The journey by sea was fast. The speedboat took Jansu from Istanbul to the pier near Iplikci's house on the island of Buyukada in twenty minutes. Thanking Jan, the girl went ashore. The boat rushed back to Istanbul and she was left completely alone.
Somewhere, very close, a couple of kilometers from the house of Omer and Defne, on the streets of the town, as well as on numerous beaches, life was in full swing. Tourists and Istanbul residents who had come on vacation were scurrying about. But here, on the southern end of the island, it was quiet and deserted. The house stood on the outskirts and the only living creatures for a couple of hundred meters around were seagulls, sparrows, and graceful butterflies with multi-colored wings. Tea roses bloomed magnificently, cherries blushed in the garden, - and smelled of pine needles. The hillsides around the house were densely strewn with pine and cedar trees. It was they who fed the air with pungent aromas.
But Jansu did not notice the beauty around. She, at last, was left alone and could give vent to tears. There was no longer any strength to restrain them.
Finding the key under a flowerpot, she opened the door and went into the house. It was cool and clean inside. It seems that Defne called the woman who looks after the house and she cleaned the dust before the guest arrived. There was a blue-gray blanket on the sofa in the large living room. Despite the heat, Jansu was cold. The block of ice that had formed inside her this morning was spreading cold into every cell of the body. Jansu climbed up onto the sofa, covered herself with the blanket, and leaned her head against the high back. And then she began to cry. Quiet so. No hysterics. Tears just rolled down from her eyes, dripped onto the blanket, and changed its color. She asked herself, "For what?"
Why is Niko so cruel to her? Why every time he fascinates, lifts to heaven, gives dazzling happiness, and then throws her to the ground and breaks her into fragments. Is this hate? Or revenge? But why should he take revenge, why should he hate her? Did she do something bad to him even once? Didn't she love and believe him with all her heart?
Did she deserve such humiliation?
The blanket got soaked with tears and she felt even colder. Jansu got up, went out onto the terrace, and threw it onto the railing. Then she went back to the kitchen to make some tea. On the stove was a saucepan covered with a red-white towel, and on the table was a dish with borek (*pie) covered with a linen napkin. Jansu lifted the lid over the saucepan. Inside, dolma lay in even circles. Ah, Defne! Her darling sister with a big heart and a desire to take care of everyone who is in trouble. She not only told the housekeeper to clean the house, - but also asked to bring food. She knew that her sister, killed by betrayal, was not in a state to cook now. But Jansu didn't feel like eating at all...
The roar of an engine was heard outside. Jansu listened warily. It looked like a boat was approaching the pier. Wondering who it might be, she went outside. From the height of the terrace, she could see the pier. A silvery speedboat was dangling beside it on the waves. But it was empty. Olive trees hid the path with their crowns, and it was not visible who was climbing along on it.
Jansu came down from the terrace and headed down, mentally sorting out in her head who could disturb her privacy. Omer and Defne? No. They have an important day at work today. Like their partners, but also best friends. Omer's grandfather and Defne's grandmother? Also unlikely. They have their own house on the island of Kinaliada. Why would they sail here?
Reasoning like that, Jansu turned down the path to go around a huge boulder and come face to face with someone whom she never wanted to see again in her life. Niko stood in front of her. Hair tousled by the wind, facial features sharpened, in the eyes - determination and dark fire. For several seconds she looked into those eyes as if spellbound. Their gaze changed. Became guilty, then pleading. Niko held out his hand and said hoarsely, "Jansu ..."
Shaking her head, she backed away.
"Jansu!" Niko repeated urgently.
Jansu turned around and rushed up the path. There was a curse behind her and a quick stomp of feet. Niko ran after her. Jansu felt his breath on her neck and sped up her run. She wanted one thing - to run into the house and lock the door behind her, so as not to see Niko's face and not hear his voice.
