SWNOVELS Chapter 19: Zia
“Kill him or he kills you,” Joshua instructed her.
The same words repeated in her ears as she sat on the chair anxiously. What was she doing? She had broken her family’s trust and yet here she was as she waited for Jaxon to show up at the dinner reservation he had made yesterday. This wasn’t what she had in mind. She had to prove her loyalty to her family. As much as she hated that, she knew she had to. Samuel would be disappointed with her if she went snooping around with a man who killed him. At least, Zia had a chance to prove to Samuel that she would avenge for his death. That was her main priority. She didn’t care if Joshua would never allow her to kill vampires. As long as she had the chance to avenge for Samuel’s death, it was good enough.
Zia looked around. There weren’t many guests in the restaurant. Just four tables were occupied out of twenty tables there. One table had gained her attention so much. There was a pregnant brunette woman who laughed about something was said by the man who sat across her. Zia couldn’t help it but felt jealous of how good looking the couple was. They looked so happy together. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips as he gave it a light kiss.
Zia knew that with her own profession as a huntress, there was no way she could experience what the couple had. Her dangerous job would constantly demand her attention and effort. It wasn’t easy to kill supernatural species. It would be even worse if she was tied down to someone who didn’t know anything about that. It must be the reason why Joshua chose Brody as his future son-in-law. It explained everything. Brody knew all the things he needed to know. He was like another version of Joshua. Between Brody and Clay, Joshua much preferred to bring Brody along with him than his own children. Zia didn’t know why he would do that. Sometimes, she would hear Clay and their father argued about it. Her mother was out of the equation. The woman only followed what her husband told her to do. In a family like this, the females never had the chance to voice their own opinions. Joshua did all the decisions. Whatever he had decided, that was what everyone would do. Nobody in the family could question his authority. No one except for Samuel. He had stood up against Joshua so many times after the latter had taught Zia how to hold a gun. For Samuel, he never wanted her to follow their father’s footsteps since the beginning, but Zia was a stubborn one. He did everything he could to stop her. Now, nothing could stop her. She had one mission and she would accomplish it no matter what it would cost her.
She straightened herself when she saw Jaxon was walking to the door. He was wearing a suit, but without the tie. With his big and strong frame, he looked very intimidating. Zia didn’t fear this. This was what she did best.
He flashed her a big smile, “I’m sorry I was a little bit late.” Jaxon kissed her cheek before he sat down, “I had to do a fast errand for Jain.”
“It’s not a problem,” Zia smiled as he flipped through the menu. “I had just arrived anyway.”
“Have you order anything?”
“No, I was waiting for you. Why don’t you recommend something?”
He nodded as he spoke softly to the waiter about what he wanted to order. The waiter nodded here and there as Zia reached the glass of wine and took a sip. Jaxon definitely looked better than the last time she saw him in the park. There wasn’t any dark circle around his eyes which indicated that he had good sleep. His cologne was so addictive to her.
Zia almost spat the wine out when she realized what she had been doing. No, she couldn’t feel this way about the man who killed her brother.
“How are you doing?” Jaxon asked after he had ordered their dinner.
“It’s good lately. Nothing fun, actually. Just walk around and enjoy life.” she answered with so many lies. “You looked better than the last time we met.”
He chuckled, “Yeah, I had several guests in my home so I had to have a good time with them. I guess it helped me cope with my uncle’s death.”
“You must be very lucky to have people like them caring for you.”
“Come on, don’t tell me you don’t have such friends. You’re great, Zia. And you look spectacular tonight. I couldn’t keep my eyes off.”
She laughed softly, “Please do keep your eyes on me. I love it when you’re very attentive on me.”
Jaxon smirked as he leaned forward, “Don’t worry, I’m planning on keeping my eyes on you for a very long time.”
Zia laughed again before her attention shifted to his right hand which was about to touch the silver cutlery on the table. The werewolf was weak to silver. Jaxon wouldn’t be much different than that. His hand touched the fork and Zia almost hitched her breath. He didn’t look like he was affected by it. How was it possible? Wasn’t he a werewolf? How come the silver fork didn’t affect him? There was no way Joshua was wrong about Jaxon. Her father had a very credible information.
“Hey,” Jaxon’s hand reached for hers on the table, “Are you alright? You zoned out a bit.”
She nodded and smiled, “Yeah, I’m alright. I thought I forgot to lock my house before I came here.”
“Too eager to see me, eh?” he gave her a cocky smirk.
Zia snorted, “You’d wish.”
His deep laughter sent shivers and made her tummy erupted with butterflies. Why everything he did right now was affecting her in a way that she tried so hard to avoid?
Jaxon reached to touch her cheek and his thumb caressed her lips, “You’re so beautiful, Zia.”
“Stop complimenting me.” she did her best to not smile but failed miserably. “Well, you don’t look bad yourself.”
“You haven’t seen everything yet.” he winked.
Then she remembered the time she asked him to have sex with her in his car and how she begged him to exploit her body. What the hell she was thinking on that night?
“Oh, stop it!” Her cheeks started to redden even more.
“You weren’t this shy a few nights ago in my car.”
“You could have been a serial killer.”
Jaxon crossed his arms, “And yet you climbed to my lap willingly.”
“Maybe I wanted to strangle you on that night.”
“I have no doubt on that.”
She was surprised at that, but Jaxon looked relaxed with his answer before the waiter came with their foods. There was no way he could have known what she did for a living. She was very careful, but right now she couldn’t let her guard down.