Eliana was again in Rafael's damn office again.
The office she wanted to run away from so much. Rafael's cold gaze was now set on her. Lorenzo was sitting next to his brother, he looked as if he was completely relaxed despite the tense atmosphere surrounding him.
"Eliana, did you attack this man?" Rafael asked in a calm voice, just like his brother he didn't seem bothered at all.
"Yes," Eliana thought this will end the conversation. Rafael will call the police, or shoot her or lock her up in a cellar, whatever.
But he didn't do any of that.
"Why did you attack him?"
"She's the aggressor. Don't even bother speaking with her. Police is on their way"
Eliana looked at this man, shocked. It was hard to believe assholes like that exist in real life. He was really drunk and furious, it was clearly a bad mix. He really wanted to get her in trouble, even if he was the one who started the whole thing.
Because Eliana was already aware of what violence he was capable of, she took a step closer to Rafael, hoping that no one will notice. He didn't look like he was angry at her. He was relatively a safe person to be nearby in this situation. If he noticed my move, he didn't comment on it in any way.
"Eliana I asked you a question" Rafael directed his stern gaze at her, and suddenly she wanted to take a step back. Okay, not safe, not safe. Shit.
"I- I- he wanted me to sit on his lap and drink with him, I told him to let me go because I am working, but he wouldn't"
"Oh, is that so?"
"Are you going to believe her, and not me? I have friends who will confirm my side of the story," the man said stubbornly.
"We should call an ambulance, I hit him with a glass bottle," Eliana admitted quietly. Surprise flashed through Rafael's eyes, but it was quickly covered with a mask of indifference.
"That would explain why he's spewing nonsense," Lorenzo said, looking bored and slightly amused. "You hit him too hard"
Eliana looked worriedly at the wound on the man's head. It stopped bleeding, but what if he's seriously injured because of her?
"He's going to be fine for now. Are you hurt somewhere?" Rafael asked matter-of-factly, from his expression Eliana couldn't tell what he thinks.
What did Rafael mean by saying for now?
"I'm okay"
"Hey, are you going to keep ignoring me?" The man yelled.
Rafael stopped looking at her, and re-focused on her attacker "I can assure you, you will have my undivided attention when I am back, but first I need to escort my fiancé home"
A flash of fear appeared on the man's face, but it quickly turned into anger.
"If you won't call the police right now, I will make sure to let people know how clients are treated here"
Rafael calmly took a few steps forward until he was in front of the man, then he reached into the pocket of his suit where the wallet was sticking out. He picked it up without asking, opened it, and checked his ID.
"Larry. I'm afraid you don't understand the position you're in. If I was at your place, I'd stop making demands and wait until it's your turn to be dealt with" it didn't look like Rafael was bragging, more like stating the fact. "As for the police, there's no need to involve them, we can settle this among ourselves"
Larry snorted and by this reaction, Eliana already knew he was a complete idiot.
"I mean as long as I get monetary recompense we might settle it," he admitted.
"How very kind of you!" Lorenzo said and started laughing. There was something scary in that laugh, he remained to her of a crazy villain right now, "You want our dear Eliana to pay you money for defending herself? What kind of scumbag are you?" Lorenzo asked.
"This is why I demand the police to get involved, I have several witnesses who will confirm that she attacked me first"
"Why would she do that?"
"I am not going to discuss anything else with you, you're clearly biased, you either pay me or"
"Or what? Do tell" As a person with bad self-preservation instinct, Eliana could still realize this man is digging up his own grave in the bliss of unawareness while I was trying to make myself small and disappear. Can my invisibility powers activate? It's now or never.
"Or I will report to the police that you refused me medical help and haven't reported to law enforcement when your worker attacked me"
"Now, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you want to get us in trouble, Larry. That's very unfortunate. And that's a minor issue considering you touched one of our employees without consent" Lorenzo asked to pretend to be confused.
"I think we're capable of teaching Larry a lesson that will stick with him forever"
"Oh, that's an excellent idea" Lorenzo agreed.
"Eliana tell me with which hand that man touched you?" Rafael asked with light curiosity.
Why did he need that information?
