Chapter 21: The nightmare

***

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT TO HER! YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST WAITED TILL SHE WAS LEGAL AND READY! SHE IS JUST A CHILD!" Antonio barged into Alessandro's office later that afternoon.

"What the fuck are you on about?" Alessandro said in a tired tone.

He was indulged in his work and couldn't bother with petty accusations. He had four meetings in a row and now he was drafting the deal which needed his utmost attention.

When he didn't hear a reply, he sighed and looked up. Dropping his pen, he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Antonio was fuming red, he resembled a bull ready to charge.

Alessandro raised an eyebrow.

It wasn't easy to get his younger brother riled up. He was the calmest of them all well except if anyone messed up with his Computer algorithm.

"I can't believe this happened. Why? How? The fuck! Did you atleast give her aspirin after wards? And protection? Both of you used contraceptive right? She can't get pregnant. The maternal mortality rate is high among teen pregnancy. I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO BE AN UNCLE SO SOON! Have you consulteician? Both of you should have waited for atleast a few years. Even contraceptives aren't 100 percent guaranteed. She should have had the morning after pill. Padre will tie you in a shotgun marriage if you get a girl pregnant before marriage. Remember the loyalty law in our family. You are tied to only one woman after marriage. We don't believe in divorce! She wouldn't be ready for wedding. Which 15 year old would!?!? You messed up big this time!"

Antonio paced around the office, running his hand over his bird nest of hair every two seconds.

Alessandro didn't get what he said. He was muttering incoherent words. The only thing he got was 'contraceptive' 'marriage' and 'pregnancy'

"Who the fuck got pregnant?"

"SERENITY!"

Alessandro didn't register what happened but as soon as he heard the word. He had slammed Antonio on his table, holding him down by the nape of his neck. Antonio winced and groaned at the impact. That escalated quiet quicker that he was caught off guard.

"Care to repeat what you said." Alessandro warned in a dangerously low voice.

"The fuck's your fault. You shouldn't have slept with her." He groaned out.

Half of his face was planted against the hard wood but Antonio didn't resist the force. He knew to be careful when Alessandro lose his calm.

"I did not fucking sleep with her! How the fuck would she get pregnant?" He thundered.

"Wait! You didn't?" Antonio stilled.

Alessandro pulled his up by the nape of his neck and throw him on the ground.

"What the fuck! Why did she lie to me then..." he gasped again and looked up,

"What the fuck did you guys do last night?" He yelled.

Alessandro was fuming but he barely managed to stifled it down. He knew his stupid ass brother must have misunderstood something but the fact of even imagining Serenity with another man made him want to burn the world down and tear that bastard limb by limb.

He took a sharp breath in and pinched the bridge of his nose, "We fucking went out to get her fucking ice cream and solved her Calculus assignment in my study."

"What the-" Antonio was dumbfounded. His mouth parted to say something but nothing came out. It was too much of a shock.

"Now explain Antonio or God forbid what I do to you."

He quickly stood up and dusted the back of his pants and cringe nervously.

"Well- uh. I misunderstood the situation and thought you guys hooked up. Now that I know what's going on- BYE!"

Antonio ran out of the room like his ass is on fire.

Alessandro shook his head in disbelief.

***

"Sir, Ms Springton is here." Jimmy announced at the door.

Alessandro nodded and told him to let her in.

She strolled in and threw her sling bag on a nearby chair before flopping herself on the couch.

"Hey Jimmy, be a darling and get me some hot coffee with a shot of rum."

"Yes Miss." Jimmu excused himself out of the room.

"I need to talk to you." Alessandro said. Be got up from his seat and walked over to the single seater.

"I am not speaking until I get my coffee Vitali."

Athena crossed her legs and laid her head back on the back rest of the couch. She closed her eyes.

"This is not a fucking joke Athena."

"Neither am I." a slight smirk tugged up at the corner of her lips.

Alessandro let out a frustrated groan and picked up the land line, dialing Jimmy.

"Get her Goddamn coffee in two minutes!"

He glared at her relaxed posture and forced himself to calm down.

The next minute Jimmy rushed inside with the tall cup.

Athena leisurely took a sip and looked at him, "You can start "

"I had the nightmare last night."

Athena froze for a second and nodded.

"What did you see?"

Alessandro shot up from his seat and paced the floor.

He continously ran his hand over his hair

"Darkness, Baby cries and her."

" Anything you remembered about her."

" Dark brown eyes and...I heard the sound of heels, stilettos to be exact."

"You remembered the first day then, she never wore Stilettos after that."

Alessandro's vulnerability slipped for a second, "Why me? Why can't I fucking remember all of it? "

He stared at her, pained

Athena rolled her eyes.

"That's for the betterment. Don't complain."

"Shut the fuck up, BITCH! For which fucking betterment! I CAN'T BE EVEN FUCKING NORMAL WITH THIS FUCKED UP MEMORY. I FUCKING NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCKED HAPPEN. ALL I SEE IS VAGUE SCENES AND SCENARIOS! I FEEL THE DIFFERENCES BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IT IS. I NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING! You were the only one who survived so you need to tell me!"

