Irresistible Love

ZACHARY

“Where are the weapons?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“I-I don’t know.” He trembled before on the floor. Kneeling, he joined his palms and begged me for his life.

“Pitiful,” I spat and shoved the back of the gun against his face. He fell on his side, but before I could kick him in his face, Willi came in between us, stopping me.

“Let me handle this,” he said, and I glared at him. Huffing at him, I turned around and rubbed my face, irritated by the situation.

The illegal arms that were meant to be transferred to my dealer today had vanished mid-road, and the only person we had been able to get our hands on was the driver.

According to him, some thugs had stopped the truck and taken control of it, throwing him on the road, and then had stolen the arms.

However, I was least concerned about him. I didn’t really care about the driver but only my arms. I needed to transfer them to my dealer.

“He is saying the same thing—that some thugs stole it,” came Willi’s tired voice.

“Finish him,” I stated, not even looking back at the driver.

“What?” he asked in shock, and the driver whimpered and cried as soon as he heard.

“Kill him,” I said, my eyes void of any emotions.

“We can’t do that. He is the only one who can tell us where the weapons are,” Willi said, and I took my phone out of my pants pocket when it vibrated.

As I read the text message from my informant, an irritated and annoyed expression appeared on my face. I turned around, ready to kill the damn bastard of a driver.

“Well, I can tell you where the weapons are.” I gave out a sarcastic laugh, and the next moment a gunshot was heard in the room.

I had shot the driver in his leg, and now, I pointed the gun at his face, the intention to kill him there and then writ large on mine.

“What are you doing?” Willi yelled and tried to stop me from killing the driver. I showed him the text message, and as realization struck him, he looked back at the driver who was yelling and sobbing due to his wounded leg.

“You bastard! You surrendered the truck to the damn cops?” Willi snapped at him, and the next moment, he kicked him in his stomach.

“This crazy bastard,” I muttered as I saw the driver getting hit. I kept watching until he was writhing in pain, on the verge of death.

“Stop,” I said, and Willi looked back at me.

“But he—”

“On whose order did you do that?” I asked the driver as calmly as I could. The driver lay on the ground with his hands tied.

“I will never tell you.” He laughed and spat blood on the ground.

“We will see that,” I said and turned to Max.

“Bring the taser and use it on him until and unless he tells the truth. Don’t let him sleep or die. Make him suffer.” I looked back at the driver, who was breathing heavily.

“Start now!” I said and walked out of the room.

His cries of agony could be heard even after I walked out of the warehouse. My men did their work perfectly, making him suffer.

“Call Jeremiah and inform him of the situation.”

Willi nodded and fished his phone out of his pocket to call our man who worked as a cop. I walked to my car and got in. Igniting the engine, I drove off to my office building.

It had been three to four days since I had gone to my office. Lately, I had been busy seeing to my back-alley affairs, ignoring the legal side of my business.

“Good afternoon, sir,” Cosmina greeted me as I walked past her desk.

I stopped in my tracks and looked back at Cosmina. “Send every important file that you need me to sign to my cabin. I intend on finishing all pending work today,” I ordered.

As I talked, I heard a loud gasp. I turned to my side to find Cristina staring at my hand with wide eyes.

“Sir, you have blood on your hand and on your sleeves. Are you hurt?” I jerked my hand away before she could touch me and glared at her.

“Mind your own business, Ms. Dimir,” I said tightly and looked back at Cosmina.

“But si—”

“Send me the files, Cosmina,” I said and turned around to leave.

As soon as I reached my cabin, the first thing I did was walk to the small shelf from which I retrieved a clean shirt. I went to the bathroom to wash off the blood and change my shirt.

Everything is messed up in my life, I reflected. I watched the water turn red as it washed away the blood from my hand. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Nothing.

There was nothing on my face. I was expressionless. Tired. And most importantly, I didn’t look anything like Zachary Udolf Sullivan. But this was the reality. I glanced at my reflection. A loser who had lost everything in life.

“You don’t really deserve happiness,” I mumbled looking at my reflection before splashing a handful of water on my face.

Life must go on, and I must live. I couldn’t break down like this; I bet Juliette wouldn’t have liked seeing me in this condition, but I couldn’t do anything. Every time I tried to think about moving on with my life, I couldn’t.

I had thought I would live the rest of my life with her. It wasn’t her fault that I was in this position, nor did I blame anyone.

