Isaac laughed. “If you say so. Just as a thank you for us interrupting your date we booked a nice room for you in the hotel down the street. The honeymoon suite. I’m sure you’ll love it.” He got up from the chair and straightened his tie and jacket. “I’m going to leave you two to it and we’ll pop in on you lovebirds in the morning after you two have a talk and we’ll see how we’ll proceed at that time.” Isaac walked past me, giving me a pat on the shoulder as he walked past, his associate in step beside him as they exited the building.
See how we’d proceed. What in the fuck did that mean? Frowning, I looked up at Sophia. Once they were out of sight she rounded the table and sat across from me.
“I can explain everything.”
“That would be helpful because I have a fuckton of questions for you, Sophia.”
She slowly nodded. “That’s fair and you deserve to know everything.” Her dark eyes scanned the room. “But I think it would be best if we got out of here and to the hotel my brother booked.”
“Sophia, I don’t know…”
Sophia sighed. “I wish that had been a request, but it wasn’t. We’re expected to go there until my brother speaks to us again.”
I was getting extremely irritated now. None of this made a lick of sense. “And who is he to dictate it to us?”
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in and slowly released it before looking at me again. “If we don’t do as they say, they will kill you and not feel the least bit sad about it. Calling the police won’t do any good, so if that’s what you’re thinking please don’t. Let’s just go back to the hotel and talk. Then it’ll all make sense.”
What in the hell had I gotten myself mixed up in? What was she mixed up with? I didn’t know if I should be concerned about her or as mad as hell. There were so many emotions racing through me at the moment that I was feeling literally numb inside.
Did I have a choice? By the look on Sophia’s face, the answer was a resounding no.
Chapter 17
Sophia
“I’m sorry for… that,” I said as we closed the door of the suite that Isaac had booked for us. Turning to face him, I looked up into his eyes praying he’d be open-minded about this. Isaac and Asher both had rooms down the hallway, but as promised they’d booked us into the honeymoon suite. I was so damned upset over the whole invasion of our date that I could care less about the room. All I cared about were the thoughts that must be going through Zack’s mind right now.
“Sophia, I don’t even know what that was!” There was anger in his tone as he glared down at me. “This makes no sense.”
“I guess we should talk about it. And it will make sense then.” It was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was something that I needed to discuss with him that was way past due. Kicking off my shoes, I let my bare toes sink into the soft grey carpet. I’d almost forgotten what luxury living felt like after spending the past couple of months or so living in a minimalistic setting like the dorms.
The room was roughly seven hundred square feet with two bathrooms and a massive master bedroom. Walking deeper into the room, I shed my jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair before flopping down onto the matching maroon sofa. The cushions were so thick and fluffy that it felt like falling into a cloud. I just wished that we were spending time here as a romantic trip, not because we were ordered to.
Zack hesitated at the doorway before heaving a loud sigh, removed his jacket and shoes and then came to sit next to me. “Okay, then let’s get into it. What is going on? I’ve been getting a feeling that you were keeping something from me, but this is well beyond what I would have imagined.”
Would he even want to be with me after this? Hell, for all I knew he was still on the hit list, they were just toying with us. If that were the case, I’d never forgive my brother or family. The interference in my life had gone on too long as far as I was concerned. I just didn’t know how to stop it.
“There are a few things that you should know.”
“Yeah, I suspected as much.”
I could see the reluctance in his movements as he came to sit next to me on the sofa. It hurt. I just hoped he understood once I told him everything. Somehow, in some way, we had to get past this.
“I haven’t talked much about my family because, well, it’s complicated. I’m not even sure where to start.”
“How about we start with you telling me who those men are.”
“Just keep in mind, once I tell you everything, you can’t unknow it and eyes will be on your every move from here on in to ensure you keep quiet.”
“I’ll take my chances. I just want to know what in the fuck is going on, Sophia. I can handle myself. So, I ask again, who were they?”
“Well, the first one is Isaac Marinotti, he’s my oldest brother. The other one was Asher Rossi, he’s a college buddy of Isaac’s and also a business partner. Our families have known each other and have done business for decades now, much longer than I’ve been alive.”
Zack went silent a moment, his gaze taking on a far away look. “Why do those names sound familiar to me.”
I shrugged. “They both went to college here. Both got degrees in something, I don’t even know what. They came more to party than anything else if you ask me. There’s four of them. Isaac, Asher, Elijah and Jacob. They were the heads of the frat when they were here, I believe. It’s part of the reason I joined the sorority, I guess I wanted to prove that whatever Isaac could do I could do as well.”
“The Horsemen.” He finished for me. “They were in the frat.” He confirmed his expression taking a faraway look for a moment. “I vaguely remember them. I certainly was never friends with them or part of the fraternity, I wasn’t really frat material, but the more I consider it the more those names are becoming clearer in my mind.”