76 | The Royal Esztar Queen
"This is restricted access, miss." The bulky guard stretched his arm in front of the metal door.
"Move." I stated plainly.
In retaliation, he showed me his gun.
Can this get any funnier?
"Ansel! What are you doing!" Heavy footsteps grew louder from behind, his gruff voice echoing in the narrow tapering staircase. "I left you for five minutes and you mess up."
Ansel was all lost.
"She's Vittoria Andress, you fool." The other one gritted in a hushed tone. Ansel's eyes went wide with fear before pitching down with his head hung low.
Wow! I really was famous in Esztar.
"I apologize, ma'am." He bowed down and opened the door for me. "Welcome to Club Inferno."
Club Inferno 2.0, I thought to myself. It was the underground space below the actual club.
Last time I was here in search for my dead brother. Oh and I was also arguing with Rafael over the length of my red dress which he ripped into pieces a few nights earlier.
"The gun really scared me, Ansel." I winked, patting his arm.
Poor guy stuttered but never found words. I laughed, giving him an assuring nod and walking inside only to find every single person or shall I say gangster stop doing whatever they were doing just to look at me like I was some alien.
Pft! Would've worn nice clothes if I knew I was going to get so much attention.
"What." I frowned, throwing a deadly look at all of them. They scampered back in fear and continued with their job.
I was still trying to figure out why exactly they were so afraid of me. But right now I could really use some fear.
So much to mend my broken self respect!
"Give me something which would make me unable to say it's name after it's in my system." I plopped myself down on the bar stool.
The young bar tender raised a brow at me and protruted a bottle from the shelf.
"This is Bruichlasdich X4 Quadrupled Whiskey."
"I can't pronounce it in sober state as well." I slumped down the bar counter and the bar tender chuckled seeing me pout.
"Made in Scotland. Ninety two percent alcohol by volume." He grinned.
I felt drunk even without touching it. Which meant that was the one for me. I signalled him a thumbs up, still slouched on the counter, feeling overly exhausted.
"Neat."
"I'm not sure that's the best option considering you've come here alone. Just saying." He advised.
"Fine. Do as you please." I mumbled, not in the mood to make even the smallest of decisions like this one.
"Here you go, ma'am." He smiled, placing the glass with a tiny clink.
"You are so sweet. Why can't that douche Rafael be like you?" I sipped the cold liquid, feeling it burn down my throat.
"I for sure can't bitch about the Leader. He owns this place." He laughed.
Makes me want to burn this whole place down to ashes.
Sounds like a plausible idea to me.
I tried not to think about how's things changed dramatically from the last time I'd been here here. But I thought about it anyway. And then it clicked.
It knocked the living daylights out of me.
How could we be so blind! We just erased an entire focus demanding point from our minds.
I hastily reached out for my phone. Just then, a hand grabbed the Bruichlalalalaaa whiskey from my hand and slid it aside.
"Take that away." The middle aged stranger commanded the bar tender.
"Excuse you!" I gritted. "Who the fuck do you think you are to boss over me like that?"
"I'm not bossing over you, ma'am." He leaned in, however maintaining a decent distance. His stern gaze at the bar tender worked as a warning to leave us alone. " We need to leave. You're not safe out here."
I studied him intricately, wondering if I knew him from somewhere but I didn't. I was sure of it.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
I couldn't take his warning lightly. Travis tried to warn me about the same danger while I was about to leave but I didn't even hear him completely.
"We don't have time for that, ma'am."
"Why should I trust you?"
"I'm not here to take you away to some other place. I just need you to go home, that's it. It's not safe for you to be alone out here."
So not buying it. I wasn't a fool to fall for this trap. He sensed my hesitation and cast a cautious gaze around us.
"Travis sent me here." He whispered.
"So it's them! Oh god! So much drama for nothing." I rolled my eyes.
"No ma'am, it's not the boss or your brothers. It's Travis." He pressed.
His tone overtly conveyed those were two different things which we did not know until now. I sense trouble.
Why is Travis trying to protect me? Why isn't he telling the others about this? How does he always know where I am. I remember he was the one to first find me in the fight club.
By the time I make a decision, four men surrounded us, discreetly joining in the seats around us one by one like we were fools to not notice it.
The club security got alert and so did the four intruders. The stranger trying to help me held up his gun at them along with with thirty more men from the security.
Can't even let the girl be sad peacefully. What an inconvenience!
I jumped up to my feet, holding my hand up— a silent command to drop their weapons. The guards were shocked but obeyed nonetheless.
"No one comes in between me and my Barbie dolls." I leapt forward in action.
"Did you say it?" Mason's fiery gaze trained at Camila even shuddered me up.
Calamitous wouldn't even begin to justify what was about to unfold. But no one dared to interfere with him.