He wanted the opposite and was determined to get it at all costs. Moving quickly, grabbed her by the shoulders and stopped her. Both breathed heavily. Niko pressed his chest against her back and whispered hotly, "Please don't run away. Hear me out."
She shook her head and, covering her ears with her hands, screamed hysterically, repeating the same phrase, "I don't want! I don't want to! I don't want!"
He turned her around to face him and pressed her against the trunk of an olive tree that grew along the path. Grabbing her head with both hands, he made her look into his eyes and said angrily, "No, you will listen to me! At least once in your life, you will listen!"
But he didn't know Jansu very well. If she didn't want something, it was impossible to force her. Anger flashed in green eyes, and in the next moment, a sharp pain burned Niko's shin. Surprised, he let go of her head, and immediately a small but strong fist crashed into his jaw. Niko shook his head, clearing the black dots in front of his eyes. Crap! These Baisal sisters fight like boys.
"Get out of here and never come near me again," she said through clenched teeth. "Your revenge is successful. Now take your bloated ego, your aristocratic mommy, your hard-earned shares, and go to Italy."
His face contorted with bitterness, acrid smoke filling his chest.
"You're always like that, right?" He asked. "You conclude without knowing all the facts. Without listening, you throw people out of your life. You close tightly, not leaving even a tiny chance for the unfortunate."
"YOU dare to say that?" narrowing her eyes, threw Jansu in his face. She stood with her hands clenched into fists and her head thrown back proudly. "I gave YOU a chance! And what came of it? Another humiliation, - trampled pride and a broken heart?!" On the last words, Jansu fizzled out. "Go away, Niko," she added wearily.
The fervor ended and numbness came in its place. No matter what he says now, she will not let these words go to her head or her heart.
"Okay," he said, just as wearily. "I'll leave. I'm leaving now. But I'll be back!" added firmly.
"For the next block of shares of the Association of Jewelers?" Jansu sarcastically asked. "Do you need them so much? Then I'll give you mine. Every single one. Just don't appear in my life again."
God, how angry he was! A pulse pounded in his temples with heavy jerks, and it darkened in his eyes. The desire to return her, to bend her to his will was unbearable. Without giving an account of his actions, Niko pulled the stubborn proud girl to him and dug into her lips with a kiss.
Now Jansu got angry. What does he allow himself?! Wants to seduce her again? For what purpose this time? To finish her off completely?
She put her hands on his chest, trying to push him away, but Niko stood as unbreakable as a rock and kissed with increasing passion. His anger transformed into tenderness. This heady mixture was too dangerous. Even a saint could not stand before it. But Jansu no longer had illusions. She knew that this passion, this tenderness is a game behind which other, practical and materialistic interests are hidden. She gave in only for a moment. For one short moment, she allowed herself to dissolve in pleasure and the next ...
Niko lost touch with reality. He attacked Jansu's tightly pressed lips, tempting her to open them with tenderness and passion. And she did. She let his tongue slide into the depths of her mouth. Niko's gone crazy. He forgot about everything except the girl in his arms. And the next moment, pain burned through his lower lip. Niko pulled back, pressed his fingers to it, and then looked at them. Blood was crimson at the tip of the middle one.
"You bit me!" he was indignant.
Jansu, who by that time had managed to jump a decent distance, replied angrily, "What you deserved - you got it! There is no need to force yourself on a girl to kiss her!"
"You are so stubborn!" Niko rebuked her indignantly.
"One might think - you are an angel!" she retorted.
"At least I am not stubborn and open to dialogue!"
"And I'm closed!" Impudently informed him Jansu. "There is nothing to talk about. And if you don't leave the estate immediately, I'll call the police."
Niko threw up his hands and agreed amiably, "Okay, I'm leaving. But I didn't give up. We'll talk anyway. If not here, then somewhere else."
"The police are everywhere," Jansu reminded him sarcastically.
