Chapter 45 — Revealing Some More Secrets

Clave.

Silenced.

I silenced Zinnia by putting my index finger on her lips.

I didn't want to know any secrets about her life when she was not in her right mind. Currently, she was drunk as a skunk. What if she regretted telling me about her secrets the moment she was sober? What if it damaged what we had just amended a few hours ago?

I wanted to learn the truth only when she was ready to tell me—willingly. Since it was about Draven, I knew if Zinnia was sober, she would've thought of a perfect time to tell me, not just blab it out. She gave me the time I needed, so I should do the same for her. I shouldn't put any pressure on her.

"Sleep, kid," I whispered softly, slowly patting her head.

"But I want to tell you something!" she whined as soon as I removed my finger from her lips.

I sighed. "We can talk about all of it tomorrow when you are sober, okay?"

"I am sober now!" Zinnia tried to get up from the lying position, but I made her lie again by grabbing her shoulders.

"That's what every drunk person says," I reasoned.

"But I am not drunk!"

"Okay, you are not. But I still think you need to sleep. We have so much to do tomorrow," I exaggerated to make it sound like tomorrow was going to be a hustling day full of work.

She scurried her eyebrows. "What work? Do I have any new projects starting tomorrow?"

I chuckled a little at her work-oriented mind. I didn't have any excuses here. There wasn't actually any work for her here now that the wedding of my parents was done.

"I can't tell you yet. You will know when you get up in the morning, and for that, you need to go to sleep first."

"No," she firmly said. "Even if there is a new project starting tomorrow, I don't want it. I don't want to work tomorrow. I give myself a holiday," she declared and then looked at me before adding, "you have a holiday too."

I arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Really? Who gave me a holiday?"

"Me," she mumbled adorably, pointing at herself. Then she scooted to the side, making space on the side she was lying on. "Sit here."

I chuckled and sat on the bedside. She sat up and crawled into my lap, sitting on it sideways and resting her head on my chest. As I secured my arms around her waist, she wrapped hers around my neck, humming a low comforting melody. I smiled down at her, feeling my heart warming up at getting back our closeness. It felt so nice to have her so close that it made me wonder how I went on the last two years without her.

"Tomorrow's holiday is final, by the way," she stated.

"Fine, I am on a holiday tomorrow," I resigned and placed my chin on top of her head. "So what are our plans for tomorrow if we don't work?" As she was about to open her mouth with a mischievous grin, I added in a stern tone, "Don't say sex all day and night."

"Fine," she frowned, her grin turning into a pout. Zinnia thought for a while before an idea sparked in her mind. "What if we have a picnic tomorrow? You, me, Draven, R—" I immediately cut her off before she could mention Ryker's name.

"Picnic it is," without Ryker because he disturbs our moments, I added in my mind. "We can have one on the rooftop."

"Sounds fun!" she chirped.

"Okay, now will you sleep, baby?" I asked as sweetly as possible, lightly patting her back in a lulling manner.

"Fine, but you have to keep caressing my back," she ordered. "And don't leave me once I fall asleep."

"I won't ever leave you," I muttered and kissed her hair. Then I started caressing her back as she closed her eyes.

Occasionally, Zinnia would open her eyes to see whether I was awake or not. When I would glare, she would close her eyes again. After a few minutes, she finally fell asleep in my arms.

Silence filled the room, and all I could focus on was her steady breathing.

She looks like a cute koala, I thought with a smile. I would be sure to tease her about it tomorrow.

All of a sudden, I heard my phone ring and I picked it up in an instant so that it wouldn't disturb her sleep.

"Sir," came a male voice.

"Yes, Momré?" Momré Wels was my assistant.

"Will you take the case 05R? The client is waiting for a response."

I looked at Zinnia once again before making a final decision, "Our company won't take the case 05R."

"But why, Sir? The pay is nice and the job is even easier. If you are busy, we can work on i—"

"No, Momré. Drop this case. I don't want to hear anything else. And even if in the future the client returns with the same case, reject it every time," I said firmly.

"Okay, Sir," with that, he cut the call.

I put my phone on do-not-disturb mode and placed it on the nightstand.

I brushed a few strands of hair which was covering Zinnia's face. "I am sorry, love, but there is one last thing I am hiding from you. I got to know about this today, I swear. It's just one thing."

She looked so at peace. I wondered how this information would disrupt that peace. But I didn't want to make the same mistake again.

I wrapped my arms around her a little tighter. "I will tell you tomorrow. I wanted to tell you today as soon as I learned about it, but well, you are drunk. Though I wonder what made you pick up that alcohol bottle. You said you wouldn't use the bar when Ryker showed it to you at first. But then again, Ryker always brings trouble."

I kissed her forehead one last time before leaning back comfortably against the headboard and closing my eyes.

###

Zinnia I opened my eyes to the bright sunlight coming from the windows and rolled over to the other side to cover my face. My head was threatening to burst open from the splitting ache in it.

"Rise and shine, kid," came a familiar voice, sounding way too chirpy for this annoying morning.

"I don't wanna get up," I groaned.

"Well, just because it's your holiday doesn't mean you will spend the entire day in bed."

"What holiday?" I pulled the duvet over my head, and instantly, it was pulled away from me. "Clave!" I ended up whining.

He started laughing at my reaction. "Look at you. You look like a mess. What would Draven say if he saw you right now?"

"He would say to let me sleep peacefully."

"No, he would tell you to get up so that we can quickly start our picnic," Clave responded.

"What picnic, Clave? You are not making sense." I had no idea what Clave was on about. All I could feel was my throbbing headache and the killer urge to bang someone's head on the wall.

"Kid, don't you remember last night you said you wanted us today to have a holiday and have a nice picnic on the rooftop with Draven?" he reminded me, and that's when the memories from last night started to come back.

After what Mom said, I got mad and chugged down two bottles of alcohol and acted like a crazy horny woman with Clave.

"Your face says you remembered almost everything," Clave said, and I looked up at him standing near the bedside, already freshened up. "It's almost eleven. Here's your hangover drink." He held out a glass with weird content, and I cringed seeing it.

Chuckling, he forwarded me a hand and I took it to let him pull me up. He handed me the glass and said, "Finish it, then freshen up and get ready. Draven and I are setting up the picnic on the rooftop. Come and join us soon, okay?" He kissed my forehead and went away.

I placed the hangover drink on the nightstand and got down from the bed to use the washroom at first. Just as I passed the mirror in there, one vague memory from last night hit me. I gasped in horror.

The truth about Draven… I was about to tell Clave.

Oh, my God. Did I spill that secret?

Shit!