Anastasia by A. Marie

Anastasia

Many days had passed, and Valentino allowed me to strip again. I think it was his way of distracting me from what he was planning. I didn’t mind the distraction. I was happy that it meant I didn’t have to face Orabella much. There was no way I could look her in the eye while lying to her. She didn’t deserve what Valentino was trying to do.

As I walked through the club, my eyes met Valentino’s. He was looking at me with an expression thatI couldn’t quite decipher. I was quick to glance away and walk toward the back. We hadn’t really spoken much the past few days because he would only get busier. I missed him, but I didn’t want to get in the way of his work.

My shift was almost over, and as soon as it finished, I’d be joining Sarah in the kitchen to eat, because I was starving.

When I turned back to where Valentino was, he was gone. A huge part of me actually wanted him to come talk to me.

After exiting the club, I made my way to the kitchen to see if there was anything I could eat. My stomach was killing me.

“Hey, Sarah,” I called out. She turned to face me with a bright smile on her face.

I laid my head down on the counter as I bent over and folded my arms over my head. My entire lower region was hurting.

“You okay?” she asked.

I stood up and nodded my head. “Yes, if it’s okay, I was wondering if you could cook me something, because I’m starving.”

She quickly nodded her head and began to gather things to cook. “Of course! I have already begun to cook a little something.”

It was only then that I was welcomed by the beautiful aroma of freshly cooked foods.

Sadly, my happiness for the food didn’t last long because a pissed-off Vincenzo walked down the stairs and straight toward me. His facial expression scared me to the core. I didn’t understand what I had done, so I stayed frozen in my spot.

“You,” Vincenzo called out. “Come here.”

I walked toward him, feeling as if I were walking on shaky ground.

“I’m going to ask you a question. Then, I’m going to need you to think long and hard about the answer. If you try to lie to me, I will have no problem showing you what happens to a liar,” he threatened. “Where the hell is Orabella?”

My body completely froze. I honestly didn’t know all the details about the plan. I had no clue where she was, or how exactly Valentino planned to hurt her father. All I knew was that he was taking a huge risk.

“I swear I don’t know,” I told him, my voice breaking in fear. Raising a brow, he folded his arms across his chest before nodding his head slowly.

“You don’t know, huh?” he quizzed. I looked up at him pleadingly, just hoping he understood that I was telling the truth.

Recognition coaxed his face as he hurriedly walked out of the house. A frown took over my features as I quickly grabbed my phone from in my pocket. When I tried to call Valentino, I couldn’t help but worry when it went straight to voicemail.

“Orabella is missing?” Sarah asked, setting my plate down in front of me.

As worry filled my brain, I ate my food, hoping that everything was okay. If anything were to happen to Orabella, I didn’t know how I would ever forgive him. I promised I would always be by his side no matter what, but Orabella wasn’t just some pawn he could manipulate. She was a human with a heart of gold.

I tried to rack my brain for all the possible situations that Valentino probably put her in. He informed me that he wanted to use her to get to Dmitri. What the hell could that mean?

“I don’t know,” I answered Sarah.

Picking up my phone, I called his number again and again. Each time I called, it went straight to voicemail.

I ran into Valentino’s room, where I began looking for something…anything. There had to be some way to know what he planned for her.

Then, my mind raced over to a folder I had seen a while ago. It was right by his nightstand the last time I had seen it. With my brows pulled together, I wandered over to the nightstand, but the folder was no longer there.

It wasn’t until I opened a drawer that I finally found it. I picked up the folder and sat it down on his bed, where I could see several photos of Dmitri, and then Orabella when she was younger. There were threatening notes from Dmitri, stating he wanted to start a war. Not only that, but Dmitri went into detail about what he had done to Valentino’s family. He mentioned how he began with his mother, and how funny he thought it was when he moved on to Valentino’s stepfather. Dmitri even went as far as mentioning how Valentino was nothing but a boy working too hard to get back something he would never have again.

My shoulders fell as I read over the notes, all of them graphic and painful. It made sense now why Valentino was so adamant about revenge. It was hard not to when the murderer of every person you held dear only served as a reminder of them.