by A. Marie
Avelina couldn't help herself from walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his abdomen. "One-hundred percent."
His arms circled her as he pulled her in closer. "I am truly sorry, Avelina.”
"I don't know if I'm stupid or if there is something wrong with me, but I can't hate you. Every cell in my body tells me to forgive you because I know that you didn't harm my family, and I can't hold you accountable for what your sister did. What I can hold you accountable for is using me to get to my brother. That's what hurts me emotionally," her eyes began to water. "Because I would never even think about using you."
"I understand.”
Avelina pulled away from the hug and nodded her head. She was at peace with Adrik’s answer, it took some of the burden off of her.
"My intention was never to hurt you emotionally. Every possibility that I strategically planned out always ended with you leaving," Adrik explained.
Avelina sat down on her couch, watching as Adrik joined her. "If I told you that I would've stayed you told me the truth instead of Johnathan, would you believe me?"
Her voice cracked with almost every word. Avelina was begging her body not to cry, she was so tired of crying. She was never one to be overly emotional, but there she was, preparing to let her emotions take control once again.
"I will always believe you.”
She moved over to be closer to him. Her arm wrapped around him as her cheek planted itself on his chest. His heartbeat was pounding in her ear, calmness settled within her.
"I just want to forget right now. I want to forget that I'm going back to Brazil. I want to forget all of the family drama and the secrets. I just want to be right here with you, even if it only lasts for a few moments,” Avelina murmured, “A few moments with you will always feel like forever.”
His hand rubbed up and down her spine soothingly.
It didn't take long for her eyes to shut as the sensations overcame her. She allowed herself to curl up at Adrik’s side.
The room that was once cold was now so warm. It was warm because Adrik was there, holding her.
Silence overcame them. It was such a comfortable silence that Avelina never wanted to end. The silence helped quiet the loud thoughts in her head that had been speaking since the very beginning.
"I love you, Adrik," she whispered sadly.
His hand on her back had froze. She glanced up at his beautiful face only to see his shut eyelids. He must've felt her gaze because he opened his eyes and gleamed down at her.
Before he could say anything, she leaned up and kissed his lips. Her leg immediately placed itself on either side of his, leaving her in a straddling position. His firm, muscular arm snaked around her waist before pulling her into a tighter embrace.
Her lips fought his for dominance that he easily won. She reached down for the hem of his white T-shirt before lifting it off his body. It was instinctive the way her hands reached for his skin just to feel the warmth underneath her fingertips.
"I need you so bad," Avelina let out desperately as she ground her hips against Adrik's.
He let out a moan of approval as her hand came down to stroke him through his pants. He gripped the nape of her neck to deepen the kiss. Avelina pushed him down onto the couch with a hungry expression on her face. His shirtless body on full display. She wanted to take her time and enjoy him.
Avelina kissed his neck, all while stroking him. She loved how hard she made him and how he managed to grow even larger in her hand. When his hand crept down to her panties, she began to quiver under his touch.
He pressed up against her core and began to rub up and down. The manipulations it was doing to her body drove her insane as she began to move her hips with his finger.
Not only was Adrik rubbing her slit, but she was also grinding against his length, which only added to the pleasure she was receiving. Sadly, the moment didn't last long before her phone began to ring.
When she tried to pull away to reach for it, Adrik dragged her right back. A giggle escaped her before he reclaimed her lips. She knotted her fingers in his hair to deepen the kiss with a smile on her face. It wasn't until her phone began to ring for the second time in a row that Adrik finally released her.
Avelina got up to locate her phone before realizing that she threw it across the room earlier. She then walked over to the now cracked device and picked it up.
Her brows began to pull together at the sight of the name that popped up on her phone—Miss Paola.
"Hello?" Avelina picked up.
"I need you to get here now," Miss Paola stated.
"What? Wh-"
Before she could fully get her sentence out, the phone hung up. She glanced over at Adrik curiously only to see that he had already been looking at her.
"Uh, I have to go," Avelina muttered, her voice coming off as confused.
His brow rose when she set her phone down on the table. She noticed the cringed expression on Adrik's face at the sight of her phone.
"Don't make that face. I threw it out of frustration," Avelina let out pointedly.
"Why do you have to leave?"
"Miss Paola. She called me, and it seemed urgent.”
Adrik nodded his head before standing up from the couch. "I can take you to her.”
"Uh, thank you,” she smiled, “come on, let’s go."
They walked out of her home and towards a beautiful black Ferrari. Her jaw dropped instantly.
Adrik opened the passenger side door, leaving the door to fly up open. Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared at it. Even a child on a bike riding down the sidewalk stopped to gape at the car in shock.
"Woah. When did you get this?" Avelina asked him.
"Exactly two-hundred and thirty-two days ago. I bought two because I wanted one in white with a red interior.”
"You bought two? How many cars do you have?"
"I have thirty-seven cars," Adrik answered as if he were doing something as simple as complimenting the weather.
Adrik pointed towards the passenger seat impatiently. She quickly took the hint and slid into the car before watching the door slide down into its spot.
