A Vow So Beautiful - Chapter 84
The VIP area of the Iron Horse was like some secretive elite gathering, yet primarily different as it wasn’t about the elites centered around politics. This was elites from a different range that she wasn’t the least bit used to. It felt lighter and less straight laced than when the senator himself was present.
There were more young people as well. Many masked strangers stood beside each other of opposite genders in a somewhat flirting manner that was looked down upon in the usual elite gatherings.
She trailed behind Bailey and took a seat next to a dark haired gentlemen as Bailey walked around the counter to greet him.
The gentleman had that same black mask covering his eyes and the similar black suit that matched a number of men in the room. This must be the man that the server had mentioned about earlier. Prisana could feel his eyes on her like a hawk and it left for moment as Bailey leaned in to give him a good long stare.
“I see that you’ve trespassed yet again into my establishment. What meaning of no do you not understand?” Bailey inquired to him intently.
Prisana couldn’t see behind his mask from peeking at the side but knew that something about him seemed strangely familiar. Maybe it was the way his dark hair shimmered a dark blue under the bar lights or that he looked at her just as puzzlingly.
The man chuckled, still watching Prisana. “I’ll pay you double. Even more than what I offered last time.”
“I’d rather die before I sell this place to your hands,” Bailey then hit his shoulder. “And quit oogling my important guest, she’s a married woman!”
And then, the flames within those dark irises lit up to reveal recognition. He chuckled like a madman and sent both Bailey and Prisana to look at each other in confusion. This went on until he coughed under his throat.
“The irony. It’s like we were fated to meet yet again. Allow me…”
He reached over to grasp Prisana’s hand and tugged it to his lips. The man she’d only just met had stolen a kiss on the knuckles of her hand. She could only quickly reflex by snatching her hand back. Bailey whacked the side of his frame, to which he winced.
“Kiss other wreteched women. Not this one. She’s off limits to you and every single man here,” she spoke this as she glared at another gentleman who was making quick glances at Prisana, then turned over to gauge Prisana’s reaction. “You know this devil?”
Prisana innocently shook her head. Bailey patted Prisana’s shoulder and scooted her over to the next bar stool.
“Good. Make it stay that way. This devil is the enemy of women…”
The devil of a man clutched his chest and dramatically fell down to the counter.
“Ah! You wound me,” he dramatically exclaimed. “How could you forget this dashing face of mine?”
Prisana shrugged unsympathetically. “You’re wearing a mask. I don’t make it a point to remember people at those gaudy elite gatherings if that’s what you’re referring to.”
“…On a yacht from the distant charity event we attended, I met the cheating wife of Giovanni Blair and the new wife of CEO Elias Blackwell. Ah yes, she was a forbidden fruit and beautiful as…”
Suddenly, it all came flashing back. This eerie and mysteirous man on that yacht which knew things no one ever should. He knew Dane’s true identity. He was in league with that horrid man once called her play pretend husband. Most of all, he was right before her where she could ask him that question which kept haunting her.
“Who are you?” Prisana interrupted him.
He leaned in so Bailey wouldn’t be able to hear. “Devil. Friend. Foe. I can be anything you want me to be, dear. If you find yourself needing a ‘friend’ about the secrets I know, here’s my contact information.”
The devil slipped her a card underneath the counter. She quickly glanced at it’s contents as it read something along the lines of ‘ Leonardo Duval XXX ‘. There was no reason for him to give her this information. Prisana refused and slapped in onto the table before both Bailey and Leonardo.
“I don’t need this.”
“You don’t want to know the things that I know about your husband? All I require is a piece of your soul. It isn’t too much to ask for, really.”
One’s soul? A frightening thought wandered into her mind but she shook it away from existence.
Prisana shook her head and turned the other way. “If I want to know something, I’ll ask him. If he wants to tell me, then he’ll tell me. Why should I trust you, a complete stranger to tell me the truths?”
“You’re a difficult one to trick. I like it.”
“Why on earth would you want to trick me?”
“Because I find it amusing.”
She couldn’t understand this man. There wasn’t a smile to his laughter. Not even a direct and concise answer to what his motivations were for trying to trick her. All she saw was a devilishly handsome man which no women couldn’t help but stare at even covered by the mask but lies all around which warned her of the dangers that lurked within.
Bailey sighed and shook her head at Prisana. “I told you dear, he’s the enemy of women. I’ve seen him break more hearts day after day in this ol’ bar.”
“That’s because women always come back especially when I’ve made it clear that it’s a one time thing.”
“The worst of the worst.”
“Yet, you’ve been paying sweet attention to me dearest Bailey.”
“It’s hard not to when you’ve been hassling the higher ups about buying me out. And I suppose, you’ve become a rotten regular whose company is rather somewhat enjoyable. I just can’t leave troubled men like you alone and there’s actually something urgent I wanted to give you pertaining to what we spoke about last time…It’s why I rushed back in the first place because we found it.”
Bailey handed him an alcohol bottle of sorts. “I heard you were looking for this. That’s why you wanted to buy this place out huh? You could have just asked. I don’t have value for these kind of ancient trinkets.”
For a moment, it was as if Leonardo’s facade broke under Bailey’s motherly and tender gaze that could melt even the coldest iceburg.
He laughed it off and warily eyed the bottle. “Is this a trick? That gift…Why are you saying this to the devil that is still trying to buy this place and kick you out from existence, regardless if I’ve found what it is that I’m looking for?”
“You wouldn’t do that. I know it.”
“You sound so confident.”
“Leo. I was once a mother. Still a grandmother. Everytime you are with a woman, a different one every night if I might add, I notice you’re only looking for temporary comfort. Even if you’re a devil, you’re a lonely one that I can’t help but want to nag at you for being the worst of the worst!”
“Bailey, you’re too good for your own good. I will end up trampling over that good and remaining the worst of the worst…But I’m decent man enough to thank you, so I’ll gladly take this off of your hands. So be it. What do you want in return?”
She looked over to Leo and Prisana, grinning merrily as she slid Leo’s contact information back to Prisana. “I’ve given the thing you most wanted and you accepted it. You will owe her a favor. When you are to do her bidding, you must follow it through to the end.”