Chapter 42 Chapter Forty-two
Elena's POV
"Let's go," Shannon said as she walked behind us. I went back to the room, where I'd spent the last few days before I ran off with Nikolai, as Rafael said. This place didn't feel like home unlike Nikolai's place.
Somehow, my mind wandered to our activities last night, and this morning, my hands unconsciously moved to my lips and caressed them.
( mÍlaya.)
"Sweetheart!"" Amara calls distracting me from my thoughts, "let's get you dolled up, maybe you could use your Christmas gown for the events." My eyes snapped to her. What does she take me for, a kid who wears a dress for Christmas?
"C'mon Amara, I'm not a kid that needs a Christmas dress?" I said trying to keep my tone down.
I could see her reflection in the mirror. She didn't like that I used her name, but who cares? If she is waiting for me to upgrade her from Amara to aunty talk more of, mom then she had something coming her, way because that day will never come.
She forced a smile, "It's nothing like that, I know you are all grown up, your dad and I had plans for Christmas, so I thought I could include you in it." There she goes again. What is she thinking? That I will pat her back for including me in their plans? I wouldn't even care if I wasn't included, because I hated to stay in the same room with her, " but seeing that, we had to fly here because he was worried for you, and there is a party, maybe you could use some make-up, and a nice gown." I didn't say anything, I just let her do whatever she wanted.
Amara fussed over me like she was dressing up a porcelain doll. She fluttered around the room with pins between her teeth, yanking at the sleeves of my dress as though my arm wasn’t attached to my body.
I wondered if she knew there was a party before she flew here with my father, because it was obvious she had come prepared. “Hold still,” she muttered, tugging again.
I jerked my arm away. “Amara, don’t bother. Shannon can fix whatever needs fixing. You should go be with my father.”
Her hands stilled mid-air. Slowly, she turned her head toward Shannon, who stood by the vanity pretending she didn’t notice the obvious icicle of hostility that sliced through the room. Amara’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits, dangerous, warning, territorial. Then, just as quickly, she rearranged her face into a perfect, calm mask.
“Fine,” she said with a clipped smile. “I’ll leave you two to it but make sure to wear the gown.”
She took one step forward, too close then deliberately brushed past Shannon, giving her a light shove on the shoulder. Not hard enough to knock her, but enough to say Know your place.
Shannon’s jaw tightened. She said nothing until the door shut behind Amara.
Then she turned to me with a flat stare. “You know you shouldn’t do that.”
I shrugged, fluffing my hair, not feeling even a pinch of regret. “Don’t feel bad for her. She doesn’t really care about me.”
Shannon sighed. “She does.”
“No, she doesn’t,” I shot back, plopping onto the stool before the mirror. “She only cares about my father. I’m just an extension.” Shannon opened her mouth like she wanted to argue more, but I cut her off before she could. “Don’t you want to know how I ended up with Nikolai?” I asked casually, watching her reflection. That got her attention instantly.
Shannon’s lips curled into a smirk. “I’m listening.”
I gasped in mock offense. “You like gossip.”
“You’re giving it, aren’t you?” she tossed back. “Go on, your highness.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the little smile tugging at my lips. Talking about Nikolai did something to me, a flutter in my stomach, a spark in my chest I refused to name.
“he was the one that pick me up at the airport,” I started. “I wasn’t even supposed to cross paths with him after that but I got drug, he stay with me all night, Rafael had a business meeting the next day, their father asked Nikolai to show me around town and yesterday Rafael and I had an issue, I got mad and ask he takes me home and ended up in Nikolai’s territory.”
Shannon raised her brow as I told her every detail, but of course, leaving some part, to be specific, the Intimacy part, “Territory? Sounds dramatic.”
“Everything about him is dramatic,” I muttered. “I practically blackmailed him into going to the mall with me. Alone.”
Shannon burst out laughing. “You blackmailed him? Nikolai Rossetti Romano, Impossible.”
I tossed a brush at her. “Shut up! At first, he didn't want to, so I had to throw tantrums and then make him agree. He followed me to the mall but didn't want to speak to me, I asked for his opinion on wears, but he still didn't want to get involved, so I asked the attendant, and that did the magic.""
