CHAPTER XLV
Alessandro turned to her with dark angry and stormy grey eyes. “It ended the moment I found you in the arms of another man that night,”
Valerie buried her face in her palms before letting out a sigh. “Fuck, Ale-,”
“Alessandro” He cut her in. “You’ll call me Alessandro the same way my bosses do,”
“I’m more than a boss to you, Ale” She resisted the urge to go to the front seat and seat on his lap like she used to do. “We’re in love! You said you love me!”
“You said the same but chose to cheat on me” Alessandro’s fists were clenched at the sides as he remembered the taunting image of seeing the woman he loved in another man’s arms. “You looked clearly in love with that bastard!”
“Don’t- don’t call him a bastard. Nick isn’t a bastard, “She said.
“Great,” He mumbled under his breath. “Fucking great,”
“Listen to me, Ale” She whispered out before leaning in. “I-Nothing is going on between Nick and I, I swear. He-he used to be my friend a long time ago. We-,”
Alessandro cut her off with a hard tone. “And now you’re lovers. Fucking lovers,”
“Will you shut the fuck up and listen to me?!”She shrieked. “We-we lost contact and-,”Her remaining words died on the tip of her tongue when her eyes fell on the driver heading their way. She then looked back at him. “We’re not done having this conversation, Alessandro,”
~~~
Sophia adjusted her hair as she stared at her reflection in the mirror with a small smile. Her little alone-moment was broken when the bathroom door opened.
She turned to face the person. “Just a min -” Her remaining words died in her throat when she saw a man standing there as he closed the bathroom door beside him.
The first thing her eyes fell on him was the scary scar above his left eyebrow which went across his eyes and stopped on his cheek. His hair was slightly brown in color and he was wearing a black suit. The unnerving smile on his lips had her shuddering in fear.
Sophia’s eyes flickered to the door lock, and she internally sighed in relief that the door wasn’t locked before she looked back at him. “You-you’re in the wrong bathroom,”
He raised a brow at her, his smile not fading. “Am I?”
Sophia frowned. “Yes, you are. This is the female bathroom,”
“Okay then, “He shrugged. “Why don’t we check it out? The slate on the door said male bathroom when I was coming in,”
“N-no,” She shook her head. “It read female bathroom. I saw it,”
He moved away from the door. “Let’s check it then,”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Sophia nodded and walked past him to open the door. She went out and checked the slate on the door shock, coursing through her veins.
“I told you, didn’t I?” The scarred man walked out of the bathroom and smiled at her. “You used the wrong bathroom,”
“How -“Sophia looked at him.” It’s impossible. I’m sure I walked into the female bathroom,”
He chucked and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath. “E davvero innocente,”
{“She’s really innocent.”}
“Did you say something?” Sophia asked.
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t say anything, “Fuck. She was so innocent. Anyone in her place would have been able to make it out that the slates were tampered with or even changed.
Sophia nodded. “I-I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll take my leave now,” She made her way to leave, but he held her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
“Wouldn’t you like to know me, Sophia Bennett?”
Sophia froze at the mention of her full name and turned to him. “How-how do you know my name?”
He let go of her arm and shrugged. “Maybe because I’m your saving grace?”
Her frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
“I’m here to save you from him,” He tilted his head to the side before pointing at her clothed scar below her shoulder blade. “I want to save you from who left the scar there,”
Sophia’s eyes slightly widened, and she placed a protective hand over her shoulder. “Who-who told you I have a scar?” She looked at the ground. “I have no such scar. I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
He chuckled and moved closer. “So you mean if I shrug off the cloth over there, I wouldn’t see a carving or scar of Chase Romano’s name there?”
He knew. There was no use hiding it again. He was the first person that had talked to her about the scar except Chase, and he sounded pretty assumed at her way of hiding it.
“Look -“He began. “I know you don’t want to be with him. I know where he has kept your grandma, and I know he has murdered people dear to you. I know everything, so there’s no use to trying to hide it. All I need is your co-operation. Chase Romano is my enemy as well and he has murdered people dear to me. Only I was able to survive all he had done to my family; my mum, my dad, my brothers, my wife and daughter. He murdered them all just because I witnessed his cousins murdering a pure soul. This scar on my face was given to me by him just as he had done to you. I want my revenge on him and-,”
Sophia spoke, cutting him off. “Do you mean you want to use me to get your revenge on Chase?”
He stepped closer and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. “That’s not what I mean, Sophia. You’re the only way I can get to him. With you, we can lure him to the police and all the people he has murdered will get their justice. You will also get your Nana too” He then slid his hand in his pants pocket and brought out a business card, before placing it in her palm. “This is my business card. Make sure to call me when you make your decision, but please don’t ever allow anyone in the Romano household to get a hold of it. otherwise, we will be done for, and I can’t even begin to imagine what he would do to your Nana,”
Sophia clutched the business card in her hand and looked up at him. “How-what if I-what if I get caught? My-my, Nana will be -”
He cut her in immediately. “That’s why you need to decide quickly before it’s too late. I already have the police ready, and all I need is proof from you. Don’t forget to think about your Nana’s wellbeing in all this. Her life depends on this,” At least it was good he was able to convince her. Using her Nana would be very good to get to her. Her Nana was her top priority. All he needed was time.
“Can-can I trust you? Can I trust that if I do this, my Nana will be safe?”
He breathed out in relief. There was hope. “Yes. You can trust me on this. Just think positively about it,”
Sophia looked at his scar, a shiver running down her spine. “Who-who are you?”
“I’m Claudio. Claudio Volkov,”