Page 103 of Game of Revenge

“Okay,” Chloe said, trying to bring some order to our cackling. “Where is he now?” she asked, searching my eyes.

I stopped laughing. I couldn’t use my words. I just started crying again as Chloe took me back into her arms.

We talked for another three hours. It felt good to tell others, to certify how fucked up my life had been for the past few months. Too much had happened. So much had changed that my life no longer fit the old lifestyle I once had.

But I couldn’t help the relief that came with telling my best friends the truth. That I had fallen for Alejandro. It felt crazy to admit that I wanted him above all else, even if I didn’t feel like I could be with him after everything that had happened. I had never planned on giving my heart away. It was always a risk that I didn’t want to take.

My mother had, and I paid the consequences of that, living in a house where I was rejected by the only parental figure I had. What was the point of love, of putting oneself at the mercy of another? None of it mattered now, though. He had his diamonds. He had his revenge. And I now apparently had a company to run.

I called Nicholas Constantinou as soon as the girls reluctantly left. Chloe thought he would be perfect to help with the legal battle I had coming. Chloe and Keisha did not practice in California, and this wasn't really an area of expertise for any of them. But it was perfect for Nicholas. He had called me shortly after I had returned home after the kidnapping, but I had not yet called him back.

Nico was my high school boyfriend. He had always been a good friend to me, making many men and women quite envious of me, considering that the man was your typical tall, dark, and handsome, eligible, rich bachelor. More importantly for me at the moment, he was a very successful trust and estates attorney with experience in shareholder disputes. He was out of town when I called, but we FaceTimed for over an hour.

Nicholas was livid. He never got along with Richard. Within twenty minutes of hanging up the phone with him, I had received five emails from Steve and other executives at the company, sending me and Nicholas all the documents we needed to review. I saw the power of attorney, my mother’s will, and all the dividends that had been transferred to an account set up under my name over the past twenty years.

Within two hours, I was able to drive to Citibank, with Nicholas on the phone, to solve what had clearly been fraudulent transfers from that account to Richard’s accounts over the years. He was quite clever and never emptied the account completely. All future automatic transfers were canceled, and I was now finding out that I had over eight million dollars to my name. Nicholas had also pulled my tax records. I was ashamed to admit that I had never bothered with them.

Richard had an attorney that took care of both our taxes, so I usually sent him my W-2 and 1099s, and he took care of it. I never really made a lot of money, so it wasn’t a problem. I didn’t expect any tax returns either because of all the money I got from Richard—or at least what I thought was his. Richard had managed to pay taxes on the dividends on my behalf—I’m sure because an issue with the IRS would have indeed caused his farce to crumble very quickly.

The only thing that was keeping me from running away right now was Nicholas’s calming voice telling me that everything was going to be okay, reminding me that this was a best-case scenario, really. Now, money I didn’t know I had was mine.

Chapter 49

Amelia

I’m not giving up on us. Let me talk to you, muñeca, please.

His messages kept coming. And as much as it made my heart bleed, I continued to ignore them. I had been staying at the Airbnb for three days already. Iris and Chloe had visited every single day to keep me company. Keisha had gone back for a court date. Chloe, as a transactional lawyer, could really work from anywhere. Iris was her own boss, so she also had some flexibility. I welcomed all the love they brought to me.

Martha had also stopped by, cleaned, even though I protested, and made sure I had healthy food to eat. Nicholas had filed a complaint against Richard for everything he had stolen from me. I also found out that half of the house was mine and that I would probably be able to get the other half as retribution for what Richard had stolen from me. I now had control of forty percent of his company—my company. Always mine, I reminded myself.

Richard was in prison, facing the trial of his life. George was under investigation, as well as the tax attorney, the notary, and frankly, the whole board and officer slate of Hotel Estrellas. I should have felt happy, but I was scared and anxious to be dealing with all these changes alone. I wanted to run to New York, but everything had changed.

I now owned a company I had always wanted to be a part of—even more so now that I knew my mother had left her shares for me. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. A position I thought I would have had in ten to fifteen years was now falling in my lap. Nicholas had explained there was no doubt Richard’s fifteen percent would also become mine.

All the courses I had taken at Stanford were flowing through my brain, and before I knew it, I was writing business plans and growth strategies for the company. I knew what had to be done. I declined my job in New York. Thankfully, they were very understanding of my situation.

I needed to also adjust my perspective, I realized. Considering how dire things had been, this was a good thing.

But when I slowed down, when I was left alone with my thoughts, he always found a way back in, my mind traveling back to Alejandro. How right it felt when he held me in Richard’s office. How safe I felt. I wanted to feel him again. I yearned for the times he kissed every inch of my body. I longed for the time we danced together. I kept going back to the fact that he saved my life. To the fact that he seemed legitimately hurt when I walked away from him. To the fact that he still called and texted, every single day, to ask how I was doing, to ask if we could talk. To tell me he wasn’t giving up on us. I read his messages countless times, and I desperately wanted to answer. To tell him how I felt. That I wanted him. That I felt his absence in my bones.

But then I remembered Elena. I remembered how he pointed out that I didn’t fit in his world, and anger and jealousy added themselves to the mix. Then came pure fear, my trust issues, my terror of loving and not being loved back.

Chapter 50

Alejandro

Richard was finally in prison. The man who had murdered my brother was going to rot behind bars for the rest of his life, assuming Mathias or I didn’t decide to dispose of him there. I had a promise to keep to my mother. But the fact that Richard had tried to murder Amelia changed everything. If it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t know how she would react if she ever found out that I murdered him, I would already have given the order. But something told me that Mathias would finish the job regardless.

My mother was happy. As happy as a parent who lost a child could be. I should have been celebrating, but my mind was elsewhere.

Everytime it grew quiet around me, the storm inside me resumed.

She wasn’t with me, but she was everywhere.

I knew where she was at all times. And yet I couldn’t go near her. She had made that clear. I was to give her space if I had any chance of making it work between us. But it had been four days by now and I was growing anxious.

I had decided to go pay Richard a visit. I needed closure, I needed to see that bastard behind bars. He was hunched down when I walked in, his legs wide open, his arms dangling between them, his head bent down. He was only a fraction of the man he used to be. He looked like he had aged ten years in the span of a few days. He lifted his head when he heard me, surprise and relief bringing some life to his miserable face.