4 : Why me?

"Why me?" He raised the pitch of his words, "Why me you ask?" He scoffed at her face. She was yet again dumbfounded by his sudden reaction changes. She felt like he was some kind of a lunatic trying too hard to control himself.

"Logan? Who are you?" She asked him quietly and patiently.

But this question seemed to pass him off even more.

"What is it with you and your questions?" He asked her with an irritated expression on his face. "Calm down chief." A man came forward and offered him a offered him a glass of whiskey.

"Who is he?" Alissa thought on a serious note. She wanted to desperately know who she was dealing with, for even though she knew the man in front of her, he was nothing like she remembered him.

"I know that you don't run this inn. So who are you?" She asked him once again knowing very well that he would get more annoyed listening to her questions.

"Ha. Ofcourse I don't run this place. I own this place. I bought it." He said trying to stay calm after drinking a sip from the glass but with a smug expression. 

But that pushed Alissa to think even more.

"Is it because this place was Lorraine and his secret lair?" She thought. "Must be it. After all why would anyone go to these lengths and buy a place just like that!" She satisfied herself with an answer. 

"But why does my heart ache so much?" She thought to herself. "It's not like I am unaware that he loved Loraine more than anything, so why?" She could feel her heart aching inside her chest.

"So let me answer your question for you Ms. Evans " He calmly walked back to his chair and sat down. He adjusted the coat he was wearing neatly and looked at her in the eyes once again leaning to thr side of the chair.

"You are the best candidate for me to marry now." He began, "I need to acquire my father's business and I need a bride. Who else would be better than a friend I knew once right?" He explained to her calmly. But she knew it wasn't that straightforward. 

"What is there in it for me?" She asked with a sharp tone. She was a businesswoman herself after all, how could she back off without asking for her benefits first.

But this left Logan stunned to the bone, "Beggars can't be picky." He mumbled loud enough so that she can listen sit, and yes she heard it.

But then, there wasn't much she could react with.

"Your truly seem to be too absorbed in your own world now Ms. Evans." He scoffed at her once more and pressed his furrowed eyebrows with his two fingers. "Your father filed for bankruptcy before he died." Logan began to talk.

"His company lost a major portion of your family business to the Craig Co. and thus you were left with nothing but an empty shell of people under the name of the board of directors. Am I right?" He smiled at her yet again with a smug expression.

On the other hand her expressions were becoming hard to control, she wanted to appear calm and collected, but it wasn't possible at all for her as he kept on narrating his list.

"And as for you, Ms. Best Fashion designer in the world, you were demoted and fired from your job as the lead fashion designer for the event... what is it called? Um.. Paris Fashion Week." He continued looking at her with his predatory gaze, while she tried to stay constant and confident with her gaze.

"And that too not a long ago... just ten days..." He intended on narrating his list further but Alissa suddenly banged her hand on the table and said, "Mr. Stalza! Please come to the point."

Now her eyes seemed like they were teared up on the edges and she could not take it anymore. "Tell me what is it that you are trying" She continued, "that you are trying to emphasize." She said in a shaky but loud voice.

And swiftly, the men standing beside Logan pointed their guns at her and the bell boy stood behind her with a knife at her throat.

She was caught off guard by this sudden development, but now perhaps she was aware of who she was sitting across.

She was sweating profusely and her eyes were shaky. The things happening around her were no joke, everything was real. 

The man sitting across her.

These men who seemed more like contracted killers.

And also the bell boy, who held his knife with precision with an intention to get his job done. Every single thing happening around her was real, and she lost her control.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she sat in between all the pointed weapons, and he sat across her with a smug and cunning look on his face.

"Now you should be smart enough to know that you have no choice Ms. Evans." He said in a giggly voice to make her outrageous self.

She could not dare to speak anything, her throat was throbbing and her heart was pumping fast enough that it would jump off from her chest.

An awkward silence took over the room and the arrangement remained constant as Logan did not order his men to withdraw their guns.

He was looking forward to her reply, but stayed silent for sometime.

"So," she began with mouthing words he wouldn't even listen, "You are Stalza." She whispered to her own self.

"What?" He asked her loud and clear. 

"So you are from that mafia gang, Stalza." She screamed on top of her lungs since she was scared. And to her reaction, the men around her pushed their ammunitions further to her throat.

"Hehe," his eyes lit up, "That's right princess. I am from that dirty mafia gang everyone is talking about." He got up and spread his arms, as though he was trying to say that he own the entire world,

"I am a Stalza. And if you know about us," he said in a funny informing tone, "if you know then you would also know that we are anything but sweet and gullible people." He finished his little speech.

She could not belive him at all. She was scared with sweat dripping off from her face and tears rolling down her cheeks. She was shuddering and he was busy in boasting about himself.

"He is dangerous. They are dangerous." A sudden sense of urgency wrapped around her mind as she only had two options - Fight or Flight.

She was shivering and was totally failing at the attempt to stay calm. "I will do it." She said it. Loud and clear enough so he could hear it properly.

"Huh?" He was caught offguard.

"I will do it, I will sign them, those papers." She looked him in his eyes, his same blue eyes she was excited to see till some extent a few moments ago, but now she was slowly starting to hate his gaze.

She said it out loud and clear, but she knew the consequences would be much harsher than she would have even imagined. 

But right in that moment, she did what she felt was right.

"Hmm? That was easy." He said and gestured his men to back off with their guns and knife. He was rather impressed by the look she had on her face when she said those words.

"She is still the same as ever," He thought to himself, "She is still stubborn beyond limits. She could've declined these stupid offers I am making, but.." He shrugged his shoulders and slid the envelope forward towards her.

"You know what you are supposed to then." He affirmed with a steady and stern voice.

She nodded.