"I am not telling you anything Alessandro!" Athena deadpan.

Alessandro marched towards her and grabbed her neck. Athena didn't even flinch and stared right into his eyes.

"You don't scare me." She hissed at him.

His hand shook and the devil inside him wanted him to crush her little neck. His grip got tighter. Still Athena sat, unfazed and challenged him.

He immediately retracted and cursed.

"Fuck!"

"I won't tell you anything but I didn't say I wouldn't help you remember it."

He snapped his head at her in shock.

She smirked and picked up her coffee again.

"20 days from now. The nightmares will increase, you will see and walked through it all over again. It will be more painful than what you've imagined. Your Padre wants to erase what happened. But I want you to end it. All this will be possible if you stop drinking the water at your nightstand. Don't trust anyone with your food for 20 days. A week ago, nobody could monitor your meals as you went to Dublin and it triggered back your memories."

Alessandro froze "You mean, someone has been drugging me all these years."

"98% yes, it's a theory I figured out. You had nightmares after you return from long business trips but you're suddenly okay when you're at home. I am surprised you haven't figure it out yet."

"I-"

"Oh save it. I am bored, my coffee is over and it's time for your little girl friend to come back. Good day, Vitali."

She picked up her bag and strolled to the door.

"Athena." Alessandro called out as she reach the knob.

She stopped but didn't turn back.

"How do you deal with it?"

"That's my secret Vitali."

Soon, she was out of the door. Leaving him deeply in thought.

***

Serenity thanked Alicia for the ride as she get out of the car.

"Have fun." Alicia winked at her.

Serenity nodded innocently.

She passed through the security check and since she didn't have an access card. Jimmy came to collect her at the foyer.

As they walked around the turnstile, she thought she saw a flowing platinum blonde hair from the corner of her eyes but as she turn back, no one was there.

Strange

She shook her head.

"Are you alright. Ms. You seem to have trouble walking." Jimmy asked in a concern tone.

She quickly shook her head, "Oh it's nothing to worry about. I...I tripped in class and hurt my ankle."

Jimmy nodded but she could feel his concern as he slowed down to match her tiny steps.

They enter the private elevator.

"Uh- Jimmy. Can you please teach me how to use elevators?" She asked shyly, the ample cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

"Sure Miss. You press this blue button first then you press the floor you wanted to travel. It's easy , you can try it if you want."

"Really?" An excited smile lit up her face. She shakily brought her finger to press the blue button and then the top floor. She looked at him to enquire if she was doing right.

Jimmy nodded back encouragingly.

"This is so cool!" She cheered.

"You know I had rarely traveled in an elevator before. In my island, there was one corporate hospital and they have an elevator for emergency. My best friend Butter pretended to have a heart attack so we can see how go in there. The nurses rushed her to an emergency theater instead and Butter ran out after seeing all those knives and scalpels inside. Both of us were made to scrub the cathedral floor shiny on the next Sunday. It was so funny." She giggled.

The tall man beside her cracked a smile.

"Umm Jimmy...I do not see women here. Why is that?"

"Mr. Vitali does not recruit much females in this firm. This is the main headquarter and majority of the workers are males. But we have another branch a few minutes away from here and it has the normal composition of men and women."

"I-Is it true that Alessandro hates women?" She asked slowly.

"No miss, Mr. Vitali does not hate women in fact he respect them a lot. You will see that there is no discrimination between the workers in his firm and he strongly advocates not just equality but equity for women.

He just doesn't like to be touched by one."replied Jimmy.

"Why?"

Jimmy turned to her sternly, "I am sorry Miss but I don't think it's my place to answer that."

"It's okay, no problem." Serenity brushed it off and cleared her throat.

"By the way, why do you keep calling me Miss? You can just call me Serenity."

"I can't call you that, Miss."

"But why-"

The elevator dinged open. Jimmy lightly pushed her out and pressed the door behind her again.

She turn and gaped at him.

"You're already 5 minutes late, Miss." He said as the door closed and the elevator went down.

Serenity stood there, registering what he said.

Then it hit her, She was LATE again! She quickly ran to his office, grimacing and stumbling on her pained ankle.

"It was the elevator!" She claimed and try to look as believing as she could.

Alessandro raised a brow and leaned back.

"You're blaming the elevator, an inanimate object?"

"Yes." Serenity nodded quickly then shook her head when she realized how dumb she actually sounded.

"I...I couldn't walk fast...you see...I acc-accidentally hurt my ankle..."

Alessandro sat up straight with a cold look.

"Come here, love."

She tried to walk straight but he could detect the slight limp on her walk.

Alessandro darted out of his seat the next second and reached her.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the couch. Serenity gasped and stared at him wondrously.

No matter how many times he picked her up, he always left her, startled.

Gently laying her on it, he went down on one knee to inspect her injury.

He took off her flats and placed her small feet on his raised thigh. Serenity flinched when he applied pressure on the small bruise. He was feeling her muscles.

"Would you like to have some ice creams?"

She frowned at his unusual question.

"Y-Yes..."

"What's your least favorite flavor?"

She didn't understand where he was going with this interrogation nevertheless she answered him truthfully.

