Billionaire Mafia's Manny
Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Zeno sat on a chair; everyone was chatting and eating beside him,, but his food remained untouched.

He had his eyes on Sebastian, who was fitted at the end of the table with Sakura beside him, saying something to him.

She had immediately come and dragged him away when they came down into the garden.

It was almost like she was silently staking her claim; it didn’t look like she’d be needing his help anymore; she was quite good at it...at stealing people’s man.

"Hey," Jasper gently tapped Zeno’s leg beneath the table.

Zeno blinked, removing his eyes from Sebastian and Sakura. "Hey, Jasper, enjoying the food here?" He questioned, managing to give a relaxed smile.

Jasper nodded, "I am...I can’t say the same for you, though; you’ve barely touched your food. Everything alright?" He spotted his chair closer to Zeno and leaned his body toward him.

Zeno tapped his legs beneath the table, racking his brain for what to say.

"Uh, I’m not really hungry, and...I don’t like sushi," He shrugged.

Jasper sighed, "Oh, you could have just said you wanted something different from the order. Want me to get you something else?" He asked, placing a hand on Zeno’s hand on top of the table.

Zeno wanted to remove his hand, but he didn’t; from the end of the table, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes glaring at his and Jasper’s entwined hands on top of the table. An evil plan came into his mind. It would probably give Jasper the wrong impression, but if it made Sebastian feel a bit of what he was feeling, then he’d do it.

He laced his fingers into Jasper’s and leaned closer to him, too, "You don’t really have to bother; I can just skip breakfast," He said in a low tone, smiling at Jasper.

Jasper paused for a second when he realized that Zeno linked their fingers together; he felt this was the sign he’d been waiting for; he wasn’t going to miss it.

"I’ll do it anyway," Jasper smiled, and slowly stood from the chair.

He wanted to leave, but Zeno held another hand and dragged him down to him. "Thank you," He whispered into Jasper’s ear.

Jasper’s ears turned red immediately, he blinked as his eyes met Ida’s scrutinizing gaze, "I’ll be right back," He said to Zeno and walked away from the table.

Zeno saw Ida give him a dissatisfied look but he ignored him and started doing something on his phone.

He could still feel Sebastian’s gaze on him but it only made him determined to ignore him. Now, it was a win-win situation. Sebastian was aware of Jasper’s and Jeremiah’s feelings for him, so seeing Jasper getting close to him that way must have gotten him jealous, which was his aim.

~

Out in the restaurant, Jasper had ordered and was waiting for the food when he felt someone walk up behind him.

"How do you feel being a simp?" Jeremiah’s voice spoke behind him.

Jasper sighed, slowly turning to look at Jeremiah.

"Hello, Jeremiah, how did you enjoy your breakfast?" Jasper asked with a straight face, staring at Jeremiah without blinking.

"Cut the crap, Jasper. I saw you," Jeremiah said in a low voice; he didn’t want to disturb the quiet restaurant.

Jasper shrugged, "Saw me? Saw me do what?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"Oh, come on, man, you don’t really believe that Zeno would be into you..." He said, smirking at Japser.

Jasper sighed; he knew this would happen one day since he’d seen the way Jeremiah looked at Zeno, and was he ready for it? Yep.

As long as Zeno wasn’t dating anyone, he would try his best to be the one for him. He didn’t care what anyone was going to say, especially not Jeremiah.

"Well, why do you think he wouldn’t be into me, I mean, even you would be into me if I let you," He smirked at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah frowned, scoffing, "Here’s my candid advice," he paused and stepped closer to Jasper, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Zeno won’t want someone like you, you have nothing apart from the money the boss pays you, unlike me, I’m wealthy, you know that. He’d be more sensible to be with someone like me, do you understand?" He whispered.

Jasper didn’t flinch, he just stared at Jeremiah with bored eyes and waited for him to finish his drama, "Are you done, Mr. Wealthy?" He asked calmly.

Jasper was angered by the dismissive reply. He was about to say something else when the staff called Jasper.

"Here’s your order, sir," the staff said.

Jasper smiled at Jeremiah and turned to take the food, "See you, my boyfriend is waiting," He winked at Jasper before walking away with the food.

