Zack yelled at the disconnected call, “Weirdo.”
Duncan came in between him holding his wife to sleep.
“Zack.”
Serena walked out of the private resting room.
“You’re up, honey. Did the phone call wake you?”
Zack swiftly got up and approached Serena. Holding her by the waist, he brought her to the sofa where the couple sat down.
“No. I woke up on my own. Who were you on the phone with?”
Serena was only making conversation, so it did not matter to her whether Zack answered or not.
Zack answered, “Duncan called and talked about trivial things that are not worth the mention. I don’t know what has gotten into him. That was a strange call.”
He then relayed the phone conversation with Duncan to his wife.
Zack had promised that there would be no more lies.
He would be honest with Serena so long as it was no trade secrets.
Plopping herself in Zack’s arms, Serena yawned and said, “I forgot to talk to you about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Zack took anything that came out of his wife’s mouth seriously-no matter how trivial.
“My money-hungry relatives are planning the old switcheroo. They want my cousin to go under the knife to look like me and replace me as Mrs. York.”
Zack glowered.
“My cousin is as old as I am. Our dads look a little alike. Plus, we both take after our dads. I guess you can say that we kinda resemble each other. At least, that was what people used to say when we were little.
haven’t seen her for more than a decade after my parents‘ passing. I don’t know what she looks like now.”
Zack uttered with a scowl, “These people have their heads in the clouds. Seren, is my father–in–law really your grandparents‘ son?”
“That’s not important when you have parents who play favorites. There are cases where the child can get less attention than an adopted child too.
“Harriet must be going for plastic surgery, but I have no idea where the surgery will take place. Can you look into it and stop her from looking like me? I got the word out of Noah when your bodyguards caught him stalking and taking photos of me.”
Noah was not straight with Serena. All he said was that the photos were for Harriet, so the latter could mimic Serena’s mannerisms.
It was not hard to guess that the Hunts were trying to get Harriet to play Serena.
Serena and the Hunts were way past reconciliation. Now that Serena became Mrs. York, the Hunts resented her for refusing them to ride on her coattails. On top of that, Serena was the cause of their heavy financial losses.
The plan to have Harriet replace Serena was so they got someone on the inside to benefit from as well as to get even with Serena and Zack.
Zack immediately called Josh and put Josh in charge of this.
Serena quietly stared at Zack as Zack got off the phone call. With a sparkle in his dark eyes, Zack said tenderly, “I got you, Seren. I won’t let them get away with it.
“Josh has a point. They would hold a grudge for losing everything they cared about, and they would only try to get even when backed into a corner. Now that they had nothing to lose, they would do anything in the name of revenge.”
“They’re a pest and a nuisance.”
Reaching out, Serena caressed Zack’s face. “Zack. I want…”
Zack drew his face near, lifting his chin and narrowing his eyes as he puckered up for a kiss.
Serena smiled and met his lips as he wished.
After a few exchanges of lingering breaths and hot smooches, Zack whispered something raspy in her ear. While Serena did not catch what he said, his intentions were clear to her.
He was turned on, but it was the time of the month for her, so he had to deal with it.
“Zack, I’m not mad and won’t make a fuss about you placing security around me behind my back.”
Zack kissed her and explained, “They’re not there to spy on you. I’m just worried about your safety. You’re my wife, and there are so many people after you now that your identity is out in the open. You can’t stay in the house forever. I had to do it for your safety,”
He would rather die than admit that he wanted to know her every move.
“I understand where you’re coming from. If it weren’t for the bodyguards, we wouldn’t have known what the Hunts were up to. Get more eyes on them. At least we’ll have evidence when they get desperate and commit a crime. They’ll only leave us alone once they’re locked behind bars.”
Zack was a powerful man, but unlike the lawless heroes in the books, he had his principles and drew the line somewhere.
Serena did not want her man to break the law because of these vile people.
Serena and Zack had to wait for the Hunts to make a reckless move and commit a crime before they could send them to jail.
“Do they have any vice?”
“They gamble. Almost all seniors in the town gamble. It’s their favorite pastime after lunch. I don’t know if my uncles gamble, but I guess they probably took up the habit.”
Zack’s dark eyes shimmered as a plan formed in his mind. Nevertheless, he kept mum about it and said to Serena, “Leave them to me. Don’t waste your time on them. I’ll be there for you through thick and thin. Just do what you want to do.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come along to the event tonight? We have never attended a party as a couple, honey.”
Serena looked askance at him. “You’re the great Mr. York. Your security detail will be all over you at social events. A lowly peasant like me can’t possibly get close enough to see your face.”
Zack murmured, “That’s in the past…”
There was once the couple turned up at the same event before and Serena was there as her best friend’s plus–one. Zack kept his identity hidden then. He noticed Serena at the event, but she had no idea he was there.
“Wait until I have full confidence to stand by your side. Even if you don’t want to, I’ll make you go to events with me.”
Getting on her feet, Serena bent over and propped her arms by Zack’s sides.” Give me a kiss, handsome. I got to go.”
Zack laughed. “You’re hitting on me again.”
“You’re secretly happy every time I flirt with you.”
Serena bit his lip. “Take care of yourself. You’re on your own if you starve yourself again. If anything happens to you… I’ll inherit your assets and use your money to get me a boy toy. That would show you.”
“I might just rise from the dead.”
Zack got up and gave her a hug before lovingly uttering, “Seren, I will watch my health so that I can grow old with you. All is good so long as you don’t leave me.”
Removing his hands frorn her body, Serena brought up the packed food. “Send Jim to collect dinner. It’s time for you to get back to work. I’m going back to the shop. Elisa might already be there waiting for me.”
Zack reluctantly walked with her out of the office.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.