Lorenzo's POV (The Incident with Nina)The rest of the day after I threatened Elara for coming back with a rich man is spent with me avoiding her. I lock myself in my office for the rest of the afternoon. My mind doesn’t let me rest, constantly dragging me back to thoughts of the petite, blue-eyed girl sitting just outside my office. For goodness' sake, what's wrong with me? Why can’t I stop thinking about her? Why does my enemy have to be attractive?Letting out a frustrated sigh, I pick up my phone and call Nicola—my best friend, who also works in the building.“Hey, boss. Everything okay?” His sharp, professional tone comes through the phone.I roll my eyes. Nicola and professionalism? Yeah, right. “Nicola, I need you to run Elara Walker's information through the system. I want everything you can find on her by tomorrow morning.”There’s a brief silence on the other end before the sound of his stupid, annoying chuckle meets my ears. Oh God, not now! Please!“Wow bro, you okay? This
Elara's POV Mr. Russo stares at me, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he's trying to place where he knows me from. “Do I know you?” he asks. I’d laugh if I wasn’t moments away from peeing my pants. A powerful man like him knowing someone as insignificant as me? No way. “No, sir, you don’t. I’m just… nobody. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get out of your way now,” I say quickly, already turning to leave. “Wait,” he calls. I freeze, clenching my fists and forcing a polite expression onto my face. I’m exhausted, and all I want is to run away from his grumpy son, but there’s no walking away from this either. Not when I’m face-to-face with a man like him. “Yes, sir?” “What are you doing here?” His gaze flickers to the private elevator I just exited. “You came from Lorenzo’s floor, didn’t you? Only people who work there have access to that lift.” “I—um, yes,” I stammer, unsure what to say. He’s Lorenzo’s father, after all. Shouldn’t he want to know who works in his son’s office? I would if
Lorenzo's POVI have been in a terrible mood ever since my father came into my office to tell me what he had said.Nicola looks at me again, twirling the liquor in his glass. “Are you sure you're okay, man? What did your father say again?”“You know how my conversations with him always end. I don't know why he doesn’t get the point. I’m not interested,” I say, running a hand through my hair as frustration claws at me.Nicola raises a brow. “Well, you should just end it once and for all, you know. Think of a way to get him off your back. I’m thinking sabotage.” He smirks.Now, what is this sly devil thinking? I’d love to know. Anything to make my father see Alexander Vitali as the devil he is. “So, what do you suggest?”He signals for me to come closer, and once I do, he whispers his plan in my ear. I smirk, understanding where he's getting at. “Nic, you're a bastardo, you know? How did your dumb brain come up with such a brilliant idea? This is great.”If I put this plan into action,
Elara's POVAfter trying for hours to get the door open, I finally give up and decide to sleep. It’s the only way I can escape the gnawing hunger and thirst.What I don’t expect is to wake up to my boss staring at my chest. What a pervert. Thank goodness I wasn't completely naked. Not like there's anything for him to see that will interest him. Men like him admire better things.I would have loved to give him a piece of my mind if the security guards weren’t standing before us with a man I don’t recognize. The man who locked me in. Who is he? And why would he lock me in here? It doesn’t make sense. “Peter, you better stop talking before I get to work on you,” Lorenzo’s voice cuts in, cold and commanding.“Mr. Russo, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it,” the man says hurriedly, his voice trembling. “The girl threatened to hurt me. She also promised to feed me for a week." he cries, falling to his knees before Lorenzo.My brow furrows. What girl? I think, but before I can dwell on it an
Elara's POVAs I stoop to arrange my bed, my eyes droop with exhaustion. The silence from behind causes me to turn around. Lorenzo still stands there, his eyes taking in the state of the tent. He looks genuinely worried, frozen in his thoughts, his gaze darting around uneasily as if the condition of my home has left him speechless."Mr. Russo, I think you should leave," I say, my voice steady. "A place like this is not good for someone like you."He snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes locking onto mine. There's a flash of something in his gaze—sympathy, maybe pity—but I can't stand the idea of him looking at me like that.“Elara, I—uh, I—" Lorenzo stammers.I roll my eyes. Why isn't he leaving? I really need to sleep. “Look, sir, I understand this place is stinky and all. You should leave. I'm fine. I'm home now, right? I'm going to sleep. Early in the morning, I'll get something to eat because I have nothing here. Then I'll come to the office. So please, the door is that way,” I tell
Elara's POVLorenzo stares at me incredulously for about five seconds before breaking into a low chuckle. "You can't be serious, right? How do you expect me to do this now? It's 3 a.m. already."I roll my eyes. "Guess you can't accommodate us all in your house, right? Good! Now please leave so I can sleep in peace."Lorenzo huffs, running his hands through his hair, causing the thick locks to fall across his face. He looks really intimidating in my small apartment, and I feel heat crawling up my skin. He should leave—I am not comfortable with his presence right now."Fine, who do I talk to among these people?" he asks, his eyes bored. "Who is their leader?"Wait a second, is he actually agreeing to take us to his house? "Wow, I didn't think you'd agree. Okay, let me go get him."He nods, and I run out of my tent toward the old man—Mr. George's tent. "George, George, wake up!" I call out, joggling him. He stirs slowly and pushes away my hand. "Leave me alone. I’m in heaven.""If heaven
Elara's POVThe room is brightly lit when I wake up, my vision slowly coming into focus. As I regain consciousness, I notice two figures in white moving around. An annoying beeping sound steadily creeps into my ears, worsening my headache. I reach up to touch the back of my head and feel a bandage. What happened?Then, the memories come rushing back—someone trying to hit Lorenzo, me pushing him out of the way, and taking the blow myself. But before that, Lorenzo had also been hit. Oh my God! I quickly open my eyes and sit up in bed, but two figures rush toward me. After a few seconds, I make out the doctor in his white coat and Lorenzo in a white shirt, a bandage wrapped around his head."You're awake. You gave us quite a scare, young lady. How are you feeling? Any pain?" the doctor asks, while Lorenzo stands silently behind him.After a few moments, the doctor finishes his examination and says, "Well, you seem all right. You can leave soon. I'll just get everything ready, and by noon
Lorenzo's POVWhenever I start thinking that the past has left me, it comes rushing back, dragging me down to the place I've been struggling to escape from.That old man who tried to hit me but ended up hitting Elara—he was one of them. One of the key figures who caused all this pain. One of the people responsible for turning me into the person I am today. Now, it feels like I’m back to square one.Seeing Elara’s bloodied head and her unconscious body nearly drove me mad. Thankfully, the rest of the crowd managed to restrain him, and my security team arrived just in time.The men on the scene didn’t like him much either, so it wasn’t long before they had him dragged away to one of my private holding cells, where he's going to regret ever hurting the woman I care—Wait, do I care about Elara? Well, maybe I do care about her a little bit—just as a friend. Okay, fine. I want her, and I’m trying to make up for the damage I’ve caused. Once this is all over, I’ll let her go if she refuses t