Elena's POV
I stay rooted on the spot, his gaze pinning me in place. Tears swell up in my eyes again, but I blink them back. I'm allowed to cry, but I'm not about to cry in front of this asshole.
I look away and move past him, but he steps in front of me.
"Rio, move..!" I deadpan, angry now.
"Elena…" he starts. I don't let him finish; I use all the strength I have and shove past him, making him stagger back a little.
I walk to my room, and I can feel him behind me. Why can't he just leave me the hell alone? I grab a suitcase from under the bed, and two boxes to place my shoes.
My hands are trembling as I grab clothes from the closet and shove them inside. I see him watching me, his thumb and index finger pinching his nose.
Good thing the only things I have in this house are just my clothes and shoes — most things are still at my apartment.
Everything barely fits, but I force them too. I'm sure a few of my makeup items break. But I don't care. I grab another suitcase and move toward his room to grab my clothes that are there. I'm not leaving anything here.
He grips my arm, shoving back.
"Leave me the hell alone," I warn, anger radiating off me as I yank my hand back.
"You know you can't stay alone, Elena…" his voice is low, deep.
"That's not for you to worry about, Rio. I can take care of myself. Now move," I say with a grin on my face, and he sighs, moving aside.
I turn the knob to his room and swing the door open. I freeze in place, throat tightening as I lock eyes with Jessica, perched on Rio's bed, cross-legged in her tiny dress.
She smiles at me. And I smile back. Oh, if she thought I was gonna cry, she better think again.
"Hey Elena…" she snarls, snapping her nails against each other. I mirror her smile.
"Hey Jess… sorry to interrupt you guys… let me grab a few of my stuff, yea?" I ask, and I watch the smile fall from her face. She looks at me, then behind me at Rio.
I walk to Rio's closet, fishing out my clothes and shoes and zipping the suitcase, the sound filling the room.
I place it down, dragging it with me. I stand in front of Rio — his eyes cold, and if I'm not mistaken, a bit glossy. I see his throat bob as he swallows. The tears I've been holding since I got here now fall.
His hands clench at his sides, as if to stop himself from touching me.
"I hate you," I whisper, more hot tears falling on my face.
That's all I manage to say before I shove past him. My heartbeat pounds in my ears; I can hear my heart breaking. My feet almost give out. My eyes shut as I take in his scent for the last time while moving away from him. My tears blur my vision.
Sergio helps me with my bags.
"Thank you so much," I tell him as I watch him place the last suitcase.
"Don't mention it," he says, shutting the boot of the car.
"Goodbye, miss," he says, bowing a little before he walks away.
I settle in the driver's seat and look outside at the house for a while. My eyes move up, and I wish I didn't — Rio is standing on the balcony, hands on the railing, looking at me. We lock eyes. Jessica appears behind him, wrapping her hands around him. I look away and turn the key in the ignition as I drive off.
Once outside the gates, I drive for a while before I stop and pull over. I break down again. I hate how emotional I get, how I can't seem to just let all this go. My hands tug at my hair as I choke on my tears, the image of Jessica touching him making my hands fist around the steering wheel.
"It's okay. It's okay, El… deep breaths," I pep-talk myself, breathing in and out until my breathing evens out.
I shut my eyes, then open them. I'm no longer trembling. I grab a tissue and wipe my eyes, drink some water, fluff my hair, and apply some lip gloss.
I'm feeling more like myself now — not good, but better. One thing is for sure: I'm done crying over him. He had a choice, and he chose her.
I start the car again and begin driving toward Sam's house. It's almost 7 p.m.
Moments later
I'm showered and in shorts and an oversized t-shirt. I hang the last of my clothes in Sam's closet. She's not home yet, so it's up to me to make dinner.
I also cleaned her apartment and have managed to get my head off all the things that happened.
I blast music as I make pasta in the kitchen. Soon the door creaks open, and Sam walks in holding grocery bags and a smile on her face.
"There she issss…" she squeals and literally hugs me like we weren't together this morning.
I giggle.
"Heyyy, how was work?" I ask, tasting thr soup.
She snorts and sits on the stool. Hands on her chin looking at me like I hang the stars.
"What?" I ask her.
