.......30.......
.......Evie......
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Two hours after my shower, Cara walks into my room again, it is already past midnight and I notice she has dried tears on her face. I raise a brow at her and she sniffs. It is unlike Cara to cry, even when she is one problem away from a mental breakdown. I move close to her and she engulfs me in a hug. Her body shakes and I hear her muffled cry, the tears soaking my nightgown.
“Shhhhh...” I coo rubbing my hands up and down her back to soothe the pain and comfort her. She releases herself from my hold and wipes her face with the back of her hand, sighing. “I called Reginald....I don’t k-know why I did it but I shouldn't have." A sniff "Why?" I ask softly and she chuckles lightly " His deep voice sounded hoarse and thick and he-”
I catch on to what she means, before she can even complete the sentence and I pull her in for another hug, holding her tighter.
My big baby, all her emotions are never expressed but I know she loves Reginald despite their sick and twisted relationship. When she pulls out of my hold again, she sniffs and chuckles lightly “I’m so annoyed that you are seeing me this way, especially over that douchebag” I give her a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes, and she rolls hers.
“Let’s go get shit faced “ She tells me and I nod. Honestly we both need to be reminded that we are 26 and hot. I get dressed in my closet, wearing a mid thigh black dress, that shows a lot of cleavage. I put on minimal make up, wear my heels and walk out my room to meet Cara downstairs. She is wearing a maroon two piece outfit, the skirt is short and the top which has no hands has a thin string that is tied at her back. I look at her and wonder how Reginald can be so stupid to hurt her.
“Shall we?” I ask her and she nods, pulling a cigarette from the packet and putting between her teeth before lighting it, huffing out some smoke. As we reach the door, I hear footsteps and turn around to see Ari at the top of the stairs, hands in his sweatpants. He looks at me, eyeing my outfit before descending the stairs and walking towards me.
“I want to know where you two are going so I can pick up after you are done. “ He says and Cara looks at me for some sort of approval, I nod at her and walk out of the house, leaving her to tell him. After a few minutes she emerges from the house and we leave. As usual, she drives above the speed limit and I wear my seat belt for my own sake. We arrive at the club and I must admit I miss the air of alcohol and sweat from dancing bodies. Cara sighs and we walk past the people in line, handing the bouncer a load of cash before walking into the VIP section.
Cara orders tequila for the both of us and I down it immediately, welcoming the burn as it slides down my throat, the music from the loud speakers filling my ears with each song. Another shot of tequila comes and by the time we know it, we are a giggling mess, trying not to sound stupid. “Men are fuck ups” She says after a minute, downing more tequila, now I don’t know how many glasses we have had but I know I feel light headed. I nod at her statement, taking in more of the burning liquid. After a whole of talking about how shitty our lives have become and what we would do to my dumb father, my eyes roam around and they meet death.
“fuck....” I say and Cara slur a “what..Evie? . I down my tenth shot of tequila and she looks to the direction of my eyes. “Arturo?” She shouts over the loud music and I nod. Is that not one of your fucked up husband’s business associates. “ I nod and I add “the very one I fucked to take business associates. “ I nod and I add “the very one I fucked to take the consignment that was meant for Dimitri “ Her mouth forms and ‘O’ and just then Arturo spots me, his eyes turn into slits and I start thinking of the closest exit.
“Cara, call Ari now.” I tell her without looking at her, a hint of panic in my already slurry voice and she nods. From the corner of my blurry vision, I see her removing her phone from her clutch purse, fumbling with the keypad and I see her press the phone to her ear before Arturo reaches the VIP section where we are sitting.
“Well look who we have here.” His thick Russian accent booms over the loud music, I raise my head to meet his eyes and his sick smirk makes my skin crawl. “Arturo back off, I’m in no mood.” I spit and one of his men snatches the phone from Cara before she can speak to Ari, shit I’m fucked.
“Well...I don’t want any trouble either.” He admits, unbuttoning his suit jacket and sitting on the couch opposite from me but I know Arturo and he is always looking for trouble, it’s like a sick obsession, one I’m not ready to indulge “Princess Evie, or Queen Ivanov. Which one would you prefer I call you with” I clench my teeth at his irritating presence and look at Cara who seems to be as irritated as I am. She looks at Arturo’s security detail and I see her counting how many men she can take out, so we manage to escape. I see five men, three with Arturo and two at the bar, in case we want to make a run for it, with Arturo included they are six and we are two, making us outnumbered and outgunned. I scoff at the ridiculousness of the situation and shift uncomfortably.
