Jada was furious as she walked into the huge apartment, almost always empty save for days like these. They had to watch their backs, knowing that Zayn wasn’t stupid. He probably had been watching them for months already, but even though he wasn’t, they still needed to be careful around him. One thing that Zayn was, and that everyone knew him to be, was fucking smart. Nothing went past him without him picking a whiff of it, and it was worse when they got him infuriated. He would stop at nothing to ensure he got his hands on them, and his fury was the worst thing anyone could ever experience.
It was more terrible than the death sentence ordered by the courts because Zayn wouldn’t let any of his enemies go away that easily. He thought death was too simple a punishment, but instead, he would leave one alive long enough to regret their existence. The mere thought brought a shudder down her spine, but Jada knew she had to think about it because it was the exact thing they needed to be worried about.
Fiddling with the box of cigarettes, Jada retrieved one and hung it on her lips, retrieving a lighter as well. Her hands trembled as she moved, but she needed the nicotine in the cigarettes to keep her moving. Fear racked through her as she couldn’t stop thinking of how Zayn had her pinned against the wall just an hour ago. She had felt every bit of his fury wash over to her and knew that she had gotten into his bad books immediately. Jada thought about booking a flight back to Jamaica, but knew it would be foolery if she believed that Zayn couldn’t find her anywhere on the face of the earth.
She should have let it all go when she still had the chance to and shouldn’t have come down there when Nathan made the request. Life in Jamaica wasn’t as great as the one she lived being Zayn’s girlfriend, but at least she knew her place there and wasn’t running for her life. But right now, Jada was sure that was what she was going to get reduced to a fugitive.
“I told you to stop smoking in my damn apartment,” Nathan grumbled as he walked into the living area, his voice echoing through the walls. He had just gotten in as well, perhaps prompted by Jada’s SOS. “Now, the whole place smells like a goddamn lounge.”
“My smoking is the last thing you should be worried about, Nathan,” Jada said weakly. “We are fucked.”
“The only thing that is fucked right now is you smoking in my living room, in an apartment registered under my name. If you know you really need a stick that much, drive the fuck around until you exhaust it. Do not do that here.”
“Shut up, Nathan!” Jada suddenly snapped, having heard enough of it. “You act like you don’t smoke around here too, and don’t give me the crap story about it being your apartment making you able to do whatever you like. It was given to you by your parents because they are sick and tired of your ass in their house. They want you to go far away and leave them alone, but you never get the picture. You are still trying to get some company that you know, and I know has always belonged to your brother from the get-go. You are a fucking ex-convict, Nathan. Who would want an ex-convict to run a whole company?”
His hand whipped out suddenly to hit her on the face, and Jada fell to the floor with a yelp. Still, it was better being beaten by his brother than being at the mercy of Zayn. “Yeah, beat me all you want. It was one of the things that landed you in jail, wasn’t it? I don’t care anymore. You put us in this position. You fucked me even when I tried to tell you that Zayn would find out. If I had just walked out on you and never spoken to you again, I would have been married to Zayn by now.”
Nathan laughed coldly, shaking his head. “Now, you would have not. My younger brother doesn’t get married to whores.”
“Can you keep your voices down?” Kayla whispered as she walked into the living area too, her heels hitting the marble ground. “Anyone can pick up your voice, and the last thing we need is for anyone to discover this.”
“There wouldn’t be any need to hide for much longer since I already managed to piss Zayn off,” Jada muttered, pulling herself off the floor. “He was so angry that I thought he was going to snuff the life out of me on the spot. I am certain the only reason he let me go was because Rina was there. He didn’t want her to witness something like that. And for fuck’s sake, Finn was supposed to hold her down at that stupid restaurant until we got something fundamental. Where is he? I need to teach him some lessons on following a plan through to the very end.”
Kayla sighed and wrapped her hands around her frame. “He was picked up by the police just as I was preparing to come down here.”
“When my SOS came in?”
Kayla nodded.
“Shit! It’s Rina. She must have told him everything.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Kayla answered. “They said he was going to be charged with defamation, and knowing how powerful the combination of Zayn and Rina is, I doubt Finn will be coming out anytime soon. We have to find another way to get through to her.”
“Are you sick or something?” Jada said, getting on her feet. “I just said I almost got my life snuffed out of me, and yet, you still want to do this.”
“You can step aside if you want, Jada, but I have a goal in mind, and I will not stop until I get what I want.”
Nathan nodded. “She has always been such a scared cat. I wonder why I thought she could even handle this.”
As they spoke, the door suddenly caved in before them and a loud bang reverberated through the house.