Chapter 5: 5


    Zachary Pov


    "Been a while..isn''t it?"


    The dark room enlights up when Max turned up the lights and the two of the hostage looked up


    squinting their eyes when the light hit their eyes.


    "You son of a bitc-"


    "Nichs!" his father cut his son off and shook his head no warning him not to open his mouth.


    "See? Your father is such a polite man and indeed...intelligent..." I chuckled as I took a seat on a chair


    before them.


    "Why have you kept us alive?" Vito talked to me for the first time. He has been tight-lipped from the day


    they have been captured and that captured my interest.


    "Well, someone is in talking mode today," I mocked earning a re from Nichs.


    "Honestly, I take my words back. You two are the dumbest people I have ever met in my life," I sighed


    as I folded up my sleeves and crossed my arms across my chest leaning against the chair as I lift my


    leg up and kept it on the other one as I took in their appearance.


    My people totally forgot what the word sanitization actually means because it was how they had kept


    these two all these while my absence. They were wearing the same clothes in which they were


    captured. Their shirt dirty and bloodied, hair messy, bruises and blood stains on their skin and they


    smelled like rotten rats.


    "Jeez!" fanning the air before my nose, my nose scrunched up when the scent of raw blood assaulted


    my nose and it was when my eyes fell on Nichs'' leg.


    "Seth!" I called the guy who was supposed to be the caretaker of the two guest.


    "Yes, Boss!" within a minute he entered the room and stood in between us exchanging nces towards


    our guest.


    "What is this way of handling our guests Seth? Where are your manners?" I asked and even though he


    didn''t understand what I meant he hung his head low and waited for me to continue.


    "Look at his leg. He is bleeding. What do you think you have been doing? From now on, take even


    more good care of our guest, do you understand?" my voice raised a little at the end and all he did was


    to nod his head.


    "Now what are you waiting for? Go! serve our guests. His leg is bleeding...go and bring a cloth and


    mop the floor. Do you have any idea how costly the flooring is? His dirty blood is ruining my floor and


    moreover, this ce has started to stink. I don''t want people whoe to my house think this ce as


    a butcher shop or something. It''s terrible!" I huffed at the end.


    Seth nodded and left out of my sight leaving the four of us including Max who was standing in the


    corner of the room to talk privately.


    "You little! Unhand me this instant and I''ll show you what I have got!" Nichs spat enraged all of a


    sudden.


    "Easy there tiger...I believe you don''t want me to hurt your father now, do you? hmmm?"


    "Nichs..." Vito whispered yelled at him.


    "Why have you kept us alive? What do you want?" Vito spoke up.


    "Why? Do you have a desire to die soon?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow at him.


    "But..." I moved forward in my chair as I stared straight into his eyes "Even though my desire is to kill


    you here this instant...I won''t. I won''t until and unless both of you beg me to kill you. You fucking rats


    have the guts to look straight into my eyes even after what you did to my sister and you dumbasses of


    the century thought barging into my territory and abducting Juliette would have been a good ide-"


    "Huh! What''s the point anymore? The bitch is already dead." Nichs spat cutting me off in the middle.


    The room was instantly marred with silence as I stopped in the middle and stared at him with a nk


    expression. Even though I didn''t move in my spot still I could feel as if pins were continuously stabbing


    my skin all over my body. My chest tightened up and my jaw locked up as my fingers formed into a tight


    fist.


    "Max..."


    "Yes, Boss?"


    "Have Rafael Amputate his hand. Torture him to the extent until-"


    "What! Wait...No!" interrupted Vito''s shaking voice.


    "Until he is on the brink of death. But be careful, don''t kill him just yet. Let him breathe and suffer little


    more. He should understand what it feels when a person is on the brink of death. He should feel how


    my sister was feeling when he killed her mercilessly. Record everything and send it to me," I got up as I


    adjusted my suit.


    "No! No! No!" Vito yelled at me.


    "It was all my n. Not his. Don''t kill my son. Kill me in his ce. No!" begged Vito.


    "Don''t worry your turn woulde soon after," I said icily as I turned around avoiding Nichs'' curses


    and Vito''s pleas.


    "Unlike you. I won''t separate a family because I know how it feels when the person you love goes


    away. The sadness you feel is a lot stronger than any physical pain. Heart aches like hell. I won''t let


    you suffer that heart-ache. Even though I want to be the one to kill him with my own bare hands, I can''t.


