Chapter 19 An Unresolved Mystery
ALEXANDER
I stormed into my penthouse angrily. I was fuming as I thought back at what had only happened moments ago. I angrily slammed the door shut behind me. The sharp sound of the door reverberated through the expansive and modern space of my penthouse, but it did little to alleviate or even reduce the storm that was raging inside me.
My jaw was tight, and my steel gray eyes were narrowed in frustration.
Elena Carter.
The woman was maddening, and yet...
And yet, I couldn't seem to get enough of her. She was everything at the same time.
With a frustrated growl, I shrugged off my blazer and tossed it carelessly onto the back of a leather chair.
I grabbed my necktie and loosened it just so I could breathe better, but that didn't seem to work at all. I needed a drink—something strong, something that could take my mind away from the one woman who had riled me up beyond my control and comprehension. I walked quickly towards the minibar situated at a far corner of my living room.
My hand went straight for the crystal decanter on the bar. That was the perfect drink for my mood, I thought to myself. I poured myself a generous measure of bourbon, and the rich amber liquid swirled in the glass as it entered. I could see the liquid sparkling under the light.
I placed the bottle on the counter and let out a sigh before I downed half of the contents of the glass in one go. The burn in my throat felt like a welcome distraction from the thoughts that were racing through my mind. I shut my eyes tightly to ease the burn that was slowly travelling to my stomach.
Yep.
It was just what I needed.
"Why the hell is she like this?" I muttered to myself as I angrily paced around the length of the room. I was finding it difficult to place her attitude. Either something was definitely wrong somewhere, or she was just being weird, and I didn't see her as the latter.
Elena wasn't weird. She was smart, hardworking, and strong, not to mention stubborn as hell. I cursed under my breath.
And frankly, I liked her that way. I wasn't exactly sure if that was a good thing or not. Liking her and stuff.
Elena's refusal of my gift replayed in my head, so vividly: her fiery eyes and the sharpness in her voice as she told me to back off.
It wasn't just rejection; it was something more... deeply personal. I could feel it.
I didn't even need a soothsayer to tell me that. The way her eyes remained on the car for a tad bit longer than was expected, and the way her expression turned sour when I mentioned her birthday.
That was it.
Her birthday.
That was when she had gotten riled up.
Perhaps she really hated celebrating birthdays.
I damn well knew she wasn't religious, so what the hell was it?
I slammed the empty glass onto the counter, grabbed the decanter again, and refilled the glass almost to the brim. With this pace, I knew I was going to get drunk sooner rather than later.
This time around, I sipped slowly while my mind churned with unending thoughts.
"She doesn't celebrate her birthday," I said aloud as if I was testing the words. "Why?" I wondered aloud.
Why was it that she didn't see it as something of importance?
Sure, I didn't see my birthday as something of much importance enough to throw a freaking party, but then, I wasn't sure I had ever completely ignored my birthday before. If I tried to, my mother wouldn't.
Did something happen?
I leaned against the bar and stared blankly out of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city skyline. The lights outside were shining like tiny stars.
Elena wasn't just guarded—she was hiding something.
Something painful.
It had to be.
I set my glass down with a decisive clink. If she wouldn't tell me, I'd find out for myself.
Already, I had my techniques, my own way of doing things. And if she wasn't willing to tell me what I needed to know, I was going to find out myself.
I reached for my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found the name I was looking for: Peter. Peter was my most trusted secret agent, the man who could dig up secrets people didn't even know they had. Peter was capable of handling whatever the case was. He had the ability to dig up information about long-dead people who had been gone for probably centuries.
I placed the call to my ear as I waited for the call to connect.
The phone barely rang twice before it was picked up.
"Mr Harrington," came the crisp and professional voice on the other end.
"I need information, Peter," I said in a tone that was cold and businesslike.
"On whom, sir?" Peter asked. He was ever ready for an assignment.
"Elena Carter," I replied, allowing the name to roll off my tongue. My expression was a mix of frustration and curiosity. "I want to know everything about her. Her past, her family, her... scars. Every single thing about the name." I demanded.
There was a brief pause on the line.
"Understood. I'll get to work immediately. How urgent is this?" He asked.
"As soon as yesterday," I bit out. I didn't know if I could say that I was beyond impatient at this point.
"Consider it done," Peter assured me.
I hung up the call without another word and tossed the phone onto the counter. I took another sip of my bourbon as my mind raced with possibilities. What could Elena be hiding that made her so defensive? I wondered.
My thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of my phone. I was having another call, and for a moment, I thought it was a call back from Peter. I glanced at the screen and saw her name displayed on it.
It was Victoria.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Victoria was the last person I wanted to deal with right now, but ignoring her would only cause more problems, as I knew. I let out a sigh as I dialed the receiver button.
"Victoria," I answered the call in a clipped tone.
"Alexander," she purred on the other end of the call. Her tone was syrupy sweet, but I wasn't in the mood for her theatrics at the moment.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"I'm coming over," she announced. "I've missed you, darling." She said in an accent.
I grimaced. I wasn't in the mood for her clinginess tonight.
As a matter of fact, I didn't want to have her in my space at the moment. She was a handful, and I wasn't about to deal with her.
"Not tonight," I said firmly.
There was a pause from her end, and then her tone turned icy.
"Not tonight? What's that supposed to mean?" She asked me. From her tone, she seemed to be getting angry.
And an angry Victoria was like a ticking time bomb. It would only take moments before I would deactivate it. I let out a sigh as I thought about a better thing to say other than outrightly asking her not to come to me.
"It means meet me at the club if you want to see me," I replied. "I need a drink, and I would very much prefer not to be cooped up here," I said instead.
"Fine," she snapped. "Which club?" She asked. She knew a lot of my clubs and didn't know which particular one I meant.
"Velvet Room," I said, and with that, I ended the call. I set the phone down on the counter as I finished my bourbon in one gulp. The fire in my chest matched the one in my mind.
Of course, I wasn't planning on going to see Victoria. I was just going to let her wait at my club, probably order a few drinks, get tipsy, and return to her apartment. I had absolutely no plans on seeing her.
I had a lot on my plate already, and Victoria was already a handful.
As I prepared to head upstairs, my thoughts drifted back to Elena. Whatever it was she was hiding, I was going to find out. Not because I needed to, but because I couldn't help myself.
I just couldn't stand being curious. I was a man who always got answers, no matter the question, and I honestly didn't appreciate her giving me a cold shoulder when she was supposed to be providing answers.
Because Alexander Harrington wasn't a man who left questions unanswered, and Elena Carter had just become my most intriguing puzzle.
A puzzle I was hell-bent on solving.