“Princess Evie” I respond to his earlier remark and call a waiter, Arturo raises a brow at me but stays quiet. I hope this idea I have works. Cara as always catches on, and gets up, but Arturo’s guard stops her and she laughs, throwing her head back “come on, let’s go inside” She whispers to him in a slurred tone and he smirks but looks to his boss for approval, he nods and she looks at the one right beside Arturo and say “the more the merrier “She winks and cringe. He clenches his jaw and clear his throat following them and i watch Cara enter the back room with two heavily armed men behind her. She sways her hips a little and giggle.
Bad ass.
“So...” I start but the waiter comes in with two shots of tequila, interrupting me. I say thanks and slip a small piece of paper I had in my purse in his pocket as Arturo’s eyes leave mine for a second. He nods and leave. “You betrayed me, Princess. “ He talks before I can and I gulp down my drink. “now, it’s the to pay with your life.” I say for him and he raises his brow for the thousandth time this night.
“Arturo you fucked me, and I took the papers from your drawers and took the consignment. I mean, what exactly were you expecting? That I fell in love with you and we would go off into the rainbows and shit?” I laugh slightly, picking up the second tequila. I smile at him a little, and his last guard holds his firearm tightly. He averts his gaze and clenches his jaw. The realisation hits me and I can't help but laugh hard.
"Wait?....Were you thinking I was in love with you?” I ask, gesturing between us with my hands a hint of mockery in my voice. This pathetic piece of shit.
I mean I get that he is hot as fuck with his dirty blonde hair pushed back a little, his green eyes that could literally pull your soul into a trance, his full lips and all the other shit. But love? I’m way past that crap emotion. He scoffs and I get up to cross the little space between Arturo and I, sitting on his lap, with my legs on either side of him. He looks at me with the same hooded, lustful eyes and I part his lips with my free hand, pouring the tequila in his mouth and sucking lightly. He gasps, clearly taken by surprise and I can already feel his growing bulge. “then let’s fuck one last time, before you bury me in the ground.” I pull his pink lips in between my teeth and I watch from the corner of my eyes how his guard shift uncomfortably before Arturo dismisses him with a wave. He pulls away from me slightly, his eyes holding doubt. “I’ll kill you whether I fuck you tonight or not, just try not to make it soon. “ I roll my eyes at him as he lifts me up with him and takes me into the same back room. The club doubles as a small apartment too, for VIPs like us who would end up like this.
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Ari.
Even though Cara doesn’t speak, I know in my guts they are in some kind of trouble. I rush out of my room, looking for Evie’s head butler, and find him sitting on a stool in the kitchen. His head snaps to me and worry etch on his brows when he takes in my own expression. He gets down from the seat as I approach him. “I think Evie is in trouble....does she have weapons room?” I ask him, remembering the time Evie killed a lot of men with M16. He nods and walks out of the kitchen. I follow him as he walks down the hall to a locked hardwood door, he swipes a key card and it beeps allowing as entry. My mouth fall open when I take in the sight in front of me. This is no weapon room, it was a war room and I was more impressed than scared. Guns of all sizes hung on the wall in a glass case, her butler open a drawer and there were pistols of all kind, arranged neatly in an order of the size, in another drawer held daggers I’ve never seen before, and grenades of all kinds. Who is this woman? I ask as I see her butler press on a red button and a voice comes in.
“Carlos, rile up your men, we have a problem.....the boss is in trouble “
I blink at least twice at the mention of “the boss”. She is a boss? Of who and what?. I mean I should have taken hints from the many men that surrounded her when we went to the ball, or the private jet we drove and the sleek cars she has. Not forgetting how she has houses everywhere in this world. He darts his eyes to look at me after the call, and grab a semi automatic pistol, throwing it at me.
“you know how to use it?” He asks and I look at him, clock the gun and fire it at the glass case. It shatters to the ground and I shrug “yeah maybe.” his eyes widen momentarily but recovers quickly. He grabs some guns and shove it in the duffle bag, grabs some bullet proof vests and throws one at me in a swift move and I catch it.
After a few minutes we walk out of the building and the crisp air blows my hair out of my face and I see black cars lined up in the compound. Is she really that important? Her butler gestures for us to use a black SUV while the others follow behind us as we drive out of the compound. After a minute of silence I glance over at him before speaking “You know Evie well-erhm?” “Stanley” He answers for me and I mouth a yeah. He shrugs lightly and make a turn “She’s my boss. I’ve worked for her for a while now.”