    I don''t want to be marred by his filthy blood. So, that is why I''m letting you have this honour, Max."


    "It would be my pleasure," smirked Max as he picked up his phone and seemed to call Rafael.


    "Make sure that he has the pain visible in his eyes and make sure he begs for his life. Have it all record


    up and sed it to me. Then kill him," I ordered as he nodded and I walked out of the room where both of


    the father and son continued yelling at top of their lungs too let them go.


    "You asked for it!" I found myself muttering venomously.


    "Is this all okay?" I heard Cristina asking me about the pile of files that she arranged previously.


    "Hm? Yeah. You may go now. It''s toote already. I''m sorry I had you working thiste Ms. Dimir" I said


    as I checked the estimation file rolling the pen in between my fingers and adjusting my reading ss up


    using my index finger.


    "It''s perfectly fine for me..." I heard her saying and just hummed in reply "...sir" she finished and


    somehow her tone seemed to change at the end which made me to look up at her.


    "It''s already nine in the evening. Get going...it seems as if it would rain outside today. Wait! Let me


    have my driver drop you home..."


    "No! I have my car, sir and I live nearby. Thank you for worrying about me. I shall be leaving now," she


    smiled and I chose to stay quiet at the part where she thought I was worried about her. I wasn''t worried


    about anyone but just wanted to fulfil my responsibilities as her employer. I kept her workingte for


    helping me and it was my responsibility to make sure she gets home well.


    "Good Night, Sir!" she smiled and bowed a little. I looked back at my file and just nodded in response.


    I heard the door closing and it was when I looked up from my file and towards the window. Surely, it


    was a cloudy night and I could even see the lightning far away, striking somewhere clearly indicating it


    would pour soon. I was anything but interested to go back to the ce which was supposed to be


    called as my house. It is nothing but some blocks of bricks and concrete for me. Juliette was my real


    home.


    All of a sudden I found myself wondering how it would have been if she were here today. She would


    have definitely called me back home because that woman was scared of thundering and even though


    she never told me about all that I had a perfect idea of the things that frightened her. At the beginning


    when we were strangers and fought to each other...the time when she loathed me was the time when


    she slept at the edge of the bed maintaining as much as the distance between us. But in the night


    when it used to thunder outside she used to jolt up from her sleep frightened, as she would clutch the


    duvet close to her chest and look up here and there.


    Even though I were awake and witnessed her waking up to the sounds, I pretended to sleep when she


    would wave a hand before my eyes wanting to check if I were awake. And then when it would thunder


    for the second time...I found her close to me. She would snuggle to my side making sure the duvet


    yed the biggest role of ying as a partition between us. She had zero trusts upon me yet she


    would stick with me whenever she frightened.


    I would hear her trouble breathing and to ease her tension I would have her covered and keep a hand


    on her body still pretending to sleep. She would gasp and check multiple times if I were awake and


    when she made sure I was sleeping she would snugglefortably and sleep with my arms over her. It


    was the only time when she wouldn''t push me away. Somehow I made her feelfortable and it was


    what I was d of.


    Not only thundering but the woman was even scared of little things like snakes, rats... I still can''t stop


    myself fromughing whenever the scene of her yelling at top of her lungs frightened just by a mere


    dirty rates into my mind. She ran all across the room screaming and frightened by the poor thing. If


    it wasn''t because of Hilda shooing the rat away I was sure that she would have fainted that day out of a


    panic attack. It was like a rat was enough to kill her than a gun''s bullet.


    Amidst all this, she never told me the things that scared her. Because it wasn''t necessary, as I knew it


    all. If it weren''t for me noticing her every move I would have never known about it all. But then I started


    to take care of it all. I did my best to keep her happy even though it was the time when she didn''t love


    me or neither was I aware of my own feelings for her. Still, I would found myself taking care of her.


    Still, I failed.


    A notification on my phone had my attention as it broke me out of my thoughts and I closed the file that


    was in my hand and threw it frustrated on the table before getting up and wearing my suit as I picked


    up my phone and walked out of my office handing the cabin keys to the guards.


    "What is it, mom?" I asked as I kept the phone on loudspeaker and got inside my car ready to drive off


    back home.


    "What is this tone Zac?" she sighed and I drove past my office building and switched the wipers on as it


    began to pour.


