Chapter 31

Not edited*

Amelia's pov.

The next morning, I made sure to wake up early enough that I could get out of the house before Ivan had woken up. I managed to find the piece of paper with Maria's address lying on the nightstand and took a picture before leaving. Because I didn't have my car with me, I was forced to call for a cab to drive me to the location.

The entire ride there, all I could think about was how close I was to revealing the truth about my father. We arrived in a rather secluded area which did little to soothe my already frightened nerves. I quickly paid the driver and got out, slowly walking up the trail towards the front of the house.

I took a deep breath before knocking and waiting patiently for a response. I decided to knock a second time making sure that it was a lot louder than the last. The door creaked loudly against my knuckles as it opened enough for me to look inside.

Peeping my head through, I looked around to see a rather nice looking living room but what scared me was the fact that it looked like it hadn't been touched for days. I pushed the door open and stepped in, glancing around for any sign of movement before continuing to look around the house.

I sighed in disappointment, turning around to head back to the living room but was startled when a hand clasped my shoulder. Letting out a scream, I quickly rammed my elbow into the person's stomach, satisfied when they let out a groan. I turned around expecting to see the owner of the house but was shocked to be looking at Ivan.

"What on earth are you doing here" I whispered angrily, trying to catch my breath.

"I could ask you the same thing mia cara" he responded while rubbing where I elbowed him causing me to smirk.

"I came here to get answers for myself since the one person I trusted the most lied directly to my face when I asked about a subject that had to do with me" I snapped making it evident at how hurt I was that he lied to me last night. I watch his expression change to one of guilt as he attempted to grab my hand but I took a step back.

"Mia cara, I didn't want to tell you because I wasn't sure if what Ryan found was accurate nor did I want you to be in danger because of it" he explained but I shook my head in disagreement.

"That wasn't your choice to make Ivan, you should have told me the minute you found anything useful about my father" I answered annoyed at his lack of trust in me.

"You're right and I'm sorry but you knew everything that I knew about your father considering you were listening in on our conversation last night" he responded and I was slightly offended at his word choice.

"I wouldn't have needed a reason to be nosy if you had been honest with me in the first place" I shouted before turning around and walking out of the house. I could hear his heavy footsteps following me which made me quicken my pace. For the second time today, a hand clasped around my shoulder and turned me around fast enough to give me whiplash,

"What do you want Ivan" I sighed dejectedly, crossing my arms over my chest for comfort.

"Please don't be angry with me mia cara, I did what I thought was necessary" he pleaded as his eyes searched mine for any signs of forgiveness.

"I'm not angry with you, I'm just disappointed that we'd gotten this far in our relationship yet you're still keeping secrets from me. Guess I didn't know you as much as I thought" I answered turning around once more but this time he didn't follow.

I got outside and began walking, hoping that I'd be able to clear my head before I got to any familiar surroundings. The neighborhood seemed eerily quiet for any city in New York but I continued walking nonetheless.

It was when I spotted a man following me from across the street discreetly that I started freaking out and quickened my pace. Seeing as he did the same, I pulled out my phone and dialed Ivan's number praying that he'd pick up.

I had little time to tell him anything because the man had crossed the street and was now a few feet behind me. I began running while screaming frantically in hopes of drawing some attention to myself but of course with my luck, the town was vacant.

Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground from behind and grit my teeth at the impact. The guy who tackled me was breathing heavily and yanked me up from the ground while looking me in the eyes. Before he had the chance to say anything, he was ripped off me in the blink of any eye. I watched breathless and surprised as Ivan threw punch after punch at the guys face until I snapped out of it.

"Ivan get off him or you'll kill him" I screamed and attempted to pull him off the man. He refused to listen and continued to beat the guy until his fists were covered in blood.

"If you don't stop, you'll loose me forever" I pleaded and watched as his fist halted in mid air. I let out the breath I was holding and pulled Ivan off the man, this time without a problem. I examined his bloody knuckles and shook my head as I pulled out my phone to call an ambulance for the now unconscious man lying on the sidewalk.

They arrived shortly after and immediately rushed him to the hospital after interrogating me on what had happened. I explained to them that he attempted to possibly kidnap me and that he was stopped by a stranger who heard my screams. I watched as the ambulance drove away with two police cars behind them.

"Would you have killed him if I hadn't stopped you" I asked curiously and watched as he stood their staring at me intently. I took his silence as a yes and shook my head yet again in frustration.

"Did it cross your mind that if you had killed him, you would've lost your position at Stone Industries and probably ended up in jail" I nagged hoping that he realized the extent of his actions.

"I'd rather be locked up in a jail cell than have you kidnapped when I could've done something to stop it" he finally responded, his voice conveying his apparent anger.

I ran my fingers through my hair as I made another call for someone to come pick us up and we waited in silence for Ivan's driver to show up. The ride back to Ivan's house was rather quiet as we both sat in silence, too consumed by our racing thoughts.

I followed behind him in silence as he opened the door to his house and we stepped inside. I kicked my shoes off and walked to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and came back to the living room to see Ivan sitting there with his head between his hands.

He looked up at the sound of my footsteps and I sat beside him signaling for him to show me his knuckles. We sat there in silence as I cleaned his knuckles and wrapped them in gauze before getting up to throw the scraps away.

