Chapter 143
ALESSANDRO’S POV
I might be going insane, or maybe I really do have a problem, because after Nikolai’s words, after that goddamn suggestion that I marry Lesh for my reputation, I just sat there and watched him.
Watched his lips part like he wanted to defend himself, explain it away, take it back but nothing came out.
Not a single fucking word.
After I snapped. After I challenged him. After I asked him to say it to my face.
Nothing.
Everything was already ruined.
“Let me back“, I stood up abruptly, the chair scraping back across the floor loud enough to turn heads if anyone had been listening. My pulse was roaring in my ears and I didn’t give a damn. I really needed a cigarette, calm down before the whole date gets ruined. I wanted space from
him for a moment.
I didn’t wait for him to respond. I turned and walked out with my jaw clenched.
The second I stepped out into the cooler air, I pulled a cigarette from my coat and lit it with the kind of desperation I hated admitting I had.
One drag.
Two.
The smoke filled my lungs, bitter and grounding. But it didn’t fix the ache in my chest.
The ache he put there.
He thought he ruined the night. But the truth was, I did. With my temper. My pride. My fucking obsession with control.
I leaned back against the cold wall outside the restaurant, exhaling hard. All I wanted was for him to see it see me and stop running but the dominating side of me took over.
I now had to walk away. Because if I stayed in there one second longer……I was going to say or do something that would hurt him more than I already had.
I dragged in another breath of smoke, exhaled slowly through my nose, trying to steady the burn in my chest.
And then…. my phone vibrated sharply in my pocket.
I pulled it out with a muttered curse, expecting some meaningless alert I could ignore. But the name glowing on the screen made my spine
stiffen.
Eleonora. My mother. Of all the people.
I hesitated for a second before answering with my jaw tight.
“Alessandro, do you know how humiliating that is for us?” she started, her voice immediately cutting and sharp. Before I could say anything, she added immediately.
“Do you have any idea how sick your father is because of you?” she shouted, venom curling in every word. “Did you have any heart at all?”
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Chapter 143
“I kept quiet when you brought that boy back in your house and now you have decided to go with him on the date, Her voice cracked.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning my back harder into the cold brick behind me. My cigarette hurned hetween my fingers was forgotten.
I wasn’t in the mood. Not tonight. Not after everything with Nikolai. Not after nearly ruining it again.
If this is why you called, I don’t have time for your sanctimonious bullshit mum,‘ I said flatly, my voice devoid of warmth
She fell silent on the other end, but I could feel it, like a second heartbeat pulsing in the line, her rage, bottled behind clenched teeth and pride.
“You have decised to flaunt your filthy little fling in our faces,” she said finally, spitting each word like it tasted like acid in her mouth. “You haven’t yet divorced him because you think you’re in love, Alessandro? That thing with Nikolai, it’s a phase. You need to end it. Now. Or I won’t be…
“What will you do?“,
The words snapped out of me before I could stop myself. My anger was already too much.
She paused. I knew she hadn’t expected me to use that voice. The one I reserved for threats I meant.
“What I do with my life, with whom I choose, is none of your fucking business,” I said coldly.
“And if you ever bring his name into your plans again, I will burn whatever leverage you think you have left over me to ash.”
“Alessandro-*
“Nikolai has nothing to do with you,” I continued, cutting her off without mercy. “I love him. I chose him. You don’t get a say in that. Not anymore.”
“You…” She stuttered, voice wavering for the first time. “You’re speaking to me like…”
“Like someone who refused to understand that love isn’t forced“, I cut her off immediately. “You…” She stuttered, in a shocked tone. “Speaking to me, your mother like this, do you have no heart?”
“But Alessandro you know your father’s health and I isn’t good, you really need to marry Leah please“,
There it was again, that quiet manipulation, wrapped in concern, soaked in guilt.
I stared down at the ground, the cigarette now burning low between my fingers, barely held. The cherry flared in the breeze.
“I’m not your bargaining chip,” I said quietly.
“I want to assure you, you going to divorce him so soon. Does he even know what you finally did to his parents?” She pondered noisily. “I’m suggesting not since he hasn’t run away yet.” She proudly added.
“Don’t ever..“, I started but she cut me off immediately.
“He is going to hate you once he gets to know it and you will lose him“,
She hung up before I could respond.
For a moment, I just stood there, staring down at the dead phone in my hand. My cigarette had burned out and I was totally speechless.
I want everything to work out with Nikolai but I still have many dark secrets.
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Chapter 143
After everything, Nikolai is either going to run away, and take a swing at me again, or he’s going to sit and want to hear what I have to say, either way, for the first time in a long time, I was nervous about the outcome.
I pulled in a shallow breath, ran a hand through my hair, and looked back toward the restaurant.
There was no way I could face him like this. Not after everything.
I opened my phone and dialed.
“Antonio,” I said, once the line picked up. “Come and drive Nikolai
to
me, I hung up before he could say anything.
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