"Would you describe her as a good person?" I don't know why I asked him that question and I bite the insides of my mouth. "She’s trying not to fuck up." I nod and decide to settle for that revelation. After about half an hour we reach a club, the bright pink neon sign boldly plastered on the top of the building. There are a lot of people in front of the building waiting in line to get inside and drink. I scoff.
Stanley drives around to the back as the other guys follow our car in that direction, lining up. We get out and enter the club and I look around for Evie.
All the armed men follow suit, and I hear a thick Russian accent tell Stanley to check the VIP section, so I head there with him. Immediately we get there, I see over twenty empty glasses, which I presume was holding tequila after I smell the glass. I look around, my eyes searching to find her, but she’s not in sight.
A waiter suddenly walk up to me and hands me a piece of paper. I open it and I see backroom.
“Is there a backroom?” I ask Stanley and immediately my eyes see the curtains and I run towards it, continuing through the long hallway, opening every unlocked door, until I hear a strangled cry.
Fuck. Evie.
I open the door and I see a man on top of her, strangling her, and she is trying to get out of his hold.
“Get your hands off her or I'll blow your fucking brains out. Dick” Even though I sound commanding I can't help it as fear takes over my senses. I hold the gun firmly as I point it at hid head. He let’s go immediately, and I see her hold her neck, trying hard to breathe air back into her lungs. She gets out of the bed and walks behind me.
“put your hands up and turn very slowly” He clenches his jaw, but listens to me. I look over at her and her glassy eyes look at me too. She’s fine. I breathe. Stanley rushes in the room and walks straight to grabbing the guy. When he exists the room, I turn to Evie.
I shrug my jacket off and drape it around her shoulder, hugging her to me, I breathe her in momentarily, and kiss her forehead when she looks up at me.
“You’re okay now.” I say softly, grateful that I came here on time. Our moment is interrupted when, Cara walks in with a lot of blood on her hands and clothes.
“woah- am I interrupting something?” She gives a smug smile, and Evie shrugs, while i let go of her, already missing the close contact.
“It got a little bloody, they weren’t cooperative enough. “ She shrugs when she sees the question on my face, and I mouth an O. She leaves us alone and I hear her whistle at Stanley. "Can someone get me the entire fucking bottle of tequila? I've had a long night." I hear her shout as she walks down the hallway.
“Are you okay?” I ask Evie when she turns to me. “Yeah.” She answers simply and I nod. “let’s get out of here.” I tell her and she nods.
After about an hour we drive back to the compound in silence, while Stanley and her other men, take the guy who was trying to kill Evie to another compound with his men. I get down from the car and round it, to open her door for her. She’s fast asleep, when the door opens and I look back at Cara, who gives me a nod. One hand goes behind her neck, as another one slides under her knees, carrying her upstairs in her room. I don’t know what changed? Was it the fear for her life when I saw the man strangling her nearly to death? Or has she always been this beautiful?
Fuck, of course she has been. I’ve always known that I cared more about her than I cared to admit, and as I take her upstairs all I want to do is hold her in my arms and sleep with her through the night. I want to touch her warm skin and lace my fingers through hers. Whisper how beautiful she is in her ears and kiss it lightly. I don’t want the sex, or the lust and it is something I’m so scared to even consider.
I place her on the bed, and I watch her bring her knees up to her chest and I realise that it is cold in her room. The windows are open and the air conditioning is on full blast. I chuckle lightly at the frown etched between her brows due to how cold she feels and take the duvet to cover her body. She lets out a shaky breath, her full lips parting lightly. I turn to leave, but she grabs my wrist and I crouch to meet her glassy eyes trained on me, perfect shade of brown, illuminating under the soft chandelier light.
“Please stay.” She whispers softly. And a chill runs down my spine, my body not willing to go away from her plea, my soul desperately trying to get away from this damnation but then I decide against it, shrugging of my jacket and pulling my boots off. I climb into the bed with her, wrapping my arms around her and she lies down on my chest.
“Thank you” I hear her whisper.
In one breath, and in that moment, I know I want all of this, whatever the hell it is.
Okayyyy, this is the longest chapter I have ever written. I had to use both POVs because I didn't want to write it in different characters.
Please don't forget to vote and comment. I love you all.
Happy reading.