After he got into the driver's side, Adrik started up the car, and they roared off down the road.
-
"Call me if you need me to take you home," Adrik informed her.
She smiled at him before pecking his cheek softly. When Avelina pulled away, she opened the car door and got out.
The walk into the hotel seemed so natural because she had gone to take care of Miss Paola numerous times. Avelina didn't even need to say a word to the receptionist as she walked over to the elevator.
Jones, the elevator operator, looked shocked to see her. A smile made its way onto his face as she stepped onto the elevator. "Miss Santos, what brings you here?"
"I came to check up on Miss Paola. How is Alexa and Dani doing?" Avelina asked as she thought back to his children.
He smiled at her serenely before pressing the level to Miss Paola's floor. "Good. They're back in school. I miss them already.”
"You must be really proud.”
"Most certainly,” Mister jones smiled, “How have you been? I haven't seen you in about three months.”
She let out a sigh just as the elevator finally began to move. "I'm okay. I've had a rough past few days, but I'm getting better.”
"You can't keep being too caring to everyone, Miss Santos. You're only going to ever be a small grateful thought in that person’s mind for a day or two," Mister Jones explained.
She tried to process his words. Confusion took over her features as she attempted to process what he was telling her. Suddenly, the elevator doors dinged, alerting her that she was at her destination. As soon as the doors split apart, Avelina stepped out of the elevator.
Mister Jones waved just as the elevator doors slid closed. "Bye, Miss Santos!"
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it as she stared at the elevator doors.
Walking
down the hallway, she hurriedly knocked on Miss Paola's door. Time was ticking by, and it was taking forever for Miss Paola to do something as simple as opening the door. Worry quickly added perspiration to her skin as she brought her fist up to pound on the door once more.
"Miss Paola!"
Suddenly, the door pulled open to a smiling Miss Paola. Avelina didn't think the woman ever smiled. Now, there she was, smiling as if she had just seen the best-looking guy in the world.
"I have just seen the best-looking guy in the world!" Miss Paola let out happily.
Miss Paola looked like she wanted to squeal out in happiness as Avelina stepped into the house.
"You called me over here just to tell me that?"
"No. I called you over here because he says he knows you," Miss Paola chuckled, "you didn't think to tell me about him? If you two used to mess with each other, I'm not sorry to tell you that I won't back off. You can have one of my ex's if you want—they're rich and probably dead."
"Who?"
“Well, there is Jeffery. He is so rich, but he has a small pe-”
“No, who is here?” Avelina asked.
She didn’t bother waiting for Miss Paola’s answer because she walked into her home. Her eyes were in a frenzy as they tried to hunt down the man Miss Paola was referring to. The moment she looked over at the couch to see Vincent, her heart dropped in a pit of guilt.
"Avelina," Vincent let out. "As my sister, I have to protect you. So, I must ask, what do you think you're doing messing around with that Russian again?"
"What goes on between Adrik and I has nothing to do with you.”
"That's where you're wrong. It has everything to do with me. After all that I've told you about the wrong in their family, you really think you can just go and betray us—me, grandma, mama, and papa?" He questioned with anger smeared all over his face.
"Adrik wasn't the one that convinced you to steal from a mafia! A mafia! What do you expect for them to do to our family, huh? You expected them to hug us and tell us that everything will be okay?"
He seemed hurt by her statement—she saw it all over his face. Culpability was trying to carve itself into her heart, but her anger wasn't allowing it to. She had enough of being told what to do. She had enough of continuously fearing the feelings of others.
"I'm not betraying any of you. Unless you can tell me that Adrik has harmed my family or me in any way, then I will never hate him for something that his sister did. I'm sure you've harmed and hurt people, and I know that I would hate it if they used what you did against me! It would be hypocritical and unfair for me to do that to Adrik. It's not fair!" She exclaimed.
"You know what? You'll see for yourself. Zolotov's only use you to get what they want and then just like that," he snapped his fingers, "they're gone."
"Adrik isn't Natasha.”
"And you know this based on the three little months that you've spent with him?" Vincent asked her.
"That's three months longer than I've known you."
"You'll see.”
Avelina watched him turn towards Miss Paola, who was sitting on the couch, watching the scene unfold in front of her.
"Goodbye, Paola. Thank you for allowing me to stop by and have a word with my sister," he smiled at her kindly.
She gave him a hard wink in response. "Stop by anytime you want, handsome. You know where I live."
He gave her a tight-lipped smile before hurrying out of her penthouse as if his life depended on it.
The second he was gone, Avelina let out a loud exhale and threw herself down on the couch. Her hand had risen to her head as she began to rub it with the pads of her thumb and index finger.
"I have no clue what just happened,” Miss Paola muttered, “My first question is, why did you never think to tell me that you have a brother—a fine brother?"
Avelina couldn't help her irritation from hitting a world-record peak. It crept up on her before she had a chance to stop it. "I don't want to talk about this. I'm sorry.”
Miss Paola let out a sigh before getting up from the couch. She walked over to a record player and reached for a vinyl record. Avelina could only watch the woman place the record onto the player and move the tone-arm over it.
