Chapter 51 Betrayal
Vincent
I pulled the phone away from my ear for a moment and stared at the screen thoughtfully before placing it against my ear again. “You have guts," I said into the line.
“I have guts?!”
“I'm pretty sure that's what I said. "
He scoffed loudly, going off on a string of Italian curses that I understood almost immediately. The bastard.
“I’m guessing betrayal just runs in your fucking family, huh? First your stupid grandfather, your father and now you.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who broke our agreement first.”
“I did?! You fucking bastard. You’re the one who did, sneaking behind my back to destroy me and then having the guts to threaten my family. All bets are off. I'm coming for you and your stupid family. I knew it was a stupid idea having that truce with you in the first place.”
"Derek". I was getting pissed but also trying to reason. He's claiming I betrayed him just like my grandfather did to his grandfather – quite the origin to how the feud between the Russo family and Malone family had started -- but I'd taken extra care not to cross paths with him, especially after that stunt my father pulled after his father’s death.
He started all this by conniving with one of my men, Alan… or was I wrong?
“See you in hell, fucker," he said just as I took a turn around a sharp curve that rolled around the safety barrier that lined the cliff-edged road and that was when I saw it. A large industrial truck with its headlights shining bright and heading straight for me.
Oh fuck.
I barely had any time to react, let alone swerve away before the truck was barreling into me. My head slammed against the car window, shattering it as the car went flying across the road and over the edge, down the cliff.
The darkness swallowed me whole almost immediately.
Ariel
I’ll be lying if I said I had no idea why Jonas was calling me right now. In fact, I had quite a number of ideas, starting with the fact that my phone has been off for over twenty-four hours now.
“Ugh!” I sighed loudly as I stared at my phone screen with dread. He was going to tear me apart once I picked up that call but it’s not like I could stall it either. I took another deep breath and picked up the call right before it went to voicemail.
“Seiously?!” he yelled into the line almost immediately, my face scrunching up into a wince at how loud that had been. “What did I say about switching off your phone for hours?!”
I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt and tried to think of another response than 'sorry'. There was really nothing else to say. “Sorry…”
“Have you seen the article?”
“Article?” I perked up.
“Yes. The new one by GMK about you… and your very secret rendezvous."
“Huh?” I moved away from the kitchen counter to go to my room, where my laptop was already opened on the dresser. I took it to my bed and pulled up the article as I sat.
“What?!” I yelled into the line not even a second later when I saw that picture that was plastered at the top of the article. “Oh my God!’
“I know, right! How could you not tell me you were seeing someone?!”
“I’m not…” I took in the quite ambiguous photo of me getting into Gen. Yuri’s car—no one knows that, hopefully—and the very misleading headline right above the photo.
A Secret Rendezvous? Breakout Pop Sensation Ariel Bennett Caught Slipping Into Mystery Car After Dark.
“What do you mean you’re not? Are you still trying to lie to me right now?"
“No, it’s not that… I…” I really had no other explanation for this. If I say I'm not seeing anyone, then how do I explain why, according to the article, I've been getting into black mysterious cars at night and arriving only the next morning?
Like, how the fuck did they even know that?!
I didn’t need someone to answer that. It was obvious they’d been spying on me and were probably in front of my apartment building right now.
I stood up from the bed on impulse to peer outside the window. Of course I wouldn't be able to pick them out from here.
Oh God, wait! I felt my heart jump into my mouth at a sudden thought. What if they’ve been following me to the cabin?! I looked around anxiously as if someone would appear magically to debunk that for me. That didn’t happen, of course.
“Ariel!” I jumped when Jonas suddenly yelled through the line again. “Are you even listening?”
“Y-yes. I am.”
“What did I say?"
“That…” he sighed when I found nothing to say after that. “You’re really something, huh?”
“Sorry.”
“Just get ready. I’ll be at your place in about twenty minutes.” Twenty minutes?!
“What? Why?”
He sighed exasperatedly again. "If you had checked the message I sent to you. You’ll know why. Get ready.”
I checked the most recent message he’d sent me once he cut the call and groaned when I read through it. It was my schedule for today/tomorrow. A meeting about an upcoming EP, a brand deal and…
Hmm. Richard’s financial manager wanted to see me?
I glanced down at the new message that popped in right then. “Film a GRWM or something for your socials. Sarah said she’s coming up short on new things to post.”
I sighed and lay back on the bed for a minute. I should start getting ready like Jonas had said but just as I made to stand up a minute later, a news alert popped up on my phone.
Anastasia Coleman and Gregory Lancaster set to tie the knot just one month after their official engagement.
I clicked on it immediately. What? They were getting married already.
I skimmed through the article once it loaded, my eyes landing on their photo right beneath the headline and I felt a sharp pain go through my head once I looked away from it.
A face flashed before my eyes. Sinister, evil and frightening. I felt a chill go up my spine.
Did I meet with Gregory Lancaster somewhere at some point? Else why was his face popping up in my head and filling me with so much dread, like a scary memory I'd forced myself to forget?
I picked up my phone to look at the picture again and dropped the phone with a gasp when his eyes pierced through the screen at me like he could actually see me.
The fuck?!