"We look like a married couple — me coming home to my wife cooking and asking about work… oh, to be loved," she says, hand on her chest, and I laugh, rolling my eyes at her.
"You're ridiculous," I snort.
"We'd be a hot couple though," I joke back with a wink.
"Oh… my God, did you just flirt with me?" she fake gasps before jumping off the counter and getting whatever she got from the grocery bags, placing them in the fridge.
"But… work was great. Zoe punched a customer though…" she sighs, and I burst out laughing.
"What? Why?" I ask between laughs.
"He was touching her inappropriately, so she took matters into her own hands… proud of her, honestly," Sam says, gulping down a glass of water.
I open my mouth to speak, but we both freeze when the doorbell chimes.
"Expecting company?" I ask.
"No. Are you?" Sam asks back.
I walk around the kitchen toward the door, heart pounding. The bell rings again, followed by a knock.
I get on my tiptoes and peep through the peephole. Relief washes over me as I see Mariana standing outside.
"Who is it?" Sam whispers behind me, and I turn to look at her and laugh.
"It's Mariana. Put the knife away," I snort, turning the knob and opening the door for her.
She plays with her bag straps nervously, and I feel bad. I shut her out, walking away from her. I should have talked to her, and now I feel like a bitch.
"Hey…" she says.
"Hey, Mariana… come in," I say nervously, and she looks at me as if checking if I'm sure. I nod, and she walks in, taking off her coat and hanging it.
She walks further into the room, and Mariana and Sam exchange hugs.
"I'm sorry…" I blurt out, and they both look at me.
"For shutting you out earlier. I should have talked to… a…" I start ranting an apology, but she smiles and walks over to me, wrapping me in a hug.
"It's okay. I saw Jessica coming out of Rio's office, and well, I figured that had something to do with it," she says into my hair.
"It did," I whisper, happy she's not mad at me even though she has all the right to be.
"God, my brother is a jerk… I'm sorry," she adds, and we all laugh a little.
So I fill her in on everything — also the part where I went to grab my stuff, which I didn't tell Sam. Now they're all looking at me with their jaws dropped.
"Your brother is an ass, Mariana," Sam says, sipping her juice.
And we all agree.
"I don't want to come off as if I'm defending him or anything, but Elena, Rio is in love with you, ive seen how he looks at you ..how he stopped being so cold with everyone you made him more human Elena .." Mariana says, and we look at her with Sam, my throat tightens at her words .
It's true, though. I could see it in his eyes.
"I don't know what made him change and act like this, or what caused it, but that's no excuse for him to treat you like that," she says with a pout, holding my hand.
I find myself stabbing at my past now. Sam's voice snaps me out.
"Hey, it's okay," she says, holding my hand. I look up at her.
"We don't have to talk about it right now," she says, and Mariana backs her up. I smile, nodding, grateful for these two.
I decide to change the subject and turn to Mariana.
"Maria, you didn't tell us , well me and Rio… if you found something at your dad's house?" I ask.
She looks at Sam for a second, and I nod.
"It's okay. I trust her," I tell her. She places her fork down and leans back.
Sam and I lean forward.
"Well, I wanted to tell you this with Rio and Marco present, but I'll have to talk to y'all separately because I assume you don't want to share a room with him right now," she starts, playing with the rings on her fingers.
"Well… when you were in Texas, I was at my dad's house. Margo went back to the office, so I went to talk to him. I needed an excuse to see him — maybe I could see something or hear something, so I decided I'd talk to him about my relationship with Margo," she says, stopping to sip some juice.
The silence stretches for a while before she continues.
"So that didn't go very well. We ended up screaming at each other — him telling me I embarrassed him, I'm a disgrace… some bullshit. So I just walked out, angry, and that's when I bumped into Enzo right outside the door. I didn't talk to him; I just walked around him without a word," she says, playing with her fork now.
"So I stopped when Enzo got inside, then later went back to eavesdrop… to get to the heart of what they were talking about. I didn't hear much, but I think I heard enough," her voice drops an octave, and the room goes silent.
"What did they say?" I ask, voice small and shaky.
"They said…" she swallows hard, her eyes scared when they meet mine.
"They needed to kill you before someone named Hunter gets to you," she whispers, and my breath leaves my lungs.