Chapter 95
Ariel
It was another chill morning for me to experience different kinds of emotions while everyone went about their day peacefully. The worst part was that I couldn’t follow Dmitri around as I wanted.
His work was just too violent and unsafe and we couldn’t tell the next enemy who’d waylay us and use me as bait.
The drama playing on the television was too chaotic for me to follow so I turned it off flippantly in a bid to head out. Maybe take a stroll or stop by Cake Treats.
The doorbell rang twice and I abandoned my initial plans, hurrying off to get to the door. I placed my eye on the peephole and my heart skipped a beat.
Overcome with trepidation, I dashed back to the sofa to get my phone to inform Dmitri about Chiara’s visit, unfortunately he wasn’t reachable.
Back in Chicago, we had a safe house where we’d hide if anyone was in danger, but I couldn’t make assumptions and raise an alarm when I wasn’t sure of her identity.
At least she was here, and I’d get the opportunity to get answers to all my questions.
Peace spread around my heart as my fingers went around the metallic knob, pushing the door open, but I was met with a cold smile that didn’t reach her eyes- those eyes used to be grey, now they were dark brown, just like Liora’s.
Her hair wasn’t the blonde color I knew it to be, instead, it was the shade of a chestnut tree, just like I’d seen in the picture that Dmitri tore into shreds.
Wait a freaking minute, had she been pretending to be Chiara when she was truly Anya?
Her lips curled into a cynical smirk as she brushed past me into the living room, plopping down lousily on the same chair I’d just gotten up from.
She crossed her legs and her brown eyes flitted around the big room. “It’s been a very long while. This house hasn’t changed at all. That’s very much like Dmitri, keeping things spick and span,”
I was tongue-tied for a second as I shut the door gently and my feet dragged along the tiled floor as I calculated the distance between where I stood and my phone.
A shiver ran down my spine and my chest constricted, but there was no way I’d let her know I felt threatened by her presence so I cleared my throat and tucked my hands into the pocket of my denim shorts.
“It’s been a while, Chiara. I’m yet to properly thank you for saving me that day,”
Her eyes swept through me in a surly gaze and she sat up squarely. “I’m sure you have figured out why I’m here,” Her tone was aloof and passive I began to wonder if she was the Chiara I knew.
Acting ignorant in the face of trouble has always helped me get a clearer front and I wish it would help me right now.
“To visit me, duh… What else?” I laughed and bounced on the chair. “How did you even get my house address?”
“Because this is my fucking house, dammit! Stop acting ignorant or I might just kill you before Dmitri returns,” She yelled and I shifted to the edge of the chair, hoping that Liora wouldn’t take a step out of her room.
She was usually inquisitive at the wrong time.
I tossed my ignorant mask aside and sprung to my feet, meeting her glare steadily. “Your house? I thought you were dead, why did you suddenly return to cause us problems?”
The glare on her face faltered and a smile spread on her face once more as she strolled around the living room while I followed her carefully. “Because I felt like it, dummy and it pleased me to mess with y’all like that,”
I scoffed. “You’re bat shit crazy, Chiara. I want you to leave my house right now,”
She spun around and pulled out a gun from the waistband of her baggy pants, aiming it at me. “You know I said I might kill you before Dmitri returns, and you’re really tempting me, but I won’t do it,”
“Why?” I asked breathily, trying very hard to remain calm though I was hyperventilating.
The muzzle of her gun connected with my forehead, pushing me down the chair as beads of sweat cascaded down my face. “You’ll know soon,” She grinned smugly and hit the back of my head hard with the butt of her gun.
Stars burst through my eyelids as I crashed on the sofa, bereft of energy. And then I felt my body being lifted into the air while I slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
****
I struggled to open my eyes as each attempt was accompanied by a sharp ache stabbing the back of my head. My hands trailed to my stomach instinctively and gradually I was able to gather my thoughts.
The door creaked with the hinges carrying an ear-piercing sound when it was pushed open and my attempt to stand up proved futile. Then I realized that my feet had been bound with a strong cord that I couldn’t easily untie.
“Hello, Ariel,” She drawled in a mocking voice, “How was your beauty sleep?”
Thank the heavens my hands weren’t tied so I straightened my disheveled hair and my eyes were locked on Dmitri who darted his gaze from me to Anya.
The scowl on his face was scary enough to put any sane person on a sprint, but Anya couldn’t be counted as sane, instead, she stood up and advanced toward him, in slow seductive strides.
“What are you doing here?” He asked through gritted teeth.
She flipped her hair nonchalantly, caressing his neck. Jealousy boiled within me, but I couldn’t even do anything for the safety of my baby.
She sighed and her lips brushed against his. “I’ve missed you and our daughter so much,”
He shoved her hands off and steered in my direction, but the loud shot fired from her gun stopped him halfway.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,”
Dmitri whipped her a deep glare. “Don’t you dare threaten me, Anya. I’m no longer the man you were in love with,”
“I know that, but I’m still in love with you,” She cooed. “My heart still burns for you and I wish you could give me another chance. No- you are going to create a space in your life because you have no choice,”
She was very delusional to think that she could she could maneuver her way into his life again.
“Get out of my house this minute,” He thundered and hurried toward me.
“I warned you not to try that, Dmitri. If you don’t want her to be electrocuted to death, you’ll do as I say,”
Fear gripped me as I searched for any material around me that could conduct electricity, but I found none. She chuckled and flashed a remote at me.
“Your legs aren’t bound with ordinary ropes, sweetheart. That’s some good electric cord right there. All I need to set up the voltage to 200 and you’ll be dead gone,”
I gaped at my leg, my breathing bursting out in shallow pumps while I worked on untying my feet, but the harder I tried, the deeper the rope cut into my skin. The blood flow around my legs was cut off and they felt numb at my touch so I quit trying.
“Stop this, Chiara, please,” I croaked.
Dmitri faced her, balling his fingers into a fist. “What have you done to her?”
“You’ll find out soon if you don’t follow my orders. We don’t have to do this, baby. Just come back to me and everything will be alright,”
“I’m never doing that,” He growled.
A sharp pain tore through my abdomen, causing me to wince silently. My position was so uncomfortable and deep down, I hoped that it wouldn’t lead to miscarriage.
If I ever survived today, I’d leave Seattle and join Guilia in Paris. I was so tired of getting caught in Dmitri’s unfinished battles and it was annoying that our innocent daughter had to be dragged along into it.
“Never say never, honey. You promised never to be with another woman that night I was shot, but there you were, fucking a woman four years later. You even began to wear a mask because of the promise you made to me, but this bitch came along and changed everything,” Her nostrils flared in anger while she fixed a scowl at me. “If you could sleep with Margaret that easily, what makes you think that coming back to me will be hard?”
“You’re talking bullshit, Anya,”
“Am I?” She furrowed her brows. “You slept with my spy in a one-night stand, what makes you think you are so strong and immune to me?”
Dmitri and I exchanged glances in realization and then he muttered. “Are you the Boss?”