36 | Because I Can
Toby's startled form came into view as he rushed up the stairs to her room.
"Dude just stop it okay. Stop manhandling her." He screamed, tearing my fingers from a surprisingly silent Vittoria.
"If you have a better way then please tell me Toby because this is only so much I can tolerate this nonsense."
"Don't you see her condition is so delicate right now. How can you be so cruel, Rafael." He pushed me back.
She was standing next to us silently, bearing no expression on her face. She looked so defeated. My heart ached seeing her like that but she needed to understand that I was doing this for her. If her stubborn head can't understand a simple fact that she won't survive a single day alone then that's her problem. If using force is the only way to keep her safe then be it.
"Vittoria." I exhaled a held in breath. "Come here." I guided her towards the bed. Toby's irresolute gaze didn't go unnoticed by me.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to hurt her." I frowned.
"You better not." He warned before disappearing downstairs.
I took a seat next to her. "I know you're very angry at us. And that's justified. But I need you to understand that I'm doing this for you." And a little for me too. But I didn't say that.
I can't even imagine my life without her now. She had become an addiction. The kind which eventually killed but I couldn't care less.
"I hate you, Rafael." She sobbed.
My heart breaks a little every time she says that. Because I know this time she meant it.
"Leave me alone." She turned her face, not willing to even so much as look at me.
"Why? So that you can slit your wrists?" The sentence came out harsher than I intended.
She wrapped her arms around her knees and her bitter sobs turned more intense. "You have no idea what I'm going through."
"That still doesn't justify a suicide attempt."
"I don't want to talk about it." She dismissed it.
"How long will you run away from it huh? You tried to kill yourself Vittoria. You... you know what that means?" My arms instinctively circled her dainty frame. It made me feel more safe than it must have to her. What would I have done if she died yesterday. The thought alone terrified me.
"What makes you think I was going to kill myself? If I could, wouldn't I have done that way before?" She shrugged away from my embrace.
"What do you mean?" I gasped.
"I mean I'm not strong enough to do it. The reason why I can't get rid of my crappy life." Her face contorted in agony.
"Don't ever think about it, you get that?" I clutched her jaw, firmly but at the same time gently turning her face to me.
I studied her tear stained face carefully. Her eyes looked lifeless. They lacked the usual Vittoria sparkle. I wish I could take her pain away. But I knew I couldn't do that anymore.
"Did you find Caleb's whereabouts?" She asked suddenly.
It was like a switch is flipped inside me. Fury took over my entire being the minute I heard that name leave her lips.
"Why do you care?" I demanded.
Her response was a blank stare outside the window. Then it dawned on me.
She wants to be with him.
She was choosing that asshole Caleb over me.
"You better stop dreaming about him because that's so not gonna happen." I slammed my palm over the wall, the sudden eruption causing her to flinch.
"I- I never said that." She scurried back.
Now she's scared? Well, I don't fucking care.
"But that's what you meant."
"You... You can't keep me here against my will." She cried. "I promise I'll go somewhere far away. I'll leave the country if you want. I swear I won't say a single thing about Esztar. We both know no one will waste their time looking for me just on the basis of a doubt. Please Rafael, I beg you."
She was right. I hate that she knew it too. Why did she always have to figure everything out? This was the only thing I could've used to keep her here.
But wait. I don't need to explain anything to her. If I want her, I will fucking have her.
I walked out to the guard and asked for the currently most useful object. Dread filled up her eyes the moment they registered the shiny object in my hands.
"What are you doing Rafael?" Her body trembled and she jumped up from the bed, making a futile attempt to escape. I caught hold of her and guided her to the bed once again, trapping her right wrist in one of the loops while the other one was secured to the bed.
"Don't. Please don't." She begged. The sound of metal rang painfully in my ears as she struggled fiercely to beak free.
"I don't trust you with yourself, Vittoria. I'm afraid you'll try something stupid like you did last night. I can't take chances when it comes to you."
"Caleb was so much better than you." She yelled, her voice hoarse from crying.
"I swear to god Vittoria if I hear you say that name one more time, you'll fucking regret it."
"I already am regretting it. I curse the day I decided to work for your goddamned company. I curse myself for falling for someone like you. Good thing you showed me your real face before things went too far."
"Oh really?" I stalked back to her, entrapping her between my arms placed on either side of her. "So you don't feel anything for me?"
"Stay away from me Rafael." She pushed me back with her one free hand which had no effect on me.
"Why? What are you really afraid of? Me or your feelings?" I leaned in more into her.
She raised her hand up to slap me but I caught it and placed it on my chest. "Don't you see what you do to me Vittoria?"
She glared me with such intensity that I could melt by the heat of her stare.
"You were right Rafael. I should've taken you seriously when you said you aren't a good person. You go back to being a monster the moment someone defies you. You're only nice until they obey you." She spat, venom dripping from her words.
"See? It's that simple. Just listen to me and I'll give you the world."
She scoffed. "In your dreams, Grayson. My hate for you heightens every second I spend with you."
Her words made my blood boil. I felt like destroying every damn thing that came between us.
"I'm sorry I'd forgotten the classic Rafael Grayson punchline. I'm here just because you want it."
I smirked bending down as I whispered into her ears. "No señorita, it's because I can."
•°•°•°•
The sound of glass breaking distorted quietude in the dark hallway. I didn't have to turn back to see who it is.
