chapter 238
when Elena arrived home, Paolo was already there, waiting for her with bated breath. from the way he was tapping his foot on the floor, she knew this wasn’t going to be a story to be taken lightly. she’d even forgotten that he’d invited her, so absorbed was she in her performance at Finn’s wedding. she tiptoed to her room, but luck wasn’t on her side, as he’d heard her. she huffed and turned back to him.
-What are you so angry about, Paolo? You look like you’re about to break someone’s nose.
-It would have been better if I’d just stopped at that, but I want to send that person six feet under, you hear? No, but what good are you to me, Elena Montoya? you can’t even do me a little favor I ask of you. you promised me, but you couldn’t keep the damn promise. tell me what I did to deserve such a cousin, one I can’t even count on.
Elena was shocked. She wondered if he remembered that she was there and that he was talking to her like that. In his eyes, she was just a good-for-nothing, but after all, she wasn’t obliged to do him this favor at all, since he hadn’t even had the courage to tell her exactly what she was going to do.
-Paolo, do you want me to leave your house? because yes, I do. you didn’t even tell me what the favor was, you dressed me up like a slut and simply asked me to follow you. i’m an adult, not a kid who’s just good at obeying you understand. Now I want to know what was so important to you, because you’re not going to tell me you wanted me to meet someone, because I’d never believe you. What did you want me to do in a hotel dressed like that?
Paolo ran a hand through his hair, realizing what a fool he’d been. He hadn’t been able to control himself and now it was backfiring. She was angrier than he was now and he’d just realized that he was messing up their family relationship. He couldn’t push his cousin to doubt him.
-And where exactly were you, because I looked all around for you and couldn’t find you at all? where were you?
-I’ve had things to do and now that we’ve finished, I need to rest. I think you’ll find a solution to your problem.
Paolo watched her leave and shook his head frantically. She was taking things lightly, but what she didn’t know was that the situation was no longer to be simplified in this way. If only she’d followed him as planned, he wouldn’t be standing there thinking, but instead she’d gone and now Krouto was going to hunt them both down, and what was worse, he didn’t even know when Krouto would decide to strike. He was sure that Betty was already waiting for her share of the loot, but who was to say that everything had gone wrong again, as if since his sister had disappeared, he hadn’t been able to do anything straightforward.
two hours later, he had finally woken up after a good nap and it was time to go and collect his son from his mother’s house. he retrieved the keys to his vehicle and got out, only to find that when he got into his car, he couldn’t see it at all; not that it had been stolen, no, but a group of people were crowding the entrance to the building and he couldn’t understand why. He didn’t know that a mega-star had found an apartment to rent in their building, and that was rather odd given that there were more upscale apartments elsewhere.
-Please, sir, are you the neighbor of Mr. Martinov’s ex-girlfriend? Do you know a young woman with chestnut brown hair, 5’7″ and quite pretty, sir, we’d like to ask you some questions.
He hadn’t heard of her, except that the description matched a person he knew quite well. He turned and looked at the building and especially at the window, then at the journalists who were there. It was sheer nonsense to invade someone’s home just to ask for such information.
-Elena, what have you done now?” murmured Paolo.
He couldn’t think of anyone else but her for that description. She owed him some explanations after what she’d done, because now he didn’t understand. She’d disappeared in a direction he didn’t know, and as a result, no one in the building was going to be safe because of her. he went backwards. When he arrived at the apartment, he went straight to her bedroom. She was still lucky they didn’t know her name, but he didn’t think it would be long before they did, since they were professionals at prying into people’s lives. He pulled back the blanket covering her body and it didn’t take her two seconds to wake up.
-I don’t know what you were planning to do with me, but if that’s still what shocks you so much, then I’m sorry. I had things to do, and when you even asked me to come with you, I’d already warned you that I had things to do, only you refused to listen. Now, if you don’t mind, I want to sleep.
-I’m telling you to shut up now and this is the last time you’ll shout at me too, Elena Montoya. I’m not some first-class faggot who can get a kid to talk to her any way she wants, but if you’re done, you need to tell me what you had to do, and I’m not joking. I’m not going to last long. Where did you go when you disappeared?
-I’ve told you, Paolo, that’s my business and I’m not going to tell you where I’ve been.