Without saying another word to him, I walked up the stairs and into his room to begin packing my things. I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing but I did know that I couldn't stay in this house much longer. I sent a quick text to Connor and asked if he could pick me up and went back downstairs with my bags in hand. I noticed Ivan was in the same spot I left him in and set my bags down to get his attention. He looked up at me and I watched as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Where are you going" he asked and my heart clenched at what I was about to tell him.

"I need time away from you to process everything that's happened in the past week so I've decided to go back to my apartment until I can make sense of everything" I whispered as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Amelia don't do this, we can figure this out together" he pleaded looking completely broken as he got up to hug me. I put my hands up in front of me so that he wouldn't come closer, knowing that I would give in if he touched me.

"I'm not saying I don't want to be with you, I just don't think I can trust you right now" I answered, turning around to leave. As I began to open the door, I turned around and took one last look at Ivan before grabbing my bags and leaving him there alone knowing that my decision had broken both of us entirely. I let out a sob as I ran to the car and got in without saying anything to Connor.

"Amelia what on earth happened to you" he asked, looking at me in concern. I shook my head in response and he pulled me to him and I cried into his shoulder feeling utterly destroyed.

"I don't care if he's my boss, if that son of a bitch hurt you this much, I'm gonna kick his ass" he muttered angrily and I cracked a smile at his protectiveness which made him smile as well.

"Can I ask what happened" he whispered while stroking my hair until my cries subdued to little whimpers.

"H-he kept-t a s-secret from me that had to do with my f-father and I-I told him I c-couldn't be with someone w-who didn't trust m-me" I stuttered as I began to sob once more. He shushed me and continued to comfort me until I stopped crying.

"What do you say we go to my place, order enough food for six pregnant woman and have a movie night" he asked and I nodded. He began driving to his house and told me random stories about his childhood in attempt to get my mind off of Ivan.

"This one time, I was so hungover that when one of my teachers began yelling at our class, I told her that her voice made me want to shove a sword through my ears and walked out of the room" he explained and I giggled at his stupidity.

"If I were, your teacher, I would've given you detention that same day just so that I could bang pots and pans to make your hangover even worse" I teased and he chuckled in response.

"Something tells me you'd be an awful teacher" he teased back and I punched his arm in response.

"Has no one ever taught you to never hit a person while they're driving" he exclaims in surprise and I smile sheepishly.

"Whoops, sorry" I apologize still laughing as he pulled into his driveway. He takes the keys out of the ignition while shaking his head and muttering about how crazy I was. He walked us to his apartment and knocked the door which made me furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Did you forget that you lived alone" I asked and all of a sudden the door flies open to reveal none other than my best friend Sierra.

"Babe why didn't you tell me Amelia was coming over" she shrieks while pulling me into a bone crushing hug. I hugged her back in excitement at seeing her for the first time in weeks.

"It was kind of last minute" Connor replied while shutting the door and kicking his shoes off. It was then that I realized Sierra called Connor her baby causing me to squeal in happiness.

"When were either of you going to tell me that you guys are together" I exclaimed slapping both of them upside the head.

"We would've if you hadn't been so engrossed in your billionaire boyfriend" Sierra responded while rubbing the side of her head. The smile quickly left my face at the mention of Ivan which didn't go unnoticed by Sierra.

"What did that dickhead do to you" she asked immediately and I explained what had been going on between us for the past week.

"He had no right to keep a secret like that from you but Amelia did you stop to ask him why he did what he did" she asked and I shook my head in response.

"I wasn't in the right mindset to listen to anything he had to say so I packed my bags and left" I explained and this time, Sierra smacked me across the head.

"What the hell" I exclaimed as Connor laughed in the corner causing me to shoot him a glare.

"I know what he did was wrong but maybe he had a reasonable explanation" she reasoned and I sighed in agreement.

"I'll give him a call tomorrow but for now, let's just spend the night together" I explained and they both nodded in agreement.

Sierra lent me some clothes to change into while Connor ordered the food and set up the living room. The entire day was spent cracking jokes and eating which reminded me on how much I missed spending time with my friends. I cherished this time together because I knew that it wouldn't be much longer until trouble came knocking on my doorstep.

Ivan's pov.

The minute she walked out of my house, I dropped to my knees and cursed myself for what I just did. I was so consumed in my thoughts of protecting Amelia from her father that I didn't realize that I was the one pushing her towards him. I will never forgive myself for making her cry much less making her feel as though I didn't trust her. I got off the floor and dragged myself to the bar, pouring myself a glass of scotch. I spent the night trying to drown out the events that occurred and the pain of loosing the one person who meant the world to me. I couldn't allow myself to let Alejandro come in between the two of us but by the looks of it, it appeared he already was.

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Chapter 31 complete!! Make sure you comment, share and vote if you liked this chapter. Something tells me it's about to get a whole lot more complicated between Amelia and Ivan;) Next chapter will reveal the truth about Amelia's family and their intentions with Mr. Stone. Thanks for sticking around even though I haven't been very consistent lately. I've been going through some things internally but I'm better now and will try my hardest to give you at least one update each week. Hope you understand<3

A.O