason, who put his gun away carefully and closed the door right away. Zayne sat across from Leon and curled his lips gently, making the two wisps of his mustache appear even more vivid.
“You two have taken too much time to come back,” Leon said while looking at his wristwatch.
“How did you find this place?” Zayne had greatly underestimated Leon before. It seemed that Leon was a force to be reckoned with, and he probably had lots of secrets as well.
“It’s easy for me to check someone out in Bradfort City.” Leon smiled in an easy manner. The smell of gunpowder filled the air around him and Zayne as they exchanged glances, whereas Jason went straight to the fridge, opened it directly, and took an iced drink from it. No one knew how hot his body was as he finished off the drink with one gulp in the winter.
“What’s your reason for coming here?” Zayne asked straightforwardly since it wasn’t necessary to beat around the bush with Leon.
“My purpose is simple. I’m here to join hands with you,” Leon answered openly as he came with complete sincerity.
“You’re here to join hands with me, yet you came uninvited. I’m afraid this isn’t a collaboration,” Zayne rebuked penetratingly since Leon’s attitude wasn’t as simple as a cooperative one.
“I don’t know what you think, but I did come with complete sincerity. These are the documents I’ve brought you.” With that, Leon handed the stack of documents beside him to Zayne directly.
The latter took the documents. When he saw how confident Leon looked, he immediately realized what these documents were about. However, he put the documents on the coffee table between them without intending to open those files. This bargaining chip was too good to be true, so how could he accept it so easily?
“Why aren’t you accepting them?” Leon was surprised by Zayne’s attitude. After all, he was sure that the latter would gladly accept these documents.
“I’m afraid I can’t afford a bargaining chip of equal worth.” Zayne wasn’t a businessman, but he understood what an equal exchange was.
“My request is simple,” said Leon as he tried to convince him. After all, Zayne was the only one who could do this because Heather trusted him.
“The simpler the task, the harder it is to get it done. I know you’re an outstanding businessman, Leon. How could someone in the business world let themselves suffer a loss?” Zayne replied with a look of distrust, not allowing Leon to mislead him.
“You and I are both protecting the same woman, so we’re natural allies. Even if you turn me down right now, we’d still join hands in the future,” Leon said confidently.
Zayne disagreed with Leon, though. “No, that’s not the case. There are too many differences in terms of how we protect her, so it seems impossible for us to join hands. I can only hope that we won’t become enemies in the future.” He didn’t appreciate what Leon had done at all.
“It seems like you really don’t intend on joining hands with me,” Leon said disappointedly. He didn’t expect that Zayne would think about such things, and it was his fault for oversimplifying the matter in his mind.
“The more you desperately try to save Heather’s life, the more dangerous her situation will be. You should know that you’re a large part of the reason why she’s landed herself in her current predicament.” Zayne had to remind Leon since he didn’t want the latter to continue hurting Heather in the name of protection.
“In that case, tell me what I should do,” Leon asked while staring at Zayne. He didn’t think he was hurting Heather since he tried so hard to make her happy.
“Your family is too complicated, and it has gotten so many families involved. Bradfort City is almost falling apart thanks to the disputes among these families. These forces will only come to an end when you guys leave Bradfort City once and for all, and Heather will be entirely safe by then.” While investigating Leon’s family, Zayne discovered that most of these messy situations were connected to this particular family.