A nervous laugh escaped his lips and he tugged at her hair. She was screaming and struggling, but he didn’t care about her squeals. She had dared to compare him to nuns and he couldn’t stand that, since their situation was already getting on his nerves.
-I told you, I can leave your house right now if you want, but let me go, for God’s sake. I didn’t know you were violent, Paolo.
-I’m only violent when I’m provoked, and I’d like you to get it into your head that I’m not violent, but I’m trying to show you something, and if you had the head to think, you could have looked out of the window. Now that I’ve made it clear, I’d like you to look, and when you’ve finished, take a seat so we can talk about it like two civilized people.
He released her, much to her delight. for a moment, she’d thought he’d never do it. when she followed him with her eyes, she saw that he was taking his place on the sofa. the dark look he gave her prompted her to do as he’d asked, i. e. look out of the window. She could see a horde of journalists, except that she couldn’t really see what they were doing there. these people were mostly after the rich and famous. she turned to Paolo in an attempt to understand, because her brain had just reminded her that he’d woken her up just so she could see this.
-Now can you tell me why you think my sleep wasn’t more important than this?
-and you think you’re going to turn this around in your favor, little cousin? let me tell you, you’ve got it all wrong. you’re the one who lured these people here and i want to know how and, above all, why. i’m going to ask you one last time. where have you been?
she breathed, bowing her head. what to do in this kind of situation. she didn’t need to think any longer to understand that they had indeed followed her when she left the church. she hadn’t noticed anything, otherwise she’d have gone another way to ditch them just long enough for her to find a way home without them following her. now no one in the building would be safe because of her.
-I was at a wedding.
-at a wedding? dressed like that? and by the way, who invited you to her wedding because, if I remember correctly, you don’t know a thing about Russia, do you? how’s that possible? where were you?
-Well, I’m telling you I was at a wedding, and as for my outfit, would you like me to remind you that it was you who dressed me like that? I wasn’t invited, but if I was, it was purely to get back at Finn. That man has made a fool of me enough as it is, and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to hurt him, and it worked perfectly, you see. he didn’t get married.
She was happy after what she’d done and yet Paolo was now mourning their fates. We weren’t talking about one but two enemies to fight. she’d lent herself to danger as if she were running into the arms of an acquaintance and she was going to burn her wings as she thought she’d succeeded. she stared at him with that defiant gleam and all he wanted to do at that moment was give her a good thrashing but she was just lucky that he didn’t want her to be afraid of him.
-And now you’re proud of what you see out there? they don’t know your name yet, but they will soon, Elena. you should have thought of that before you did what you did, for God’s sake. you want me to run after you again like I was running after Vladimir? you can go back to sleep, and I assure you it’s going to be at least a week without leaving your apartment, so I hope you won’t be ashamed to ask to buy protection when Mother Nature arrives.
she lowered her head in shame. She couldn’t see why he’d mentioned it. She couldn’t see what she’d be doing outside anyway, apart from the fact that she still had a date with Caroline.
Finn had been going round and round his house like a dog in a cage, because he knew what Elena’s situation was, given that the most persistent journalists were outside his estate.
-Has anyone ever told you you’re cruel, Finn Martinov?
-I can’t even count the number of times. I can still have the pleasure of seeing these people suffer like this, and maybe it’ll even be my last time. I didn’t marry Savoski’s little sister, so I think I’m about to be declared gurre.
-I still don’t understand how this girl could be Dimitri Savoski’s sister. You told me she’s his sister, but it’s hard to believe because she’s so shallow, despite the fact that she was so keen to hide it. Are you hiding something from us, Finn, Alexei finally asked.This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
-And what would I be keeping from you? since this whole thing started, I’ve never laid eyes on Dimitri. it’s always Richard who’s been the go-between, and so it was he who introduced me to Dimitri’s sister. whether she’s his sister or not, I’ve freed myself from a prison that was marriage, so let’s drink to my freedom, guys?
his friends looked at him as if he often lost his head. They were sure the young woman was mourning the fact that her wedding had been called off, yet the fiance was celebrating.
-You’ll just have to find a submissive to prove you’ve got balls.
-Yes, I know, and this will be my revenge too. Everyone’s entitled to revenge, isn’t he? he said with a laugh.
As he said it, he was thinking of just one person. the one who’d thought she could win him over. He was going to get revenge on her, and given how much he wanted her like crazy, the situation was going to be rather pleasant.