Betrothed To An Alpha? I Don't Think So!
Chapter 19: Marcus

Chapter 19: Marcus

Zayne sat in one of the wooden pillowed chairs in the kitchen, browsing through his phone’s work messages. Every now and then, he would peek over at Evelyn.

She had been at the counter for a while, quiet. And that was a problem. She was never silent, so why now? Even her emotions that he could taste like salt on his tongue were rather...

Sad?

She was moping.

"Evelyn?"

There was no response.

"Evelyn." His voice rose.

Evelyn snapped out of whatever thoughts she was lost in, turning to look at him. "What?"

"What are you thinking so hard about?" he asked. "You’ve been quiet since we came back yesterday."

She rolled her eyes. "You think I can’t be quiet?"

"No. Not like this."

"What does that mean?"

He met her eyes, lifting a brow. "Something’s bothering you. What is it?"

"Oh, so you do have emotions." She grinned.

"Have I ever given you the impression that I didn’t?"

"With that constant look on your face? I don’t think I’m the only one with this opinion." She turned away from him to handle the coffee machine.

A beat of silence stretched between them and he was about to further press on the question, when she asked, "Do you think siblings are like this?"

"What?"

"The way my siblings and I are. Is that what you’d expect it to be? The need to hurt for minor things like money...a stupid corporation, I don’t know."

Zayne shook his head. "No. I have a younger brother. I wouldn’t ever think of hurting him."

"Right?" Evelyn chuckled awkwardly. "I guess it’s just me then."

"Is that why you’ve been quiet since yesterday? Because of what happened at your company?"

She cut her gaze to him.

His eyes narrowed on her. "So, that is the reason."

"You say it like it’s unexpected," she muttered.

"A bit," he said. "I’d expected you’d get used to them by now. Haven’t they always been like this since you were little?"

She frowned. "Yes, but can you even get used to something like this? I mean, no one can. I don’t even know why they dislike me so much. I’ve thought over and over again and I can’t figure it out. How come they all love each other, but not me? What did I do so wrong, that an empire is more important than my life?"

Zayne stared at her for what seemed like a while. "Forget about them. Forget that they are your siblings. You don’t need them."

She blinked at him.

"That’s uh...that’s very straightforward of you. You would really suck as a therapist."

He averted his gaze, smiling at her words.

"Here, coffee." Evelyn walked over to him, handing him a cup.

He took the cup, and brought it to his lips, only to spit the entire thing out. Salt. It tasted only of salt, he felt his entire body shiver in disgust.

Zayne’s left eye twitched. Any second now, smoke would puff out of each ear and fill the room. She held her breath, waiting with a grin tugging at her lips.

"Do you want to poison me?" he asked.

That did it for her, leaving her laughing like she’d never heard anything more funny.

"The fuck is so funny? Huh?"

"Did you think I was done with you?" She chuckled.

The look that crossed Zayne’s face was gone before she could fully decipher it. He stood from the chair, stepping into her space so fast the only thing she felt was the breeze from his sudden movement.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she quickly backed away, finding herself stuck between his large figure and the kitchen counter.

"What?"

"You’re never going to stop, are you?" he questioned.

"Are you forgetting we had a deal?" She raised a brow. "Of course, I won’t. I told you I’m going to win this game."

Zayne looked unfazed as he took her in. "Fine." He turned on his heel and headed out of the kitchen.

She was off in seconds, following after him. She wasn’t even sure why she was doing this, but she grabbed his wrist, halting him. The glare he fixed her with, almost made her want to take a step back.

"Take your hand off me."

"Why?" She held his gaze. "Do you hate me now? Does that mean you don’t want—"

"I told you, your stupid little games are never going to be enough to change my mind." The air between them thickened with some kind of tension that heated her. "If you used that pea-sized head of yours—"

A low gasp tore through her, hand coming at her head.

"—You’d understand that maybe all this benefits you more than you think." Zayne stormed off, leaving her standing there with a shocked look.

"My head is not pea-sized though." She turned to face the floor-length glass window on the left side of the hallway. "Say what you may, Zayne Mancini, but I will be the one deciding my life. Not my father or even you."

.....

"Boss?"

[Where are you right now, Marcus?]

"I’m stationed close to the manor, sir. The target is in sight," a brown-haired man spoke into the phone he held while positioning his rifle he had situated on the rooftop he was on.

[Good. Remember, your job is to kill the girl, just the girl. Forget about Zayne Mancini, he’s not our target. A month is all we have Marcus and you are my best sniper. You’ve got to finish the job today]

"Is everything alright, boss?" the man Marcus asked. "I’ve never seen you sound weary about someone. And Zayne Mancini, you sound terrified of him."

[I’m not terrified, Marcus. But whether anyone believes me or not, that man is not human. Zayne Mancini isn’t, because I know what I’ve seen. And it’s fine. You don’t have to believe me either]

"It’s not that I don’t believe you boss." Marcus crouched, watching through the rifle scope at Evelyn who stood in the hallway, staring at herself in the glass window. "But Zayne Mancini looks perfectly human to me. What else could he be if not human? Just sounds like some fantasy."

[Yeah, yeah, call it a fantasy, joke about it, but I know what I saw]

The call ended.

Marcus aimed at Evelyn, finger drawing the trigger. "Human or not, who cares? He can be the devil for all I care."

The bullet burst through the rifle.