We arrived a few hours ago, I am so sleepy, but I can't sleep. As soon as we landed, we went to the warehouse to determine how much damage was done. I am so happy I came because the anger surging through Stefano is enough to destroy a whole city. He is furious about losing more than half of his weapons here in California, and the fact that he can't find the person responsible is not helping. I don't know what to say to make him feel better, but I know my presence here is enough. I am in his office waiting for him while he tries to find out more information about the fire.
I get sleepy and try not to fall asleep, but the next time I open my eyes, I find myself in Stefano's arms, moving towards a bed. I must have been exhausted to have slept through the ride all the way back to his apartment. I don't say anything to him as he places me on the bed. I give his hand a warm squeeze before he walks away to let him know everything is going to be okay. He does not say anything and walks to the bathroom. I decide to join him and help him cool off.
I climb out of bed and walk to the bathroom. I take off my clothes and step into the shower with him. His back is to me, so I wrap my arms around him. I feel the tension in his back, and I hope my body next to his will help him cool off a bit. I take his hands that have bruises on them and place kisses on them. I am sure he must have beaten someone to death today. He turns around to face me and captures my lips in a passionate kiss. His hands grab my ass, and he uses it to lift me off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist, not breaking the kiss. I feel my back touch the wall as Stefano begins trailing kisses down my body. We make love, and by the time we are done. I am happy because Stefano calmed down a little
It's been a few days since we arrived in California. Stefano has been working a lot to find out who is responsible for the fire. I took some days off work to be with him and help in any way I could. He usually comes home late these days and spends most of his time at the office.
I am trying to get comfortable in bed but find it difficult to sleep without Stefano's arms around me. I never knew I would get so used to sleeping in his arms. I climb out of bed and walk downstairs to find milk to drink. While walking down the stairs, I hear voices coming from the living room. I wonder if Stefano came home with someone, but something is odd. The lights are off; I don't think Stefano is back. If he was back, the lights would be on. I am about to turn around and walk upstairs to get my gun when something hard hits my head. I place my hand on the back of my head and feel liquid on my fingers before I even confirm with my eyes that its blood. I am not able to process what is happening before I suddenly start feeling dizzy. What is going on? I ask myself before the darkness takes me away.
I open my eyes, and the first person I see is Ivan. Ivan, what is he doing here? I feel pain behind my head. I try to lift my hand to touch it but realize I am tied to a chair in the living room. My hands and legs are tied to one of the dining chairs.
"It was finally good of you to join us, sweetheart," Ivan says with an evil smirk plastered over his handsome face that is starting to look ugly to me because of my situation. He is sitting down on the couch, and he is not alone. He has about five men with him. I wonder how he got inside. I look towards the elevator and see the men guarding the elevator on the floor, most likely dead. What is going on?
"What is the meaning of this, Ivan? Why are you here, and why am I tied to a chair?" I ask, confused.
"How do I explain this to you, honey. I think I will start with my name. My name is not Ivan. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Vladimir Aleksander," He says, and my body goes cold.
"That's impossible. You are lying; Stefano killed the owner of that name years ago."
"Yes, Stefano tried to kill me, but he did not succeed."
"How is that possible? Stefano told me he watched you burn to death."
"He burnt me, but I survived."
"Even if you survived the burning. your whole body should be scarred from it."
"Yes, it should, but the world is evolving, and there is something called plastic surgery. Why do you think even that fool Stefano could not recognize me the minute he saw me. I look like a totally new person, and he had no idea this whole time."
"Everything makes sense now. I can't believe I was foolish enough to be friends with you." It makes sense why Stefano always had a bad feeling towards him. His body knew all along that Ivan, or should I say Vladimir was his enemy. I can't believe I didn't see it, but there was no way I would have seen it. He looks like a totally different person than his real self. I also ran a background check on him when I got home two months ago, and it was clean.
"Don't blame yourself, honey. It's not your fault. There was no way you would have recognized me the minute you saw me. The picture of the leader of the Kazan gang that Stefano must have shown you is nothing like what I look like now."
"You are brilliant; I will give you that. So tell me, was this your plan all along, to kill me so that you can hurt Stefano."
"Actually, no, I approached you that night to be friends with you, and even after I found out you were connected to Stefano, I still wanted to be friends with you. My beef with him has nothing to do with you."
"Then explain to me the attempt on my life on the way to the airport months ago. I am sure you are the one responsible."
"It was not meant for you. My men thought Stefano was the one in the car that day."
I know he is not the same person I met a few months ago, but I believe him. I was going to the airport in Stefano's car that day, so it makes perfect sense why I was attacked. I can't believe we didn't think of that. I think it's because not a lot of people knew I was leaving that day. I am sure he must have had people keeping tabs on Stefano's every move.
"Oh, so you are telling me, I am not part of your war with Stefano."
"Yes, you are not because you are the love of my life."
"If I am not, then why the hell am I tied to a chair."
"Because I don't want you to run and call Stefano while we are talking."
"So tell me, Ivan, sorry Vladimir, what the hell you want to talk about?" I asked, tired of his games. I want to find out what he wants while trying my best to get out of these ropes and beat the living hell out of him. He is the one who caused Stefano great pain years ago, even though I don't know what exactly he did. I want to snap his neck for hurting my baby.
"I want to give you a chance. Leave Stefano and be with me."
I release a fake laugh before speaking. "Did you smoke weed before you came here?"
"What kind of stupid question is that," He asks, angrily
"I am asking because only if you are high or mad, that will you think I will be with you after finding out who you really are."
"Did you just call me mad?" He asks, standing up.
"Come closer," I say, whispering. He brings his face closer to mine. "You are stupid and mad to think I will ever be with you," I say, shouting in his ears. The second the last word leaves my mouth, a slap lands on my face. I try my best to not let the pain get to me. Stefano will be home soon, and he will kill this motherfucker. I can't believe he was stupid enough to harass me in Stefano's penthouse.
"Who the hell do you think you are to speak to me like that?" He asks, roaring in my face. "Just because I love you does not mean you can disrespect me."
I spit out blood before I speak. I am sure I must have a small cut on my lips because of the slap. I am so going to make him pay the minute I leave this chair. "Ha, you are actually funny, you claim to love me, but you use those filthy hands of yours on me."
"Why do you keep insulting me? It's making me mad, and I love you. I don't want to hurt you."
"You don't love me, you fool. You can't love someone and hit them," I shout at him. This only makes him angrier, and he slaps me again.
"I will give you a chance, come with me or die because if I can't have you, no man can have you."
"I rather perish in hell than be with you," I say and spit on his face.
"Then you have decided your fate." He says and signals one of the men close to him.
The man walks up to me and lands a massive punch on my left cheek. I feel my neck crack as my face forcefully moves to the right because of the punch. It does not stop there; he also gives my stomach two hard punches. I try my best to hold the pain in, but it's difficult.
I scream in agony as he punches my stomach for the tenth time or more. At this point, I don't know. I know he is beating me to death because he believes it will be more painful than just shooting me. I don't know how long the torture goes on, but by the time they stop, all I can see is my blood dripping from my head, and I am sure it's not only from my head; I am losing blood. I passed out more times than I could count, but every time I did. They check me for a pulse, and If I have one, they wake me up with more beatings.
"Last chance, Andrea," Ivan asks.
"Go to hell," I say and feel a punch land on my face that knocks me out cold.