❦•: 05– A Deal :•❦

❦•: ZARA :•❦

Alan stirred with a groan as I watched him slowly blink awake. His face contoured with the pained expression etched onto it.

He grunted, eyelids fluttered open and then his blue gaze locked with mine. I’m seated at the edge of the bed, by his feet. My hands clasped. My index fingers and thumbs twirled as my nerves threatened to boil me.

But I tried to keep my composure as I watched my boyfriend struggle awake. The collector had hit him pretty hard. It was a miracle he didn’t break a bone or something but the pain as he struggled to get up had me rushing up to his side.

“Alan… how are you feeling?” I asked, my voice soft and laced with concern. I pushed up a pillow behind him to help him sit upright on the bed.

Alan groaned again and one of his arms wrapped around his midriff while the other soothes his temple.

He swiped his tongue over the seam of his lips, “Like shit,” he croaked out and I hurriedly fetched the water that I’d kept on the bed stand.

Alan gobbled it all down, sighing as he wiped at his mouth and he hissed, noting the cut on the corner of his bottom lip.

“What the fuck happened, babe?” He asked when he met my gaze again and my mouth ran dry as I struggled to form words.

How do I tell him about this? How much of it do I tell him? He pretty much had his pride wounded when he got punched by the collector. The viciousness of his strength was almost outworldly, it—

Gosh, girl… this was not the time to be thinking about another man. A very dangerous and vicious one at that.

I cleared my throat and nibbled my bottom lip before tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked quietly.

Alan groaned again as he rubbed two fingers against his temple in circular motions. His gaze, glazed and unfocused as they started to wander about the room and then they paused when they caught sight of something behind me before growing wide.

“Oh shit…” he whispered through gritted teeth. His head snapped up and he looked at me with a slightly perturbed gaze. “Who the fuck was that?”

“Um, that was… the collector.” I held his gaze for a breathless moment until his eyes were widening with realization and terror.

“Holy… fucking…” his gaze drifted frantically over the room.

“He’s gone.” I said and visibly saw the tension on his shoulders melt off him before he returned his gaze back at me.

“So, w-what did he want with you?” He huffed out a nervous breath.

He knew the collector just as much as I did and that there was only one reason why he’d ever be here. That’s why I couldn’t lie to him.

“I owe the family a debt.” I breathed.

The silence took an unnerving stretch and then I heard Alan hiss out a curse.

“You took a loan from the Morozov’s family loan sharks?” His gaze held mine with disbelief but beneath the depths, his blue eyes held dread. “And your time to return the loan was up, that’s why he was here to… collect?”

It was a rhetorical question but I answered anyway. I nodded, muttering, “Yes.” But my voice came out weaker than I expected it to.

Alan was calm but that alone burned my nerves, he muttered. “How much?”

“Three… three million dollars.”

At my words Alan fell back against the pillows tucked securely behind him. His hand soothing his temple fell over his eyes and he let out another string of curses accompanied with a groan.

“How the fuck do you owe three fucking million dollars to the most ruthless mafia family in all of fucking Chicago, Zara!” He hissed, his calm composure breaking as he flung his arm away from his face and glared at me.

The hard tone of his voice had me jumping out of my skin. But before I could respond he fired another question at me.

“Was that why he had you pinned against the wall? He was going to kill you.”

I nodded. “Yes…”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He cursed and swept the palm of his hand over his face before letting out another sharp breath. “But he didn’t, which means you’re safe, right?” He asked but when I didn’t respond, he looked down at me with a clipped expression. “Right?”

No response either and that had his shooting upright from the bed. He winced from the pain that shot through him but recovered quickly enough before I could aid him.

“Zara,” my name was a maniacal snarl on his lips. “You paid the collector what you fucking owed his family, right?”

“Not… exactly.” I said and pursed my lips, avoiding his hard gaze trained on me.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He snarled lowly. “What the fuck did you do, Zara?!” He barked, finally snapping.

“I—I made a deal, okay?!” My voice raised with my admission and he blinked. “I made a deal with the collector.” I repeated, this time with my voice lowered.

When I finally peered at my boyfriend he had a bewildered look on his face before a scowl sat on his face and he snarled, getting off the bed and he stood in front of me.

“You… did what?” When I didn’t respond, he huffed and then added. “This deal… What was it? What did he want?”

“He, um, he wants… you know.” I swallowed my words and looked up at Alan.

It took a moment through the silence as he waited for me to continue but I didn't and soon it dawned on him.

His eyes widened and he took two steps back. The pain from earlier was forgotten and he shoved his hand into his hair.

“Fuck,” his head fell back for a second before they fell back on me. Something cold and grudgeful danced in his eyes though it wasn’t directed at me. “He wants to fuck you, that’s it, right?”

I nodded my response and Alan barked out a bittered laugh, “You must be joking, right? Why the fuck would you agree to that?!”

“I didn’t have any other choice, Alan!” I stated, my voice pitched once again as I got up to my feet.

“Yes, you did!” He bellowed and the air is laced with tension, “and that was to not borrow three fucking million dollars, Zara!” His arms flung up in the air and he pointed at me, angry heat in his eyes.

“I had to!” I flared as well, my nerves burning.

He grunted angrily, “And why the fuck was that?!” Stepping closer.

“Because you were going to die!” I yelled.

He paused, blinked, his mouth opened and then shut back up before the words finally came out of it. “What?”

I sighed, feeling breathless and I blinked up at his tall frame. “I did it for you, Alan.”

He huffed, eyes wide and rounded like a saucepan as he stared at me in disbelief and something else.

“Fuck,” he muttered as realization finally hit him with a force. “The transplant… that was how you were able to pay it off.”

My shoulders sagged and I nodded, not trusting my voice at this point, and Alan let out another heavy sigh. His other hand shoveled into his hair and he gripped it till he hissed and let out another string of profanities.

Then he closed the space between us and caught my face in his hands. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes closed momentarily before they peeled open. I didn’t even realize that a tear had slipped down my face until he swiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

“I kept asking you about it. Why didn’t you ever tell me, baby?” He whispered.

I raised my hands and grabbed onto his wrist, I sighed. “I didn’t want to worry you,” he clicked his tongue. “Besides, I wasn’t complaining.”

“You didn’t have to.” He said, then stepped in closer. I met his gaze again when he tilted my head up. “This deal… How long would it be for?”

“One night… tonight.”

“And if you do this, he’ll let you live?”

I nod, “Yes.” I whispered.

“Fuck, baby… this is so fucking messed up.”

“I know… I’m sorry.”

I felt his head roll against mine. “No, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t needed that surgery… if we weren’t short on money, then—”

“No, don’t blame yourself. I’ll do anything for you, Alan, because I love you.”

“Thanks baby. I love you too.” He said and kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes at the feeling of his soft lips. His lips lingered before he finally pulled away.

He sighed and I heard him speak again. “Fuck it, fine. I’ll allow it.”

I wanted to tell him he didn’t have much of a choice in the collector’s request but I chose to shut up instead. Thinking he had any say in this matter was the only thing he could ever hold an ounce of his sanity because Alan was visibly twitching.

“It’s just one night, right?” He mumbled. “Though the thought of it makes me want to fucking puke and I want to fucking kill that bastard for taking advantage of you.”

“He’s not exactly taking advantage. He gave me a choice which we both know never comes.” I rambled and Alan hissed.

“Fuck, Zara, please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

I pursed my lips, “Sorry.”

He breathed against my lips then pulled my head back up and then he kissed me, hard and possessively.

Alan muttered when he pulled apart. “He better have his fucking fill tonight because you’re still fucking mine.”