philocaly [ phi-lo-caly ]
n. the love of beauty
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Valentino walked in with a smirk on his face as he inspected the room before his eyes landed on Vincenzo. "We have business to take care of very quickly. You have a minute?" He asked.
I tried my best to hide my anger as he nodded his head. He literally just told me that he'd be here when I had gotten back.
"For how long?" I ask him. He looked down at me before his hands tightened around my waist. Slowly, he pulled me in, and he just held me. His face was nestled in the crook of my neck before my hands instinctively wrapped around him in return.
"What did I say, Bella? I'm a man of my word, you'll know everything later-stop doubting me. If I hear anything bad about you from the mall, you might as well have your body tied up for me when you return, no?" he whispered in my ear before letting me go with a smile on his face.
I was gazing at his face, ignoring how turned on that made me before walking over to Anastasia.
"Yeah, I'm ready," I told her. She looked at me with a worried expression before nodding her head slowly.
"Let's go, then," she said, but we couldn't ignore the taunting "goodbye girls" that came from no one other than Valentino. He still scared me at times. His aura appeared more psycho than that of Vincenzo. I still remember when Vincenzo used to scare me.
"Wait, what about Sarah?" I asked her.
She frowned slightly at the thought. My eyes followed her as she answered me with a shrug, "I asked her if she was still coming, and she said that she couldn't because she had to cook."
We walked out of the door, and our bodyguard was already waiting for us with the backseat door open. As we both climbed in, the door followed behind us. Quickly after, he had gotten inside and started up the car, and we were on our way.
I looked up at Anastasia to see that she was still smirking at me. "I'm waiting for you to tell me what happened," she said, smiling.
"I went in there to question him about where he has been, and it ended up with me on his desk," I told her truthfully to see her biting down on her lip to keep from laugh.
"Vincenzo!" she screamed out, mockingly. I pushed her side as she started bursting out laughing. A slight amount of heat creeped up my cheeks as she laughed at me.
"You know what? It's not like you're exactly innocent," I stated. Her laughter came to an abrupt stop before a fit of her coughing littered the car. This caused me to give her the same exact smirk she had given me as she bit down on her lip.
"Oh, so something happened with Mr. Valentino, huh?" I asked her with a quirked up eyebrow. She looked away from me and out of the window, pretending as if she didn't hear me.
"Do spill, Nana," I said, laughing.
"What did you call me?" she asked, suddenly making the atmosphere feel a lot more serious than what it was.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I should've checked with you before just deciding to give you a nickname," I apologetically spoke.
"No, it's okay. I love it," she smiled at me, but it seemed there was a lot more to the story. I just gave her a small smile before nodding my head and turning to look out the opposite window.
"Valentino grabbed me the second we made it to the bottom of the staircase. We just talked?" she questioned with a lot of emphasis on the word 'talked'.
"Are you asking or telling?" I asked with a chuckle, deciding to completely forget the whole nickname situation. It made me feel bad, but I was sure that she would tell me more about it when she was ready.
"Well, we talked and he kissed me. It was kind of different. It was a real kiss, you know? Maybe I'm just imagining it, but- I don't know," she tried to explain as she spaced off. I could see how she was trying to piece everything together with the way her eyebrows pulled together.
"There's some history there that I don't know about, huh?" I questioned, trying to ease her as much as I could.
"If only you knew," she laughed. Smiling at her, we finally pulled into the mall's parking lot. As soon as I opened the door, my entire stomach spilled out of my mouth and onto the parking lot floor.
Anastasia quickly grabbed ahold of my hair, holding it in place so it didn't get bothered by my vomit. When I finished, I spit on the ground, attempting to get the taste out of my mouth.
"Here," the bodyguard spoke. I looked up to see the water bottle he had in his hand. Taking it from him, I unscrewed the cap and poured the water into my mouth before spitting it out on the ground.
"Talk about great timing," Anastasia sighed before letting go of my hair and leaning back in her seat.
"Are you sick, do you want to return to your home?" he asked. Shaking my head, I took another swig of water, only this time I let it glide down my throat to quench my thirst.
"My stomach probably just didn't like those crawfish that I ate earlier," I laughed out before patting my stomach. He nodded his head before opening Anastasia's side of the door and letting us out.
"You sure you 'ight, Bel? We can go to the mall tomorrow," she said, raising her hand up to my forehead. The way that worry itched it's way onto her face made my heart sigh.
I could tell how serious she was by the way her Australian accent would come on so thick. She had a great way of hiding it except for when something else seemed important.