"What are y-"
"Shh, child," Miss Paola spoke just as the soft, rich music began to shuffle onto her ears. “Music always helps the soul open up.”
It was a beautiful sound—a hint of jazz, maybe. The song sent a vibration right to the center of Avelina's heart, and it was warming.
"Dance with me, and you can talk when you are ready," Miss Paola commanded.
Avelina stood up and grasped the woman's arms before dancing with her around the room. A laugh escaped her as she spun the woman. Their bodies danced to the slow sound of music that withheld so much soul.
"Tell me. What's wrong?" Miss Paola asked as they continued to move with the music.
A frown eased upon Avelina's face, but she still managed to continue dancing despite her sadness. "My—whatever he is—has a sister who has done something terrible to me and my brother. Of course, he never told me about any of this. So, it hurt me for a while, but I guess my big heart couldn't stand being mad for too long because I opened my arms—"
"And legs! I bet you opened them arms and them legs, girl. It's okay, and I get it. If I had a freaky little Russian, I'd spread my legs so far that my old ass would be doing the splits,” Miss Paola chuckled, “Gon' on ahead and tell me the rest of the story.”
A smile quickly coated Avelina's lips as she shook her head. Even a small blush made its appearance at the memories that were leaping over each other in her mind.
"Anyways, my brother is mad at me for going back to my guy. Keep in mind that I only met my brother a few days ago. It isn't like he's been in my life forever," Avelina finished.
“Oh. Yikes. Well, it sounds to me that you've chosen the Russian.”
Avelina quickly shook her head as she gently pried away their dance. "I don't want to choose between family and someone I love. So, I'm just leaving it all behind. I'm going back home to Brazil, and I'm leaving all this drama behind me.”
"You can't just run away from your problems and expect that everything will just go away. The love you have for that man won't disappear. And if he loves you even half as much as I can see you love him, he would let you leave, but he will never let you go," Miss Paola advised.
Avelina processed her words as her eyes began to get glassy. "I don't want to ever let him go."
"Do what you want to do, Avelina. Don't do what you think is right but do what you feel will make you happy."
"I—"
Avelina could feel a tightening in her stomach. It was a feeling she knew all too well. She quickly raced over to the nearest faucet and let everything come up. Miss Paola promptly joined her and reached for the young girl's hair.
She spent long moments letting out all of her vomit before rinsing her mouth out.
"Aw, honey, don't tell me that you're pregnant."
"I can't be preg—"
She thought back to every time she was with Adrik. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers when she realized they almost never wore protection. She couldn’t be, could she?
-
Adrik was called to his office. As much as he didn't feel like going to work, he still went. Zaria had said he needed to get there immediately because it was urgent.
It didn't take long for him to arrive. Flashes of lights and calls from reporters attacked him the moment he stepped out of his vehicle. He hated every moment of it.
His guards walked Adrik into the building, where everyone delivered their nod of respect towards him.
He entered his elevator and traveled up to his office.
From the moment he walked into the room, he wanted to release all of his pent up anger and disgust. Vincent.
"Adrik Zolotov," Vincent let out.
Adrik rolled his eyes before sitting down in his office chair. Vincent wasn't slow to sit down on t
he small chair sitting in front of Adrik's desk.
There was a silence that overwhelmed them. Tension was high as hatred poured around them.
"Can I help you?"
"You lost Natasha," Vincent spoke.
Adrik knew what Vincent was attempting to do. Vincent was entirely predictable with the way he planned his threats.
With clenched fists, Adrik gleamed down at his desk. "Say what you have to say and then leave, boy."
"I know where she is. I have my men watching her every second at this very moment. All I have to do is give one little call and say the words 'shoot', and just like that, poof! She's dead.”
"Get out," Adrik ordered.
Vincent pulled out his phone and pushed it over to Adrik. It was displaying a video. Adrik could see his sister walking into a hotel before glancing over her shoulder.
The moment the video ended, Vincent picked up his phone and then slid it back into his pocket.
"My sister is naïve, and she believes that you actually love her. I keep telling her and telling her that you're a Zolotov. When does the Zolotov's ever love anyone but themselves?" Vincent asked, his brow raising.
A mischievous smile took over Vincent’s face as he looked at Adrik. "To prove that, I'm going to give you a choice here."
"No."
"You get to choose who you love more—my sister or your sister. If you choose Avelina, Natasha is dead. If you choose Natasha, you will leave Avelina alone and never speak to her again," Vincent threatened. "I promise that once your decision is made, I will no longer bother Natasha ever again. As long as you leave my family alone, I will leave yours alone."
"I love Avelina," Adrik stated behind clenched teeth.
"Then, choose her!" Vincent laughed methodically.
"I can't do that."
"Then choose Natasha. It's simple, really," Vincent stated.
Adrik's hand began to shake, and he had to grasp a pen to stop it. There were so many things going on in Adrik's mind and how badly he wanted to whip out a gun just to kill Vincent, but he loved Avelina too much to do that.
"You know what I can do to you, Vincent. Are you sure you want to proceed with your threats?"