“Oh my goodness, you're such a brat!"
"You can say that again, you needed to see the way he looks when he leaned against the wall? When he ignore me? When he is trying to say no to me? When he act like he wasn’t watching?"
"Did you swoon?”
“I did not swoon!” I snapped, cheeks heating. “I was annoyed. And also maybe… slightly curious.”
“Brat,” Shannon teased, flicking my forehead.
I grinned. “Anything Elena Valkor Moretti wants, she gets.” We both laughed at that loudly and unrestrainedly. It felt good. Normal. It's just Shannon, I could expose all my theatrics to.
“Okay, but be serious,” Shannon said once she caught her breath. “Nikolai is handsome. Like... really handsome. When I first saw him, I honestly thought you’d finally found your one-night stand.”
I shuddered dramatically and pushed her head away. “Firstly, ew. Secondly, I have not slept with Nikolai. Yet.”
Shannon snorted. “Yet? So you want to give your v-card to Nikolai?”
“No!” I nearly shouted. “Even if Rafael is an asshole, he is still my fiancé.” Shannon gave me a long, knowing look.
I sighed, shoulders slumping. “But… I’ll admit I’m drawn to Nikolai. I don’t know why. He is infuriating, cold, and bossy. But he is also...'
I cut myself off before I spilled too much. Not that Shannon would judge me, but I know she would scold me, for letting Nikolai touch me. Shannon tilted her head. “He also what?”
“Nothing,” I muttered. “Let’s finish getting ready.”
Shannon didn’t push further thank God. Instead, she stepped behind me, fixing the straps of my dress, straightening the fabric, and brushing the curls that fell over my shoulders. Her hands were gentle, steady, warm. So different from Amara’s.
When we were done, I stared at my reflection. Elegant, sophisticated, and a Mafia princess, and underneath it all, uncertainty screaming there but I'm happy. I'm no longer the girl Rafael turned me into.
We stepped out into the hallway where my father, Don Moretti, and Amara waited. My father’s expression softened the moment he saw me. He always tried to hide it, acting all stern and composed, but I caught that flash of pride every time.
“My beautiful girl,” he said, offering his hand. “Ready?”
Amara moved closer to him as if she belonged glued to his side. She smiled at me politely, but her eyes flickered with something sharp. Something jealous.
We walked into the party area together. The room was flooded with chandeliers and gold-trimmed decorations. Music floated lightly in the air. Mafioso families clustered in groups, powerful men in tailored suits, their wives in diamonds and silk, their children trailing behind like extensions of their bloodline pride.
Dad leaned down, murmuring instructions to Shannon and me. “Stay in the family section. Women and children only.” He gestured toward an elevated area guarded by two men in suits.
Amara stayed glued to him, ignoring the designated area and following him toward the group of mafia heads like she wanted to be seen, acknowledged, and accepted among them.
Shannon snorted. “She refuses to be less than an ornament beside uncle”
I smirked. “She thinks standing next to him makes her dangerous.”
Shannon and I walked to our section and sat down. The women around us whispered, casting curious glances our way. I just crossed my legs and pretended not to notice.
Then the doors opened again. Rafael walked in with Arabella on his side. My stomach dropped, hot, sharp, humiliating. Arabella, with her perfect blonde curls and glass-cut cheekbones, clung to him as if she owned him. Like she owned the room. Rafael didn't care that my father would see a woman beside him.
Shannon froze beside me. “Oh… hell, what is he up to now?” I clenched my jaw, fighting the burning behind my eyes. Not because I loved him. God no. But because it was an insult. Public and Deliberate. Rafael lifted his gaze and saw me. Our eyes locked. And he smirked.
Oh yeah! I get it, he was trying to infuriate me. And suddenly someone else entered, and they whispered, "She is beautiful." The lady beside us whispered. The room shifted the moment the girl walked in. Whispers rose like a spreading fire soft at first, then sharper, slicing through the air like gossiping blades
“Where did she come from?”
“She looks new…”
“She is definitely connected to someone important.”
"Who is she?"