Chapter 34

Valerie;

It's been two days. Two days of being cooped up in this room, without stepping a foot out the door.

I lay, face up on the bed, twirling the cell phone in my hand, which Lorenzo was 'kind' enough to leave a phone on the bed after I asked for it.

I was surprised, to say the least when I found it sitting on the bed, all brand new.

I could decide to do anything with it. I could decide to run for the hills and far away from his territory, and he knew that. I could decide to join hands with Dominic, to get back at him, since they both had an animosity.

But I wasn't. I'd spent the last hours venting out to my best friend, Jane, and I think I was feeling a little better as it made me take my mind off things for a moment.

I should be making plans on how to get the fuck out of here, but I wasn't doing that. I do not forgive easily and I wouldn't rest until I make him feel the pain he'd caused me. Until I'd make him realize how brutal he was, to me. I wouldn't rest until I made him lose any and everything he'd ever loved.

Jane asked me to come home...to find a means to return. But I had decided to stay. Not until I had accomplished my plans. After all, I'd signed a one-year contract.

Wiping a stray tear off my cheeks, I stood up on the bed and walked over to the closet.

But just at that moment, I felt my head spin, and I almost fell on my feet. I clutched my head as my belly grumbled loudly.

Damn!

I wouldn't have been so hungry if I hadn't sent every single maid who had brought a meal in the room out.

My eyes caught my reflection on the closet mirror and I winced. My hair was matted all over the place and my eyes were sunken. Hideous.

I made my way to the bathroom to have a much-needed shower, whilst thinking of a much more suitable way how to go on an embarrassing quest for food.

I was drying my hair in a towel when I heard a sound in the room. My eyes flared open, as I stilled in my tracks, my hands stopping midway from opening the door.

Lorenzo? I thought. He hasn't been here ever since I asked him to leave. Why come now?

I tied the towel on my hair and adjusted the towel on my body as I stepped out.

"I asked you to leave..." The words caught in my throat as I registered the face of the person in the room.

Sitting on the bed with his legs crossed together.

My heart almost leaped out of my chest as I immediately recalled the episode with him the other day in the kitchen.

"Hello, love."

"Wha...what are you doing here?" I asked, clutching at my chest, "You can't just come in here!"

He raised a brow and stood up from the bed, "Why?" He asked, coming closer, "It's not like you're naked or something?"

My cheeks flared at his words, and I got to observe him properly now. He was tall... Extremely tall with short dark hair slicked back, revealing a prominent jawline.

My breath almost caught in my throat as he came much closer to me with a confident swagger. But what I couldn't take my eyes off was the cross tattoo at the side of his neck, etched into his skin.

My eyes were drawn to it like a moth to a flame and I couldn't understand why. Realizing I was staring, I quickly turned my back on him immediately, making my way to the closet as I tried to regulate my breathing.

"Please leave," I spoke, "You can tell Lorenzo I am fine and he shouldn't bother me."

Opening the closet door, I scanned through the different clothes in it. Oh, I also forgot, Lorenzo was 'chivalrous' enough to send in some clothes for me, through the maids.

Well, that, I couldn't refuse. I was getting irritated enough to put on his shirt.

"Lorenzo?" The man's voice sounded in my ears, making me flinch in surprise at the proximity.

I turned sharply to him, "I asked you to leave. Please."

Couldn't he read the fucking room? I need to dress, dumbass.

He smiled, again. Aggravating me the more. "Don't you wanna..at least know why I am here? Or..."

Cutting him off, and giving him a reasonable distance, I replied, "I don't care, ok? Everyone in this fucking mansion is deranged, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were as well."

I was standing close to the closet, while he stood a few inches before me, intruding on my personal space.

But he seemed to be enjoying this, as his cheeks widened in a chuckle and then he threw his head back as he laughed.

Staring at him Incredulously, I scoffed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I tried to walk past him.

But his hands held the closet door behind me, trapping me in place.

"You know," he began, his eyes boring into mine, leaning impossible closer, "I like your sense of humor. But that is not a nice way to talk to someone that saved your life."

I huffed, "Well, I didn't ask you to. You should have just let me die."

Just at that moment, my brows creased and I narrowed my eyes, "By the way...Who the hell are you and how could you come in here?"

"Right," he chuckled, "Now, you are asking the right questions, love."

"Okay. Can you stop calling me that? It's kinda pissing me off."

"Why?" He asked, tilting his head further. His proximity was messing with me and I wanted nothing but for him to get the hell out.

I stared at him with an incredulous look on my face, wondering what on earth this stranger was playing at.

I noticed his gaze became more serious as he stared right into my eyes, unflinching, trapping me in place.

The proximity was suddenly making my head dizzy. Wondering how on earth this was normal. He, someone I barely knew, was in a room with me, pinning me to the closet door, with little to no space between us as he stared deeply into my eyes.

And just as I opened my mouth to say a word, he suddenly pulled back, clearing his throat as he walked back to the bed and sat on it.

'Is he dumb or...?' I thought to myself.

"Don't worry, I didn't come here to trouble you. I was looking for Lorenzo."

"Well, he isn't here. And who the hell are you? I am pretty sure I haven't seen you around," I responded.

"Oh, pardon my bad manners," he stood again, "I am Klaus. Lorenzo's brother. I'm pretty sure you must have heard a lot about me."

"He has a brother?" I asked stupidly. Not like I knew anything about him in the first place.

"Wait a moment. How the actual hell did Lorenzo let you call him by his actual name?"

I shook my head, about to give him a befitting response, when the door suddenly burst open....