Confessions: Zayne

CONFESSIONS: ZAYNE ELLA FRANK Ella Frank LLC CONTENTS Synopsis Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Thank You Thank You, Zaza Confessions Series About the Author Also by Ella Frank Copyright © 2023 by Ella Frank www.ellafrank.com Edited by Arran McNicol Cover Design: Hang Le Cover Photographer: Rafa Catala Cover Model: Christian Santamaria No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Created with Vellum SYNOPSIS Rebellion is necessary for development of character. ~ Cynthia Voight Impatient. Impulsive. Rebellious. Zayne Copeland’s been getting in trouble for as long as he can remember. But if trouble goes by the name Ethan Holt, he’s quite okay with that. Why wouldn’t he be, when Ethan has been the one to show him what love is? From boys to men. From school to The Office. He and Ethan have always been inseparable. They’re possessive of one another, protective to a fault. They had to be to survive. But as they fall deeper for Chloé, the woman they’ve claimed as their own, they realize they have to open up their lives in order to hang on to her. Three fathers. An overprotective brother. Their relationship becoming public. It would be enough to send two weaker men running. Lucky for Chloé, Ethan and Zayne have never been the type to back down from a challenge. Confessions: Zayne is the continuation of Chloé, Ethan & Zayne's story and should only be read after Confessions: Ethan. CHAPTER ONE So, I have a temper. Are you really that surprised? ~ Chloé THERE ARE MOMENTS in life that will always stand out. The time, the place, the sounds, the people—and as Chloé stood in the middle of the Juliette Grand Ballroom of the LondonHouse, she knew that this was one of those moments. Senator Randall Copeland was an ass. The way he’d just dismissed Zayne—his son—confirmed every single thought she’d ever had about the vile man. But as he walked away from them and the crowd behind him came into view, Chloé’s disgust instantly took a back seat to the shock waves that hit her when she spotted two familiar faces staring back at her. “Chloé?” “Mon Ange?” Oh. My. God. “Dad…? Papounet…? What, what are you doing—” The catering event. Wait, they’re catering this event? Oh my God. That’s his food, our food. How could I be so stupid? She could hear the chatter of the crowd in the distance as her brain tried to catch up with what it was seeing. But her ability to form complete sentences seemed to have vanished in the blink of an eye. “Jules?” Dad said, leaning into her père’s side. “Did he just say our date?” Putain. That was exactly what Zayne had just said to the senator, and as Chloé stood there frozen in place, she felt her two “dates” move up beside her. “Chloé?” She wasn’t quite sure if it was Ethan’s voice by her ear or her père’s eyes on his hand at the small of her back that sent a shiver down her spine. But when Ethan added, “Are you okay, petite fille?” her stomach twisted into a giant knot. “What did you just call her?” Père took a step forward, those usually kind jade eyes shooting daggers in Ethan’s direction. But luckily for them, her dad slipped his arm through his husband’s elbow, halting him. “Jules…” Dad’s eyes shifted between Ethan and Zayne as he patted her père’s sleeve. “I’m all for making a scene, but perhaps this isn’t the right place? Let’s take this…discussion somewhere private.” “Très bien. But they stay.” She could feel Ethan and Zayne’s eyes on her, but there was no getting out of this—she just had to hope they would understand and wait for her. “I’ll be right back.” They didn’t even get a chance to respond before her père took hold of her elbow and began to tow her through the crowd toward a set of double doors. Seconds later they were outside the ballroom and he was guiding her around a corner and into the setup area. She wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that he hadn’t taken her to the kitchens. At least in there the other employees of JULIEN could bear witness to whether or not she survived the next however many minutes. The door clicked shut behind them, and her père let her go and started to pace the room. "Ce salaud, Il ose l'appeler sa petite fille. Je devrais lui arracher la langue." Chloé’s eyes widened at the outburst. This was so unlike her père. He was always so calm, so collected. Hell, he drank green juice and meditated every morning, for God’s sake. But the man currently wearing a hole in the shiny wooden floor was vibrating with fury. She looked to her dad, hoping for some kind of help, but he was busy glaring her to death. So she figured her best course of action was to stay as still and silent as possible until the initial shock wore off. “Well?” her dad finally said, planting his hands on his hips. “What are you waiting for?” Umm… Permission to breathe? “Explain yourself, young lady.” Chloé worried her lower lip, trying to come up with any scenario in which the explanation she gave would be acceptable—but she had nothing. “Chloé,” Dad snapped, and she blinked him back into focus.