Whispers of the Damned

The rest of the day went well.

I worked pleasant and quietly and had lunch with Elsa and my other coworkers. No one interrupted me, and I think the guy named Zane Bernardi was having an emergency in his office because of the kick in the balls that I gave him. I don't feel guilty about what I did.

I was even proud of it and wished I could have done more if he had come back to bother me another day.

But the truth was that I had another plan to consider properly. Karem Masoon said that I could work at home, virtually, or in other words: remotely, but I had to tell Sir Kennan Jonas to do so, and I intended to talk about that now, in my off hours.

My cell phone rang, revealing a call notification from Jason. I picked it up without much thought.

"Hola, baby." He said.

I grimaced and let out a forced grunt. Damn. I should have called him first talked about our relationship... aka asked for a breakup. "Hola, babe," I said. "Whatsup?"

"I'm fine, but I have an emergency meeting at my office, so I can't be there this week."

That's a relief... damn, I'm really being a bad girlfriend now. "Yeah... that's fine." I took a breath. "Did something happen at the office?"

He sighed tiredly. "Yeah, there are some projects that are on hold because one of my team heads embezzled funds."

"Oh my god... Jason..."

"It's okay. I'm fine. You don't have to worry. I've finished everything. The project will resume after the meeting."

"Hopefully, it will still be okay," I said, concerned. "What about that team leader? You fired him, right?"

"Of course I did, I won't let a traitor in my company."

"Good." I sighed. "I wish I could be there to calm you down but I've only been working one day..."

"Oh right, that's okay, Sweetheart. And I heard that you guys work at Scavi Titanio, my brother's company?"

"Yeah," I swallowed. "It turns out that your brother was so generous to rent out his office to the Royal Ridge project employees."

"He's very close with Nicholo Torvar. They've been best friends since college until now." He said.

"Yeah, didn't expect such a strong friendship." I pondered because when I saw Zane Bernardi and his three friends surfing on the beach, I didn't see Nicholo Torvar with them.

"Like you and Joanna."

I chuckled.

"By the way, Zane told me that he talked to you and said that you were nice."

My heart did a small jump, annoyance rising inside me. "Yeah, him too." "What did you guys talk about?"

I bit my lip. Oh, your brother is a real piece of shit, Jason. "About you. He talked about how he's proud of you for being able to start your own company, and he said that you and I are a perfect match." "Oh, thank goodness."

"Why?"

"He's not trying to tell you shit or seduce you into cheating with him. He's a playboy, he's a bad boy, he's trouble. I don't want you anywhere near him."

Sharpness split my heart. I felt.. sad. Irony.. I've even slept with him, Jason. I betrayed you and lied to you. I was a bad girlfriend and a bad woman. Very bad. But I'm trying to get over it now. "Well, maybe he wouldn't do that to his own brother's girl."

"Well, maybe."

I sighed. "I'll send you my homemade cookies and snacks via Uber Foods on the weekends. What do you think?"

"That's great. I'm looking forward to it!" his enthusiastic voice came out.

"Okay, then," I said. "I have to talk to our team leader about working at home. I'll call you back later and give you the details. Okay?"

"Okay, fine. I'll see you later."

"See you later."

He switched off our call, and I organized my gear into my bag. Elsa had excused herself to go home at the end of the day while I waited for Kennan Jonas to come out of his room. But it seemed like it would take forever, so I knocked on his door. The sound of 'come in' from inside made me push open the frosted glass door and find the team leader sitting behind the desk and looking at me with a friendly smile.

"Ms. Gomez?"

"Just call me Daniella," I said. "I wanted to talk to you about working at home. There's something I need to do."

Then she nodded and asked me to sit down. Next, I gave her the reason for it.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience-all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

<<<

"Working from home?" Joanna frowned. "Why don't you just resign?"

"I can't," I sighed softly. "Zane Bernardi threatened me. He's going to tell Jason what I did in Los Angeles. Including him and me ... that night." "Oh, he really is an asshole, isn't he?"

I muttered, eating my pizza with some annoyance. "And you know what he did to me this morning? He teased me. He's a real jerk!" "And you gave in to that?"

"Fuck, no." I looked at her sharply. "I kicked him in the balls, and he didn't come out of the room all day. I think that really hurt."

Joanna laughed loudly. "I didn't expect this."

"Why not?"

"When we were in that small town in Mexico. You were the most calm and patient woman even though you were always spouting cynical words. You never let out your rude behavior to the men who teased you." "Because it's Zane Bernardi..." I trailed off. "He's more of an asshole than any of them."

Joanna gave a small nod. "Good. Good. I'm so proud of you." She moved closer, trying to pinch both my cheeks, but I pushed her face until she fell off the couch.

<<<<

*It was dark.

Very dark.

There was the sound of crying.

A soft cry that sounded painful.

I walked slowly down the small pub where I worked.

I looked around and searched for where the voice was coming from.

If you're loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you! "Daniella..." the called out to me.

It's Magnan.

"Daniella, I'm here. Help me." She said softly.

I ran through room after room of Perez's pub. Looking for Magnan.

I can save her.

I can.

I stopped in one of the rooms without a door. The darkness was there.

Magnan's cries sounded again.

She was there.

I entered, stepping quietly into the darkness.

My heart sank when I saw Magnan sitting on the floor.

Her face was covered in blood.

There was a man behind her, his face consumed by darkness.

"Who are you?" I snapped.

And then his face appeared.

My heart leaped out of my chest when I saw who it was.

Zane...

He's Zane Bernardi.

*