    "I''m driving back home mom. Let me have you call back after I reach bac-" I stopped in the middle


    when my eyes fell on the car parked with its lights on and hood open at the side of the road. But it


    wasn''t the car but thedy who paced aroundpletely soaked in rain before the car looking terrified


    as she continued to click on her phone.


    "I will call you back mom," I said as I hung up without even hearing her reply.


    "Ms. Dimir?" I said once I parked my car next to hers and rolled the windows down.


    "Mr Sullivan?" she seemed off guard for a moment but then as she got her senses back she ran


    towards my car and looked in.


    "What''s wrong?" I found myself asking.


    "Thank God! Mr. Sullivan...Oh, it''s my car. It gave up upon me," she cried and it was when we looked


    up towards a group of built up guysing towards us crossing the road.


    Not wanting to create a scene or let Dimir know about my night duty I took a decision and looked back


    at her to find her staring at them looking frightened.


    "Close the hood, lock your car and get in..." I said and her head shot up towards me. She nodded


    frantically and without even second thoughts she ran to her car and closed the hood and took her purse


    out before locking the car and ran back as she got in and closed the door in a hurry. I locked the door


    and looked at her to find her inhaling in deeply and exhaling out. She looked terribly frightened because


    of the situation.


    I pulled up back to the road crossing the group of guys who banged on my window yelling at us


    seeming drunk.


    "Oh god!" I heard her whisper as I sped up and turned the heater on.


    "There''s a towel in the backseat. Use it to dry yourself before you catch a co-" she interrupted me by


    sneezing "cold..." I finished up and looked at her as she gave me a sheepish grin.


    "Excuse me," she murmured and fetched the towel from my back and used it to wipe herself dry before


    wrapping it around her body.


    As I drove silently...I could feel her gaze on me all the while to the extent which made me


    ufortable and I stared back at her raising an eyebrow to which she shook her head no whispering


    a low ''nothing''.


    "Yes, that building over there..." she pointed at the building and I nodded in response as I drove


    towards the direction. As my car came to a halt I unlocked the door and waited for her to get out


    because it was still pouring heavily and in the moment anything but to be back home where I could rest


    peacefully after working continuously for days.


    "Thank you so much for dropping me today," I heard her talking and I nodded in response. Her eyes


    brightened up even in the dark and she smiled widely as she opened her mouth once again to speak


    up "Would you like to have some coffee up in my ce?"


    "No. It''s alright. Thanks for inviting me Ms. Dimir," I said and witnessed as looked a little sadder after


    hearing my reply.


    "Then... I guess I will be leaving now," she smiled and I waited patiently for her to exit.


    "Good night," she said as she finally opened the door and walked out to the rain.


    I thought she would run straight into her the building''s wing but she stood there with her purse over her


    head that had me rolling the window down as I spoke up "Go in Ms. Dimir,"


    "No, you go first," she said and I found myself little irritated by the situation.


    "Ms. Dimir, Just go in!" I heard my irritated voice to which she seemed little taken aback. But then once


    again she regained herposure as she smiled and turned around running back into her building.


    "What a woman," I muttered to myself as I rolled up the window and drove off towards my home.


    As I parked my car and got out avoiding the umbre that was under my back seat and the still pouring


    rain...I walked towards the house with the rain drenching me but at that moment it wasn''t what that got


    my attention but the figure that came running towards my direction. As I squinted my eyes and wiped


    the rain away from my eyes I recognised the person who came running towards mepletely


    drenched...but it looked she wasn''t alone.


    "Kiara?" I heard myself.


    "Zach-Zachary!" came out her croaked voice as she came running towards me and stumbled before


    me but if it wasn''t for me to catch her by her arms then she would have tumbled down.


    "What in the world are you-"


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    "She is alive...She is ALIVE!" she cried as she looked up at me avoiding my question.


    "Kiara..." it was Kristian who was running after her. He ran up to us and stopped right next to me


    "What are you-"


    "She is ALIVE! I saw her!" Kiara cried as she pulled herself up and got hold of my forearms as she


    shook them frantically trying to gain my attention.


    "What? Whom did you see? Who is ali-"


    "JULIETTE!"


    A loud thundering was heard followed by shes of lightning and suddenly the rain stopped with three


    of us standing motionless on our spot staring wide-eyed at each other.