"Mint chocolate."

"Why?"

"Because it taste like toothpaste with chocochips. One time Butter pranked me by replacing my ice cream with toothpaste and chocochi- AHH!!" Serenity cried at the sudden pain. For a second she felt like she couldn't breathe, tears blurred her eyes and she tried to comprehend what happened. She gripped onto the couch and struggled to breath out.

"Shss...it's okay, my love. Everything's okay. There...you're fine now." Alessandro rubbed her feet soothingly

She took rapid breaths in and trembled.

"I-It hurts..." she whimpered.

"I know." Alessandro cracked a small smile and wiped her tears.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I reset your sprain. Now see it won't hurt anymore."

Serenity tested by rotating and moving her feet around and true to his words it didn't hurt anymore.

"W-Wow! How did you do that?" She gasped.

Alessandro shook his head and moved to get his phone, he look over his shoulder and she was still in trance playing with her foot.

"I ordered some snacks. Have it first and I will assigned you your work."

He sat back on his chair and looked over the files, getting back to work again.

Serenity ate the delicious chicken burritos and almost felt bad for not offering him some but then she remembered he is a vegetarian. Once she was done. Alessandro gave her some papers to work with.

Much to her surprise, it was maths. She was to solve some big numbers and make an account. Distribution...Addition...subtraction with fancy words. She looked at the contents weirdly but didn't complain. This was her first real job and she planned to execute it successfully.

Alessandro even arranged a small desk and chair for her in a corner of the room.

She noticed after Alessandro complete a stack of paper, Jimmy would quietly come inside and took it away or replaced it with another stack.

She had completed her first paper and was already bored out of her mind. She wondered how he did it monotonously everyday.

"Alessandro..." she called quietly.

He stilled and hummed in reply.

"Nothing." She bit her lips and spooned back to her work.

"I do not like being disturbed when I work." He said.

Her cheeks flushed crimson as she looked down embarrassed.

"I...Iam sorry."

She remained silent and poured her mind on the papers in front of her.

***

"I WANT HIM MAMA! THAT'S IT! I WANT YOU TO GET ME WHAT I FUCKING WANT!" She screamed, throwing the vase at the older lady.

"Svetlana! Stop it!" Mrs Yohontov cried, dodging the attack.

"You don't listen to me anymore." Svetlana slumped down on the chair and sobbed loudly.

Vladimir Yohontov sighed deeply and approached her little girl.

"Babygirl, give mama some time okay. He will be yours soon. I will come with a proposal to the Senior Vitali that he won't be able to reject. But for now, you have to have patience and try to stay low key. Do not mess with the O'Sullivan brat. It will get us in trouble. Please."

"What the fuck do you want me to do? Lick her ass? No fucking way. She is...She is a bitch. She is so rude to me." Svetlana pouted and cried more tears.

"Oh my poor baby." Vladimira patted her hair and kiss her hands. "Just a little more patience...for mama okay?" She pleaded.

"Fine!" Svetlana grumbled and crossed her arms, "And you said that Alessandro doesn't feel anything for her. She is just a mere keep, right?"

"Yes baby"

Svetlana nodded, "If I find out anything sprouting between that bitch and my boyfriend. I will skin her alive and murder her."

Vladimira flinched but quickly covered it up.

"All right baby girl. Here, go buy yourself something nice, you can have mama's card."

She pulled out a flashy credit card.

Svetlana jumped and snatched it quickly,

She stormed out of the office without even looking back at her mother.

Vladimira loved her daughter to no ends and her baby girl always deserved the best of all worlds. She had gotten her anything she had laid her eyes on since her baby days, from dolls and games to Gucci and Tesla's. But if there was one thing she couldn't get her was Alessandro Vitali.

Svetlana had been obsessed with the Vitali heir from the first time she had seen him at the age of ten. Vladimra had the wealth but not the power to confront a Vitali back then. But now, she had climbed up the ladder far high.

She must get her darling girl her desired man.

However the problem is The Vitali's weren't someone to play with especially Alessandro. It wouldn't take him a snap of finger to pull down the entire centuries old Yohontov regime to dust.

Vladimira was stranded in between the love of her daughter and the fear of unconsiously rising an offense.

But Svetlana deserves everything gold in the world.

And the mother in her will get her darling girl everything she deserves.

****

How was the chapter?

Good?

Bad?

Or just meh...?

A lot of you had been wishing on period or sick scenes of Alessandro and Serenity. Okay....Soon, you will get a version of it but with a "Stellar" twist.

I see some people commenting which says that Serenity is too young and this is illegitimate or illegal. And some of you guys are not okay with the age gap. In my opinion 3-4 years of age gap is completely normal and okay. I see books with 10-15 years of age gap. If 4 years is very violent to you then wtf are you gonna say to that.

And so far I have not made any explicit or sex scenes between Serenity and Alessandro, so please stop calling out on Alessandro being pedo or pervert. It is a mafia romance between two budding teenagers. If you're not okay with it, the door is that way.

And lastly I would like to thank my amazing readers for your love and support on this book

Don't forget to vote, comment and share!

Until then,

Adios,

Stella Cadante.