But he refused to give up. He had already managed to knock two of them out.

"Ugh!" He groaned as the second guy landed a kick to his diaphragm.

He staggered back but maintained his stand; he noticed him trying to land another kick and quickly caught his leg, then used the back of his elbow to hit hard against his knee; a painful cracking sound filled the air.

"Argh!!! Bastard!" The second guy fell to the floor yelling and screaming painfully.

The sun cast the tall guy's shadow before Zeno, letting him see when he took out a dagger from his boot and ran towards him with unimaginable speed.

"Die, you bastard!" The tall guy leaped high in the air with the dagger towards Zeno, aiming for the back of Zeno's neck.

Zeno instantly turned around and managed to step away from his attacker, but not without the knife slightly cutting the side of his neck.

He grunted as he quickly grabbed the tall guy's arm, which he held the knife with; without wasting time, he punched him straight in his left eye; in the blink of an eye, he twisted the guy's hand to himself and pushed it forward, driving the knife right into the guy's shoulder.

"Argh!!!" The tall guy screamed as he fell to his knees, holding his pierced shoulder.

Zeno was surprised when he noticed someone coming up behind him again. He had thought he had handled all of them, but he needed to act fast; it wasn't the time to think rationally.

He quickly withdrew the knife from the tall guy's shoulder, ignoring his heart-wrenching cries, and quickly turned to fight off the next attacker.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, Zeno, I'm just here to help," Nicholas said with his hands raised.

Zeno was beyond shocked to see Nicholas there.

How did he get here? Why was he here? What business did he have here? 

A lot of questions ran through his mind but he didn't ask any. He wasn't familiar with Nicholas, he had barely held a conversation with him.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Mr. Nicholas, I didn't imagine it would be you," Zeno quickly threw the knife away in the distance.

"I understand; I'd have acted the same way, too. Come in, let's get you out of here," Nicholas said and walked over to Zeno.

"It's alright, I can walk," Zeno shifted away from Nicholas who was reaching out to hold his arm in support.

"Okay, Zeno," Nicholas said with a little smile.

"Come on," He says to Zeno and starts walking forward.

Zeno followed him immediately, not wanting to stay here for more of Sebastian's men to come out.

He winced from pain as he felt the stinging sensation in the place where he was grazed by the knife by the side of his neck.

He sighed and silently followed Nicholas until they got to where he had parked his army-green 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto.

Zeno felt like he was going to have a repeat of what happened in the morning, he had now become wary of classy cars since bad things happened to him after he rode in them.

"Come on, Zeno, get in," Nicholas said, pointing to the opened wing-like door.

Zeno snapped out of his thoughts and reluctantly nodded at Nicholas, "Okay."

"Can you hold on till we get you home?" Nicholas asked in concern as he started the engine.

"Yeah," Zeno replied.

He felt kind of weird being in an enclosed space with Nicholas for the first time.

"Okay, just relax, Zeno; you seem a little stiff; I don't bite, you know?" Nicholas said as he drove the car.

"I'm sorry, it's not you-"

"It's me..." Nicholas smiled at Zeno.

Zeno got the gist and chucked too, Nicholas thought he was going to say the infamous breakup line 'It's not you, it's me,' 

"Nah, that's not what I wanted to say," Zeno shook his head, smiling.

"That's more like it, you have a charming smile, Zeno," Nicholas complimented.

"Uh, thanks. You too, "Zeno replied politely, he returned the comment because he didn't know how to react to a man suddenly complimenting his smile. But he seemed to notice that his compliment meant a lot to Nicholas.

He noticed Nicholas looking at him with a wide smile on his face. He decided to let it be, he was probably just happy that someone complimented him. Compliment meant a lot to some people, maybe he was just one of them.

He couldn't help but wonder why Nicholas didn't ask him how he ended up in a fight in that kind of place; he appreciated that, though, unlike some people who would dive into your business the moment they saw you.

Zeno noticed that they'd driven into the vibrant city and suddenly realized that he hadn't given Nicholas an address. But again, he didn't want to seem like a disturbance to him; he had already done much by bringing him out of that secluded and dangerous area, and he wasn't expecting more from him.

"Um, I'ts okay if you just drop me off here," Zeno said, pointing at the nearest gas station.

"Nah, what kind of person would I be? Leaving a wounded person unattended? No," Nicholas shook his head. 

"Um, okay... Can you drop me off at" 

"The Orion mansion? Sure, I will," Nicholas grinned.

