( In The Middle Of Nowhere.)
“Why did you bring me here?” Natalia gritted in a flat tone. Leonardo’s penetrating eyes never left hers.
“To die… after giving back what I rightfully own.” It felt as casual as commenting on the weather. The Royal laugh-scoffed.
“If you’re talking about the Empire, then forget it. Because the only way you’ll be getting near it is in your dreams!”
“Dreams are for the incapable. Reality pushes people to their goals.”
“And murdering my family was one of them?” Despite Natalia’s anger, the pain of betrayal kept stabbing her bleeding heart like a sword.
“Don’t be so sentimental. I did you a favour. Without my help, there’ld have been no freedom, no Beverly Hills, no school, no friends and that idiot you run around with.”
“You’re a bastard!” She silently seethed.
”It’s not royalty to be vulgar…”
“Go to hell!” She yelled. The Mafia Don became dangerously silent. Natalia could tell he was fighting for control and her heart skipped a beat for some uneasy reason.
“Keep up that attitude and I’ld be forced to rush up my plans.” His voice sent deathly chills down her spine. Natalia tried to keep calm but her anger was slowly consuming her.
“How’s it possible you killed my parents. You should’ve been…”
“Young? No more than a child?” He cut her mid sentence. “Yes, I was. Uncle started our family’s vendetta. Living like a princess locked up in a tower, you had no idea what those outside the walls suffered.”
“No one forced your ancestor to become a power hungry tyrant! He had to be put in his pla…”
“But at what cost?” He cut her off again with an unmistakable trace of rage in his voice. “Letting innocent lives suffer the sins of one man?!”
“Don’t be so sentimental.” Natalia snorted, maliciously returning his previous comment.
“You’ve succeeded in having the life you wanted. Plus, you’ve gotten your revenge.”
Leonardo gave her a crooked smile. “ALMOST had my revenge.”
Natalia fisted her hands, trying not to do something rash. She stood up with as much graciousness as she could muster.
“Since we’re done with this… forced meeting…. Take me back to wherever you picked me.” She ordered.
“I’ld rather lose my life to those men than to you. And before you do, please give me back my other clothes. This costume sickens me.”
A trace of humor lurked behind his steel grey eyes.
“I’m waiting!” She snapped, running out of patience.
“Sit.” The humor vanished and was replaced with a cold glare.
“Are you daft? I don’t want to!” She raised her voice. The door slid open and two bulky bouncers positioned themselves with menacing looks.
“I wasn’t asking.” His icy voice sliced through the air. Natalia took a deep breath, weighing the probable pros and cons of her next action before slowly sitting down.
“You can keep me here all you want, but my people will find me and won’t spare you.” He chuckled dryly.
“And do what? Hand me over to the cops?”
“I’m not counting on it.” She growled silently.
“Let me explain your situation, princess.” The cold, impassive aura returned.
“As soon as you’ve done everything I want, I’m gonna make you watch as ‘your people’ disappear one after the other… starting with the best.”
“You’re a beast!”
“I’m flattered.”
“My clothes!”
“I burned them.”
“Why?!” She snarled furiously.
“I told you it was messed up… because HE touched it.” A sharp glint flashed across his eyes. Natalia frowned.
“What are you…”
“The idiot.”
Blood drained from Natalia’s skin and she turned pale. “W… what…”
“I warned you I had eyes on your every movement. Hacking into surveillance systems was the easiest.” He said with no emotion.
“Arian.” She whispered with a gasp. Her greatest fear was coming true. Tears slowly stung the corner of her eyes. She had to leave. She had to warn him!
Leonardo dismissed the guards and walked to her with the medicine tray. Natalia fought to control her tears but they clouded her eyes. At that crucial moment, she knew that she wasn’t supposed to show her emotions. But Arian De’ Argent was her weakness.
She’d lost everyone else! Natalia couldn’t bear to lose him too. The Royal who was struggling with her breath twitched when the Mob boss took her hand. She glared at him with misty eyes and tried to break free but he easily held on.
It was then Natalia noticed the blood stains and scratches on her forearms. She snatched her hand away when he started cleaning it up and stood up angrily.
“Quit the pretense and let me go! If you wanna kill me, just do it and stop tormenting me! You’ve already won in taking those I love. Wealth is the only thing you and your wretched family care about! Nothing else matters to you! My mom, my dad, my grandmother. Haven’t you had enough?!” She frustratedly yelled and he stood up too.
