[Music: Gasoline By Colt Blackwell]

The sound of my rapid heartbeat pulsed against my ears. My palms are shaky and sweaty. My mind racing with a number of thoughts with one the loudest. How the fuck did it get to this?

Jacob sat so still that I thought he was a statue, and he didn’t dare lift his gaze from the table. Ever since the moment I walked in, he couldn’t even look at me, as if forbidden.

From the very start, I’ve wondered if this was a trap... There was no use doing that because it was from the beginning, and I waltzed my way in ever since I decided to come to Zade.

My gaze shifted when the waiter came with our orders... an order we didn’t make ourselves.

I was hoping to give him a cry for help, but he stuck with his professional countenance, almost unbothered by the whole thing.

A fine plate of burrata with cherry tomatoes and basil was dropped in front of me, and then Jacob’s.

"Please, I know you must be starving..." Zade said, nonchalant about the whole thing as if he hadn’t spat his venom into the air.

I feel so stupid right now. The shoes, a phone call from the academy director, my sudden desire to see him, and the car. Was everything just a trick?

"D-Don Salvero.." Jacob began hesitantly. "I—"

"I brought you out here for lunch... and you intend to refuse me? That hardly seems polite."

Jacob swallowed thickly, reaching for his cutlery.

What am I gonna do?

I have to do something before this gets worse.

I heard the soft clink of the plate. Zade cut gently into the burrata with his knife, the cheese spilling onto the plate. He gathered a little with his fork and brought it to me.

"Try this, darling... This place serves one of the best. I know the chef personally."

That explained why the waiter didn’t spare a thought at the whole display. Fuck!

I flickered my eyes to Zade and then the fork.

How on earth am I supposed to do that? He can’t expect me to just eat while Jacob is...!

Wait... what happens if I don’t comply? Will he kill him?

I eyed the men standing behind Jacob, and I could already discern them doing that. They held their guns; that alone was enough of a statement.

Jacob had one foot in the grave, even I did for fuck sake.

I parted my lips and took a bite. It was soft and creamy, the flavors hitting my taste buds like an explosion.

However, I can’t explore the taste as much as I wanted. It turned bland, and my jaw hurts from forcing myself to try to chew amidst my little quiver.

Zade fed me, and I had no choice but to comply, hoping obedience would give me the leverage I wanted.

I glanced at Jacob, forced in the same case of forced eating, still unable to even look in my direction as if I didn’t exist.

He must really hate me right now. I had put him in this twisted situation again. I clenched my lips against my lap. This was all my fault.

I went rigid when Zade’s lips touched the corner of mine.

"You have a little bit of something there."

Chills shot up my spine when he licked the spot, a soft breath fleeing from me as I tried to keep still as best as I could and not punch him in the fucking face.

My nails dug into my palm as I tasted my own self-control right there. Zade, on the other hand, took his sweet time as if he wanted my skin itself to hit his taste buds like a fucking cannibal.

Tension coiled through me when Jacob finally met my eyes. The emotions burning them felt so intense.

Anger,

Disgust,

Pain.

A piece of me... whatever was left... shattered. He loved Annabeth, and now I was married to her killer, and here he was... forced to watch this unfold.

I chewed the inside of my mouth, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

He had every reason to hate me.

"You’re probably wondering why I invited you to lunch..." Zade began, relaxing back on his seat, his hand stroking up and down my back tenderly, but it only rattled me to the core.

He snapped his finger, and one of his men brought a case, opening it to reveal the cigars. He took one out, and the bottom was lit with a matte black lighter.

Zade took a drag, taking his time as always, before he leaned back his head to release the puff of smoke into the air.

By the time he set his slitted eyes back on Jacob, there was a satisfied smirk on his lips as if he’d had a taste of heaven.

"You see, Jacob... may I call you Jacob?" he asked, but it was more like a rhetorical question. "We are way past familiarities. After all, you are my wife’s closest companion."

Oh God. I closed my eyes, wishing the ground could just swallow me. I’m not just haunted by this, but last night. The mortification crashed so heavily I felt faint.

"My darling wife here..." He spared me a look, and I could feel his scalding gaze scorching my side profile. "...still has unnecessary lingering attachments. She’s smitten with you, and it’s interfering with our honeymoon."

He planted a kiss on my shoulder, looking at me like I was the only thing that mattered. But I could see through the crack. This was a fucking act, and the knowing smirk gave it away.

This rotten... asshole.

"As you know, newlyweds tend to become rather consumed with each other. That becomes difficult when you occupy her thoughts every waking moment."

He set his eyes back on Jacob, pinning him with a look that said... ’This is all on you.’

"How do you plead your case, Jacob?"