Chapter 8

• "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to kill him..." She hugged the towels tighter.
• Andrei continued to look at her in that inquisitive and strange way until he decided to turn and leave, but she interrupted him again.
• "Andrei..." he turned this time more seriously. It was strange to hear his name on the lips of someone he didn't know, and for that girl to be so insistent on keeping him.
• "What was that gunshot the other day?" she asked, distressed.
• That typical spark in the taller man ignited, wanting to be intimidatingly direct and cold, taking a few steps towards her as Elisa backed away a few paces to avoid being too close to him.
• The brunette smirked at her fearful demeanor, wanting to tease her as he continued to approach her.
• "I killed your boss," he said, still closing the distance between them.
• A shiver ran down her spine, and fear gripped her gaze.
• "But he didn't kill your friend, I did..." Another person paying for her actions. Would she have to carry that burden forever?
• "He gave his life for you, sweetheart, isn't that right?" he reached her as her legs touched the edge of the bed, feeling the girl's hands on his forearms, helping him from falling backward.
• He looked at her hands and then at her, wanting to intimidate her with a touch of seduction in his eyes, indicating that it was daring and could provoke him.
• The brunette noticed and withdrew her hands from his arms, surprised when those large hands took hold of her face, drying the tears that began to wet her cheeks.
• "I believe the worst punishment for a person is to place them under their fears," he began to explain, speaking close to her face, arching his back to be in front of her pretty face full of fear. "He didn't hesitate to betray you, Elisa," she was surprised to hear her name from his lips. "He wanted me to kill you only because he wanted to save himself," he continued speaking softly, close to her lips and looking at her fingers, while he wiped her face with his thumbs, "and it's true, I should have killed you," he returned his eyes to hers. "You killed Santoro, but your boss annoyed me, his breathing felt like a loss of oxygen. So I gave him what he feared the most, I gave him his own death."
• The touch of his hands on her face ceased to surprise her and to be aware of it when Andrei began to explain his actions to her. Now she was afraid of those hands and arms that had helped her.
• "So..." she continued looking at him with her teary eyes, "you want me to live with the guilt that all my coworkers and my friend Miki died because of me..." she spoke shakily, because of how cold and despicable that man was.
• She realized he wasn't sweet or good as she had been thinking since he saved her from all those mocking eyes, and that terrified her terribly, fearing for her condition.
• "Yes..." one of his fingers began to caress her dry lower lip, because suddenly he wanted to see those tears bathe her face, and the fullness of her lips and her condition distracted him from his task. "Death for you would be a gift, and I don't want to give you that gift yet. You are weak and attached to people, you are good and you can't bear to live with the horrible sin you committed, because that's what your religion says," he withdrew his hands from the girl's face, truly wanting to see her beautiful face covered with her sorrow and guilt. "You will pay with your guilt, and for that you must be my guest, so feel comfortable, this is your room. It will be easy for me to keep you here because no one will remember you, you have no family, but that doesn't mean I can't find them," he smiled, letting her know that he could find her family if he thought it was easy to escape. "Now eat, drink, and heal your wounds, because you owe me a show," he removed his hands from her, turning to the table to pour her juice with a victorious smile on his lips.
• "You can't do this to me, I'm in college, and they'll look for me," she argued to bring him down from his cloud, unsure of her words.
• "And who would look for you from college?" he said, as he placed the jug of juice on the table. "A boyfriend?"
• "No... I don't know who, but it's obvious they'll worry if I don't show up. They'll report the incident to the police; what happened at the club the other day wasn't something simple. You and your thugs killed everyone."
• "And does anyone know you worked at that club?" he teased her with his victorious smile, playing with the liquid in the glass, with circular movements of his wrist.
• Elisa watched him, biting her lips, of course no one knew.
• Andrei laughed.
• "Of course they don't know, it must be embarrassing for you," he took a sip of the juice, giving his approval with a nod. "I don't understand your chastity, you're a foreigner. What woman resists in that way? You're strange..."
• "You don't know anything about me..."
• "No, neither do you about me," he took a step towards her. "Do you want us to have a conversation all night?" he raised an eyebrow mischievously.
• She furrowed her brow at that comment, unsure how to take that proposal. So, reflexively, she covered her chest with her arms, feeling exposed in that generous V-neck t-shirt.
• "What?" he raised an eyebrow again to tease her, letting out a small laugh of amusement. "Not everyone wants to have sex with you, don't be egocentric. Besides, your sex seems to be fatal..." he smirked teasingly suggestive.
• “...”
• She didn't respond, she just looked at him angrily because he was mocking her too much.
• "It's not normal for me to miss university," she decided to insist, "I'm sure they must be looking for me. The other day I had an exam..."
• The taller man feigned tenderness in his face after hearing her.
• "And besides, you're studious, you have several attributes. So I'm proud to have you as a guest."
• Elisa crossed her arms upon hearing him, deciding that she wasn't going to dwell on any of the things that that tall, cold-eyed man said, because right now he seemed like an obnoxious child.
• "They will find me... They will suspect that something happened to me, because I never disappear.”
• "Listen to me, Elisa," he set the glass down on the table, moving without hindrance, bringing seriousness back to his face because he had lost patience with the young woman's insistence. "You need to know that in this city, especially in this district, I am the police and I am your university. No one will ever be able to take you out of my shadow because they can't, it's simple. Even if someone, as impossible as it may seem, knew you were here, they would die," he stroked her face again, with one hand. "I don't feel guilty or sad when I kill someone," he lowered his thumb again to her lower lip, "so forget those silly illusions, because no one is going to save you from me..." he traced his index finger up to her nose, sliding it like a slide. "You know, feed yourself because I'll want to see you dance soon. I need to know if at least my friend had a good time before you took his life."
• Elisa watched him disappear after closing the door, looked around and understood that she did have a future, one that distressed her. She went in search of the table with food to bring it to the bed, sit there, and start eating and drinking while crying.
• It was a strange feeling; on the one hand, she was happy to be tasting those delicious flavors on her tongue, and sad because many people had died because of her, especially her friend, and also because she would have to stay there, with the uncertainty of not knowing what would happen to her.
• When she felt that she had satisfied her hunger and thirst a little, she threw the wheeled table away from the bed, throwing herself to cry on that soft and beautiful bedspread with a rich smell.
• Quickly she got up wanting to go to open the door to return to that party and yell at that idiot how damned he was, that he was no one to separate her from her life and her family. She wanted to see her mother...
• She struggled with the door handle, but it was locked.
• "Open the door!" she began to hit it with her hands and arms, becoming desperate and believing that if she hit harder, then it would fall.
• How naive... of course it wouldn't, that door was solid and not hollow, and its security was worthy of that house.
• "Get me out of here! Andrei, please! Get me out of here! Open the door!" she slid along the length of the door, ending up on the floor with her torso pressed against the wood, having spasms from her impending cry. "Andrei... Someone..." and she burst into tears from desperation. "Please!"
• The brunette was outside the room with his glass of whisky in his hands, smiling at Elisa's desperation.
• He made a toast gesture towards the door that separated him from her, finally finding something to amuse himself with after Kirill's death, and finding the reason to keep her alive.
• It was comforting.
• "To your health, friend. Wherever you are..." he drank, not taking his eyes off the white wood.