Shadowed (Team Zero #4) by Rina Kent

“Zoe? We met in Le Salon a few months ago?”

“Hey, babe.” There’s a smile in his voice. “You’re calling me late, aren’t ya?”

“Yeah.” I fake enthusiasm. “Things were chaotic after the previous factory closing down and all. So, I was wondering. I quit Le Salon. Can you maybe find me a place in your club? I heard it’s a lot better.”

“You haven’t heard anythin’ else?”

I frown. “Like what?”

“Nothing.” He sounds dismissive. “Send me your information and I’ll see what I can do. It’s a bit tough this period so it might take a while.”

“I’ll wait for a call from you.”

“Sure thing, babe.”

I hang up with a grimace. The sleazy bastard, but he’s a needed sleazy bastard. If I want to move forward, I need to take care of the past.

President Joe is now friends with Ghost and the others, so there’s no way I can take him from Le Salon. It’s time to cross the enemy lines.

Now, I need a careful plan to hurt him without endangering my baby’s life.

I’m about to take a walk in the fields to clear my head when a phone vibrates. Not mine. I bend to search for the source of the sound. I find a black phone beneath the bed.

Shadow’s. He must’ve forgotten it yesterday.

I nibble on my bottom lip as the vibrating goes on. I shouldn’t peek, but I can’t help the curiosity.

“Screw it.”

I reach out for the phone and my heart almost stops beating. ‘Angel’ flashes on the screen.

My fist clenches as hot fury seeps to my bone. Who the hell is this?

But again, why wouldn’t he find another woman right after I left? Shadow is a virile, attractive man and women fall for his charm and bad boy image the entire time. Maybe he found his angel. Maybe that’s why he can’t be bothered with me anymore.

No idea if it’s the hormones or the freaking blind jealousy, but I pick up.

“You promised to have a cuppa with me, boy.”

My lips part. His angel is… “Nonna?”

There’s a pause. “Zoe? Is that you?”

I feel so silly for my reaction that my ears heat. “Hey, Nonna. How are you?”

“How can you just disappear like that?” She scolds. “I thought something happened to you.”

I wince. “Sorry, Nonna. It was urgent and I had no choice but to leave.”

She releases a long breath. “That explains it, then.”

I sit straighter, tucking my knees underneath me. “Explains what?”

“This must be why my Angelo was a shell after you left.”

“He’s always a shell, Nonna,” I say in a sad tone.

“He’s changing. Even his eyes aren’t so distant anymore.”

“You noticed that, too?”

“Sure did. He’s my Angelo.” There’s a proud tone in her voice. “But after you left, he wasn’t the same.”

“That’s because someone in his life told him no for once.”

“Not really, no.” She lets go of a long sigh. “You abandoned him like his parents did a long time ago. It’s like he’s been reliving the same nightmare as an adult. He doesn’t talk about it, but it’s clear that the wound cut so deep.”

I never thought about that. Is that why he was so hurt and angry?

Perhaps he thought he couldn’t trust me anymore and decided to never return.





Chapter Twenty-Three





At night, I call Elle to ask about Shadow and if he returned, but she said she didn’t see him.

I close my eyes in the hopes to dream about him, but it’s like I’m being punished. In my dream, I wake up sleeping next to a little girl.

Her light blonde strands spill on the pillow like silk. She’s curled into a foetal position, hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes are shut with obvious force.

Me.

She’s the seven years old version of me.

Indistinct yelling comes from down the hall. Mum!

I jump up from my position next to Little Zoe and run towards the door. Even if it’s only a dream, I want to see Mum’s face. I don’t remember her or Dad anymore, and while I’m glad I erased him, it pains me that I erased her, too.

When I attempt to open the doorknob, it won’t budge. Mum’s shouting outside rises and Little Zoe hides her head under a pillow.

Wait.

I stare between her and strain to hear what my parents are saying. Dad was never a talker. He didn’t raise his voice or express his displeasure in anything. His existence was swift and calm. I can recall the number of times he argued so loudly.

It hits me.

This isn’t a dream. It’s a memory. My gaze strays to the calendar above my childhood desk. It’s weird how I forgot all about it. A Barbie doll and a robot, missing an arm, stand close to each other on top.

Dad got them for me. I told him I didn’t want my Barbie with a Ken doll because Ken dolls were boring. Dad got me a strong robot. I was over the moon that day. It was maybe the happiest memory I had with my dad. The next day, I woke up to find the robot’s arm missing.

Mum said that’s what people like Dad do. They make you happy then they take it all away.

My parents are fighting down the hall and I’m stuck here with Little Zoe because she refuses to hear them.