Chapter 18 #2
Looking hesitant to reply, Andreas turns to me and frowns. “It’s Ms. Contos. She’s been outside for a few minutes, demanding to be let in to see you. When she was denied, she took a crowbar from the back of her car and threw it through the front window.”
My blood runs cold and I blink, hardly believing my ears. Demanding to be let inside? I can see Chloe doing that any day of the week. But property destruction when denied? It seems impossible.
She’s always been the kind of girl who calls her father when she needs something done.
She doesn’t get her hands dirty and has consistently insisted that it’s beneath her.
Why would she commit a crime when there’s always someone else she can instruct on doing so?
Most women in our position feel the same way, or at least, they’ve been conditioned to act the same way.
“Chloe?” I finally ask, swallowing down my disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“We’re certain,” he confirms with a stiff nod.
Of course they’re sure. They know Chloe, they’ve all seen her thousands of times at this point.
“There’s no need to worry, Katya.” Andreas looks behind me to nod to Ellen and Jenna. “Enjoy the rest of your treatments and we’ll contact your father to take care of her and the damage she’s caused.”
My stomach drops painfully and my head shakes immediately. “Don’t call Linus, call her father. She’s emotional and not thinking clearly, she doesn’t need to be reprimanded by her father’s boss, it will only make her more upset.”
Andreas opens his mouth, likely to disagree when another crash sounds.
“Call her father,” I repeat with a wince. “And I’ll talk to her until he gets here.”
“I shouldn’t allow that—”
“You can protect me,” I argue, interrupting him. “She can’t hurt me, not with all of you here. She can break things and we can replace them, but Chloe knows she can’t cross a line further than this.”
At least, I hope she does.
Andreas still hesitates, looking like he might completely refuse my orders when I reach around him and grab the door handle.
Reluctantly, he allows me to pass him and commands his man beyond it to contact Mr. Contos.
Whether it’s to give me privacy, or due to their own fear and discomfort, Jenna and Ellen don’t move to follow us.
When I get to the lobby, Chloe is inside, having climbed through the large broken window.
All the other glass around her is intact, leading me to believe it took her two hits to break an opening wide enough for her to get inside.
None of the men lay a hand on her, but they stand firmly in a line, preventing her from coming any further.
Her hair is wild and untamed, like she’s been dragging her hands through it, and her makeup is smeared under her eyes from crying. I can smell her before she seems to even notice me. Vodka.
Of course she’s drunk, I realize, almost relieved.
I’ve never known her to make a habit of being intoxicated, especially in the middle of the day. But alcohol would explain her actions, at least make them more believable. The stuff is poison to your inhibition, and can make even the most level-headed people become belligerent and bold.
I feel her eyes swing to me in an instant as I step between two of my men, keeping them close to my back just to keep them from intervening and pulling me back.
“There you are,” Chloe says, her voice half-slurred. “I’ve been yelling for you for ages, didn’t you hear me?”
I can’t read her tone or her facial expressions, but I don’t catch any hint of the rage that must have been flowing through her to cause her to break into the spa. She’s unpredictable right now, and therefore impossible to predict.
Eyeing her with caution, I fold my hands in front of myself. “The spa rooms are partially soundproofed, remember?” I ask, tilting my head as I remind her that she’s been here with me before. “The sound machines were on and I didn’t hear anything until the glass broke.”
Her eyebrows pull down in the middle and she grimaces, looking back at her work. “They wouldn’t let me in.”
“They had orders to let nobody in,” I explain patiently. “The guards must always follow Linus’ orders.”
“I’m not just anybody,” she replies, nostrils flaring. “They know me and they wouldn’t let me in.”
“Chloe,” I reply, trying to calm her rising anger. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you,” she says, nose scrunching as if it’s obvious. “You weren’t answering your phone.”
I try not to allow my face to betray my confusion. She tried calling me?
“My phone is off, like it always is when I’m here.”
“You don’t want to talk to me.” She pouts, stepping forward once and swaying as she does. “How am I supposed to apologize when you won’t speak to me?”
“You want to apologize?” I echo, feeling an odd sense of unease settle over me.
“No,” she bites out with a huff. “I have to apologize. My parents are losing their minds over our fight, and they refuse to see that you’re the one who should be apologizing to me. You stole my life and somehow I’m at fault.”
Of course, I should have realized.
“I didn’t steal anything from you, Chloe,” I reply tightly, forcing a closed-lip smile. “Leon asked me to marry him, and I said yes. I’m sorry that you feel betrayed, but I didn’t take what was yours. If something is yours, it can’t be freely given away by another.”
She looks indignant, lifting her chin and opening her mouth to disagree.
“If your parents are upset with you for your harsh words during our fight,” I cut in sharply. “I can’t imagine they’ll be more pleased with you breaking into a building to try and talk to me. While you’re drunk, no less.”
I expect to see fear or worry on her face, but only more rage dances in her eyes.
She curls her lip and points at me furiously. “This is all your fault, Katya. One day, you’re going to look back at this moment and realize that you’ve never been a good friend to me. You’re going to regret taking Leon for yourself.”
“Is that a threat I hear?”
The sound of glass crunching under boots makes me wince, as I look past my former friend to find the source of the question. Ares strides into the building as if he owns it, looking smug and amused, despite the disaster he’s stepping into.
He clicks his tongue, taunting Chloe with a disapproving look. “Ms. Contos, I’m in shock. Look at the state of you and the mess you’ve made. Daddy is not going to be pleased.”
“Oh fuuuuuck off,” she growls, spinning around to address him head on. “No one asked you to be here to defend her. You’ve made far bigger messes, Mr. Gabris.”
He flashes a lethal grin at her, displaying his teeth like a predator.
“Ahh, but that’s the difference between the two of us, isn’t it?
Gabris and Contos. I can afford to make messes.
I own my messes. You need other people to clean up your mistakes, and you hate it even more than you hate yourself. ”
She flinches, hearing his assessment and I almost do too. His words are harsh, even for this situation.
“Now, you have two options,” Ares taunts, invading her space with a casual cold stride.
“You can come with me now, or you can wait here for your daddy to pick you up and see his disappointment firsthand. I know how much you hate making him upset, and you’ve just crossed a whole new level of boundaries.
My father has considered exiling you, you know?
But I assured him I would take care of this. ”
“What?” I ask, but the word comes out too quietly for him to hear.
“So what’s it going to be, Chloe?” He hums, tilting his head down at her. “Would you like to make a deal with the devil? Or are you going to go home and face the real consequences for your actions?”
I can’t believe what I’m witnessing, nor can I believe it when Chloe reaches forward and shoves Ares back. He doesn’t fall, and he barely stumbles, but the action makes him laugh. It’s a rich and dark sound, full of amusement and a twisted glee.
Even more unbelievable, Chloe doesn’t tell my stepbrother to get fucked. No, she walks past him, climbing through the broken glass into the parking lot and yells back at him to hurry up. She’s going to go with him.
Looking like he’s won a battle, Ares gives me a smirk and a tip of his head. “See you later, sis.”
My lips pop open and closed, no words coming to me to reply to him before he follows her out of the spa building. I don’t know how to process what’s just happened, or even if I should be able to. So many things happened all at once, and none of them could have been predicted.
My guards insist on me returning to my spa day, but the full relaxation experience can’t be returned. My mind is a mess of confusion, and the sounds of the windows being replaced can’t be drowned out enough. My last experience here has been officially tainted, and I don’t know what to do about it.
I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.