"I promise, I'm okay. Sometimes, seafood and I don't really get along," I told her before grasping her hand, and dragging her to the front door of the mall.
The minute we walked in, a smile made its way onto my face. When I looked over at Anastasia, she had the exact same smile. We were both thinking the exact same thing-we're about to go ballistic.
"Did Valentino give you a limit?" I asked her, smirking.
"Nope. Did Vincenzo give you one?" She questioned, raising a brow.
"No ma'am," I laughed before walking into the first store I saw. Everything in there screamed expensive. Grabbing ahold of a cute lavender top, I held it up against me before looking at Anastasia.
"Yes, but red is my favorite color on you. So, I say go with the exact same one, but just red," she tells me.
Nodding my head, I picked up the exact same shirt, but it was red instead. She was right, red fit me a lot better than the lavender. It made me smile how she knew that before me.
"I can hold that for you," the bodyguard had said. I sent him a sincere smile before pausing.
"What's your name?" I questioned. My manners wouldn't allow me to let someone hold my things without at least knowing their name. It made me feel rude.
"I'm hurt you don't remember me," he said causing me to raise a brow as I inspected his blonde hair and muscular build.
"Valerio. I was the first guy you met when you came to the mansion," he said.
Just like that, a light bulb flickered on in my head at the memory of first meeting him. My facial expression must've showed my recognition because he started laughing.
"I am so sorry," I told him.
"Don't worry about it, Orabella. I haven't seen you in a while," he said. Then, my cheeks tinted at the memory of him seeing me vomit. I smiled at him in the most awkward way possible, before turning back around towards the racks of clothing.
Anastasia was busing herself in picking up clothing. Once Valerio and I finished our little interaction, he walked over to help her out as well.
We ended up walking out of the store with each of us having four bags full of clothes. Then, we came to an ice cream store that made my stomach turn in the most positive way possible. I hurriedly handed my bags to Valerio then walked over to look at all the delicious goodness.
"Ice cream, really?" Anastasia questioned.
"Can I get Mint Chocolate Chip with gummy worms on top and salty crackers and pretzels?" I asked, smiling at the lady.
"Coming right up," she smiled before beginning to make my ice cream cup. I turned around to look at Anastasia who was wearing a disgusted look on her face. She didn't say anything until the lady handed me exactly what I asked for. Quickly, I paid and then began eating away.
"Did you want to sit dow-" Anastasia began, but was cut off when she had seen that I was already done.
When I finished, I threw the cup away. "You have no idea how long I've wanted that," I told her, laughing at her expression.
She rolled her eyes playfully before grabbing my hand and walking to no place other than the wonderland of undergarments.
"I want a couple of lingerie sets," Anastasia said, walking over to the lingerie area. I followed her, and picked up a blue one that would do her body justice.
"You should get this, it would bring out your sexy eyes," I told her with a wink. She grabbed it, nodding her head while biting her lip.
"You're a genius," she told me. I laughed before grabbing a couple myself. This time, we held them ourselves. Then, we grabbed a couple of bras along with underwear. We even picked up some makeup.
"Hey, I really have to use the restroom. Can you pay for these for me?" I asked with pleading eyes. She nodded her head just as I ran off to the restroom.
After emptying my bladder, I walked up the sink only to be looking into a familiar set of eyes.
"Mom?" I asked.
"Orabella, baby, I'm so sorry," she said, walking up to me right before throwing her arms around my frame to bring me into her chest.
"For what; leaving me when I was little or leaving me now?" I asked, glaring at her before snatching myself from her hold and washing my hands.
"I need to explain everything to you. There's so much," she whispered, looking around the room cautiously. "Those men in that house are nothing like I thought. You need to get out. They're not the good guys," she pleaded softly, a tear falling from her eyes.
"What are you even talking about?" I question.
"They kidnapped me, killed your father-just for you," she said. "They've been gone right, the boys? They found out is your father is actually alive. He's coming for them-he's coming for you. We both are."
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OH HOLY SHIT! Here's another update bc i love you guys and i'm bored because I'm in the US and we are literally the country that's the worst. Plus, I've been in my house for two weeks straight, and writing is the only thing keeping me sane. Here, we are on lockdown for one month. I'm going to be updating like crazy for an entire month.
I promised drama for you guys, and it's only beginning. Let's see what happens next chapter. Do you guys believe Mom, or no? Tell me what you think.
See you next update,
- xx lee
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