Niko threw up his hands, showing the highest degree of his indignation, and headed down the path. But before disappearing around the bend, he turned and said with boyish recklessness, "I love you!"
What a cheeky bastard! Knows how to stir up her soul and plant doubts in her head. But she won't give in! Will not allow hope to hatch in the soul. Previously, Jansu would have given her life for these words, but now they are worth nothing.
"Go to hell!" she answered defiantly.
"This is where I'm going," Niko muttered.
He returned to Istanbul two hours before his flight to Rome. There was no time to pack his bags. Niko returned to the hotel, extended and paid for the stay, and then went up to his room to change. The traces of the night frenzy in the bedroom were gone. The bed was made, his wet clothes, thrown on the floor in the evening, removed.
The only reminder was a pair of sexy stiletto sandals in the closet. Niko remembered taking them off Jansu's feet yesterday. . .
And on this damned morning, he saw only her eyes, full of pain and reproach. God ... she left barefoot ... and met this peacock in the hallway, Tony Remarco, with his revelations about the bet. What a humiliation the proud princess Jansu Baisal experienced. Niko closed his eyes and groaned. Damn fool! Dreamed of revenge. You wish! It is not surprising that Jansu does not want to see or hear him now.
Niko took his phone out of his pocket and found Ornella's number in his contacts. She replied too happily, "Dear! How I missed you! Are you on your way back to Rome? Is your business in Istanbul over?"
"I'm flying in the evening," Niko replied evasively. "At 8 o'clock I will come to your house. But first, I want to talk to you alone. Is it possible?"
"Certainly!" Ornella agreed. "I'll meet you on the terrace. Let's walk in the garden and talk."
Niko ended the call without saying goodbye. Hastily dressed in a black shirt and gray trousers, he found the airport website from his phone and went through electronic registration. Now he had to hurry. Niko wasn't going to be late. Tonight is too important.
At the airport, going through security and heading for boarding, Niko was nervous. He knew that there might be his mother among the passengers, but he did not want to see her. He got lucky. Signora Hortense Salvatore-Bianco was not in the cabin. She probably flew away on a previous flight. Niko breathed a sigh of relief. Let all the conversations take place behind the thick walls of the mansions.
Jansu could not find a place for herself. The apathy and self-pity that had dominated her in the morning were replaced by anger and violent activity. Mumbling unflattering epithets to herself in the direction of the self-confident impudent and scoundrel Niko Bianco, she watered and weeded the flowers, scrubbed the terrace, washed the windows in the house, and then ate half a saucepan of dolma and some borek. She felt a little better. She even asked herself quite logical questions - why the hell did Niko come to the island, why did he want to talk so much and why did he say about love? All these actions were not at all tied to cold-blooded revenge. But there was no specific answer, and Jansu no longer wanted to guess. Mentally, sending her ex-husband to hell for the hundredth time, she resolutely shook her head and called her father. He was alarmed by her too joyful tone.
"My soul, are you all right?" he asked.
"I'm fine, Daddy," she assured him. "I took a short vacation and indulge in idleness at Defne and Omer's house on Buyukada."
"Alone?" clarified Ozcan Baisal.
"Certainly! Who can I be with?"
"Well... I don't know," the father hesitated. "With friends..."
"Mister Baisal!" shamed him Jansu. "How nasty! You don't know how to lie at all."
"And you, Miss Jansu, are too perceptive," He answered in tone, and immediately spoke with affectionate concern, "I'm just very worried about you."
"Don't worry, Daddy," Jansu soothed him gently. "You have an adult and sensible daughter."
"I want my adult and reasonable daughter to be happy as well," the father said with quiet sadness.
"This is impossible," the soul cried.
"I'm happy, Daddy," the voice said.
