Billionaire Mafia's Manny
Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Chapter 52

Zeno had thought they’d be doing the normal small-range boxing. However; he was surprised when Sebastian ordered everyone to step out into the Arboretum.

"Move, Zeno," Sebastian ordered and walked past him.

Zeno sighed and closed his eyes; all these shenanigans weren’t even his problem; at that moment, he was thinking about how he was going to be able to fight with Sebastian with the discomforting pain he felt where the sun didn’t shine.

He had only been practicing how he was going to walk for the whole day, he never knew fighting was going to be part of today’s schedule.

"Hey, snap out of it, you’re gonna get him angrier by wasting his time," Cody waved a hand in front of Zeno’s face.

Zeno blinked and lowered his face to look at Cody. "Damn..." he sighed.

"Cody...is it a good idea to fight him?" Zeno asked.

Cody paused his lips and went behind Zeno, pushing him toward the exit, "I can only tell you that you have to win as he asked, trust me," Cody quickly left him and went to meet Thomas who was his partner for the combat.

Zeno looked around and saw the other guys paired up all around the Arboretum, waiting for their order to fight.

"Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier," Jeremiah said as he approached Zeno.

Zeno looked at Jeremiah, who was suddenly beside him, "It’s okay, Jeremiah, you did call earlier, though I just happened to take my precious time in the shower," Zeno replied with a smirk.

"It’s fun watching you make jokes even when you’re about to fight the boss, did you forget he’s the most feared Mafia king?" Jeremiah reminded with a frown.

"Right, I know, but don’t worry, have some faith in your Coach," Zeno smiled, but deep down, he was really considering what Jeremiah had said.

He knew Sebastian must have been very good to be able to gain his recognized title as the Mafia king, and he knew that Sebastian was going to be ruthless with him.

Although he had never for once thought that Sebastian was going to give him preferential treatment just because of their exclusive contract, he knew he was going to come at him hard.

If not for the pain he felt, he would have stood a chance at winning Sebastian, but he knew his body well, and he was in no mood to combat anyone.

"I’m just worried about you, Zeno. I have a feeling you’re facing way more stress than we do," Jeremiah said softly and held Zeno’s hand.

Zeno shook his hand and was about to reply when he felt Sebastian’s angry eyes on him, and before he knew it, he was beside him, his face scowling.

Sebastian was busy giving orders to some of his men when he saw Zeno standing in a corner with Jeremiah putting his hands all over him, and his anger increased when he saw that Zeno let Jeremiah touch him without even trying to push him away.

"You can stand by till I give you the order to start," he instructed the guards he was talking to and immediately left and moved toward Zeno.

"Jeremiah, I see you have time to chat," Sebastian spoke from behind.

Jeremiah widened his eyes and slowly turned to face Sebastian; he didn’t see him coming; if not, he would have returned to Ida’s side who was his partner for the combat.

"I’m sorry for the distraction, boss," Jeremiah spoke lowly.

Sebastian wasn’t even looking at Jeremiah; he was giving Zeno a menacing look. He felt like asking him why he let Jeremiah touch him but he realized he’d look suspicious and rather said, "Go back to your partner, Jeremiah," he ordered.

"Yes, boss," Jeremiah bowed and quickly left Zeno’s side.

Sebastian’s surprisingly smirked as Zeno, "Are you ready, Mr. Evader?" He asked; a mock underlying his tone.

Zeno sighed. "Yes, boss," he replied.

Sebastian turned away from him and called to a guard standing at a corner.

"Yes, boss," The guard came forward immediately.

"Get the Tactical sticks, Dan," Sebastian stretched out his hands to Dan.

Wasting no time, Dan walked over to the tree he’d been standing and took two spiked steel sticks from a huge box, he returned and placed the stick on Sebastian’s hands.

Sebastian took the sticks and faced Zeno again, throwing one stick at him.

Zeno smartly caught it and felt the weight in his hands.

’Damn, this shit is no way what I want to do right now,’ he thought helplessly as Sebastian stalked toward him with a menacing face.

From the side, Zeno saw all the guards forming a huge circle around him and Sebastian.

As Sebastian stood in front of him, he couldn’t help but look into his eyes. He was expecting to see those cold and menacing eyes staring indifferently at him, but he rather saw concerned eyes staring at him as if Sebastian knew about his discomfort.

But it was gone as fast as it came. Sebastian smirked at him and raised his stick, placing it on his chest. "Everyone, watch as Zeno proves himself to be fit to protect your master; if he fails to win this combat, he’s disqualified as a guard and shall be evicted from this mansion immediately, and all contracts shall be terminated..." Sebastian paused and stared intently, making sure he understood the gravity of his words.

Zeno did. He had been feeling reluctant to fight, but hearing Sebastian’s promise, he immediately got powered up and became super ready to fight; he couldn’t leave; he didn’t care if their exclusive contract got terminated, but his bodyguard contract, No way, that was the job that gave him the money he was using to pay for his Nana’s medical bills.

"You have five minutes to defeat me, Zeno, first to draw blood from the other wins. Count down," Sebastian commanded and stepped back from Zeno.

Zeno suddenly started to hear the echoes around him as the bodyguards started to count down from ten.

