Page 43 of Strangers No More
Tears slipped down Z’s bruised face. “I was addicted to pills and I needed money to get my fix. I wasn’t thinking about their wellbeing. I know it was wrong, but I was too fucked up to care.”
“That’s not a good enough excuse, you sick fucking monster!” Seojun shouted.
My hands shook with fury as I let go of his chin and stared down at him. I waited for my empathy to kick in, but it didn’t. Hell, I didn’t give a fuck about his crocodile tears because I felt that he only cared because he got caught. If he had an ounce of remorse, he would’ve turned himself in a long time ago. Or, he would have stopped a long time ago, but he was still ‘promoting’. Not to mention, I saw him a few weeks before graduating on campus, urging people to come to some party.
“So, Z, are you ready to cooperate? It’s the least you can do.” Seojun asked. I looked over my shoulder to see him leaning on the metal table.
“Look man, I told you I don’t know anything.”
“You are telling me that one day you just decided to not only drug people but find a random brothel house to take advantage of them or sell them all on your own?” Seojun asked, crossing his foot over his ankle.
Z’s jaw tighten. “No, that’s not what happened, dipshit.”
“Well, explain it to us because right now, that’s what we’re getting. How the hell did you even get yourself into this type of situation?” I asked, standing over him with my arms crossed over my chest.
Z tried to turn his head away, but I gripped his chin again. Leaning down, I stared into his eyes. There was guilt and anger behind them, and I was starting to feel sorry for him.
“Look at me. You have always been so nice to me, and we used to laugh and joke every time we crossed one another’s paths. I never would have suspected you to be this awful person. So, maybe this is all just a misunderstanding, right? I mean, you would never hurt anybody on purpose, right?”
Z looked up at me before sighing. I stood up and watched as he dropped his head before shaking. My heart began to crumble in my chest. I thought Zachary was one of the good ones. I mean, it wasn’t like I was attracted to him or anything, but the knowledge that he was an actual kind guy gave me a little hope that there were good people in this world. Now it was shattered. Was everyone just mean, corrupt, self-centered assholes?
I could feel my eyes beginning to burn with tears. Z peaked up at me before he tilted his head to the side. His shoulders began to lightly bounce as a low chuckle filled the space between us. I rapidly blinked away the tears to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me and sure enough his ass was laughing.
“Addison, you’re so naive!”
“W-what?”
“Look at you over there crying because you thought I was so sweet,” he spat in a mocking tone. “I don’t see how you can do it, but I’m bored with being nice. Oh, and for the record, I did everything he said on my own accord. You see, a mannamed Manny approached me outside of a club one night while I was working my dead end job as a promoter. He offered me more money than I had ever seen and all the sex that I wanted. Who the hell would turn that kind of offer down, huh?
“All I had to do was go after women like you, Addison. Weak, sweet, and innocent. You were the first to come to my mind, but your ass barely wanted to party. I was still waiting for the moment I caught you slipping because I would have made some stacks on you.” Zachary licked his lips as his eyes roamed over me. A seductive smile spread across his face. “Oh, they would have loved you, too. I bet you are super sweet.”
Z eyed me up and down before bursting into laughter. Fury rushed through me causing my body to burn with anger. Balling my hands into fists, I cocked them back and threw them into his jaw. Z’s head snapped to the side, his mouth filling with blood.
“Shit!” I hissed, shaking my hand. My knuckles were radiating with pain. I had never punched anyone before, and I had no idea it hurt so much.
“Whoa there, tiger! I don’t want you hurting your delicate hands on this shit stain.” Seojun stated, gently pulling me towards him. “That’s why I have these.”
He gestured towards the metal table he was leaning on.
“As you can see, everything you need is right here– no need to hurt those tiny fingers.”
I examined the table and noticed there were hammers, nails, bob wire, ropes, a nail gun, duct tape, and a metal bat all perfectly lined up. I ran my fingers across the tools before feeling Seojun step next to me. His scent was a mixture of cedarwood, rosemary, and jasmine – strong and sweet at the same time.
“These are just some of my favorite gadgets,” Seojun murmured before brushing his thumb over my reddening knuckles.
He was standing so close now, that I could feel his cool breath tickle my ear. A small shiver ran up my spine and I fought the urge to moan. What the hell was wrong with me? This man barely touched my hand, and I was about to climax. I glanced over my shoulder to see Seojun’s hooded brown eyes staring down at me. He was about 3 inches taller to my 5’8 height and that only turned me on more. My eyes drifted down to his full lips that had a soft pink and brown under tone. He tucked his bottom lip before a slow smirk began to form. The fact that this man was easily getting me hot and bothered was frustrating as hell.
“Does seeing all of my gadgets do something to you, yeobo?”
“W-what do you mean?” I asked, feeling my body warm.
“I mean, if I were to slip my fingers into your panties, would they be drenched with your essence?”
I briefly closed my eyes and bit down onto my bottom lip. Something was seriously wrong with me because he was right. Punching Z and seeing all of the items that I could hurt him with spread across the table, had me soaked. Was I the type of girl who would enjoy some type of discipline fetish? I mean, I enjoyed watching a bit of porn with that involvement, but I never thought I’d actually get to do it.
I cleared my throat and scooted away from him. I couldn’t be thinking about that right now. Desperate to change the subject, I pointed at the table. “Uh, these are just basic items you can get from any hardwood store.”
Seojun lightly chuckled and shook his head before he rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip.
