Chapter Nineteen

Zoe POV:

I woke up very late and jumped out of bed when I opened my eyes.

"Oh my God! How did I sleep this long?" I asked Philip who had his back against the wall as he typed into his laptop.

"Good morning, baby," Philip smiled broadly.

"Why are you still in bed? Why aren't you at work?" I stared at the big block on the wall. "It's 8:35!"

"Relax, babe. Remember I'm the boss."

"But we have to go to work," I argued.

"We will. I was waiting for you to wake up. I've already taken my bath," he said.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked.

"I didn't want to disturb you. Now you're awake, get ready and let's go. Take your time," he told me.

I brushed my teeth and took a warm bath. Philip always made sure my hair products and tools were in the bathroom. I blow dried my hair and styled it into a bun. I did a light make up and went downstairs to join Philip for breakfast.

"You look good," Philip said as I took a dining seat opposite him.

"You say that every day."

He chuckled. "That's because you look good every day."

"How did Aunt Emilia leave for her pastry shop?" I asked.

"I had a bodyguard follow her," Philip replied. "Don't worry about her, she'll be alright."

I nodded. "Who was that man that was following us yesterday?'

"We haven't found that out yet. Mark was able to get his plate number and they're currently looking for the owner's details," Philip replied.

I kept having a bad feeling about this. I dove into my breakfast.

We ate breakfast and headed to work with Mark and the other bodyguard who was always mute, Carlos.

I made Philip's coffee and placed it on his table and returned to work.

"Hey, Zo." Will knocked on my door and came in.

"Hey, Will. Good morning."

"Good morning. How are you?" Will asked. He took the seat across mine.

"I'm…fine, I guess. How about you?" I asked him.

"I'm good. So, how has it been since you and Philip's relationship got leaked?" Will asked.

"This kind of life is stressful and it's going to take me a while to get used to it," I replied.

"I can feel your pain. Everything will die down pretty soon, so don't stress over it. I have to get back to work." He stood up. "Dani couldn't come to work today, she called in sick."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, just a little fever," Will replied. "I'll see you later."

I made a mental note to call Dani and check how she was doing and maybe at her house then, I remembered it wasn't safe for me to move about without a bodyguard and I didn't want anyone fussing over me.

Philip came out of his office and took the seat across mine. "Is there a problem?"

"That man followed us with a stolen car. The car belongs to a teenager and we're waiting for her to report her stolen car so she can tell us who the man was," Philip explained.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I told him. "Why would he do all that to follow us? That means he's after something."

"Yeah, I know. We're doing our best to find him before he harms anyone," Philip assured me.

"I don't want Aunt Emilia getting hurt," I voiced out my major worry.

"Nothing will happen to her, stop worrying. You know Aunt Emilia hates it when we worry."

I was more worried about Aunt Emilia than I was for myself. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She was all I had left, and I didn't want to lose her.

After we closed for the day, Philip and I headed over to Aunt Emilia's pastry shop. The bodyguard dressed casually, like a random customer, so he wouldn't raise suspicion.

"I was just about to close," Aunt Emilia informed us.

I helped her pack up and we headed home. "Have you found the guy that was following us the other day?" She asked when we got home.

"Not yet," Philip replied.

"Don't you think the guy is going to lay low for now?" Aunt Emilia asked.

"I think so too. Maybe it's safe for you to go back home but I don't want to take that risk," Philip said.

"We'll be fine, Philip. Zoe can stay if you want to, but I need to return home," Aunt Emilia said.

Philip sighed. I didn't know what to say. Aunt Emilia was right. The guy was going to lay low for now. I understood her. There were a lot of things she couldn't do here, and Philip's house was way too far from her pastry shop.

"Alright. But I'll have some of my bodyguards accompany you home tomorrow," Philip said. "I need to put a sensor in your house in case anyone tries to break in."

"That's fine with me. Thank you for everything you've done so far but we can't continue to live in fear." She held his shoulders.

"I understand," Philip nodded.

The next morning, Mark and Carlos took Aunt Emilia home while I went straight to work. As promised, Philip put up sensors in every part of our house and I felt relieved a bit.

"Thank you for doing this much. I don't know how to thank you enough," I told him.

"I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you or your aunt. You guys are my responsibility from now on."

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

True to Aunt's Emilia's words, the strange guy stayed low, and we never saw him again. A part of me thought he was probably a photographer, but the other part knew that he was out to get someone, and I had a feeling it was me.

Mark continued to trace him but couldn't find any lead. Soon, we all gave up. We were all sure he was a photographer. The topic died, so did paparazzi and everything was back to how it used to be.

Kevin and I began to fall apart. He didn't come with us to our lunch break and weekend outings. I knew what the problem was, and I didn't want to address it. Some things are better left unsaid.

We had bumped into each other on the ground floor one morning.

"Hey, stranger," Kevin said with a smile not as bright as it used to be.

"Stranger?" I asked with raised both brows.

