Page 28 of Sworn to My Heart
I have to detach myself from her until I could get the answers and deal with her as my role dictates.
“Until we have answers, you stay away from her. Don’t inform Cora about this, but you must forbid her from contacting Alin.Make up any excuse you could think of. If Alin reaches out to her, she must report everything she says and does to you. Is that clear?” I command in a harsh tone, a storm raging in my head.
I knew she was trouble, but I didn’t realize just how much.
How can I deal with her as a traitor? I’ll need to erase every trace of her from my mind to see the big picture clearly. I let my guard down too quickly.
“You don’t think she’s the woman who’s been seen with Stas recently, do you?” Mariano suddenly asks, adding yet another layer to our growing fears.
“Mariano, I don’t like information without proof. Mobilize all your informants and Pedro’s too. I don’t care who, how many, or how. I want answers, and I want them fast,” Idemand, feeling like steam is about to come out of my ears.Alin, Alin, Alin, who the hell are you?
I’m going to make the Russians pay. They’re going to take a serious hit. If Alin is involved in this, she and Stas are going to be buried together. My heart feels like it’s about to explode in my chest.
She was supposed to just be for my entertainment anyway. There’s a reason I don’t get involved in all that marriage and relationship crap.
Marianois beside me, sending messages and canceling the people we had out for today. It’s not the right time; we have things to verify first.
“Alright, I’ve taken care of everything. We’ll verify the details sooner or later. In the meantime, there’s one thing we can do right now,” he says, and I look at him questioningly.
“Drink, brother. I need a drink,” he sighs, and I start the car while he calls Cora, coming up with a good enough excuse to keep her away from Alin. He’s right, we both need a drink.
Alin
Two weeks have passed since the conversation with Luca, and I’m still sleeping in the guest room, even though Luca wasn’t pleased with this arrangement at first. After that night, he disappeared for two days, and when he returned, he assumed the persona of a cold, threatening monster, devoid of any trace of humanity.
He checks on me occasionally, but his gaze portrays no emotion. It seems he’s only verifying that I still have a pulse.
Living with Luca in his apartment makes me feel lonelier and more hurt than ever. I lie in my bed in the guest room, my thoughts drifting back to that day in his office. His touch ignites every part of me, his gaze mesmerizes me, and the image of his perfect body, etched in my mind, reawakens a longing in me. I chastise myself as the realization hits me: I have deeper feelings for him than just desire.
I want him by my side now, more than ever, and I feel hurt that he’s abandoned me like a child losing interest in a toy he’s forced to keep.
I could never understand their world. It’s much bloodier than it is rosy. But none of it scares me, and it doesn’t seem to scare him either. So why is he distancing himself from me?
I haven’t spoken to Cora much over these last two weeks. I’vesecluded myself in the apartment, even though I remember Luca explicitly mentioning that I could go out as long as I’m guarded.
I have no desire to go out, and I don’t want to encounter Cora until I can sort out my thoughts and figure out my next move.
I don’t feel any hatred toward her, nor anger for keeping things from me, but I need my time to process all the information Luca gave me, without hearing her side. That way, I can decide what’s right for me without her opinion influencing my decision to stay or leave.
I feel selfish for leaving her alone in her situation. She probably thinks I hate her right now, but I needed to make sure I’m staying in New York and not planning an escape.
I decide it’s finally time to talk to her and leave my room. It’s at the beginning of the hallway on the third floor. I look towards the direction of Luca’s bedroom at the end of the hall. The door is open and there’s a light inside. I get excited, quickly walk toward his room, and peek inside.
Disappointment washes over me when I realize I just missed him. His room is empty, but his familiar scent lingers in the air. I open the door wide and wander around his room. His scent is so strong here that I regret not accepting his initial request to sleep here with him.
His room looks just like Mariano and Cora’s, only with different colors: black, red, and white, giving off a feeling of loneliness and coldness when no one is around. Both apartments have the same layout but decorated with different tastes and colors.
The cleaner and the cook doesn’t stay here most of the day. They come to do their work, finish quickly, and leave before Luca returns. I learned from them that they live in the staff quarters on one of the lower floors of the building.
I continue to scan his room, which screams cold, minimalist modernity. I pass by his perfectly made, enormous bed and lookat a few family photos on the nightstand, one of which shows him as a child.
If I couldn’t see his gray eyes clearly, I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was him or Mariano. They lookso alike.
My eyes land on another photo, of a tall, tanned woman with blonde hair and light-colored eyes. Her eye shape and color remind me of Luca’s, and it’s not hard to guess that she’s probably his mother. She’s beautiful, I think to myself, as I run my hand over Luca’s bed. The black sheets are neat and clean, The cleaner leaves no trace of human life in the room.
I leave his room a bit disappointed and decide to call Cora. She answers almost immediately. “Alin?” she asks hesitantly.
“The one and only,” I try to sound confident but fail, my voice shaking with embarrassment.
