Page 77 of Deadline for Love

“All your victims were loved and cherished by their families!”

Julian and Fernando looked at each other briefly and then turned back to me. They both laughed as if I had said something ridiculous.

“Sabrina was disowned by her family because she had a relationship with her student and her life was destroyed. She lost her job and drank her sorrows away every night in a bar. Natali and Anna were all loners who intoxicated themselves with alcohol and drugs because they hated this world. None of them were ever happy. They only found happiness through us.” Julianpaused and placed a hand under his chin. “Ah, there was another one... That bitch Rita, she had a family who looked after her, but she was hated and ostracized by the whole class, just like me. We found each other during a challenging time, but she dumped me when I confessed my love to her.” He then shrugged his shoulders as if the fact were unremarkable.

“Fernando, how did you get involved? Why are you involved?”

“Don’t! She always played with your heart and made fun of you. Mocked you. She doesn’t deserve your love.” Julian wouldn’t let me talk to Fernando; he kept saying things that weren’t true.

“You don’t know me—at all! I love Fernando, and I’ve never thought badly of him or ridiculed him,” I hissed in anger.

“But you only love him like your brother,” Julian remarked, which I couldn’t deny now.

“So what? What does it matter? I love him, and I will never laugh at him or mock him. I want him to shine, I want him to be well, I want—”

“Stop it, Bella.” Fernando knelt before me, tears streaming down his face. “Stop lying.”

I swallowed hard. The sight caused my heart to break.

“You’re minimizing my feelings. I’ve never seen you as my sister. I’ve loved you for so long, and you’re downplaying it.”

I shook my head. “Fernando, I’ve never downplayed it; you never told me any of this. I thought our feelings were the same.”

He wiped his tears and then grabbed my face. “I’ve confessed to you so many times.” He got up again and walked across the room. “Upon seeing you, love’s shock did ensue by my side. Attention is always true. When I showed my love, you mirrored the same, yet in your words, a familial claim. Same phrase and dual meanings in love’s game. I long for you still, though kinship you name.”

His rhyme caused me to widen my eyes. Indeed, he always confessed his love for me, but I brushed him off and compartmentalized it as familial. But these were the feelings I had for him. I had never imagined a deeper relationship between us. It wasn’t just the age that mattered, but also how we met. We were neighbors, and I babysat and studied with him.

But even so, there was no reason to do all this.

“Well said, but let’s not waste any more time. I’ll give her a painless death, and then we’ll take care of the other two.”

My heart started to quake again. “Other two? You won’t stop?”

The two didn’t answer me. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my promise. We won’t hurt your stupid neighbor and friend. We have two more girls here. A far too curious woman who tried to play detective and a lonely woman who had just lost her job and had long since given up on life. But that doesn’t matter; today is our last show, and then we’re getting the fuck out of this country.”

I was utterly shocked by Julian’s indifference. Everyone loved Julian at the bakery. Fernando was also known as a new bright boy that everyone appreciated. How could these two have such a dark side? I tried to break free from the rope and started to move my arms. Fernando didn’t stop me but just grinned at my attempt to break free.

“We’re going to finish this,” Julian said, stretching once. Before I could say anything else, we heard a loud noise from a corner of the store.

Fernando and Julian jumped to attention; Julian grabbed the screwdriver, and Fernando clenched his fists.

The two nodded at each other and walked towards the noise, but then all I heard was a gunshot, followed by a loud scream that made me flinch before the room fell so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

“Now, drop everything!”

The voice that preceded it gave me a mix of cold and warmth. I turned my head and caught sight of blood and then Julian lying on the ground, cursing and holding his leg.

Fernando stood and raised his hands, taking several steps back; slowly, a tall figure appeared and gave me hope. He was dressed in black jeans, a black sweater, and armed with a gun. Our eyes met, and he sighed with relief when he realized I was alive. But then his gaze grew firm and determined as he looked wrathfully at the two boys. And suddenly, it was as if I had been hit with ice-cold water.

“Nathan,” I whispered.

Chapter 30

Fernando tried to go back further, but Nathan ordered him to stop with a clear voice.

“Hey, hey—you’re trying to kill us?” Julian hissed, and Nathan shot him in the same leg again for that comment without hesitation.

Horrified, I stared at the scene, blood splattering all over.

---