Dalliance - Z.M. (An Exquisites Original Story)

61; Back to Black

Chapter 61

"I tread a troubled track.
My odds are stacked."

(Zayn's POV)

The absolute last person I ever expected to see on the other side of Raine's door was Apollo. But alas, I am not capable of preventing Raine from making stupid decisions, although I can admit I'm the reason for most of her impulsive tendencies. So I manage to bite back the jealousy that can't help but burn in my throat to stand tall and turn my attention to the reason I am here, at the room of my ex-girlfriend who seems to be the bearer of bad news these days.

"You need somethin'?" Apollo asks me, leaning against her doorframe as though he is the protector of her fort. It amuses me, how she manages the have the most dangerous man I know wrapped around her finger, although it's not surprising seeing as I'm tangled right beside him.

"I need to talk to you," I call out to Raine who looks less than pleased to see me at her door at this hour. She just left my apartment in a complete fit, and while I feel as though I need to apologize for my behavior, it doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere. Apparently, she prefers her men to be complete jackasses, so who am I to be the exception?

"Is it important?" She asks me, as if she was doing something far more pressing before I arrived. With a leveling breath, I nod once, unable to elicit a response that is anything less than sarcastic.

"She's tired," Apollo chirps, slipping his coat on to leave. "Come back tomorrow."

Perhaps Raine has given him a reason to act so righteous towards me, but I can't bring myself to humor him for even a moment. It might not seem like it to him, but he is and will always be the man Raine uses when she can't get me to do her bidding. Put it how you want, but it's the truth, and I believe the poor bastard deserves it. So Raine can play on, she tends to get bored of the game very quickly.

"I'm good," I say with a smirk, tilting my head slightly. His eyes glare down at me in the same threatening way I have seen them do many times before, but unlike those times, I do not feel the nervousness I once possessed. I've taken his title from him, I can just as easily take Raine when the time is right. The moment he starts respecting me for the threat I am, he will finally lower his gaze when he speaks to me.

"Raine, I'm waiting downstairs," I call to her while keeping my eyes in Apollo's. His jaw fixes tightly under his skin before he slams the door shut in my face, my presence angering him. Pleased, I make my way downstairs and out the front door, inhaling the cold air while my ego gets fed.

Placing a cigarette between my lips, I light it and allow the tobacco to warm my body. The night is as empty as the city allows. With the exception of a few people walking by every so often, the moon shines on the Crescent City as the silence floods the streets. With a deep sigh, I clasp my hands together, rubbing them softly as I take a seat on the bench facing the empty roads.

I have burned through an entire cigarette when I finally hear Raine and Apollo's voices in the near distance. Lighting another match, I look over my shoulder to see him kiss her briefly... comfortably, and it incites a bitter taste on my tongue that I have to spit out. What she sees in a narcissistic piece of shit like him, I could never understand.

The valet brings the car out for Apollo and he disappears into the night, as busy as he always is, regardless of the hour. Raine makes her way towards me slowly, bringing her own cigarette to her mouth as she wraps her long coat around her tightly, sheltering herself from the cold. Without a word, she takes a seat beside me and begins to light her cigarette, but her lighter flickers out repeatedly. With an aggravated sigh, she is nearly about to give up when I raise my own lighter and light her stick for her even though I know she doesn't appreciate the kind gesture coming from me.