"With both hands"
"Oh. That is really unfortunate" Rafael said as if he was feeling regretful right now but his face didn't portray any emotion of that sort. "If Eliana was just my employee I would cut one or two off your fingers"
This is when Rafael's expression became dark. The man took a step away now in full realization of what kind of person he was dealing with, he was about to take another step back but he hit the wall that was Antonio's body.
Eliana felt like my mind broke right at this moment.
What? What did he say? Cut off? I did not hear that correctly.
"But because Eliana is not just my employee, what should I do to deal with your transgression? Cut off both of your hands?" Rafael continued wondering out loud as if he was talking about what colour of his tie he should pick for tomorrow not severing someone's limbs.
"I told you she's lying!"
"Even if she was which I don't believe she is I wouldn't mind. If she'd asked me to get rid of your hand just because I'd do it, I love my dear Eliana this much"
"Stop it," Eliana said with a trembling voice.
If her life was a book genre, it would be horror. She was sure.
"Eliana dear, be quiet" Rafael instructed, reminding her that he has no feelings for her whatsoever, and he's just playing loving fiancé in front of his victim.
Eliana had no intention to speak because she didn't want to lose her tongue.
"That's enough, I'm leaving," Larry decided. Until now, he didn't realize it wasn't his choice when and how he leaves this office.
He didn't wait for anyone's permission. He just turned his back on the Vincenti brothers and was about to leave. Of course, he was stopped. Antonio grabbed him by the arm and forcefully kept him in place.
"Hey what are you doing let me go?!"
"I am sure Eliana asked you to let her go before she decided to smash the bottle over your head, right? I just want you to be reasonable Larry, there's no way I can let you go just because you asked, let's be fair"
"Wait," what the hell am I doing? "Can you just let him leave"
"Of course not"
"Please, please, I don't want anyone to be permanently hurt because of me"
"It wouldn't be because of you, but his own stupidity. It would be a risk to my reputation by showing him mercy"
"No, please, don't do this" Larry was now panicking.
Eliana grabbed Rafael's arm, and he looked at her with a cold gaze, she instantly wanted to pull herself away from him but instead, she clung to his future and whispered.
"Please don't"
He leaned towards me and I leaned back as he whispered into my ear.
"What can you offer me to consider your request?"
Huh? What did he say?
"I- What do you want?"
"Instead of 40% of shares of your company, let's say I want 50%"
"Are you serious right now?!" Eliana pulled away, looking at him shocked. He smiled. He looked pleased with himself like a cat who just caught his prey.
"Do we have a deal or not? I don't care either way works for me"
"Okay, fine"
Lorenzo started laughing again, she wanted to punch him in the face so much. Another psycho.
"Thank you, thank you so much for your help, I am sorry I-" was that Larry speaking? To her? No. Nope, leave her alone. Eliana wasn't looking at that man, the mere sight of him was filling her with disgust and hate.
"Well, you know what I think?" Rafael asked.
"Honestly, I am afraid to ask"
"If you're so easy to persuade, in six months your company will fully belong to me"
Then the realization hit her. It was true. If he blackmails her in any way, she will just give in... No, she can't from now on, she can't budge.
"Antonio, you've heard the lady. Teach Larry a lesson without doing permanent damage. Let's go kitten I will drive you home" Rafael instructed.
"No, wait. Do you intend to hurt him anyway?" Eliana asked.
"Of course. Next time be more specific when you negotiate with me"
He grabbed her hand and I followed him out of the room. She was so bothered by the recent events she couldn't argue any further.
He led her towards the parking lot and as soon as they sat down alone in the car the unwanted words left my mouth.
"You're a monster" It wasn't an accusation, it was a realization. She finally understood what kind of person she is dealing with. He will use her every weakness for his own gain.
"So is Harvey Snow. About one thing, you were right. To fight a monster you need a monster and now you have me"
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Oktay this chapter is too dark but I don't have enough energy to fix it but I promise Rafael wouldn't really do that lmao.
I love reading your comments and I'm thankful for every vote that was left so far. Honestly, I don't know if this story is interesting, I'm just trying my best.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask I will answer whenever I can â¥ï¸