Niko arrived in Rome at six. There were two hours left before meeting Ornella. Just enough to solve one more issue and break another thread. He didn't call Monica. He took a taxi and told the driver her address. He drove him pretty quickly. Niko handed him a large bill and asked to wait for him. The satisfied taxi driver happily agreed. Niko went up to Monica's door and rang the bell. She opened a minute later. A silk robe was thrown over her naked body, her hair was in disarray, and panic appeared in her eyes at the sight of the guest.
"Niko," Monica muttered. "When did you return? Why didn't you call?"
Niko was silent and smiled crookedly.
"Honey, who's there," was heard from the depths of the apartment.
Monica closed her eyes. The corner of Niko's mouth crept up even higher. An elderly man appeared behind her. In it, Signor Bianco, who appeared so out of time, recognized the same Turk in a suit from Louis Vuitton, with whom Monica had been kind at the reception. Now his short-legged body was covered by a robe unbuttoned on a flabby chest.
"Congratulations, Monica," Niko said mockingly, whistling as he headed down the stairs.
He was relieved. Monica herself saved him from explanations and tantrums. He sincerely wished her happiness - in the sense that she put into this word. More is simply not available to her mind.
Niko got into the taxi and gave the address of Palazzo Giacomo. Inwardly calm, he looked in front of him with a concentrated, unseeing gaze. The upcoming explanation with Ornella and the conversation with her parents will not be easy. The Salvatore clan will kick him out of the family like a lousy sheep. But Niko didn't care. Now he saw how stupid and weird all the beliefs of his mother and her family were. The purity of blood, the honor of the family, aristocratic pride are not worth one smile of Jansu.
Ornella was waiting for him on the terrace. She was sitting in a chair, but as soon as Niko got out of the taxi, she got up impulsively and hurried to meet him. There was not a single wrinkle on the elegant, but impersonal dress, the hair was pulled into a knot, the lips impeccably painted with pale pink lipstick stretched into a smile devoid of vivid emotions. Ornella was perfect and boring to the point of grinding his teeth.
"Hello," Niko greeted her.
He didn't kiss her. She didn't seem to expect a kiss. She pointed to the garden behind the house and said, "Let's go to the gazebo. Nobody will bother us there."
The garden near Palazzo Giacomo looked more like an exhibition of sculptures by renowned masters. The white marble pavilion was a match for it. Niko entered it and silently waited for Ornella to sit down on a wide stone bench.
"How was your trip?" she asked politely.
Niko had no time for politeness. He ignored the question and asked his own, "Ornella, why do you want to marry me?"
She was confused. Niko stared at her and waited for an answer.
"But, in fact," Ornella drawled, "this is the desire of our families."
"Forget about them now," Niko ordered. "It's not about our families. What do you want, Ornella Salvatore?"
"Go to Australia to save the Bogong butterflies!" Ornella blurted out and her eyes flashed as if a light had turned on inside. She no longer seemed impersonal and boring.
"So go!" said Niko.
The light went out. Ornella shook her head and said, "It's impossible. My father will never finance, and I will receive my dowry only when I get married."
"I'll finance," Niko promised.
Ornella's eyes went up to her forehead. "You?" she asked. "Why would you do that?"
"Because that a person should do what brings him happiness. And you are no exception."
"But... our engagement?" Ornella said.
"Let's break it off," Niko said confidently.
"The parents are going to be hysterical," she said.
"They will survive! We have one life. It is foolish to sacrifice it to medieval traditions. After all, we do not love each other. Why marry and knowingly ruin our life?"
"You're right!"
Ornella jumped up and began to pace the gazebo. She was pondering something with concentration, and when she stopped in front of Niko, her eyes sparkled and her face lost its serenity. She looked soulful and ... happy.
"It's a head start," she said. "But I want it! Most of all I want in life!"
Niko raised an eyebrow slyly and asked, "Ornella, something is whispering to me that you only wanted to marry me to get your dowry."
