Autophobia

Sleep

"Luke is going to be pissed when he finds out what his son did."

Zane nodded, walking side by side with his assistant. Grace was her name, and it suited her. She was tall and wore heels. Her black hair was healthy and straight, falling just past her shoulders. Her makeup was light but she always had the deepest red color for lipstick. Sometimes she would put on a dark purple. Her manicured nails held the contract that their new victim signed.

The boy was naive to talk business with Zane without his father. Putting loopholes in the contract, Zane will easily be able to crumble Luke's business and take its place in a couple of years. It would be a slow process, but when handling business illegally in the public eye, things need to be taken slowly.

Zane looked to his watch and saw that it was nearing eleven, a lot later than he wanted to be staying.

"You have been checking that watch throughout today." Her voice was curt, an influence from her father.

"Have I?" Zane should have asked his butler to call him throughout the day to keep him updated on Amelia. He wanted to call, but he has been so caught up on work that he hadn't had the chance to sit and take a breath until now.

Just yesterday he witness Amelia getting shot. The thought made him on edge. His fight response kicked in and the adrenaline rushed through his blood. Never in his life had he been so scared. Shaking his head he walked on. "Just distracted is all."

They both walked down the hall and to his office. In his public office, nothing secret was kept there, so it was unlocked and had windows open to the beautiful view of the city.

She sat at the corner of his desk. "Is it Amelia?"

There was an emphasis in her voice when she said Amelia's name. Zane knew why. Before he had even known Amelia existed they were both, to be blunt, fuck buddies. However, Zane feels nothing for her now and can't even touch her, and it created a distance between them. Zane's sexual frustration was off the charts but he was wrapped around Amelia's finger and so he was going to wait for even the slight hope of intimacy with her.

He knew he shouldn't intertwine work and fucking.

Zane never really talked about Amelia around Grace. He had a feeling it would only complicate things. Grace was a good woman and a damn good assistant. He knew she will have hard feelings towards Amelia, but he knew she was going to hide them.

He didn't have to worry about it. They both were never going to see each other.

"You also have a meeting with Carter."

Zane looked from the window to Grace with a raised brow. "Carter? I wasn't informed about this."

Grace walked around to him. "He found out about what happened to Amelia and wanted to speak with you. He called me while you were talking to Luke's son."

"So I guess that means you know what happened?"

Grace nodded. "That's also why I rescheduled a couple of your meetings to next month."

"Thank you."

"It's what you pay me to do."

Grace started to walk out when Zane called her name.

"Email me a list of everyone we know with the name Daniela."

She smiled before closing the door. "Consider it done."

****

When he pulled into his home he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise. He thought of every spot where he could put an extra guard, camera, anything that would make his home more tightly secured. This morning he brought men from his warehouse to guard his home.