Anastasia by A. Marie

Anastasia

Valentino wasn’t wrong about him having to leave for a couple of days. With him being gone, I guess that also meant Vincenzo had to be with him. The mansion was empty with just me and Orabella. We had gotten closer over the past few days, and I really enjoyed calling her my friend.

I made my way to Orabella’s room to find that she had just woken up.

“You’re here! I wanted to ask you something,” Orabella said. “My clothes have been getting a little too small, and I desperately need new things. Do you think we could maybe go to the mall?”

I bit down on my lip as I thought about it. Even though the men were away, I knew that they still caught wind of everything.

“Okay, I’ll ask Valerio to make sure it’s okay,” I told her. She let out a huff of annoyance but didn’t say anything else as I walked out of the room and down the hallway toward the club. The security guy was there with a cold look on his face.

“I need to talk to Valerio,” I muttered before crossing my arms over my chest.

The security man gave a curt nod before speaking Italian into the microphone by his lips.

Not long after, Valerio strolled into the mansion with a smile on his face. “What can I do for you, Barbie?”

“Orabella needs to go to the mall. Do you think you could maybe run that by Valentino?” I questioned.

“Of course. I was scheduled to talk to him in a few minutes…” Just as he said that his phone began to ring. He flashed me a smile before answering and pressing it to his ear.

“Sir. Before we begin, Anastasia wanted to ask you if it was okay for her and Orabella to go to the mall,” he asked.

I hated asking for permission, but I wasn’t a complete idiot. Going to the mall could be unsafe. I was sure that being in the Mafia must’ve meant there were a lot of enemies. I wasn’t going to risk my life for a few clothes, at least not without safety precautions.

“He wants to speak with you,” Valerio said before handing his phone over to me.

I grabbed it from his hand and pressed it against my ear.

“Bambolina,” he said into the phone.

I turned around to face away from Valerio, seeing as his voice made me blush. It sounded sexier over the phone.

“Valentino.” I smiled. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course, baby,” he said. My cheeks grew a deeper color of pink. It was crazy how much of an effect he had on me.

“Enzo and I will be home in an hour. Valerio said you wanted to go to the mall, no?” he questioned.

I nodded before the realization of him not seeing me crossed my mind. Turning around to glance at Valerio, I saw that he was talking to the guard in Italian. My attention turned back to the phone as he awaited my reply.

“Yes, Orabella wants to go. Will you be joining us?” I asked, my voice trying to keep its desperation inside.

It wasn’t helping much, seeing as hope still lingered in my words.

“I still have a few things to take care of. Valerio will accompany you both to make sure nothing happens,” he said. “I have to talk to Valerio, but I’ll see you when I get home, Bambolina.”

“Okay,” I said, even though I didn’t want to give the phone back. I just wanted to stay there forever.

“I love you,” he told me. My smile grew tenfold. Once again, I glanced over at Valerio to see he was still busy.

“I love you more.” I smiled. Before he could say anything, I handed the phone back to Valerio and ran up the stairs to tell Orabella the news. When I walked into her room, she was still lying down on her bed with the blanket over her head.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked. Suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu rushed into my system as I looked at her. No, she’s not Alex.

“I have a headache,” she groaned.

I sat down on her bed and pressed my hand against her forehead to check if she was sick. When I didn’t feel any excessive temperature change, I smiled gently.

“Valentino said we can go to the mall,” I told her.

She quickly shot up before jumping out of her bed. Chuckling softly, I stood up and walked over to the bathroom door.

“Are you still up for it?” I questioned.

Based on how happy she looked, I was sure that I’d already received my answer. “Yes! It’s nothing that some medicine can’t fix!” she cheered.

Rolling my eyes playfully, I began to walk toward her door before turning around.

“I think the brothers will be home in about an hour. So, get dressed. I’ll be back,” I told her.

“Okay!” she shouted happily.

Smiling, I opened the door and strolled down the stairs. I headed all the way to the other side of the mansion to my bedroom. It was quite difficult to walk from Orabella’s room to mine, seeing as they were located on opposite sides of the house.

When I finally made it to my room, I walked into my closet. Most of my clothing was pink. The person who bought my clothes must’ve really thought I was a Barbie doll. With a sigh, I grabbed a pink top and a pair of blue jeans before slipping on a pair of cute sandals.

After doing my hair and getting dressed, I made my way to Orabella’s room. Just as I walked in, she was putting on her jeans and a tube top. She smiled at me through the full-length mirror in her closet as I stepped further into the room.