"Jerk," Jeremiah muttered as he watched him leave.

Jasper carried the food back to the garden and for some reason, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that his boss was not happy with him.

"Here," He placed the food in front of Zeno and took his out behind him.

"Thank you, rice, I love it," Zeno gave Jasper a suggestive smile, drawing the plate close to him.

"You’re welcome," Jasper replied, pouring water into Zeno’s glass.

Zeno sent Sebastian a brief look and held back the smirk that threatened to break through when he saw the dark and jealous look on Sebastian’s face.

’Serves you right,’ He thought to himself, feeling content from his actions.

As he ate, Jasper was speaking to him about something, but he couldn’t pay attention; his eyes and mind kept drifting to Sebastian, wondering what Sakura was saying to him. He wanted to go back to the hotel already so he could tell Sebastian that he didn’t appreciate the way he let Sakura close to him.

However, on second thought, Zeno found himself to be ridiculous.

Why was he acting as if he didn’t know this would happen? Wasn’t he the one who was planning to be their cupid when they traveled back to the States?

Maybe this was just preparing him for what was to come.

What he should do was plan on how to make himself hide his emotions and tone down his jealousy each time he saw them together.

He finished the food and thanked Jasper, "Thanks, J, it was yummy," He smiled at him.

Jasper nodded, "I can order a takeout for you before we leave," He suggested.

"No, no. Don’t worry, I’m fine," Zeno placed a hand on his thigh, tapping it.

Jasper froze, feeling Zeno’s hand close to his thing.

"I’ll just walk around a little," Zeno stood from the chair, planning to get away from Sebastian and his wife.

Whatever she was to him, he didn’t care.

He had only taken a step away from the table when he felt someone hold his wrist.

He looked back and saw Jasper standing behind him, "Need company?" Jasper questioned.

Zeno wanted to refuse, but he remembered that Sebastian was watching, so why wouldn’t he give him something to look at?

"Sure, man," He nodded.

Jasper was elated by that reply.

As they walked away from the table, Jasper saw Jeremiah eyeing him furiously from the corner. He sent him a daunting smile before following Zeno behind.

They walked past other tables and went to a less crowded area, pausing under the shade of a tree.

Zeno sighed, looking ahead with thoughts running inside his head.

"Zeno..." Jasper called quietly as he stood beside Zeno.

Zeno turned to look at Jasper, he knew what was coming next, but he was prepared for it, he had asked for it anyway.

"You have something to tell me, Jasper?" He asked.

Jasper nodded, glancing away from him. "Yeah...but if you’re not in the mood to listen to it then I could save it for another time," He said.

Zdno shook his head, "Nah, I want to hear it,"

Jasper fixed his hands in his pocket, "Well, about what happened between us back at Glen’s home...I know it didn’t last long, but I just want to say that I’ve never forgotten those few precious seconds; I might be wrong, but it felt like you also shared the same feeling with me..." He paused and fully turned to look at Zeno.

"My feelings haven’t changed since then, Zeno, Maybe you’d be willing to give me a-"

"Zeno, the boss has asked for you," Jeremiah suddenly came and stood between them, putting a hand on Zeno’s shoulder.

"What the fuck," Jasper muttered, glaring at Jeremiah.

Zeno frowned, "He did?" He asked, slowly turning to look at Sebastian, and truly, Sebastian was staring at him.

"Yeah, it seemed pretty urgent, you better hurry over," Jeremiah urged.

Zeno sighed, "Alright, see you later, J," He smiled at Jasper before walking back to their table.

He was just a few steps from reaching Sebastian when he saw a masked man sneak out from behind a tree with a gun pointing at Sebastian.

At the same moment, everything happened in a second, with Sebastian casually standing from his chair to meet Zeno, but when he saw the panicked look on Zeno’s face, he turned back, and that’s when he saw the person aiming at him.

Bang!

"Get down!" Zeno shouted and dived Sebastian, pushing him down, "Argh!" He grunted when the pain shot through his arm, the bullet had caught his arm.

Sebastian looked livid, "What the fuck, Zeno?!" He barked.

Everywhere turned chaotic immediately. Some of the bodyguards surrounded Zeno and Sebastian; some led Sakura away from the chaos, while others chased the culprit.