“How about we start with my sister.” He snarled. “The one your family took from me when we were just kids.”
“What sis…”
“Like I said earlier, being locked up like a princess in a tower, you had no idea what those outside the walls faced! Because of one man, an entire lineage suffered unjustly for generations! You whine and squeal like the over-pampered brat you are over the deaths of three people while I had to bear the grief of many including my sister’s my entire life!” He thundered.
Natalia took an unsteady step away seeing the venom in his eyes.
“Once upon a time, I was a little boy with a father, mother and a big sister. My family was just a regular squad, living in the slums! We had nothing but I was happy. I was content with just us! But everything changed when mother learned of our ancestry.
“We were one of the few left of the Grantino’s name. We were Royals. Royals in the slums!
“Everyday we drowned in debts. My sister and I became slaves while you played the sleeping beauty. We were uneducated, a bunch of wasted lives while you had prestigious education privately! We worked day and night while you decided what to do whenever you wanted to!
”You lived in a palace while we lived in a shack! You had the best meals but we lived like dogs! Whenever you got ill, you had access to the best medical facilities while we accepted death like animals!
“You had the best of EVERYTHING while we got the best of NOTHING! While you enjoyed life, I hated it with every breath in my body! Yet… we were content.” He paused and dryly chuckled.
It shook Natalia to her core! His eyes were dark with rage and hate and she let her tears fall freely.
“We were content.” He said again with pure, undisguised disgust.
“Father made us feel that way. At that time, mother was just a lowly maid. A maid in the palace she was supposed to be Queen!” It was then Natalia noticed Lady Rosa was no longer in the room with them. Now, they were alone.
“Uncle tried to convince father to fight for what was equally ours but father wouldn’t listen! The old man cherished the life of peace and vision till your family killed him in the same mine that he was supposed to Lord over!”
Natalia remembered. It was the same mine that killed hundreds of workers, including Elva’s parents during the explosion. Because she had no one else in the world, Elva was brought to live in the Palace.
“He could’ve escaped! He could’ve survived if he wasn’t trying to save others instead of himself! He was just like my sister. Elena was already dead before he died… She drowned trying to save me from drowning.” He lowered his gaze temporarily.
“I used to be hydrophobic too, a long time ago.” He scoffed in self hate. Natalia was too emotionally drained to be shocked.
“We were so little. There was too much rain. We were alone outside, coming back home from being hired helps. I got so scared and started to drown. Elena tried to comfort me. There was an old bridge but we couldn’t use it at once. She helped me up first but when it was her turn, she slipped and the water took her away.
“I called out repeatedly and waited but she didn’t respond. It was so dark and the only thing I could see was the heavy rain and the scary waves. We never saw Elena again after that night.” A trace of helplessness flashed across his eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it came.
“The glass ballerina you broke on the day you visited was dedicated to her. She’d always dreamt of being a ballerina.” He snickered deliriously. “She thought they looked pretty.” And I broke it!
Natalia thought as choking guilt clamped her insides against her will. That was enough reason for anyone to want to kill her!.
“And as if that wasn’t enough, father died too a couple of years later, all because we were denied of what was equally ours! Still paying ancient debts, mother fell ill. Really ill. I thought she was gonna die too but she didn’t! She couldn’t have left me all alone.
“I hated living! I hated the life we were forced to live! And most especially… I hated the people who took everything and everyone away!” The dark anger returned to his eyes and bitterness consumed his voice.
Natalia slowly moved away, wide eyed and almost screamed for help when he trailed after her.
“I grew hatred for the Santianas. Everyday was a challenge for me! I thought of nothing but vendetta! I survived each day with the thoughts of seeing your family fall! I lived only to see you all suffer for what my family suffered!
”So I borrowed father’s words of peace and vision…. and did a little renovating.
“A vision to end the Santianas to find peace. That mantra fuelled my rage for years. Even after his sacrifice, father wasn’t honored. He died trying to save Elva Thomas’s parents! You can’t begin to imagine the special feelings I have for that girl.”
Natalia’s body shook feeling the room suddenly become colder. His frosty smirk reminded her of the devil!
“Starting with the best, remember? Keep count because they’re a lot on my list!” She cornered the room as he got closer to the bed…