Mafia Men: Nikolai's Inferno - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

•Evangeline.
I was glued to one place for days with tears pouring down my cheeks. I didn't cry for this long even when my parents died. I was rattled, confused, and hurt. 1
I couldn't believe that it had happened. For some reason my mind was trying to make me believe that it was all a bad dream, Nikolai didn't treat me that way, and Nikolai didn't say those words to me but the cuts underneath my feet were telling me a different story.
A white bandage covered both of my feet. Last night, I somehow made it into the bathroom where I had to pull the shards out of my feet, and then I sloppily bandage them. The cuts weren't too big but they were deep enough to bleed like hell and they hurt so bad.
Every time I thought about the night before, goosebumps covered my entire body. That was not the Nikolai I knew, it was the monster that I saw when he locked me in that room. It was the monster that had killed that man outside this house. It was the monster that lives in the back of his mind. It was the ruthless Don Niko.
I suddenly wanted to get away from here. I didn't want to be here after all the things that he had said.
A lowlife stray-he called me.
A whore, a slut, and many more colorful names.
When he brought me here, I asked him to let me go back to my home. I told him that I would get a job but he didn't listen. He told me that this was my home again and again and then last night the things he accused me of made me feel so low and embarrassed about myself. I never asked for anything. I only asked to go to college and he took that from me too.
My bedroom door opened and I flinched. I peeked at the door and saw Scott with a tray of food in his hands. He sighed before he made his way toward me. I slid back, pressing my body into the headboard and
away from him.
He placed the tray of food before me. "Breakfast, Sweet cheeks"
"I don't want Don Niko's generosity anymore," I replied, looking down at my nails.
He let out a dry breath. "Look, I don't know what happened between you and him but---"
"Can you help me get out of here?" I asked.
His eyes widened momentarily. "Excuse me?"
"Scott, I don't need anything of his... please. I know you don't like me but please can you help me?" I begged as tears formed in my eyes again.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was the first time Scott didn't look annoyed by my presence or looked at me as if I disgusted him. He gave his head a gentle shake and faced me. "Sweet cheeks, I know whatever he did to you was fucked up. I know him, I know what he is capable of. I'm his best friend but he was mourning the loss of his mother. He wasn't in his senses"
I furrowed my eyebrows. Did he just say that he was mourning the loss of his mother? What happened to his mom, I had no idea. "What happened?" 2
He stared at my bandaged feet. "She died, she was sick for a long time and died two days ago."
"That's..." I swallowed uneasily. "I didn't know"
"Anyways, eat your breakfast, and then---"
I cut him off. "I'm still not eating that! I know his mother died, and that's horrible. I feel sorry for him but he can't treat me the way he did. I lost both of my parents in a single night but I didn't go around hurting
other people for it." "Evangeline... If you think that you can get out of here then you're wrong. No one gets out," saying that, he walked out of my bedroom before I could say anything else.
A week had passed by, and my feet were now healed but I could still see the ugly scars they left behind. I traced the scars with my fingers as I replayed that night in my mind over and over again. I hadn't seen Nikolai or Scott again. I barely left my room, maid makes sure that I eat and I make sure that I only eat enough so I won't die.
I just couldn't believe that Scott had excused his horrible behavior by saying that his mother had died and he was mourning. You don't mourn your loved ones by hurting other people.
The housekeeper named Georgia came into my room three times a day to deliver my meals and then she would leave. At first, I resisted and didn't eat but then I realized I was only torturing myself, Nikolai didn't care and I couldn't get out even if I tried.
I sighed and decided to take a walk in the garden. I was going crazy staying in my room, it felt like I was back in my old life. I put on some comfortable slippers and slowly stepped down the stairs, looking around for Nikolai. If I saw him, I have no idea what I will do.
I heard a soft female voice coming in through the doorway. A second later, Bianca entered the foyer and her lips stretched into a big smile.
"E!"
"Bianca..."
She approached me and pulled me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her as well because honestly, I needed someone after that night.
"I have been calling you for the last three days but you didn't pick up," she said, glaring at me playfully.
"I don't have my cell phone on me," I told her.
It was more like I refused to use that cellphone because Nikolai had bought it for me.
"Oh, did Niko take it away from you?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, I lost it"
She pouted. "That sucks"
"Yeah..."
She shook her head. "Anyways, I am going to a party tonight and I need a plus one"
I wrapped my arms around myself. "Isn't Stefano going with you?"
"No, he is out of the country, and even if he was here I'd still take you with me. E, come on, it's been weeks since we last hung out together," she whined.
I had been sulking in my room for a week, I didn't talk to anyone, threw my cell phone to god knows where, and I have been incredibly bored. Maybe, getting out of Nikolai's house will give me a chance to run
back to my home. Maybe, Bianca will help me with it. It's not like I need his permission to do anything anymore. I could care less about Nikolai Costello.
I smiled at her. "I'd love to, B."
