125.
David’s POV.
All evening I’ve been tense, worried sick to my bones. The event, my problems with Vera, the viral pictures of me and Claire, and how to make things work out between Vera and I all race through my head, I nearly lost it.
While the guests were coming into the ballroom, I move away, wanting somewhere quiet to get my shit together.
I can’t stop worrying about her. Vera.
I fucking want to know if she’s going to come over but calling her on the phone will be a dead end because she won’t ever respond to the call.
Secluded in one of the hotel rooms upstairs, I undo some of my buttons after removing my suit Jacket, cracking the bones of my neck.
I make sure I come up here with a bottle of whiskey and I quickly uncork it and begin to drink directly from the bottle.
I don’t know what to think again. What to feel, so I let all sorts of emotions swing through me, emotions I can’t define.
Amidst all, that tiny voice in my head keeps telling me Claire knows something. Fuck, she does.
Is that woman obsessed with me? I think inwardly, gazing at the silver half-moon beaming through the dark cloud.
Only one woman has been obsessed with me but it was mutual and healthy and that was Helen.
Hell, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. Couldn’t stay away from each other even when she was married to shitty asswipe Peter.
Aside from her, all my ex-wives weren’t like that.
But…she…Claire is showing signs of it. More reason I suspect she must have staged that scene and ordered someone to take pictures of us.
Remembering the situation it put me and Vera in, my heart singe.
I lift the bottle and drink more. Gulp more, wanting to tamp down on the anger but hell, that’s impossible to attain.
I bring out my phone and dial Andrei.
“David…” He breathes out.
“Did she agree to speak with me?” I ask, not acknowledging Andrei’s greetings.
“No, boss. She’s still mad.” He says.
Silence. Then.
“Is she going to come tonight?”
My voice sounds hopeful but it’s crushed when Andrei offers that one word.
“No.”
“Fuck!!!” I curse, throwing the bottle away as rage consumes me.
“Boss, you’ve to pull your shit together…” Andrei starts saying but I cut him off.
“I might do something crazy tonight, Andrei, if she fails to hear me out.”
“What do you plan to do?” He asks.
I swallow, thickly. Then. “I’ve given her enough chance, Andrei. Being away from her these past days, fuck, it’s messing with my head. I can’t stay away any further. I’m invading her place tonight.”
I hang up on Andrei then and pace away from the room, my jacket in hand.
Surprisingly, when I make it back to the ballroom, I see Claire crawling into the ballroom with her father.
I saunter towards them, greeting Mr. Oliver.
“David!” He exclaims on seeing me approach. “I’m so marveled at the work you did here. Wow, I wasn’t even expecting to see such huge people here.”
I beam at the man but keep throwing glances his daughter’s way.
Yeah, yeah…that look Claire’s giving me confirms my suspicion…she’s obsessed with me.
Too bad, only one woman should feel that for me and that’s Vera.
I inch close to Claire and whisper. “Can I have a word with you?”
She brightens and nods. Swiftly, I lead the way.
We trail through the crowded ballroom and into the laundry room.
Claire comes in and shuts the door behind her.
She looks at me with a seductive expression but all too quickly, I arrest her arm and pull her close enough to whisper into her ear.
“Tell me the truth, Claire. What the fuck happened to my phone back in Miami?”
She winces at my bruising grip and thrashes but I don’t pull back.
“What are you doing, David?” She croaks.
Steeling my features, I bite out. “Tell me what I need to know…”
“I don’t get you, at all. I helped you deliver your phone and this is how you thank me?” She yells.
Scoffing, I say. “The timing is so suspicious don’t you think? I lost the phone just when you arrived and after I finished spending time in your company I found it?”
“Let go of me!” She barks but that only stirs my anger.
“You don’t command, Claire. I do that here and not you.”
She shiver at the sharpness of my voice then. She turns into pleading. “David believe me I didn’t do it. I swear.”
Tears rim her eyes, making them glassy.
I wait a moment then ask. “What do you fucking have to say about that shitty viral thingy about you and me?”
Her forehead wrinkles like she doesn’t understand what I’m saying. “Viral?”
“Claire. Don’t give me that shit!” I roar, pulling away from her.
I bring out my phone and show it to her. “Don’t pretend you’ve not seen this. Did you stage it?”
She deadpans for a while then shakes her head. “I didn’t. Maybe the person responsible is a fan. You know how these people love talking about celebrities like us.”