At that moment, Zeno realized, that ten seconds were the only chance he had to prepare his mind to win or to lose.

At the Count of four, Zeno swore that he was going to win, it doesn’t matter how he did it, but he was going to win.

He locked eyes with Sebastian, and he suddenly felt like this combat wasn’t just about who would win physically; he felt it was emotional too. And just like Sebastian had cut off his emotions when he tried to show them, he was about to cut this fight short in the best way he could too.

"One!" The guards echoed.

Zeno locked his eyes at Sebastian, who was coming at him with speed, he was surprised when Sebastian’s stick was directed right at his head.

Zeno immediately moved to the side, dodging Sebastian’s attack.

’Fuck you, Sebastian,’ he narrowed his eyes at Sebastian who was smirking at him.

"It’s just five minutes, Zeno, are you planning to run from me?" He asked, raising his brows at Zeno.

"No, boss, I was just letting you make the first move," Zeno replied.

Sebastian chuckled.

"Fuck, Ugh!" Before Zeno could react, Sebastian lurched forward and successfully delivered a hard front kick on his stomach.

Zeno bent over to hold his stomach, coughing hard. He didn’t waste time in that position as he used his side eyes to see Sebastian raising his stick to hit his back, but Zeno lowered himself to the floor and rolled away from him, standing on his feet when he was sure he was out of Sebastian’s reach.

He picked up his stick that had fallen out of his hand and threw it to the side, running to Sebastian with bare hands, time to end this useless fight.

Sebastian wanted to spin the stick against Zeno’s head, but Zeno tackled him and punched the stick out of his hands, immediately shoving him against a tree behind them; suddenly, he felt like revenge for what he did to him last night.

As Sebastian felt his back hit the bark of the tree, he grunted and quickly held Zeno’s fist that was aiming for his face, twisting his hands in the blink of an eye and slamming his front against the tree.

"Three more minutes, Zeno," Sebastian whispered against his ear.

Zeno was groaning painfully as Sebastian had his hands twisted to the back. Normally, he would have maneuvered Sebastian’s grip, but his body just kept feeling weaker and weaker.

He had no choice but to use his last resort, "My ass hurts like I still have you inside me," He turned his head sideways and whispered back to Sebastian.

Sebastian’s eyes widened as he heard Zeno’s words; his grip lossened a little bit as he was still in his shocked phase.

The moment Zeno felt Sebastian’s grip loosened on his arms, he roughly slammed the back of his head against Sebastian’s face and pushed him away when Sebastian was still grunting.

Before Sebastian’s vision would clear, he received a massive punch on his nose, pushing him down to the floor.

"Damn," he touched his nostrils and felt the blood flowing out from it.

The next thing he heard was the echoes of victory from his bodyguards on behalf of Zeno.

He immediately forced himself up from the floor and stared at Zeno.

He couldn’t believe Zeno could be so petty to use such tactics to win the fight.

He watched as Zeno’s friends circled him, hailing him.

Zeno was laughing with his friends as he felt Sebastian’s stare behind him. He was kind of feeling bad for hitting Sebastian so hard, but he knew he would have been the one in pain if he had pitied him.

"Damn, son, the boss never loses, trust me, you must’ve used some kind of charm," Cody said to Zeno.

"I just felt like he was holding back, right?" Thomas asked his twin brother.

Jeremiah was about to respond when he spotted Zeno’s swelling thumb.

"Hey, what’s that? Did you hurt your thumb?" He questioned with a light frown.

Before Zeno could look down at his thumb, Jasper took his hand in his and then brought it up to his lips and kissed his thumb.

"Making the boo-boo go away," he winked at Zeno.

"Daaammmnnnn! That’s smooth Jasper," Cody was the first to come out of the shock while others still stared, trying to understand what just happened, Zeno too.

"Um, right..." Zeno slowly took his hand away.

"That only works for kids," Zeno smiled; he could feel Jeremiah’s stare on his face but that wasn’t the only stare he got.

He could also feel Sebastian’s stare intensify as he used his side eyes to see him moving toward him with anger.

"If you think it’s only for kids, then," Jasper paused and moved closer to Zeno’s face, "Do you mind if I give you a kiss, instead?"

Zeno was shocked, his forehead creased.

How could Jasper ask such a thing in front of people?

"That’s too much, Jasper," Jeremiah pulled him away, frowning.

Zeno wanted to escape before Sebastian could approach him, but from the looks of things, he couldn’t make it.

Sebastian had instantly walked toward Zeno when he saw Jasper kiss his hand. He thought that was his limit, but as he got closer, he heard Jasper asking Zeno if he could kiss him.

That was it for him.

"Boss!" Ida immediately bowed as he saw Sebastian standing behind Zeno.

Everyone turned to him, bowing their heads.

Sebastian ignored them all, "Ida, prepare for tonight. Zeno, you’re coming with me, we have some things to discuss. Jasper, since you’re too free for the day, you shall help Julia in the general kitchen...doing dishes, specifically," he finished and glared at Jasper.

"Y-yes, boss," Jasper responded, hiding his confusion.

"With me, Zeno," He glanced at Zeno before turning and walking away