Mason Andress wasn't to be messed with when it came to his sister and we all knew that very well.
Camila's emerald eyes watered as she fumbled for words. I knew the truth but desperately wanted it to be a lie. Because it caried with itself a lot many destructive conclusions.
"Last time, Camila. Did you say that to Vittoria?" He closed his eyes, trying his best to maintain his composure.
All we could hear was her sobs as she looked down, fidgeting with her fingers.
"Yes."
That's it.
The little luxury of denial was snatched away from me. I couldn't even process how to feel about that because something happened the very next second.
Bam!
Mason's fist landed right on her face, sending all of us into a huge wave of shock, even Allegra.
"Mase!" She gasped.
"Do you have any idea what she went through?" He yelled at Camila who had her hand covering the bruise, the unbearable pain clearly showing on her face.
Too bad I didn't feel sad for her. No one did, I guess. No one stepped forward to help her, not even Oliver.
"You-" Mason lunged forward but this time was held back by Jake who looked disappointed by us for not helping her.
"You were living the perfect life here but do you know how Vittoria grew up? She deserved this but she didn't get any of it. And you fucking have the nerve to tell her that her mom threw her away."
Harrison came running with an ice bag, slowly guiding her to the couch. "Please let me help you."
"You don't hit girls, Mason. This isn't like you." Jake reprimanded.
"She isn't even human." He spat.
"Stop it, Mason." Camila cried.
Alli rolled her eyes. Like I did on the inside.
"Oliver?" She looked up at him, expecting him to stand by her side. Like hell he would .
"And you." A very furious Mason now turned to him. "You do realize what you two have done, don't you. You fucking forced Vittoria to apologize to her for this. THIS!"
"There's no need to bring that up again, Mason. They've admitted their mistake." Allegra scolded.
But that wouldn't make it any better, would it?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Camila cried, thrusting the ice bag into Harri's hands.
Hold on! Did I just call him Harri? With an i?
"But no one one tries to see it from my point of view." She walked over to Mason. If I was her, I'd never do that.
"Is that how you'll justify stooping so low, Cami?" Oliver said, sounding hurt.
"I was kidnapped for months and when I came back, someone else had taken away my entire life."
"Oh, drop this act already, Camila." Liam scowled. All heads snapped up at him. "You weren't kidnapped."
"What!" Oliver, Toby and I exclaimed, partly startled by is statement and partly because the other two didn't react the way we did.
Camila staggered back wide eyed, her hand flying over her chest.
"She is working with the Visitant. The entire kidnapping ordeal was just an act." Liam yelled right on her face.
The world stopped spinning.
"What is he saying, Camila?" Oliver quivered, looking more terrified than angry.
"He's lying." She screamed, clutching her red hair.
"Am I really?" He challenged and then turned to face us. "Look at her you guys! She was apparently kidnapped for about seven months but do you see any marks on her body? Think about Vittoria. She was taken for just a few hours and we saw how she returned. This girl who we thought was our sister was apparently in trauma and then suddenly became normal the moment you announced your engagement. It's all fake, Rafael!"
"Don't believe him, Oliver. I'm your sister." She fisted his tee.
"This is a very big allegation, Liam. I hope you know what you're talking." Toby shook his head, too sensitive to believe this proposition.
"We forget a major missing piece of the puzzle." Liam adjusted his glasses, pacing around in the living room. "Remember while we were searching for Ava, we kept coming across this certain girl who looked like Vittoria?"
"But that could be a coincidence. We just spotted her once in Club Inferno." I said, speaking after a long time.
"That wasn't the only time we saw her. Vittoria told me she saw her in Luca's building the same day Mason staged his death. That's too much of a coincidence." Liam stated.
"I still don't get your point, Liam." Toby stressed.
I think I do.
"That girl was Camila." Alli proclaimed. "That way she could keep an eye on us along with the Visitant."
"No! Shut up! I'm not lying."
"Camila, listen to me." Oliver cupped her shoulders firmly. "Tell me the truth."
"I've told you the truth already."
I honestly don't know what to think. This wasn't the Camila we knew.
"If you did any such thing, just tell me. It's not to late. But if I find it out later, everything will end so please tell me the truth. You're my sister, Cami. I'll forgive you but I can't live with the bitter truth of you doing something like this."
She went still. Mason was now silent with his observation. The silence stayed stretched for a while until she answered.
"No. No. No." She pushed his hands away. "I'm not lying. Stop hurting me like this." Her voice was sore as she struggled to speak. Without waiting for Oliver's reply, she ran straight up to her room.
No one spoke a fairly long amount of time. It was too heavy to take all this in. But that girl still remained a mystery. Like Liam said, it's was too much for a coincidence.
