It Felt Right

(NFTMB)Chapter 71
Victoria
(It Felt Right)
Alessandro isn’t the enemy.
He isn’t the bad guy.
He likes you but he doesn’t know it yet and he doesn’t know how to show it.
So he just settles for violence?
My head was about to explode from everything Elena had just told me.
Could Alessandro really just be a brainwashed and misguided child with a broken childhood?
Had I misunderstood his harshness?
Elena had no reason to lie to me. She only confided in me about their family’s twisted history and sick family tree.
My head really is spinning.
“Victoria, I need your help with something”. My head whipped to the door of the kitchen as Jasmine stood there with a bland expression asking me, her mortal enemy for help.
This must be a really strange day.
Was there something in the air?
“Me? You’re asking me for help?”. I looked around the kitchen before pointing to myself.
Is the earth still rotating properly on its axis? Or maybe she hit her head somewhere.
Yeah that sounds just about right.
“Yes, you Victoria. I need help in picking out a dress for the gala and you have a really great taste in outfits besides, Bianca is busy on the phone right now. So would you help me please?.”
Me?
Great tastes in outfits? Have you seen me?
I would believe that if she’s talking about sweatpants and sweaters but dresses?
No.
“Oh uh, Elena needs my help in the kitchen here. She’s making a dish for me. I’m sorry, can I do it later?”
“No! I need you now!”. She screeched, making my brows shoot up in surprise at her tone. Even Elena turned to steal a glance at her. She flashed a smile before continuing. “My designer is on the line and I wanted you to help me pick out one perfect sketch for a dress out of the many I have so she can know what she’s working with”
“I thought Alessandro had paid for a dress for everyone. How come you require another one?”. Elena asked Jasmine who had a scowl on her face as she looked at Elena.
“Well, Elena, since your crazy son is hell bent on making me pregnant and bloated, I might as well plan ahead in case I wake up one day and discover his plan is successful and I now look like Victoria over there, don’t you think I deserve to have a backup dress? Or would you rather I show up naked to your precious ball?”. She said in the most irritating voice I have ever heard.
Her statement is offensive to me. Don’t I look good for a pregnant woman? I had to look at my outfit and check if there was anything wrong with what I was wearing but there wasn’t anything wrong with it.
I was warmly dressed in a cashmere sweater and sweatpants to keep the baby warm.
There’s nothing wrong with that. It is perfect and comfortable.
“Jasmine! What do you mean by that statement? Apologize to Victoria now, that is offensive!”
Jasmine rolled her eyes at Elena. So ill mannered.
“I’m sorry, Victoria. I didn’t mean it that way. You look great. You look cute. That’s for a pregnant woman”
I could still detect the ridicule and disgust in her tone. Her apology is insincere. I’m not accepting it.
“It’s fine, Jasmine”
“Great! Let’s go?”
“ButI___”
“It’s fine dear, go on. I can manage by myself. Bianca will be back soon”
Elena smiled reassuringly at me as Jasmine’s claws were suddenly wrapped around my arms tightly.
I winced at the pain of her long talons pressing deep into my skin.
“Be careful, Jasmine, you’re hurting her.”
Jasmine only rolled her eyes and cussed as she all but dragged me away from the kitchen and into their part of the house.
She closed the door and immediately locked it behind her as I looked around the room for the first time.
This is my first time here. I’ve never been in Niccolo’s room before.
The room smelled of thick and expensive masculine cologne mixed with Jasmine’s signature jasmine scent.
My sightseeing was cut short as Jasmine appeared in front of me suddenly and placed her index finger on her lips signaling that I wasn’t supposed to make a sound.
“Shhh, listen to me, Victoria”. She said in a whisper
“Where’s the designer?” I followed her and whispered.
“There is no designer, Victoria. I needed you to get out of there because Elena is in on it too”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Jasmine, in on what? Where is Niccolo?”. I asked looking around the room and there still wasn’t a sight of him anywhere.
“Niccolo is out with Valentino now, Alessandro is in his office talking with Sebastian. They’re planning to kill me and Elena is in support of it”
“What?”
I took a step back and shook my head to show her that I did not believe her words. Not one bit.
Why would they all gang up on her to kill her?
“You have to believe me, Victoria. Alessandro and Valentino must have been the ones who brought the idea because they both hate me. I don’t know why they hate me. Elena is in on it and she’ll probably draw Bianca in”
“I don’t believe you. Why would I believe you?”
“You have to believe me! You have to believe me because they will wake up one day and decide to kill you too. They’re all killers, all of them including Valentino. He’s no saint, Victoria. He’s just pretending”
“What reason do I have to believe a woman who has treated me badly and harshly ever since she arrived over a man who has been nothing but kind to me. Doesn’t it seem kind of foolish?”
“You’re not listening to me, are you? These people are not your friends and they sure as hell aren’t your family! You might be Alessandro’s wife and the mother of his child but when the urge to kill comes, they will kill you. They all are insane, Victoria.
If they succeed in killing me then they will kill you too. Niccolo and Valentino went out to get the tools and supplies for my murder. They will kill me on the night of the charity gala”.
I don’t trust her. Not one bit. She’s a scheming and conniving woman.
“You’re not making sense, Jasmine!”. I told her to remove her hands from my arms.
