CHAPTER 68

CHAPTER 68
ALEC'S POV

“Oh, God,” Carla whispered in horror, and I glanced at her. She looked pale. The blood had drained from her face. She was almost hyperventilating. She looked scared. My heart squeezed, and I clenched my jaw.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to her ear, while my eyes followed her Uncle.

“The first rule about the criminal world is to never show your fear, my love. These people are vultures. They live off your fear. They get off on it. Remember what happened the first time your father brought you to one of these events?” I reminded her, the memory still etched in my head. Her eyes widened. “We can’t let that happen, so put on a brave face. You have nothing to worry about when I’m with you. Your Uncle can’t touch you, not when I’m here. So follow my lead, keep your shoulders squared and your head held high. Don’t be afraid.” I advised, my arm wrapped around her hip, pulling her flush against me.

My heart was pounding, but I focused.

She looked at me, blinking, then she nodded.

“Carla, my dear.” Her Uncle said as he walked closer. Viola and Luca had the sense not to stop him. Subtlety was the way to go.

“Hi, Uncle, you look well,” Carla said with a strained smile.
Good, she was learning.

“Imagine my shock when I heard you were still in Colombia. You didn’t tell your old man? We are still family, my dear. You know that, right?” He grinned, placing his hand on her shoulder.

My sharp gaze followed his movement. I saw how he pressed down, warning her with his vile touch. I pull her away from him abruptly. She inhaled sharply and glared at me, which confused me, but I said nothing. At least, he wasn’t touching her anymore.

“I didn’t know I was going to stay. We are leaving soon anyway. Also, you are not my old man. My Dad was my old man.” Carla responded sharply, and I bit my lower lip. She was poking at him.
We weren't at that point yet.

Her Uncle laughed, rubbing his belly. “You are just like your mother. How are my grandchildren?”

Carla didn’t respond. Instead, she glanced at me, the panic obvious.

“I see you’ve found friendship in the bosom of an enemy. You should know better than to befriend a Russo, my dear.” He tsked, glaring at me,
“Careful now,” I hissed, “you live in a glass house. Do not throw stones.”

“Yes, yes, I bet you know one or two about living in a glass house. And I must commend you, this is a great game you're playing,” He smirked, his gaze dark as he stared at me.
“If by that you mean that I'm making sure I keep you on your toes, then you're absolutely right,” I threw back.
But I knew what he actually meant and his smirk deepened, he knew I was deflecting his accusations.
It was a strange game indeed.

“Lovely to see you again, my dear,” he turned his attention back to Carla who was still tense all over, “I would like to have dinner soon and see the children.” He kissed Carla’s hand, glared at me, then he walked away, closely accompanied by his goons, who stuck very close to him.

Carla exhaled shakily as he left. “I hate him so much. We had such a great understanding of each other. His daughter is like my own sister. How did all of this happen?” She whispered, reaching into her purse to bring out wet wipes. I watched, sad as she wiped her eyes from a stray tear that escaped.

I didn't care about our location or the stares directed our way, I took her in my arms and began rubbing her back.

I exhaled softly as I did, because fuck, her warmth was intoxicating. She stepped back after a few seconds but our hands were still together.

She shivered when I rubbed my thumb over her wrist.

“Thank you.” She pulled her hand away, and I bit back a smile. She was just as affected as I was. At least she was no longer close to tears and I was happy to be responsible for that.

The Gala went on smoothly. I introduced Carla to certain people, steering her away from others. I donated a huge sum of money, which was more of paying my dues, and she donated what she could, which was quite a lot. Soon, someone was giving a speech about finance, and the whole hall fell silent.

“I’ve been thinking of investing.” She whispered, leaning into me. I inhaled her perfume.

“Investing?” I asked, playing calmly, but the closeness was fucking with my head. My trousers tightened.

“Yeah, you know. I have quite a bit of money saved up. To fully immerse myself in this whole criminal experience, I have to take some risks.” She explained, her hand on my shoulder, while her chest pushed towards me. Fuck. My dick grew stiffer.

“Yeah – yeah, good – good decision. I’ll help, of course.” I stammered.

She frowned, “Are you okay?”

“Perfect.” I lied through my teeth.

The lecture thankfully ended, and we found our way back to the bar. We needed to get going. I hadn’t seen her Uncle ever since, but I had a very bad feeling. I shouldn’t have brought her here.

“Alec,” A familiar voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

My eyes widened when I saw Elizabeth, her familiar red hair packed tightly in a ponytail. The woman's obsession with pain and pleasure was something I was interested in at some point in my life but not anymore.

“Hi, I’m Carla,” Carla said, filling the gap my silence left behind.

“Hi. I’m Madame Elizabeth McCarthy. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.” Elizabeth said, looking down on Carla already. Protectiveness flared in my chest, hot and heavy.

“Not quite. Are you a friend of Alec?” Carla asked with a smile.

“I’m not sure ‘friend’ is a way to qualify it, but yes, Alec and I were friends once; we’ve been other things to each other, though,” Elizabeth smirked, and my cheeks flushed in irritation.

“Oh,” Carla gasped in realization, “I have to use the restroom,” she told me, and hurried off before I could respond.
I wanted to go after her but I thought better of it. She probably needed the space after all of the events of the night. Elizabeth’s nuisance was a horrible cherry on top.

“Ooh,” she chuckled in a tone she thought was seductive but it only added to my irritation, “she seems a bit too tame for you Alec, when are you gonna come back for the real thing?” She added, her fingers crossing the barrier between us and coming towards my chest.
I grabbed it in a fierce, painful grip that she probably enjoyed, I didn't care.
“Look here,” I snarled, “stay away from me and Carla, I won't warn you again!”

Then I went after Carla, I couldn't wait anymore.