Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty-two
Nikolai’s POV
She is here!
Alone.
Curled slightly inward, like she was trying to take up less space than she deserved. I stopped walking. For a split second, something sharp twisted in my chest. I hadn’t expected to see her back so soon. Or maybe she was here, since it's late and Rafael was supposed to be with her. Rafael was always supposed to be with her.
Yet here she was. Alone, like an abandoned child. "Elena!" I called softly almost like a whisper. “Back already?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral as I stepped further inside. “I thought you were still away with Rafael.” She looked up, startled, then relaxed when she saw it was me.
“He brought his Arabella" she said. I froze.
His Arabella.
I almost wanted to laugh when she referred to Arabella as a property owned by Rafael.
Oh Rafael, he is such a dumbhead. Even if he wasn't in love with her, he shouldn't bring his girlfriend on a date with his fiancée. I kept my face carefully blank. “His secretary?”
She nodded slowly. “That’s what he said.” Something flickered across her expression, doubt, hurt, disappointment, she was trying very hard not to show. “She wasn’t just a friend,” Elena continued quietly. “I don’t care what Rafael calls her. I can feel it, they were more than just employer and employee. Which employer takes his employees to a date with his girlfriend and the employee automatically makes the date all about her and her boss. You needed to see the way she was throwing herself at him, or maybe, that is what they are used to.”
I leaned against the armchair opposite her, arms folding loosely. I didn’t say anything. She watched me, searching my face.
“We are friends right?" She asked suddenly and I found my stupid self nodding to her. "So you wouldn't lie to me?" My brows furrow, and I nod yet again. "Is Rafael dating Arabella?” she asked. My lips drop. Really drop, I wasn't expecting that question. The room seemed to hold its breath.
I could lie.
I could deny it.
I could protect my brother like I always did. Not like he would protect me if he were in my shoes, but I can't. Something in me nudges me to just tell her that they were sleeping with each other and ask her to break up with him. Just one word and this whole mess will be over
But the truth lodged itself in my throat, heavy and uncooperative. I said nothing.
Elena’s shoulders slumped slightly, like she had expected that silence.
“Right,” she murmured with a hollow smile. “Of course, you wouldn’t say anything against him. He is your brother.”
She exhaled, rubbing her hands together nervously. “I hate him.” The words came out softer than they should have, more exhausted than angry. She tugged her hair in frustration, "I felt stupid, I wish I had listened to dad and Shannon, maybe I shouldn't be here, maybe I should just go home. Just four days, and I am already seeing the side of Rafael that I haven't seen for more than twelve years. How do I get here? Begging for love."
I straightened, shaking my head. Not knowing what to say, but I knew I had to say something.
“Maybe,” I said carefully, “you should stop thinking about Rafael.” She looked at me again, surprised. “Just for tonight,” I added quickly, but in a real sense, I meant forever, not just for the night. “Breathe. Clear your head.” I pause. “I can take you out.”
Her brows knitted together. “Out… where?”
“Anywhere.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, I will be right back.” She hurried towards the stairway, "Don't worry, I won't take long." She shouted, as she disappeared into the stairway and hallways ahead of her. I sat there while I waited for her. She came down a few minutes dressed in simply nothing extravagant, nothing attention-seeking. That alone told me how tired she was. When we got into the car, she seemed quieter than usual, gazing out the window as the city lights passed.
I drove without saying much.
When I pulled into the underground lot of a private shooting range, she finally turned to me.
"C'mon..."
“This is it?” she asked, disbelief written plainly across her face.
I nodded. “This is it.”
Her lips parted slightly. “Nikolai… I thought you meant somewhere nice.” The words weren’t unkind, but they stung anyway.
“You don’t like it,” I said flatly.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to shoot anything. I don’t want loud noises. I don’t want to vent my anger on that. I don't even know how to pull the trigger.” My eyes widened, throwing me into another confusion. The first thing Rafael and I learned the moment we knew the kind of business our father does was to pull the trigger. Our father, don Alessandro, had introduced us into this dangerous world when we were barely five. He would bring us with him on those missions. He would force us to watch when he tortured his culprit.
I studied her for a moment, then exhaled slowly.
“Alright,” I said. “We can go somewhere else.”
She hesitated again, then shook her head. “I don’t want to drive around town aimlessly either.”
That did it.
I laughed, a real laugh, low and surprised.
“Hey, are you already libeling me as a boring man?” I said, amused.
She glanced at me, confused, then she smiled. “I didn’t mean to put it that way but..."
“I know.” I leaned back in my seat. “Tell me where you want to go.”
She blinked. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere,” I repeated.
She thought for a moment, then said quietly, “The cinema.”
I turned to look at her properly now. “A cinema?”
“Yes,” she said. “Somewhere dark. Quiet. Normal.”
Normal.
I nodded once. “Alright.”
I pulled my phone out and dialed Matteo. He answered immediately. “Boss, I can't...”
“Shut up, Book a cinema,” I said.
There was a pause. “A… cinema or a casino? Boss did you mistake a casino for the word cinema” I shut my eyes, Matteo is crazy
“Yes.”
Another pause. “Which one? The casino...”
"Matteo," I growl in frustration, and Elena turned and looked at me. I forced a smile, "Sorry..." I muttered to her.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" The naughty boy said.
"I wasn't talking to you, book me a Cinema right now."
"Oh, you are Serious?" I didn't reply to that. "Fine, which one?"
“All of it.”
Silence.
“…All of it?”
“Yes, Matteo.”
He cleared his throat. “May I ask what you need an entire cinema for?” I glanced at Elena, who was pretending very hard not to listen. But I could already see that she was hearing everything, if not Matteo's words, but mine, and she was already stifling her laughter.
“Just do it,” I said calmly.
“Is this… a romantic thing?” Matteo asked cautiously.
I tightened my jaw. “Matteo.”
“Got it,” he said quickly. “On it.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at me.
“You booked the entire cinema?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s… excessive.”
“Get used to it, I hate crowded places,” I replied.
“You sure are weird, but interesting. I think I like that part of you.”
Like!
My heart palpitations increase, I found my breath coming in short gasps, she smiled, running her hand on my forearms, “stop overthinking and move.”
The cinema was empty when we arrived, no chatter, no crowds, no curious eyes. Just the soft glow of the screen and the smell of popcorn.
Elena hesitated at the entrance.
“Is this really just us?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
She let out a slow breath, something in her shoulders finally relaxing. We sat in the middle row. Not too close. Not too far.
The movie started, some light romance, something harmless. I barely noticed it.
I noticed her instead.
The way she hugged her jacket tighter during the emotional scenes. The way she smiled faintly at moments that reminded her of something she had lost or maybe something she had never had.
Halfway through, she spoke quietly.
“Do you think… I’m stupid?”
I turned my head. “For what?”
“For staying,” she said. “For believing Rafael when he says things will change. For saying it's just me and him. Just us.”
I didn’t answer immediately.
“No,” I said finally. “I think you’re hopeful.”
She laughed softly. “That sounds nicer.”
“It is nicer.”
She fell silent again.
Minutes passed.
Then, very slowly, she leaned toward me, not touching, not crossing any lines just close enough that I could feel her warmth.
For the first time in days, I didn’t pull away.
I didn’t move closer either.
I just stayed.
Because sometimes, restraint was the most dangerous thing of all. Then her voice came up again, "Do you have a girlfriend?"