“I haven’t seen much of Vincenzo,” Orabella told me as she applied some lip gloss.

Her hair was fluffed out in thick, dark waves, which looked really pretty on her. Then, she puckered her lips in the mirror before turning to face me.

“I haven’t seen much of Valentino either,” I told her honestly.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to tell her. I also wasn’t sure if it was my place to. A frown took over my face as I thought about all of the information I had to keep from her.

“You ready?” she asked me. Her eyes trailed down to look at my outfit. I smiled at the look of acceptance she shared.

“You clean up nicely.” She winked.

“Why, thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself,” I returned, just as flirty, before walking out of the room with Orabella by my side.

We both strolled down the stairs and walked out of the door. Valerio was already waiting for us with the back door open. As we both climbed in, the door closed behind us. Quickly, after the guard had gotten inside and started up the car—we were on our way.

As soon as we were off down the road, I looked over at Orabella with a smirk on my face. “How are things between you and Mr. Rossi?”

“Really good. Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a man like him before,” she told me truthfully.

I bit down on my lip to keep from showing my guilt.

“What about you and Mr. Valentino Romano?” she questioned.

“If only you knew.” I laughed.

Orabella was smiling at me as we finally pulled into the mall’s parking lot. As soon as she opened the door, her stomach contents spilled out of her mouth and onto the parking lot floor.

I quickly leaned over and grabbed ahold of her hair, holding it in place so it didn’t get in her vomit. When she finished, she spit onto the ground, attempting to get the taste out of her mouth.

“Here,” Valerio said.

Orabella gazed up to see the water bottle he had in his hand. Taking it from him, she unscrewed the cap and poured the water into her mouth before spitting it out on the ground.

“Talk about great timing,” I sighed, letting go of her hair and leaning back in the seat. It would’ve been terrible if she threw up in the car.

“Are you sick? Do you want to return home?” Valerio asked kindly. Shaking her head, Orabella took another swig of water.

“My stomach probably didn’t like that crawfish I ate earlier.” She laughed before patting her stomach.

He nodded before opening my door and letting us both out.

“You sure you’re all right? We can go to the mall tomorrow,” I said, raising my hand up to check her forehead again. Alex had a fever the entire time she had cancer and I never noticed. Even when she complained of aches all the time—I never noticed. Maybe if I had detected signs sooner, I could’ve saved her.

“I promise, I’m okay. Sometimes seafood and I don’t really get along,” she told me as she reached down to grasp my hand. I was dragged by Orabella to the front door of the mall. I let out a sigh and decided to calm down.

The moment we walked in, Orabella smiled. When she looked over at me, I had the exact same smile. We were both thinking the exact same thing—we’re about to go ballistic.

* * *

After hours of shopping,we were finally home. Orabella looked like she was scared about something, leaving me to worry for her. Every time I asked her about it, she would shake her head and look elsewhere. It made me concerned, but I didn’t want to say much about it.

When we arrived home, Orabella was slow to grab all of her bags, so I took that time to go inside. Valentino was walking toward the door. The second I saw him, I pulled him into a hug before pecking his lips.

Just as I was about to ask him about his day, Orabella walked in. She didn’t even bother to look at me as she walked straight up to Valentino. He hated her. I could see it in his eyes as he looked at the girl. Frowning at them, I stayed silent and resorted to observing. I just hoped he would soon realize that whatever happened to him and his brother wasn’t her fault.

“Where’s Vincenzo?” she asked him. His eyes continued to look at me even though he was talking to her.

“Here’s an idea, princess,” he said, finally averting his dangerously cool eyes from me. He looked over at Orabella, taking a step toward her. “How about you look like a big girl?”

Rolling her eyes, she carried on up the stairs.

“Really, Valentino?” I pronounced the moment she wasn’t in hearing range.

He rolled his eyes and walked down the hall toward his room. I followed right behind him, already growing irritated by his actions.

When we made it to his room, I overlooked the anger in his face. His clenched fists and jaw were enough to make me frown.

“I don’t want to talk about this. I need you,” he stated. He pulled me into his chest and started to kiss my neck.

“Okay, but I just want you to know that hate and revenge won’t fix anything. The pain will always be there. Take it from me,” I said, hoping to get him to understand where I was coming from.

He let out a sigh before he pulled away. Based on the hard look in his eye, he didn’t care. He didn’t even want to care. His heart was set on revenge and that was all.

“I’m gonna go shower,” he grumbled. I could only watch as he walked away.