16 | What The Past Makes You Do
Straight to voicemail.
It's ten p.m. and that stupid man is still at his dear company. And then he has the nerve to call me a workaholic.
"What do you think, Oliver?" Liam bounced his knee anxiously, biting his nails.
Allegra mindlessly cringed, slapping his hand away from his mouth. "Stop doing that. It's unhygienic."
Toby yawned without covering his mouth. That thing pisses me off. Has everyone ran out of manners in this house?
"Tob-"
"Cover your mouth while yawning, Toby." Allegra scolded, beating me to it.
"Sorry mom." He scratched his head sheepishly.
Guess that's it for the day. Vittoria was super silent. Which meant she was tired.
"I'll talk about it with Jake. Let's see if we can search for some more matches of that name." Mason stated.
Yet again Luca and Nikolai's accounts were trashed with a huge sum of money, again from the same account belonging to Sebastian Voss.
"Bye bye people." Vittoria's drowsy eyes struggled to be kept open.
"Goodnight, sweetie." Allegra blew her a kiss.
One by one everyone left the study, leaving me alone with Allegra who was still seated on the couch. Her bright blue eyes wandered here and there while her manicured fingers fiddled with the hem of her black hoodie.
"You are staring, Mr Rivera." She stated bluntly, tapping her feet.
"Do I always have to show you the door?" I said, sounding a little more harsh than I intended to.
"I'm waiting for Mr Grayson."
"Why?"
"There are a few matters we need to discuss."
My eyes instantly narrowed at the woman. Nothing has changed in the past one month. I'm still equally skeptical at her intentions.
"He might get late today. What is it?" I demanded, suddenly feeling unsure about her behavior.
Her gaze met mine, then she reverted her eyes and glued them back at me. Clear hesitation was evident in her stance. "I won't be tagging along with you to Canada for the shareholder meeting."
About that!
Stubborn Mason refused to be the shareholder resulting in me being the one. It was risky but taking the risk was better than trying to convince him.
We have the shareholder meeting a few days from now. We'll finally be meeting all the corrupt people involved in that company. We have our hopes high to find that Sebastian there.
"May I ask why you won't?" I tried sounding as polite as I could.
"No you may not." She looked away.
Something wasn't right. She seemed to be essentially antsy today. Usually she would have thrown daggers at me for even asking her about it.
"Actually you may. Go ahead, ask."
"Why?" I heaved a sigh, not knowing why I complied so quickly.
"Because you make me sick." She flashed me the unfriendly smile.
Of course. Why did I even ask.
"I clarified it just so you know it's not because of what happened-"
"You can't wait here in the study. Go wait downstairs." I ordered rudely. I wasn't interested in entertaining her.
"Don't talk to me like that, Oliver." She snapped.
I saw it again. That strange element flashing in her eyes. It unsettled me.
"Mr Rivera." I corrected. She doesn't get to call me by my name.
"Fuck you, Mr Rivera." She stormed out in a burning rage.
Time flew in a haste. It had already been an hour but she was still down there, waiting in the darkness.
I leaned against the railing, peering down from the first floor and found out that she was actually speaking with someone. Her burner phone was pressed against her ear, her hand covered her mouth and her tone was hushed, careful that the guards don't hear her.
If it wasn't for her golden hair shining in the darkness, I wouldn't even know she was there, thanks to her all black outfit.
Her bright blue eyes cautiously wandered around her and stopped abruptly when they met my suspicious gaze from up here. Fear lashed through her entire being and she thrusted the tiny burner phone into her pocket as if caught red handed.
I descended the stairs, my footsteps echoing eerily in the dark and empty house. I was tired of warning all these people but this wicked enchantress had casted god knows what magical spell on them.
I was getting more and more sure about her being shady. Who would she be talking to at this hour?
"Who were you talking to?" My tone dared her to lie.
"No one."
Okay. She lied anyway.
"Don't you get tired of lying and cheating?" I gripped her arm, pulling her an inch closer to me. "You won't win, Allegra. Not this time." I sneered.
"Not this time?" She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "So in logical terms, that should mean I won last time, didn't I? Or am I getting it all wrong?"
Yes, she did win. Her acting all clueless won't change anything.
"You're hurting me, Oliver." She hissed, twisting her arm under my painful grip.
"Don't say that name from your dirty mouth, you get that?" I released her with a harsh blow, sending her collapsing down onto the couch.
A momentary regret washed through me when I realized my violent action but I forced myself to feel otherwise. She didn't deserve to be pitied.
"What if we use you to find Camila and then refuse to find the Visitant? That is in case we found her through other means. What will you do then?" I bent down, leveling my eyes with her own.
Her lips quivered for a fraction of second and she looked completely vulnerable. So much that it almost made me want to pull her into my arms and tell her that it's gonna be alright. Almost. But she recovered her hard expression quickly.
"Your what ifs scare me, Mr Rivera."
"I don't get what you're implying."
"What if I did all of it just for the diamonds?" She said in a low whisper.
Those were my words.
That hit me like a brick. Anger surged through me, rushing through every single vein in my body.
"Do you remember my answer?" She gulped.
"Shut up." My chest heaved from the fury running wild inside of me.
"I said I would-"
"Shut the fuck up, I said." I once again grabbed her arm, roughly hauling her up and dragging her to the door.
"Let go." She protested but her body felt weak, making it easier for me to do the task.
"Don't worry about Canada. I can't tolerate your presence for five minutes. There's no way we're gonna be together for five whole days." I continued dragging her until Jake met us near the main door.