But every time I looked at myself, the only thing that I thought of was how my life would have been if she were here.

I knew she didn’t hate me like she did when I’d kidnapped her for the first time. I knew that her hatred had soon changed to love and she had loved me truly. Then why? Why? Just why did we have to be like this?

I was the one who killed people and had done so many wrong things. Then why was she the one to lose her life? I should have been the one.

Why had she been punished because of my sins?

No, actually, both of us had been punished. I had lost the one person I’d loved more than anyone in my life, and she had fallen in love with a sinner.

God doesn’t forgive repentant sinners; He punishes the one dearest to them. And in my case, the person dearest to me was my Juliette.

“The files you asked for.” Ms. Dimir placed the files before me. I looked up at her through my reading glasses and narrowed my eyes. “I thought I had asked Cosmina to bring me the files.”

“She was actually held back by the managing director while she was coming, so she asked me to hand you the files,” she said and gave me a smile.

“Kristian is in the office today,” I mumbled to myself, but she heard it and replied with a quiet “yes.”

“Ask him to meet me. You may leave,” I told her without looking back at her, being busy reading the files. However, I could still feel her presence.

“What is it?” I asked as I raised my head. She looked startled all of a sudden but then stood straight in her place and her eyes averted to my hand.

“How is your wound? You had blood all over your sleeves beforehand. Should I bring you the firs—”

“Ms. Dimir,” I intervened, and she looked at me. “Mind your own business, eh?” I gave her a stern look and pointed toward the door with my eyes.

She inhaled deeply and nodded before turning on her heel and walking out of the room, though stealing a glance at me before she finally left.

“How annoying,” I muttered and continued to skim through the files.

***

“The more we meet, the older you look,” Kristian announced as he barged into my cabin without knocking.

“When will you learn to knock?” I asked as I continued typing on my laptop.

“And when will you take care of yourself?” he asked, making me look up at him.

“Look at your knuckles,” he said, and I ignored him, not even bothering to look at my knuckles, as I already knew that they had gotten wounded from the punches.

“Not a new thing,” I muttered in reply.

“Of course, it’s not a new thing, but it’s also becoming your habit. You no longer seem to take care of yourself. Get a grip on yourself, else it will be bad for your business,” he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him and watched as he smirked at me, sitting at the corner of my table.

“Get off my table.” I glared at him to put my point across, as he was never the one to take me seriously.

“Oh boy! You and your mood.” He shrugged and got off my table. He walked around and sat on the chair before throwing his head backward and exhaling a breath.

“I heard about what happened. Arms have been seized by the police, huh?” He leaned against the chair comfortably and took the paperweight, rolling it between his hands.

“Now they will look into it and will find you in no time.” Biting down on his lower lip, he looked toward the glass window as he put the paperweight back on the table.

“Want me to take the lead in this matter?” he asked out of nowhere.

“You?” I scoffed at the thought and closed the laptop shut.

“Yes, me!” Squinting his eyes in my direction, he rubbed his eyes with his palm before getting off the chair.

“I have assigned Willi to this matter. He can take care of thi—”

“Aren’t you playing too naive lately?” He slammed his hands on my table.

“You have blind trust in that guy. As much as I remember, he was the one who killed my cousin and your sister, isn’t it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

In response, I put my elbows on the table and clasped my hands.

“He has won my trust, and I am not blind when it comes to him. I am keeping an eye on his movements.”

He stared at me for a few seconds before laughing out loud. “Hmm, Interesting. Indeed, very interesting.”

“Well then, I’ll be off now. I have work to do. Give me a call if you need me. I’m off to Melbourne.” A ghost of a smile played on his lips as he adjusted his tie.

“Melbourne? Why Melbourne?” I asked, wondering about what work he could have in Melbourne when all his business was in Romania.

“Huh?” He looked up at me with his raised eyebrows before speaking.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just that unlike you, I do have a woman whom I cherish and who is alive.” He air quoted the word “alive.” In an instant, I was on my feet, seething at his insolence.

“Kristian, you need to hold your tongue,” I said as calmly as I could, not wanting to hurt my cousin.

“That”—he bent toward me, with his hands shoved into his pockets—“is purely upon me, brother.” He smirked and then moved backward and walked out of my room, leaving me burning with rage.

“Idiots! All of them are idiots,” I muttered to myself as I raked a hand through my hair.