Chapter 3

Vincenzo.

She is different.

She is far from the girl I used to know.

The first time I saw Eva in that crappy orphanage, She was ten. She had a small form that made everyone bully her. During meals, other kids would easily take her share and she would stay hungry for days. Eva could not defend herself and unfortunately, no one gave a damn about the kid's welfare.

The management of that place were greedy bastards who took advantage of the resources the kids were supposed to benefit from.

I had witnessed how she was being treated and I felt bad. One day I went to talk to her and she appeared out of life. She was so weak and had already given up. She had a knife held on her wrist and if I arrived any second later, she would have died that day.

The next day, Eva saw me approach her and her beautiful blue eyes stared at me with fear. She thought I was there to hurt her like the rest of the kids did until I gave her my food. She didn't object but cautiously ate it.

She was hungry and frail. Watching her shaky hands struggle to lift the spoon to her mouth, I cried. I had never felt so emotional until I saw her that way. Who in their right senses just abandons their kids like that?

Since that day, I made sure when the food was served, she got hers and I waited until she was full before I could eat mine.

We became close, and she started opening up to me. Like me, she didn't know how she got herself at the orphanage, probably some idiot getting pregnant for the wrong person and deciding they didn't want the kid, so they dumped them.

Gradually, I found myself being pulled to her. I wanted to see her smile more often because she appeared magical in my eyes. My heart would beat so fast when I saw her or when she was next to me. I was extra protective of Eva and when a boy came close to her, my heart would clench in discomfort.

I fell in love with that girl.

It was a sad and unpromising world, but it gave me a reason to smile. It gave me something to look forward to every morning, and having her there with me made life in that place manageable.

I was eighteen and she was fourteen when I got out. I remember her tears, she was so scared that she would never see me again. She cried because I was her only friend and protector in there.

The only thing that made her let my hand go, was my promise. I was supposed to go back for her. Eva didn't care that I had nothing, she believed that as long as she was with me, she would be okay.

She still wears my necklace.

And then I met the real world. So harsh and unforgiving than I imagined. The sad part was, no one gave a damn about the hungry and homeless boy on the street. I had to toughen up to face life. I was worried for her. Each day that passed was harder than the previous one.

I had to do what I had, to give her a better life. Sadly, when I was in that position, she was nowhere to be found.

I don't know who took her and what she has been through but I know one thing, I am not letting her go. No matter who and what I have to face, she was mine then, now, and forever.

I watch as she takes a sip from her glass of champagne and gently places it back on the table. Her moves are delicate and refined. It is as if she was taught to behave in that particular manner.

Eva is a killer.

The way she killed those people without second-guessing, how perfect her target was, and her swiftness. She murdered two people in seconds and if I was not there, no one would have noticed.

Her glowing hair falls in waves down her waist and the little dress she wore, is completely a death trap to men. Unlike before, her skin looks radiant, proof that it is well taken care of. Her eyes though, became more sad and distant.

She has two rings on her fingers and long nails painted in red. The multiple diamond studs on each ear bring out her beauty. I was supposed to be the one to introduce and give her this life. This makes me think, Does she still feel the same way about me? Did someone replace me? Did Eva wait for me like she promised?

She offered me her virginity on my 18th birthday. She said if I took it, I wouldn't forget about her. But to prove my loyalty to her, I could not touch her. I promised to wait until she was of legal age.

I am the one who failed. The devastation of losing her made me sleep around a lot. I have done unimaginable things with women that I don't want to think of. She would never forgive me if she knew.

Where have my men been looking? It's like she entirely vanished from the face of the world.

"Baby, talk to me" I get up from my seat and kneel beside her. She was always a silent girl. She would rather stay by herself than have a conversation with anyone unless that person was me.

Eva lifts her face from her phone and stares at me. Her eyes are so blank, they don't give out anything and this makes me sigh sadly. No day passes without me thinking about her. I see her in my dreams, every woman I fuck, it's Eva's face I see.

She has my soul in her palms.

"It's late, and past my bedtime" She mutters, shifting her gaze from me and back to her phone. The words are the last thing I hoped to hear from her. I expected her to ask me questions, tell me that she hates me, or fight me like like she did earlier but, no.

With a sigh, I grab my mask and put it on. I am living a double life. Leone Hotels is a cooperation that idiot of a father left me. It creates a good cover to take care of my shit. I just can't rely on something that never saved my childhood.

I wanted to make something for myself, and the only way I knew. The world has only taught me to be cruel anyway, and I will never change that.

" Come on" I give her my hand but she ignores it and walks toward the door instead. My men already took care of the mess she created and I'm yet to find out who sent her.

I want to know the person who took Eva's innocence from her.