I just hope he is wrong.
I'm sorry but you're being too harsh with her." Jake stated and went away, leaving us alone.
I shifted my mind to Vittoria. Where was she? I was starting to get a bad feeling. Her absence disturbed me. It scared me.
As if on cue, Oliver's phone rang, displaying her name.
"Put it on speaker." I requested.
He nodded and hit the green button and her voice came swooping in.
"Ollie! Have you cleaned enough clubs to know how to cover up a scene?" She giggled.
"Excuse me, Vittoria?" He did a double take.
"Because no body, no crrrimeee!"
"Vittoria!" Mason yelled. "Are you drunk?"
Was that a trick question? Of course she was. But what petrified me was the sound of vehicles at the background.
She was driving.
I snatched the phone from Oliver's hand, feeling tired already. "Stop right where you are, Vittoria. I'm coming to get you. Don't you dare drive while you're drunk."
"Mr boss! I so not missed you. And FYI, I'm not drunk. A very nice man took care of it."
"Vittoria stop being childish. Where are you?" Alli frowned, on the verge of losing her patience.
"Right here!"
Something like a UFO crashing outside the mansion was heard, indicating Vittoria Andress had arrived.
Why did she call when she was almost home?
Because she is drunk, stupid Rafael.
"What the fuck is this, Vittoria?" Oliver bellowed, making her flinch and then simply roll her eyes at me without stopping.
"Don't give us that attitude, Vittoria." I gritted, grabbing her arm.
"Honey." She pushed me away but got stumbled back herself. "I don't even give you the silent alphabets in cough, tough, rough and enough. What makes you think I'll give you my attitude?"
Toby snorted, quickly throwing an apology while Alli facepalmed.
"This really isn't a good time to mess around, Vittoria."
"Hmm." She threw herself on the couch. "It's a good time to clear four corpses from Inferno."
"What are you saying?" I shrieked.
"I might have killed four Invisible Spies in your club." She did a hair flip.
I was spiralling.
"I'll take care of it, boss. Don't worry." Jake assured.
"Are you hurt?" Oliver frantically examined her body.
"You're not listening, Ollie. I killed them. Muffin killed bad guys."
"Yaasss queen!" A dramatic whisper flew from behind.
We all snapped our heads back at Jake who further looked back at no one.
"Don't pretend, Jake. We know you said that." Alli chuckled.
"I'm gone." He blurted and ran far away somewhere.
"Now, now if you'll excuse me, I've to go pack my bags." She got up.
My heart stopped beating. My body trembled. The blood on my face drained away.
"Y-you what?" My voice was barely above a whisper.
She made her way upstairs to her room. I ran behind her frantically. She can't be serious.
"Vittoria, wait! Please!" I screamed like a dying man asking for help, thanking myself to have entered her room before she locked herself in.
She didn't even so much as regard my presence. Jerking open her suitcase, she aggressively threw her clothes inside it.
"What are you..what are you doing?"
"I'm leaving, Rafael. I'm going far away from you and never coming back. Never!"
... Never coming back... Never.
Her voice rippled painfully in my ears.
"No! Don't do this, Vittoria. I'm sorry. Please don't go." I begged, tightly holding her but her punch got me away from her.
"What should I do staying here? Let you play with my feelings as you please?"
"I said I'm sorry. Don't punish me like that, love. Please."
"Look how the tables have turned, Grayson." She scoffed, wiping her tears.
"Where will you go?"
"Pluto!" She shoved me aside to throw her heels in. "Or some place you'd never be able to reach. I'm not coming back. This is the end."
No. I refuse to believe this. I won't let it end this way. If she's stubborn then so am I.
Pulling her into me, I clamped her hands behind her back, rendering her unable to move in my arms. She struggled. But there was no way I was going to let her leave.
"Don't let these misunderstandings come between us again. Trust me, Vittoria. I was going to cancel this wedding but Camila beat me to it. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry."
She turned her face to the side, escaping my lips on hers.
"Please Vittoria. Stay." I whispered.
Her face, tired and wet with her own tears slowly turned towards me. Her eyes met mine, then went down to my lips and then back up.
"I lov-"
The deafening sound of the security alarm suppressed my confession. She jumped back, extremely alert. Reaching to the side table, she extracted her black glitter gun and made a dash for the door.
"Fuck! What's happening?" I cursed, rushing behind her downstairs.
"There's an attack on this house, you idiot!"
"Thanks for letting me know."
"Is that why you asked?"
Words got stuck in my mouth when I saw a man pointing the gun at her.
"No! Vittoria!" I screamed in horror.
It was too late. They gun went off.
Just a few more chapters remaining and I can promise you they are filled with action and suspense and drama. Hang tight and don't forget to vote and comment!