I gauge her expression but she gives nothing off.
In that fit of anger, I storm out of the confined space.
I take down the hallway, my feet clacking against the floor in rage.
As I emerge in the ballroom again, my eyes take in everyone in the space until it lands on hers.
My breath snaps out of me at the sight of her in a pale pink gown.
Immediately, I’m already treading toward her as my heart leaps in my chest.
Fucking fuck! She finally showed up. That means she’s willing to hear me out.
A smile touches my lips at the prospect of bonding with her again tonight.
However, the smile fades from my lips when she swings across the room and slings her arm into another man’s.
I pause and stare into the man’s face and I stop breathing entirely, knowing who he is.
Anton!
On a whim, I begin a fast pace and rip Vera from his arms.
That instant, Anton pulls up his gun and faces it at me.
My rational sense mottled by rage, I fish out the gun in my holster and face at it Anton.
Gun to gun.
Man to man.
–
Fear trickles through Vera and she begins fo gasp.
“What’s going on? Why are you shoving a gun at him, Anton?” She asks.
“What does it look like?” He fires and everyone’s attention homes in on us.
I throw my gaze around briskly, taking in the security personnel there.
Fuck! I cuss when I figure out Anton came in with men in disguise as guests…
His men are pointing guns at men.
His against mine.
Andrei is nowhere in sight!
“You think you could keep her forever?” He says.
As he makes a move to rip her from my arms, I push Vera behind me, taking an abrupt swing at Anton’s face.
He ducks in time and quickly releases bullets into the air.
Everyone screams and starts running away from the ballroom. Some hide under the tables as Anton’s men and mine launch into a crossfire.
“Vera, run!” I yell at her amidst the gunfire.
Just as quickly, Anton rushes over and punches me in the torso, snapping my ribs.
I grunt, falling to the floor and my gun slips from my hand.
“Oh, God!” I hear Vera’s distant yells as she crawls away from the room.
Anton powers on to go after her but I hold his ankle, squelching his movements.
Rolling around, I bring him down with me.
“Sunkin Syn!!!” He curses in Russian, something I interpret as Sonofabitch.
Darting his hand over a table cloth beside me, he pulls down the contents on the table, the glass falls to the ground, shards impaling my face.
I wince in pain but dive another round of punches on his fucking face.
I don’t how Anton grabbed my gun again but he quickly released bullets, making me leave his legs and roll, escaping the bullets.
Heart thudding, I swing under a table, hearing the sounds of crossfire, the clusterfuck, fists going against fists.
I try to reach for my phone and call Andrei but…I can’t find my phone any longer.
Vera!
I gape, knowing Anton will be rushing to grab her.
Sliding out from under the table, I find his ebbing figure…
“Bastard!” I growl, grabbing a bottle and smashing it his way.
Instead of hitting Anton, someone pushes him away and they land on the floor.
Both men grunt, getting up to their feet. That’s when I saw him.
Peter!
“You, fucking dunce!” I roar, reaching for my gun but Peter beats me to it.
He smashes his foot on my hand nestling on the ground as I try to pick up the gun.
“Told you, Truman. You won’t get away!”
At that, he stomps hard on my hand again and a roar filled with pain leaves my lips.
White noise slams into my ears as my vision turns a bit blurry.
“Go get the girl, boss!” Peter says to Anton.
Hearing that, a new wave of strength comes into me and I emerge on my feet, going after Peter like crazy.
Tackling him to the ground, I take away his gun and shoot at Anton.
The impaling bullet halts his movement.
Peter takes a sharp swing at me but a strong, firm hand stops his.
Peter’s eyes widen when he looks up and sees Andrei’s imposing figure.
At a blinding speed, Andrei tugs him to his feet and releases punch after punch.
Using that momentum, I rush to Anton, grabbing and hitting.
Everything happens so fast as someone knocks me out cold on the floor.
In that blurry state, I see the policemen trooping in and Anton and his men finding a way out of the ballroom by escaping through the windows.
Pains, so excruciating and blinding ricochet through me.
Despite all that, I fucking refuse to give up unconscious.
The distant siren of the paramedics becomes clear and in a second they’re all inside, attending to us…
“Vera…Andrei…Vera!” I mutter.
Getting the hint, he leaves in search of her.
I silently watch the paramedic attend to me.
When they offer to take me to the hospital, I refuse firmly.
This is just a start. The mafia is surely going to come back.
And I have to be prepared.
*
*
*