Kevin sighed. "I'm sorry I've been acting a little distant lately, but Zoe, you're dating our boss. There's no way I can keep being friends with you knowing that I like you, but you're dating Mr. MacArthur. It's not right, and I don't want to cause trouble."

Kevin was right. The best thing to do was to stay because staying friends would be weird. "I understand," I told him.

"I hope this doesn't make us enemies, though. We can still say hi and hello to each other," Kevin said.

"Sure," I smiled at him. "Have a nice day."

"You too," he said and walked away.

I watched my friend walk away and sighed. This was best for everybody. I turned around and found Philip glaring at Kevin, then at me. He walked straight to his elevator, and I followed suit.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," Philip muttered and continued to look at the elevator doors like there was something interesting written on it.

"Are you mad?" I asked him.

"No," he replied.

"Philip, come on," I begged.

"You don't expect me not to be mad when I saw you talking to someone who likes you. I know it sounds childish, but I'm not comfortable with that," He said.

"Don't you trust me?" I asked.

"I do, but not him. Not like he's a threat to me or anything, but I don't trust him, and I don't want to fire him either. That's unfair."

"Philip, listen to me."

The elevator doors opened, and Philip walked out first.

"I'm listening," he stopped abruptly, and I bumped into him and lost balance. He caught me swiftly and helped me regain balance. "I'm listening," he said again.

"Kevin only told me why he has been so distant from me," I began.

"And why's that?" Philip asked.

"Because he doesn't want to cause trouble for us," I replied.

Philip softened. "Wow. I'm sorry for overreacting."

"I'm sorry for giving you a reason to overreact."

He kissed my forehead and pulled me into a hug. "So, how about a little sex to start your day?" He smirked.

"How about we get to work and not have sex in our place of work?"

Philip chuckled. "You're beginning to sound a little too bossy."

I smiled. "Well, I learned from the best."

"That is correct. But don't act like you don't want me right now," he smirked. His hands went to my butt cheeks, and he squeezed them.

"Philip," I warned.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Somebody can walk out of that elevator any moment and catch us," I said.

"So what? Let them see how much I adore you," he kissed my lips lightly. Philip's phone buzzed in his tux. He took out and stared at the caller. Oops, I have to take this important call. You got lucky this time. Next time, you won't escape." He kissed my lips and went into his office.

***

"I'm home!" I announced as soon as I stepped into the house. I gasped at the sight in front of me, and my bag fell to the ground. I picked it up to take my phone but couldn't.

"Surprise!" The man I hated most in my life grinned widely dressed in a Pizza delivery man uniform. "Hey, stepdaughter."

I stared at Aunt Emilia, who sat there quietly and unharmed. "Are you okay? Did he do anything to you? How did he get in here?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Zoe. Don't worry about me," Aunt Emilia replied.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked with rage.

"What an excellent way to say hello to the stepfather you haven't seen in years." Rocky stood up and strolled towards me. I stepped back in fear. "I heard you have a rich boyfriend. He has money; I need money. The only way he can give me money is if I kidnap you. So, let's make this easy and fast. I need to be out of the city as soon as possible."

"I'm not going with you," I said boldly.

Rocky shook his head. "Still as stubborn as your mother. You know where that stubbornness got her? To her early grave!"

"Don't you dare speak about my sister like that!" Aunt Emilia barked as she was close to tears.

"Well, then tell your niece to do as I say, or somebody is going to get hurt."

Rocky pulled out a gun from his back pocket. He pointed it at Aunt Emilia. My heart skipped a bit, but Aunt Emilia didn't seem fazed.

"Come with me or I'll blow up your dear Aunt Emilia's head," Rocky threatened.

"Don't listen to him, Zoe. He's a coward, he can't do anything!" Aunt Emilia begged.

"Do anything funny and I'll shoot her," Rocky threatened.

I looked at Aunt Emilia then at Rocky. "Fine, I'll go with you."

Rocky grinned. "Good girl. Follow me and don't do anything to raise suspicion."

"Zoe, don't go with him," Aunt Emilia cried.

"If you stand up from that couch, I'll shoot your fucking leg," Rocky threatened.

"Stay put. I'll be fine, okay? I promise," I told her.

"Zoe," Aunt Emilia cried.

"Don't call the police, the only person you are to call is her billionaire boyfriend. Am I clear? Let's go, Zoe. Don't follow us," he warned Aunt Emilia.

"I need to pee," I told him.

"What the fuck? You're being kidnapped and you're thinking about peeing. Are you for real?"

"I've been holding it for too long. If you don't want me to pee in your car, let me go do it now."

"Fine. You have thirty seconds." He turned around and I quickly took out my phone and hid it in my breast. I went to the restroom. I silenced my phone and made sure my location was turned on. I hid the phone in my panties properly.

I came out of the restroom and followed Rocky outside as he led me to the car. I couldn't believe I was being kidnapped. I had watched a lot of kidnap scenes in movies, and it never once crossed my mind that it could happen to me someday. I should have let Philip teach me martial arts.

"I always knew you would bring me fortune," Rocky grinned as he started the car and drove us to God knows where.