“You’re not listening to me! Listen to me Victoria and you and your baby will be safe!”
“I’m listening. How did you know that they are going to kill you? Who fed you this information?”
She looked around to make sure there was nobody else was around before talking.
“Fabiano. He’s the only normal person here. He’s trying to get revenge on Alessandro for killing his brother. He overheard them talking about killing me”
I knew it! Fabiano that scheming old dog! Of course he’s lying to her.
Elena just told me the whole truth and I believe her completely. She has no reason to lie to me.
“Alessandro’s father was a bad man, Jasmine! A very bad man and Alessandro did that to protect his mother and siblings. Besides, since when did you start talking to Fabiano? He’s the actual lunatic and psychopath here!”
“They have brainwashed you too. Alessandro’s father wasn’t a bad man, instead he loved and doted on his family. Alessandro’s greed and thirst for power drove him to kill his father to take his throne! Fabiano told me the whole story.”
“No!”
I covered my ears to block out her lies before she pulled my hands away from my ears roughly.
“Alessandro killed my friend for standing up to him and defending me, and his entire family covered up that crime for him. His mother sat there and watched Niccolo almost beat me to death without stopping him instead she sends him at me like a thug every time I try to speak up”
I had to be careful in case this was a test from maybe Alessandro or maybe someone was setting me up to see my reaction.
Either way, I’ll use this as a chance to prove my loyalty to Alessandro.
“Are you sure of what you’re saying?”
“Yes, Victoria. I swear!”
“But Valentino seems like a nice guy”
“He’s not a nice guy. I’ve seen the way he looks at you and how nice he is to you and I can actually tell you that he doesn’t care about you.
He just wants to sleep with you. Maybe Alessandro is the one putting him up to his nice guy actions just so you can let him get into your pants. It’s all a game to them, Victoria. Alessandro is mind controlling you. They’re in your head. They’re demonic. I’m sure they worship the devil or something”
What?! She has really lost her senses.
“Oh no!”. I feigned surprise and shock at her crazy revelation.
“Yes, Victoria! Now you finally see the light! Thank God!”
“So what do we do? How do we get out alive? Can Fabiano help us?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m still here. I met up with him recently and he gave me something that could help us get out of this alive”
“What did he give you?”
She ran back to the bed before kneeling and extracting a purse from under the bed.
She proceeds to unzip the bag as I watch curiously and hope for her sake that it isn’t a gun.
She brings out two little things and walks back to where I stood.
“Take these”. She says in hushed tones as she takes my hand and drops two of them into my hand.
“What are these?”. I ask
“These are microphones. Don’t worry he won’t see them. They’re very minuscule and are created to be hidden in plain sight”
I look at them suspiciously before looking at her.
“What am I supposed to do with them?”
“Place one under his desk in his office and the other inside his room in an inconspicuous location”
“How am I going to do that without getting caught?”
“You’re a woman you should know how to do these things, Victoria! Think! Just try not to get caught or be too obvious. Alessandro’s best feature is his brain. He can sense things. Just slowly press down to turn it on”
I gulped at the weight of the task she was giving to me.
How does she think that I’ll do something like that?
“And after that?”
“Fabiano can then tap in after you press down and listen to his conversation and his plans and he will ruin them and save us. He’ll save your baby from a monster, Victoria”
Yeah, right. As if you care.
“Okay. I’ll do it”
“I know you can do it. Now go before Elena gets suspicious!”
I nodded and hastily walked out of the room concealing the equipment
I saw Sebastian coming out of Alessandro’s office and decided to do this now.
“Victoria? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am. I just need to see Alessandro for a while”
“Yeah, go on in. He’s right inside”
“Thank you”
He nodded and walked away before I took a deep breath and walked into his office.
He was flipping through the pages of a book while leisurely reclining in his seat.
“Alessandro?”
“Is anything the matter, Victoria?”
“No, but I need to speak to you about something. It’s important”
My nerves were all over the place as I rubbed my sweaty palms down my sweatpants.
“Are you ill? Is the baby okay?”
He closed the book giving me his undivided attention as he beckoned me closer.
I moved till I reached his side and looked at the serious look on his face.
I slowly produced the microphones and presented them to him.
He looked at it once and not a second longer as he looked back at me.
“Where did you get this from?”
“Jasmine gave them to me today”
“Why?”
“She told me that Fabiano said to install it in your office and your room so he can intercept your plans, save Jasmine from being killed by you and family and kill you for killing his brother”
I literally repeated everything Jasmine told me after which he didn’t say anything and just looked at me with hawk eyes.
Minutes had passed and he still didn’t say a word.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
No answer.
“I swear on my baby’s life, Alessandro. I’m not lying to you. I would not betray you”
He stood up abruptly and my anxiety kicked in.
“Alessandro, I’m not lying. You can search me if you want. I’m not hiding anything from you.”
I took a step back as he moved closer to me.
I tried to take another step back but his long legs gave him an advantage as he reached me in no time and instead of the beating I expected, I was engulfed in a hug.
Alessandro pulled me into his body and wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace.
I was stunned. Shocked even.
It felt oddly good hugging him since this was the first time that he was hugging me.
I breathed in his masculine scent and wrapped my arms around him tightly.
I didn’t feel wrong. It felt right.