Chapter 58 Charity Gala (I)
It was past 12 in the afternoon when Isabella decided to stroll around the mansion. She was bored and tired of staying in the room.
The area in between her legs no longer ached badly like it had done previously.
Her feet stopped abruptly on a door that she had seen previously.
It was the door that led to the mini bar.
She remembered how she had seen the place turned upside down.
Expensive wine bottles strewn across the floor.
"Quite a damage and loss of money I had to incur." The sudden voice of a man made Isabella turn her head in the direction of the sound.
Aleksandr stood a few feet away from her, his black hair tousled to the side. He was putting on a wide black loose pants with a white shirt.
For a second, Isabella found herself staring longer than supposed. Not that she was transfixed in his handsomeness but because his aura was like Nikolai's just a tad bit lesser.
His was mixed with a playful aura but Nikolai was all dark and gloomy.
She swallowed, "Who are you?" She asked, not quite sure she heard his name before.
She had only seen him with Anya when they landed and thus forgot his name, that is, if it was even said then.
"I'm surprised, you don't know me, Isabella. Here, I was thinking my pretty Anya must have blabbed about me to you." He chuckled.
"Aleksandr." She said waiting for affirmation.
"Ah! She must have done that already." He let out a jovial laughter.
Realizing she was speaking to none other than Nikolai's friends or rather family, or maybe... Ugh whatever she didn't care! But for the fact she stood beside someone that was close to Nikolai aside from Dimitri, Isabella offered her greetings.
"I didn't know you were Mr. Aleksandr. Forgive my manners."
She proffered a hand to him.
Seconds passed, Isabella's hand was still hanging.
She sighed, believing that she wasn't supposed to do that and proceeded to retract her hand just to feel his huge calloused ones on hers.
"Good to finally see and converse with you in person, Isabella. Hope your stay here has been comforting..."
"Yes, yes. Thank you."
Aleksandr gave a polite nod of his head and cocked his head to the mini bar she was staring at, "Do you happen to know what happened here?"
Isabella shook her head, "I'm not sure I'm in the right position to ask that."
"Right position?" He asked disbelief by her words, "If anything, the world will belong to you if you ever ask Nikolai for it."
Bemused by his words, Isabella's face contorted in a frown, "what do you mean by that, Mr. Aleksandr?"
Her mind was in an alert mood, heart stuttering in anxiety.
She had a feeling there was more to Aleksandr than he was showing. His deadly aura was really palpable. If one saw him and Nikolai together, one would think they were siblings.
Recalling Anya's words, she wondered whether they were really sworn brothers or biological brothers.
Aleksandr stood with a smile on his face as he assessed the woman in front of him.
'Hmmm... She might actually be a good match for Nikolai. That man needs to get married. He's hitting forty!'
"Do you like him?"
Aleksandr's words didn't register at first but when she blinked again it did.
And if there were any liquid in her mouth, she knew that she would have mistakenly spat it over him.
Nikolai isn't a man worthy to be liked with that attitude and behavior of his.
Instead of denying, she asked, "Does it matter if I do?"
"Oh most definitely! You see Nikolai is —"
"Bella!" The shrill sound of Anya calling for Isabella disrupted their conversation and the both turned to see Anya approaching with a wide smile on her face.
"I couldn't find you and thought you were missing," she turned her gaze to Aleksandr, "were you messing with her?" Her eyes turned fury.
"Now, would you look at this. Even my pretty queen protects you, Isabella. And you wonder why Nikolai would give you the world if you dare ask for it." He teased playfully.
"That's not true! Why would one even need the world?" She disagreed.
She had asked for something so little as for her freedom and he vehemently denied, storming out of the room like she had asked the impossible.
Well...it was impossible for Nikolai.
"Now would you stop that, Alex. I'm sure you've teased her far enough." She rolled her eyes at him.
He threw his hands in the air and backed away.
"Nice conversation, Isabella. Maybe next time you would stop Nikolai from damaging my property." He said with a smile and left.
Aleksandr's words kicked the air out of her and for a second she couldn't breathe.
Nikolai was the one that had destroyed the bar? She returned her gaze to the mini bar that was not fully restored to its normal state.
Was Nikolai the one who wrecked the bar?
"Bella..." Anya's voice brought her back and Isabella directed her attention right back to her.
Wondering why Anya was all giggling and smiling, she asked, "You were looking for me?"
"Yes, I was. Has Nikolai told you about the charity gala event tomorrow?" She queried and when Isabella nodded she jumped in excitement.
"Yes. This is so amazing! We're going to have so much fun, together."
Isabella stood with a straight face. Maybe she would have been excited for it, if it was her first time attending a social gathering but since it wasn't and the first time wasn't pleasant she wasn't anticipating the events of the second one only hoping for it to come and go as soon as possible.
Anya who was lost in her own excitement giggled and laughed like a school girl.
"You need to see and try on new dresses. The designers are here with a lot of dresses. There are many designs available for you to choose from."
Anya revealed to Isabella, her laughter echoing as she pulled Isabella to the room where the designers awaited.
Isabella said nothing as she allowed herself to be dragged along, a faint unease settling in her chest at the thought of tomorrow night.