And at that moment, Zeno believed that everyone in that country worked for Sebastian.

How come he didn't suspect it at first? He should have connected the dots when Nicholas suddenly appeared on Sebastian's territory and didn't ask him any questions when he saw him in that state.

And there he was, thinking he was respecting his privacy.

"Less thinking, Zeno. Everything will make sense to you soon," Nicholas briefly tapped Zeno's knees.

Zeno scoffed like he would believe what he just said. Nothing will ever make sense with Sebastian.

"We're here," Nicholas announced as he drove into the opened gates.

Zeno watched as Sebastian's guards opened the gates without asking any questions, he immediately understood that Nicholas was a frequent visitor here.

"Thank you, Mr. Nicholas," Zeno said and immediately opened the car and started walking out, going towards the house.

"Hey! Wait," Nicholas grabbed Zeno's arm from behind.

"Ouch!" Zeno winced as the wound on his neck strained and Nicholas dragged his arm.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I just wanted to follow you in and make sure you don't get in trouble with him, can I?" Nicholas said.

Zeno stared at Nicholas's face for a while before nodding when he saw the sincerity in his green eyes.

"Okay," Zeno agreed and reluctantly let Nicholas hold him.

The door unlocked as Zeno neared it, letting him and Nicholas in. As they walked into the living room, they saw Sebastian and Ken in the dining, but Ken was the only one eating.

"Zeno!" Ken abandoned his food and flew down from his chair, running straight to Zeno in excitement.

Sebastian was surprised to see Zeno alive; he had planned to tell Ken that Zeno had decided to run away and never come back, but seeing him back in his house with Nicholas left a lot of questions in his mind.

He masked his shock and sat indifferently on the chair, staring daggers at Zeno. 

"Hey, how was school today, buddy?" Zeno asked, masking his pain.

"It was so fun, I made a new friend today!" Ken told Zeno in an excited tone.

"Good, friends are good," Zeno patted the boy's hair.

"Aw, Uncle Nick is hurt, I'm no longer your favorite," Nicholas put his hand on his chest and pretended to be hurt.

Ken looked at him and reluctantly turned to him but didn't hug him.

He patted Nicholas's thigh and told him, "Yes, Uncle Nick, I love Zeno the most," Ken gave him a small smile and turned back to Zeno.

Sebastian clenched his fists as he heard his son profess his love for his bodyguard.

"Were you hurt?" Ken asked as he saw the blood stain on Zeno's shirt.

"No, buddy, it's just a little scratch, come on, go finish your food," Zeno held Ken's hand and led him back to the dining.

Nicholas followed them behind, noticing how Sebastian hadn't taken his eyes off Zeno since he came in. He silently took a seat opposite Sebastian and observed the relationship between him and his bodyguard.

He knew the type of person Sebastian was, and he did pity Zeno for landing himself with such a person.

"Be good, okay?" Zeno said after he carried Ken up onto the chair.

"Okay," Ken gave Zeno a thumbs up to reassure Zeno that he'll indeed be good for him.

Zeno's smile disappeared the moment he raised his face and locked eyes with Sebastian who was sitting next to Ken. He remembered all the things he'd put him through today and he felt like putting a hole through his head.

He was more devilish than the devil. But in the end, his Nana was at stake; he had to behave for her sake.

"Good afternoon, boss," Zeno said and immediately turned to leave.

He didn't want to be in the same space as him anymore, his mere sight of him annoyed the hell out of him.

"Why are you back so late?" Sebastian asked, his tone detached.

Zeno gritted his teeth in anger as he heard that question.

How dare he? 

Had he suddenly forgotten how he set him up by abandoning and leaving him in the hands of his deadly men?

"Maybe If you hadn't-"

"Um, ahem! Zeno, why don't you excuse us, I have something I'd like to discuss with your boss," Nicholas interrupted.

Nicholas knew that Zeno was angry, and letting him finish what he was about to say would land him into another problem.

"Zeno?" Ken called as he saw Zeno walking away.

"Yes, buddy?" Zeno slowly turned to look at Ken, not missing Sebastian's darkened gaze on him.

"Will you come down and play with me this evening?" Ken asked, scooping a spoonful of food into his mouth.

"Of course," Zeno smiled then continued on his path.

He didn't care to know what those two men were going to discuss, but he had to admit that Nicholas was kind of his saving grace that afternoon, because he was sure Sebastian would have continued torturing him from where he started.

"Why'd you bring him back?" Zeno heard Sebastian ask Nicholas as he went up the stairs.