"Where were you all day Liam?" I questioned, without stopping as I headed to Oliver's room.
"I thought my presence was bothering Vittoria. So I returned home. Wasn't in a mood to work anyway." He joined me.
"I'm going to cut your salary." I stated.
"Holy shit! I was getting a salary until now?"
"I'm being serious Liam. I won't show any partiality towards you just because you're my brother."
"Are you sure you're an impartial boss?" He challenged.
I stopped and passed him a hard stare.
"So you're telling me you won't fire me if I threw water on you in front of all your employees?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Look Liam I'm in a horrible mood as it is. Don't tempt me to wring your neck."
"Oh damn! Calm down big bro! What happened?"
"Vittoria happened." I groaned in frustration.
He chuckled. He was finding entertainment in my misery.
"Vittoria Andress – stubborn and persistent. Rafael Grayson –short tempered and impatient. Don't you see you're made for each other." He nudged me playfully.
I ignored his existence and pushed the half open door of Oliver's room. He was sat on the edge of his bed, his head buried in his hands. He was stressing himself out a little too much.
"You need to relax a bit Oliver." Liam voiced out my thoughts.
He looked up at us with his exhausted eyes. He was physically worn out with his dark hair all messed up much like his room. If Oliver's room is messy then it qualifies as a serious problem.
"You expect me to relax after seeing this?" He presented a photograph.
I watched it closely but couldn't understand what was so unnerving about it. It was just a picture of a house. A typical American house.
"Look behind it." He instructed.
I did as he said and found myself mirroring his actions the moment my eyes swept through the words written behind the photograph.
"What the actual fuck!" Liam exclaimed.
"What's so interesting?" Toby entered the room, whistling. His surprisingly cheerful mood dissipated the moment he read those words.
Stop looking for just Ava. Search for your sister Ava. Maybe then you'll find her. Just beware of your 'friends'.
And in the bottom right corner was a logo. A veiled face. The Shrouded Visitant.
"They are desperately trying to break us." Toby said, running a hand through his hair. "Does this mean Dean was actually working for the Visitant all this time? Is that why he lied about Oliver giving out orders to kill Mason?"
"Yes. It does make sense." Liam affirmed. "We were so close to catching Mason and if we succeeded then their identity would be busted. That's why they got him eliminated."
"Exactly! Now there are two possibilities. Either Dean has always been working for the Visitant or they bought him out." Toby suggested.
It sounded perfect. But it wasn't as easy as it seemed to be. They were missing out the details. The Visitant always left their sign wherever they were involved. They loved flaunting their actions. As for Dean, there was no sign of them anywhere.
I was positive these two incidents were not orchestrated by the same person.
Now that made me wonder about the first one. It could be one of the opponents who asked Dean to lie. That's one possibility. The other one one is...
I shut my eyes, shaking my head to fling out the disastrous thoughts. Oliver wouldn't. Why would he? He has no motive.
I was so lost in this puzzle that I didn't even realize when Liam ran out and dashed in again with his laptop.
"Pass me the photograph, Tobo." He stretched his hand out.
"What are you up to?" Toby quizzed.
"I'm trying an image search. Maybe, just maybe this house could be a clue. What if it's an indirect message that Ava is staying at this place. Or maybe someone who knows Ava." Liam, the hacking and technical expert rambled his theory.
"Or it can be a hiding place of Caleb considering he is one of the few people who know about Ava." Toby proposed.
"Why is no one questioning how this damn photo reached this house?" Oliver yelled, pacing rigorously in his room which reminded me of Vittoria. It's like her brain will stop working if her legs came to a halt.
"It was in my room which means our security is breached. I won't be surprised if one of our men is actually a member of the Invisible Army." He said.
"First of all stop pacing around Oliver. You're giving me a headache." Liam complained.
"Then don't look at me. It shouldn't be so difficult considering I'm not Vittoria." He fired back.
I was dealing with idiots!
"So what do you suggest we do? Check every guard's hip bone to see if they've got the tattoo?" Toby scowled.
"None of this adds up." I shook my head, staring intently at the floor. "Read that message carefully. It's in a way a clue to help find Ava. Whoever wrote this message must know Ava or at least have a clue about her. Do you agree with me on that?"
They all nodded.
"And this message is written by the Visitant, that's for sure. Now think! If the visitant knew about Ava would they ever help us instead of seizing her to blackmail us?"
"Fuck!" Oliver cursed.
"Dammit! There are no results for this search." Liam slammed his laptop shut in aggression.
"Doesn't matter. I'll find it out myself." Oliver proclaimed, determined. "One of you call Jake and ask him about his progress with finding Caleb." He instructed the twins.
"Also, be careful to limit sensitive information to Jake and Travis. I don't trust any other guards." I said.
Problems. Then some more problems. And then a little more problems.
That's all I had right now. Little did I know about an upcoming problem, a more severe one. The door hurled open and a guard came rushing in.
"Boss!" He panted.
I wasn't having a good feeling about this. He was the one who was supposed to guard Vittoria's room.
"What is it?" I demanded.
"Miss Andress."
"What about her?" I asked, on the verge of shooting him.
"She's nowhere to be found."
There you go fellas!
I promise you a hell lot of drama in the next chapter. Don't forget to vote, comment, share!