His cousin blushed and said guiltily, "Sorry. It probably looks ugly. But it seemed to me that it would be best. You did not love me and you were so proud that you did not covet my dowry ... although you had huge debts, and you worked twenty hours a day to pay them off and revive Bianco's company. And you are also kind and would not arrange patriarchy in the family. Would allow me to do what my soul lies in. And I would give you complete freedom. I thought - we will get married and each will live his own life. A perfect marriage."
"Perfect, but not happy," Niko said. "Our life would be comfortable, but ... You and I deserve more, Ornella! Spit on the dowry! You are smart, educated and you can earn this money yourself. Until that happens, I will support you financially."
"You are the best cousin in the world!" declared Ornella and jokingly added, "Lord, I'm just a fool! I refuse such a husband! Maybe I should reconsider?"
"I'll change your mind!" Threatened Niko. "Let's go take the fight."
Ten minutes later, Niko and Ornella appeared before the head of the Salvatore family, Count Giacomo. Thin, with an aquiline nose and aristocratic features, he sat in a high chair like a throne. His wife, the graceful and elegant Countess Giacomo, sat on a baroque sofa. The sofa, the armchair, and every smallest detail in this room were a work of art. That's just the atmosphere... Arctic cold and oppressive emptiness. Feeling of bound hands and feet. Inexplicable fear. It is not surprising that Ornella so wanted to escape from her parental home and find freedom. Niko involuntarily recalled Iplikci's house and their large, noisy, but such warm and cheerful family.
"Good evening, Niccolo," Count Giacomo greeted the guest. "Have you returned from Turkey yet?"
"Only for a couple of days," Niko replied and greeted in response, "Good evening!"
Ornella walked around him and stepped forward. Her chin lifted, her shoulders straightened, - a decisive shine in the eyes. For some forty minutes, the girl has changed beyond recognition. Even her father noticed it.
"Ornella, are you sick?" he asked.
"No," she replied, and, fearing to lose her resolve, blurted out, "Father, Mother, Niko, and I decided to end the engagement!"
Countess Giacomo gasped and turned pale. The count stood up in the armchair and, in a tone that made frost on the skin, asked, "What?"
Niko stood shoulder to shoulder with his ex-fiancee and said, "Ornella and I talked and realized that we were making a mistake. We don't have those feelings that should be when two people start a family. I don't love Ornella, and she doesn't love me. We will only make each other unhappy."
Count Giacomo approached him and, looking angrily into his eyes, cut off his speech.
"Feelings? Don't love? Unhappy? What kind of baby talk? Is such a speech worthy of a man of the Salvatore clan?"
"I don't care whether they are worthy or not," Niko answered boldly, looking into his eyes. "I'm not going to sacrifice myself to your exaggerated concept of the Salvatore clan."
"Me too!" Ornella said defiantly. "I'm twenty-six! I want to live my own life and do what I love."
"And what then?" with a sneer asked the father. "Idiotic butterflies?"
Yesterday Ornella would have retreated, pulled her head into her shoulders, closed herself in, and again became a faceless shadow, but today, she lifted her chin even higher and said, "Exactly! Lepidopterology. If you remember, I'm a certified biologist."
"My daughter, who lives in my house, will not work!" Count Giacomo delivered an ultimatum.
"Then I'll have to leave your house!" Ornella issued her own.
"I won't give you a dime!" the father threatened. "I will block all cards and accounts."
"I'll survive," said the daughter.
"I'll help as much as I can," Niko added.
The enraged count looked at him furiously.
"If you do this, the Salvatore family will turn their backs on you!"
"I'll survive," Niko repeated his cousin's phrase. "Fortunately, I owe nothing to you or other Salvatore.
It was true. No matter how hard it was for him, he never once asked for help from his mother's family. He knew that they were waiting for his bankruptcy to completely subdue him. But he categorically did not want to become an adherent of the Salvatore family. That is why, five years ago, he went to work for Ozcan Baisal. He wanted to cope himself, without the help of influential relatives. And he did it! Ornella can handle it too.