His dark eyes fell over my hand gripping her arm before snapping up at me. "Please, sir."
My mind was a mess. I don't know what I was doing. Why was I even doing what I was doing. A complete, total, absolute mess.
"Escort Miss Tanner to her car." With that, I marched up to my room with guilt replacing the anger.
This is what she does. But I wasn't going to let it happen again. I allowed the rational part of my brain to take control.
I dialled Rafael and he thankfully answered. "Hey Ollie, everything alright?" His voice was low and lethargic.
Nothing is alright.
"Are you going to work until you die?" I huffed.
"Why? Who exactly is missing me? Vittoria or Mason? I have my bets on the latter."
"We can't trust Allegra. She's onto something." I ignored his not so important remark.
The line went silent for a while.
"Rafael? Are you there?"
"What happened? Another I hate Miss Tanner episode?" He chuckled.
"I'm being serious, Raf- You know what, just fuck it."
"Woah, woah! Hold up." He chimed in quickly, stopping me from hanging up on him. "Tell me what happened?"
"I'll talk when you get back."
"That might take me an hour or so." He said, making me groan in frustration.
"Well then goodnight, Grayson." I hung up, tossing the phone away.
This is such a weird dream.
Alli is here in my room, waking me up at midnight for no reason whatsoever.
"Vittoria." I felt a soft push on my shoulder follow by my name being called out yet again.
"Sleep and let sleep, grandpa." I grumbled, pulling up the comforter over my head.
"Vittoria!" It was yanked off me in a harsh blow and I jumped up awake on my bed, having major existential crisis.
Alli was really here. It wasn't a dream. Ugh! What's happening?
I rubbed my eyes and switched on the lights, adjusting my vision. "Alli? Are you alright?"
"Why is the activity of waking up always associated with Oliver?" She asked with utmost curiosity.
Is that why she woke me up in the middle of the night?
"Because he's the sworn enemy of my sleep. What's going on Alli?" I yawned.
Even with my sleepy eyes, I could see the clear change in her behavior. She was anxious and unsure and... something more which I couldn't quite put my finger on.
The feeling was disquieting. She was like that all day.
"C- Can you just talk to me please?" She fidgeted with her zipper like she does whenever she's nervous.
Worry enveloped me in its hold. She wasn't right. Her condition was a bit shaken up.
"Have you been crying, Alli?" I quizzed.
"No." She walked over to the wall with pictures, closely examining them.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Don't tell anyone I was here. According to them, I have left the house. Thrown out, rather." She mumbled the last line.
Thrown out? What the fuck is going on?
"You're starting to scare me now, Alli."
"People don't change, do they?" She swiftly pivoted on her heel to face me. The anxiety on her face was gone. It was replaced by a villainous expression.
"Stop talking in riddles." I gulped.
"Is betrayal a forgivable crime?" She traced her finger over my photograph with Oliver.
Sighing, I got off from my bed and made my way towards her. Maybe she was drunk. But her breath said otherwise.
Why was she being so creepy?
"If I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?" Her blue eyes switched to me.
Should I keep it a secret? Her weird actions made me question it but I said yes for some reason.
"I got a call today don't ask from who I can't tell you." She blurted out in a single breath.
"Okay?" I said, completely clueless.
There was silence.
I waited for a few more minutes. She was still silent.
"Alli please stop actin-"
"I'm going to betray someone, Vittoria." She exhaled heavily.
I had to do a double take. She is going to what?
My fingertips tingled and something churned within my gut. Something bad is going to happen.
"Who are you going to betray?" I asked warily, dreading the answer.
Some more silence.
She tooka step forward, tracing her finger at a certain photo. My breath hitched and an incredulous gasp left my mouth when I understood the meaning of it.
It was my photo with Mason.
She was going to betray Mason!
Why was she telling me that? What was her motive? Was Oliver right all this time?
"Allegra what-"
I never got a chance to complete my sentence. A sharp sting throbbed at the side of my neck and my vision began to blur the very next moment.
It was quite clear that Allegra betrayed us but it took me several seconds to sink that fact in.
"W- Why!" I managed.
The world around me spun and I felt like I would collapse any second. I was losing balance.
"I'm sorry, Vittoria. But the stakes were too high. I was getting someone very valuable in return. I had to." She said, sounding sorry.
Sorry my ass.
Stumbling my way to the side table, I somehow managed to protrude Oliver's gift. The glittering gun.
"That's a cool gun." She laughed, the sounds reaching my mind in deafening echoes. What did she drug me with?
All I could make out with my hazy vision was her unclear frame stalk up to me and snatch the gun away. "You won't be needing that sweetie."
No, I can't let this happen. God knows what all she was up to. What if she hurts someone.
"Help! Rafael!" I moved my arms frantically searching for something to hold on to. I doubt my voice was even audible. The drug in my system deprived me of all the physical strength.
"He isn't even home." Allegra laughed evilly.
With stumbling steps, I tried reaching to the door but I could barely make it halfway towards it. Just when I thought I was about to collapse on the floor, a pair of arms held my falling body.
This means there was someone else in my room all this time.
My sight was diminishing but I forced my brain to stay awake. I can buy more time.
"Who.. Who are.." I whispered faintly, limp in the stranger's arms.
"Shh. Nothing will be the same when you wake up." The voice spoke.
After that, all went black.
Vittoria: I didn't expect this from her.
Oliver: I did. And I warned all of you but you- Anyway .... don't forget to vote, comment, share.