She squealed and threw her arm around my shoulder. "Let's go get ready!"
We went to my bedroom as Bianca called some professionals to get us ready for the party. She had even ordered some new dresses for both of us. The feeling of being less and a freeloader crept up again, dampening my mood. I tried to think about other things but couldn't. My mind kept playing games with me, Nikolai's words ringing in my head on a loop.
"It's more of a classy party, so, we can't go dressed up like trashy hookers," she said and I nodded along to whatever she was saying.
I might look fine from the outside but from the inside, I felt like bawling my eyes out. I felt helpless and completely at other people's mercy. I didn't want to live like that, I didn't want to be a dependent person. A team of professional makeup artists arrived and did our makeup and hair while I sat in my seat almost robotically, replying to whatever was asked of me.
A rack of designer gowns was delivered to his house. Bianca wore a green colored cocktail dress and I chose the black one. It was a long, mermaid-style dress with a long slit. I paired it with a set of black heels. Bianca and I hooked our arms together and walked out of the house.
Lucky for me, it was Bianca's driver who was driving us to the party, not Nikolai's. Marco hasn't been around either.
"What's wrong, E, you don't seem like yourself" she placed a hand over mine and squeezed.
I gave her a gentle smile. "I'm fine, just a little sick..." I didn't talk much for the rest of the car ride, I kept looking out of the window. The car halted outside a beautiful medieval-looking building, we both stepped outside, and Bianca interlinked our arms together. There was security all around the building. They kind of looked like Nikolai's men.
We entered the building and they asked for Bianca's invitation card. She handed it to them and added my name to the list as her plus one. We walked further inside and entered an enormous magnificent hall. It was a classy event, I could see it now.
The party took place in a grand room that featured a thirty-foot-high bar, elegant chandeliers, and a grand entrance staircase leading from the cocktail area. Balconies overlooked the room, accent of the old- world ambiance. Soft music was playing in the background. Waiters were walking around with champagne and snacks. There was also an ice sculpture and a champagne fountain. It looked like a ballroom straight out of a fairytale. It resembled the ballroom in the beauty and the beast.
Everyone around us was dressed up in the classiest attire. Bianca introduced me to some of her family members, she had two old sisters. They both were married and had beautiful children. Some of her relatives had come from Sicily to attend this particular event. They spoke fluent Italian, I was too dumb to understand any of it and so was Bianca.
"Why is this party crawling with your relatives?" I asked once we found a corner to relax in.
Bianca chewed on her lower lip and blew out a breath. "Promise me, you won't get mad?"
I frowned. "What?"
She played with her fingers awkwardly and looked around. "Scott told me that you and Niko got into a fight..."
I rolled my eyes. "It was hardly a fight... more like he tried to traumatize me for life."
She shifted her weight from one foot to another. "If I had told you, you wouldn't have agreed to come."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"This party is actually..." she took a pause and breathed in and out. "It's Nikolai's engagement party..."
I opened my mouth to say something but stopped as I understood her words. Did she say that was Nikolai's engagement party? Her words hit me like a blow to the chest, and I sucked in a breath. I had suddenly
lost the ability to breathe. I took a step back and shook my head a little. I thought that I heard her wrong.
"Did you say Nikolai's engagement?"
She nodded. "You wouldn't have come if I had told you the truth..."
Her words resonated in my head, like she was so far away from me. As if she was in another dimension and I could only hear the echo of her voice.
"Good evening, my friends and family." I turned and saw a man on the stage, he looked like the older version of Nikolai. "After the recent demise of my beautiful wife Anastasia Costello, most of you were not expecting to be invited to a party like this. It has been a pleasure of mine to have you all here to celebrate the engagement of my son Nikolai Costello with Grace Russell of the Russell family"
The next thing I saw was Nikolai stepping on the same stage. I had seen him after a week, it had been a week since he... acted like a monster to me. Nikolai pulled his father in for a hug. After him, a beautiful, elegant woman stepped onto the stage. Nikolai's father held her hand and helped her up. She stood by Nikolai and he wrapped an arm around her waist. 4
The walls seemed to be closing in on me.
My chest suddenly felt tight.
The woman named Grace whispered something in his ear. He gave her a smile and then responded to something she had said.
The pain radiated throughout my chest, I took another step back and then another. I don't know why I was feeling this way, I shouldn't. We were nothing. Nothing at all. He was
just
a man who took me in after
my parents died and then granted me sexual favors because I had asked him to. There was nothing real about this. I felt unbearable pain in my heart. I wanted it to stop. I wanted
all of it to stop.
"E, are you okay?" Bianca's voice echoed in my head.
Suppressing the agonizing pain in my chest, I nodded at her, somehow finding the courage to even crack a small smile.
I looked back at the stage and inhaled sharply as my eyes met with his. Nikolai had spotted me in the entire room.
Indifferent...
Cold...
Cruel...
They were the only words that could describe the look on his face. And until now, I hadn't realized how bad it was going to hurt me.