Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 208

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The guard dropped me to my feet in front of an SUV and immediately examined my body, his eyes scanning me for any visible injuries.

“Are you okay, madam?”

I blinked, still too shocked and stunned into silence by the scene I’d just witnessed.

I could still hear the screams and gunshots even though they had stopped, and I could still see Alvise’s cold eyes and the way they had been completely void of any emotion.

It all made me feel like I was going insane. Like I’d somehow ended up in some sort of twisted dimension where everything was the total opposite of what it was supposed to be.

“Did you hear the gunshots too?” I asked the guard.

He gave me a blank look. “Yes, madam.”

My face fell. “Who… is Alvise?” The question surprised me more than I could have imagined. I never thought that one day, I would ask someone else who a man I thought I knew actually was.

I didn’t know him.

I never had.

“I don’t know who that is.” He said, unlocking the door.

I bit my lip, remembering that they had a strict policy against calling him by his first name.

“I’m talking about Mr. Valerio.” I hissed. “Who is he?”

“My boss.” He said, helping me into the SUV.

I blinked. “I already know that. But I want to know what he does… and why were those men so scared of him?”

The guard became extremely stiff, like I’d just asked him to reveal all his deepest secrets. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that information, madam. You’ll have to ask him yourself.” He said, then closed the door, leaving me alone in the SUV with my mind on the edge of destruction.

I felt betrayed, deceived and so foolish that there wasn’t a single word I could use to properly describe everything I was feeling.

Why did my life suddenly feel like everything I’d once known and thought was real was fake? Like I’d been living a lie and loving a man who was nothing like the person I’d imagined him to be.

Maybe I was just easy to fool, or maybe he was simply so good at hiding his true identity that I never noticed. I felt terrible because in those last few seconds, even after seeing him walk into that warehouse, I’d held on to the belief that it was all some sort of misunderstanding, that he had only come because I’d been abducted and was going to clear the air.

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TOUT MON, Sep 14

Ruined By My Brother’s Best Friend

I was stupid.

tremely stupid.

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It wasn’t until I saw him shoot a man and leave him lying in his own pool of blood that I finally allowed myself to see him as anything other than Alvise, my brother’s best friend.

He was a murderer… a criminal, and I was only just finding out about it.

No.

I couldn’t like a criminal. I would never like one.

How had I not noticed? Was I so clouded by my feelings for him that I couldn’t even realize how dangerous he was?

I trembled at the thought.

Yes, Alvise had always had that scary, dangerous vibe to him, but I had imagined that was all it was. A vibe. Something about him that made him intimidating without actually meaning anything.

I never wanted to see past that.

The countless security guards finally made more sense. I’d always wondered why he was constantly surrounded by them. I knew he was a billionaire, but there were several other billionaires who didn’t use half as much security as he did.

I concluded that he was just being extra at some point and looked past it, probably because I was too distracted by my feelings for him.

I saw what I wanted to see… But the question now was, what else had I not known?

I buried my head in my palms, my hands shaking so violently that my head bobbed with the rhythm.

Did Archie know?

Surely, if he knew, he would tell me, right…? I wasn’t sure anymore.

I was sure of nothing.

Approaching footsteps made me freeze, my chest tightening as the knot in my stomach twisted even tighter.

I didn’t need to look up to know he was the one. My body, as always, gave him away.

I heard the car door open and close, but I stayed still, not moving from my position.

“Arabella.” His deep, cool voice filled the car, sending jolts of electricity down my spine.

I refused to look up, scared that he would see right through the calm act I was desperately trying to put on.

“I know you can hear me.” He rasped, sounding impatient.

I didn’t want to speak to him.

Mon, Sep 14

Rumed By My Brother’s Best Friend

I… never wanted to speak to him again moving forward.

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it as thoughts of Sierra made their way back into my head, I straightened, feeling the desperate need to ashim about her.

I faced forward, not letting my gaze stray sideways to where he was. “Sierra…” I muttered. “Where is she?”

I was met with silence.

I could feel his unnerving gaze on me, but he didn’t respond. His silence made me lock my fingers together, fidgeting because I was suddenly nervous.

I never knew how to act around him, but now it was noticeably worse. He wasn’t the man thought he was… so how was I supposed to deal with that?

“Alvise…” I paused, wondering if it was even right to call him by his first name. I had just watched him murder someone, and his men were scared to address him with the same name. Why did I think I would be any different?

“Mr. Valerio.” I muttered. “Please… where is Sierra? I’m worried about her.”

Seconds passed before Alvise scoffed.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him throw his head back and laugh. The sound echoed through the car, the hairs on my body tingling as he laughed until he finally sobered.

“Mr. Valerio?” His tone was cold and displeased, showing no trace of the amusement his laughter was supposed to bring. “Is that what you just called me?”

upposed

I frowned and opened my mouth to speak, but I yelled when he suddenly grabbed my hand, hoisted me up from the seat and dropped me onto his lap until I was straddling him.

His breath fanned across my face, and he placed a hand on my waist, guiding me forward until my face was hovering over his.

His jaw twitched, his eyes narrowing as he stared into mine.

“Call me that again, Arabella.” His words were rough, his voice taking on a dark edge. “I dare you.”