"Is this your final decision?" Looking down at his daughter and nephew, asked Count Giacomo.
"Yes," Niko replied.
"Yes," Ornella repeated after him.
He pointed to the door and ordered, "Then leave my house immediately!"
Countess Giacomo, who had been silent throughout the conversation, gasped again and burst into tears. Ornella went up to her, squatted down, took her hands in hers, and said softly, "I'm sorry, Mom. Sorry to leave you here alone. But if I stay, I risk suffocating. Forgive me."
Count Giacomo looked at his wife with a stern, paralyzing the will gaze. She felt that gaze, but for the first time in her life, she disobeyed it. She took her daughter's face in her palms, kissed her forehead, and said, "Be happy, my girl."
"I will, Mother," promised Ornella.
Side by side, she and Niko walked out of the room. Stopping in the middle of the hall, Ornella said thoughtfully, "I don't want to stay here for a single extra minute, but I need to pick up my documents and personal belongings. And also to think about where to go for the night."
"Let's go to Palazzo Bianco," Niko said. "You will spend the night there. And tomorrow we will think about it and decide everything." He noticed the maid at the door and turned to her, "Please collect Signorita Ornella's things and send them with the chauffeur to Bianco's house."
"C-c-collect things?" Stammering she asked and looked dumbfounded at the hostess.
Ornella smiled at her and confirmed, "Yes, Jeanie. I'm leaving. Only, please, don't have to pack my evening gowns. Only casual clothes, underwear, and documents. And the laptop. I will need it."
On the street, the cousins caught a taxi. When the car picked up speed and Palazzo Giacomo was out of sight, Niko said, "I am moving to Istanbul. For good."
Ornella looked at his profile and asked, "Because of her?"
Niko nodded and confirmed, "Because of her ... From the first moment I saw her, it was always about her."
"Did you make up?"
Negative head swing.
"No... I was a jerk. Did something stupid and she found out! Signora Hortense also showed up at the wrong time and told Jansu about my engagement to you. She doesn't want to see me or know me anymore. "
"But you still move to Istanbul?"
And again an affirmative nod.
"Yes. I can't live without her."
"I'll go with you and explain everything to her," Ornella said.
Niko threw his head back against the headrest of the seat, looked at his cousin, and said, "You can come with me to Istanbul. You will live there until you decide what to do next. Just don't talk to Jansu. I screwed up myself - I have to amend what I have done. But thanks for the offer."
Ornella just smiled and changed the subject.
"What are you going to do with the firm?"
"I will transfer the main office to Istanbul. Shops and workshops will remain here. Over time, I will open branches in Turkey."
"And your family?" Ornella asked.
"I will invite my sisters to leave with me. But the decision is up to them. In any case, I will support and take care of them."
Niko spoke calmly and reasonably. It was noticeable that he had thought everything over and was acting according to a drawn-up plan. Ornella respected him even more. But there was something that he kept silent about.
"You didn't say anything about your mother," she reminded him.
"Signora Hortense remains in Rome," Niko replied harshly. "Together with her deity - the Salvatore family."
"She's the same as my father," Ornella said, looking thoughtfully in front of her. "No wonder he always said that he made the wrong choice by marrying my mother. He had to choose Aunt Hortense."
"I sympathize with your mom," Niko said.
Hortense Salvatore-Bianco was waiting for them in the hall. An unnaturally straight back and tightly compressed lips spoke of the strength of her resentment. Probably, Count Giacomo managed to tell her the shocking news, because, without looking at her son, she turned to Ornella with contempt.
"I was wrong about you! I considered you a real Salvatore, and you ... are the same as him." She turned her gaze to her son. "Two renegades who think only of themselves and have no idea what a family is!"
Niko looked at his mother, and he felt sorry for her. In her blind fanaticism and admiration for a mirage, she did not understand what is most important in this life.
"You're wrong, Mother," he said. "I know what a family is. A real family. But you won't understand..."