The following day, while on my way to meet Stefano at his hotel room, I take a detour after getting a call. I message Stefano to tell him I will be a little late. I drive to the address sent to me on my phone. I arrive after a few minutes of driving. I walk inside the restaurant with a lot of thoughts going through my head. The one that sticks out the most is how he knew I lived in Miami, but I will find out once I see him.
"Hello Ivan," I say once I reach his table. The last time I spoke or saw Ivan was at Aurora's party. I tried calling a few times, but the calls never went through. I always wondered how he was doing and hoped everything was fine with him.
"Hello Andrea, I am so sorry I asked to meet with you all of a sudden" Ivan was the one who called asking to see me urgently. He said he had something important to tell me.
"It's fine; I am just surprised you knew I was in Miami" I never told Ivan that I actually live in Miami. We are good friends, but I don't trust him enough to tell him the state I live in.
"You will be surprised with the things I know about you," He says, smirking.
What does he mean by that statement? Did he investigate me or something? Oh my God, is he a cop? Have I put my family in trouble? I never mentioned anything about my family's business to Ivan. I am not a child, so I know what I should say and not say around strangers.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't have to worry about that. I need to tell you something more important."
"I am listening," I say, not pressing further on the statement from earlier. The following words that come out of Ivan's mouth are words I wish to hear, but not from him. I suddenly feel sad for him as he says them.
"I love you, Andrea. Be with me," Ivan says, pulling my hands in his.
"I am sorry, Ivan, but I don't feel the same way," I say, feeling sad to hurt his feelings.
"Why," He asks, getting angry. His grip on my hand increases, starting to hurt.
"You are hurting me. Please release my hand."
"Sorry," He says, releasing my hand.
"It's fine," I say, looking at my hand that is as red as blood. There is no bruising, at least. "Why I don't love you has nothing to do with you. I am……………." I don't get to finish talking because Ivan slams his hand on the table.
"Of course, it has nothing to do with me. It's all that bastard's fault Stefano Costanzo," He says, with a lot of anger towards Stefano, and I am surprised why. Did Stefano do anything wrong to him?
"Why did you call Stefano that word? Did he do something to you?" I ask, curious to understand his sudden anger towards Stefano. Even that day that Stefano ruined our lunch, he was very calm about it, so I wonder what changed.
"What has he not done to me is what you should ask," Ivan says, muttering a few words in a language I do not understand, but I am guessing it's Russian. I also think they are insults towards Stefano.
"I don't understand? Is there something that happened between you and Stefano?"
"You don't need to understand, princess," He says, bringing his hands closer to mine to hold them, but I draw my hands back. He is acting really weird. I understand he might be hurt. I don't love him back, but I don't know why it seems like he hates Stefano. And I don't think it has anything to do with my rejection.
"Ivan, I am sorry I don't feel the same way, but don't tell me you hate Stefano because I am dating him," I say and what happens next only makes me more confused. A dark chuckle erupts from Ivan, and I don't understand why he is laughing. I said nothing funny.
"I wish it was that simple, honey, but the feud between us goes way back."
"What did you just say?" I ask, shocked.
"As much as I would like to explain things to you, my love now is not the right time. Once I am done settling my business, and I have you in my arms. I will explain everything." He says, reaching for my face, but I stand up before he can touch me.
"Have who in your arms? Ivan, I don't feel the same way. You will never have me in your arms."
"No! That's a lie. I will have you in my arms one day," He shouts, causing a lot of people in the restaurant to turn and face us.
I am beyond surprised by Ivan's behavior and words today. The Ivan I met at Mr. Cater's party a few months ago is not the same person sitting before me.
"Ivan, you need to cool down. I need to leave. I wish I could tell you we can remain friends, but that would be a lie. You were truly a great friend, and I am sorry it has to end like this, goodbye Ivan" I say, and quickly walk out of the restaurant.
I can't believe my friendship with Ivan just ended like that. I can feel tears forming in my eyes. I am very sad that I lost such a good friend. I wish he didn't fall in love with me.
I arrive at the Costanzo hotel in Miami after a few minutes of driving. Before I step out of the car, I check my makeup and make sure Stefano can't tell I cried. After I am done, I step out of the vehicle and hand my keys to the valet. I walk inside and take the elevator to the penthouse suite. The elevator arrives at the highest floor in the hotel. I step out and walk over to Stefano's suite. I knock on the door, and after a few seconds, he opens it.
"Hello Luce del sole (Sunshine), how are you doing today?" Stefano says once he sees me at the door.
"Not so great, how about you," I say, sounding down.
"What's wrong? Did something happen? Did someone make you sad?" Stefano asks, worried, walking us to the couch.
"Ivan and I can't be friends anymore," I say, taking my seat on the couch. I am really sad about losing Ivan as a friend. We connected on so many levels.
"Thank God, I really hated that guy."
"Why are you saying thank God? You guys might not like each other, but he was a good friend to me before today?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that,"
"Yeah, you shouldn't, and why do you even hate him?" I wonder why they hate each other
"I actually don't hate him. I just don't trust him."
"And why is that?"
"I don't know, but something in my blood tells me not to trust him."
"Really, you don't have a valid reason."
"I don't have one yet, but I know I will one of these days."
"You are unbelievable," I say, shaking my head.
"I might not have a valid reason now as to why I can't trust him, but if he is such a good guy. Why did you guys have to stop been friends today?"
"Because he told me he loved me."
"He did what!" Stefano asks, angry.
"He told me he loved me and wanted to be with me" I don't think it was a good idea to tell Stefano. He looks like he wants to kill Ivan for expressing his feelings. I wonder what he will do if I tell him Ivan did not take my rejection well and said he will take me away from him.
"Is he mad? Does he not know you are with someone far better than him?"
"He knows, so you have nothing to worry about," I say, placing my hand on his chest to calm him down.
"Good because you are mine. And if that fool ever bothers you again about his stupid feelings. Make sure you tell me so that I can put him in the ground" I didn't know Stefano was this possessive over me. It makes me feel happy he is angry just because a man expressed his feelings towards me. It tells me he cares about me a lot.
"Yes, I am yours and will always be," I say, smiling.
Later at night, Stefano gets a call concerning his warehouse in California. The place suddenly caught fire, and since it's a mafia warehouse, the fire department can't put out the fire. Stefano is getting ready to fly to California right now. No one knows how the fire started, and Stefano seems pretty pissed off. That's why I am also going with him. The warehouse was filled with different kinds of weapons, and the fact that it was getting burnt to the ground makes him very angry. I can already picture the death of the person responsible when he finds him. I can't imagine what Stefano is going through right now, and the fact that he is far away is not helping. Stefano needs me with him more than ever now. These trips back and forth are not easy, but when it's for someone special to you. 5 hours every weekend will seem like nothing.