33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

GABRIELLE

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The rest of the day went by in a blur, Lucian left after dinner. He told me that he still had some work left to be done.

I left Loretta and took a stroll in the garden which had become my favorite spot outside the mansion, but this time, I wasn't here to for the peace I usually get from the fragrances of flowers. I was here to meet Anya. After checking around, I concluded that this would be the safest place around the house.

He was just one of my father's men, why would Lucian carry out such a detailed background check on him? Devin had brought that report file just before I entered, that was something that reassured me that he wasn't dead.

I stared at my phone screen, unable to fathom the numerous questions running through my mind.

Why was Derek's last name here different?

The Identity photo in this file looked like it had been taken a long time ago, perhaps even before I met him.

The Derek I knew had lived with his uncle after the death of his parents, then he had been employed by father, these files suggested he had grown up in an orphanage in Moscow.

The next name mentioned was some Vladimir Petrov, on the side of the file was a photo of an older man, about father's age. I paused wondering why his name sounded familiar. It took me a few seconds to remember that father had mentioned that name quite a few times, he was one of father's rivals.

Why did it state here that Derek had worked for him before moving to New York City four years ago?

Why did Derek never mention to me that he had lived in Russia? And why would he work for Vladimir Petrov?

He also never mentioned to me that he had a sister who died in a fire accident when they were younger as was stated in this report.

What other things had he kept from me?

I stared at Derek's photo on my screen continuously as though it would give answers to all of the questions burning inside of my mind. If he was here right now, then I would have demanded these answers from him.

My mind was hit by a sudden wave of suspicions, that maybe Lucian had kept Derek alive not because of the agreement I made, I had the strong feeling that there was something else involved in all of these.

I was still buried in my thoughts when I caught sight of Anya approaching.

She looked about her shoulders a few times before she got to where I was.

I met her stare with a worried frown.

"Is something wrong, is anyone following you?" I queried in a low whisper, feeling my chest tightening in alarm.

She shot me a reassuring smile.

"I don't think so, I checked many times before coming here, I was merely being careful."

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I decided to get to the bottom of the reason we both came here, it was only a matter of time before he would start looking for me.

The details apart from cramming my mind with doubts mentioned nothing that could tell us about Derek's whereabouts, so I saw no need in allowing Anya to see them.

"Do you know about a warehouse?"

I only explained to her about Lucian's conversation that I had overheard this afternoon. I didn't know why I still had that strong feeling that he'd been talking about Derek.

"Maybe that's just it! Derek has to be there!"

She looked relieved as though she was already certain about it and I waited for her to explain.

"He always goes there two times every month, I've heard that the place is heavily guarded, as I know, he's already gone there twice in this month, you said you overheard Lucian telling someone to hold him until he gets there? That someone has to be Derek!"

Even if she was right, if the place was heavily guarded as she spoke then, I guess there was little hope for us.

"We will find a way, you don't need to worry from here, I will make the rest of the preparations." She spoke as though she read my thoughts.

I gave her a doubtful look. "How do you suppose to do that? What preparations can you make? Is there someone else involved in this that you haven't mentioned ?"

"Did you get anything else when you were in his office?" She suddenly asked, it didn't skip my notice how she evaded my question.

She had once told me that she wanted to save Derek because they were long-time friends, she was kind and openly friendly but I still felt that there was a lot more to her that I didn't know about.

I thought for a moment whether to tell her what I found out about Derek but decided against it, it wouldn't help with our investigation, so there was no need to tell her.

"Only a few business documents, it's nothing of importance" I shrugged lightly.

"Then, can I take a look at it? Who knows, it might contain something in our favor."

There was only a bunch of total waste of time, I didn't understand most of the layouts and diagrams, I doubted she would be able to make anything out of them too.

I was surprised by her insistence, I thought about refusing but didn't want to hurt her feelings or make her think that I didn't trust her. She was the only one who has been with me on this since the beginning. I would be forever grateful to her.

Instead of showing her the documents about Derek, I decided to show her the pictures of some meaningless business documents that I had taken at Lucian's office to prove to her that I was right. The papers had no use, at least to us.

I gasped when she suddenly snatched the phone out of my grasp.

"What are you doing!" I whispered, not wanting to make any noise that would gather attention.

She merely shrugged at me, mumbling words that I almost couldn't hear.

"I have to transfer the document to my cellphone, I'll go through them later, there's no time to waste!"

I silently agreed with the fact that there was no time to waste, she handed me my phone once she was done.

When she looked at me again, I wasn't able to grasp the emotions in her eyes.

"You are doing all of these for him, maybe he's only perfect in your head, have you ever thought that you might never be happy even if you reunite with him?" She paused to stare at me more deliberately.

"Did you ever think that if you leave, there would be disputes between your two families?"

Sharp tears prickled in my eyes, why was she saying all of these now? We've only gotten a clue about Derek's whereabouts, was she trying to persuade or discourage me?

"Your one action could lead to the death of your loved ones, can you be so selfish to ruin your entire family just for the sake of one man you claim to love?"

"Stop it!"

Of course, I loved Derek, and I didn't think Lucian could wipe out our family, it wasn't as though my father didn't have high positions and connections, they would be fine... Right?

"What would you have me do? I can't stay here either! don't you understand? I really can't!" I cried.

"Why can't you stay? For years since I've known your husband and I can say that he looks at you differently, you can have everything you want with him, he would kill the whole world for you! but with Derek, you will be left with nothing!"

I didn't realize I had tears streaming down my face, in the end, why didn't nobody understand me? My father had chosen business profits over my well-being, Mother had been too helpless to help and Phoebe thought that our father's decision was right, why did all of them apart from me think that Lucian was good for me?

"I don't care about having anything, I only want Derek's safety and if I'm lucky, I'll get to spend the rest of my life with him...." I was brought short by a burst of laughter which soon transformed into a sneer.

"And do you think he will want you after knowing everything? When he looks at you, he will keep remembering the times you spent in Lucian's bed and the very sight of you would repulse him an..."

My hand collided with her face, bringing her words to a halt, she stared at me, seeming not to care.

I wiped away hysterical tears because a part of me knew that her words were right.

"Why are you doing this? If you didn't want to help me, you could have just told me! I'll find a way to help him! I don't need you!" I hissed.

I started to turn around but she held my shoulder, this time she had a smile playing across her lips.

"My words might have been harsh, I just wanted to find out how determined you are to leave this place. I wanted to know that you wouldn't change your mind at the last moment." She explained but still, I didn't feel the slightest bit relieved.

Why did I feel as though she had meant those words?

I didn't get a chance to pursue the feeling when we heard a noise.

The sound of footsteps was gradually becoming louder and louder.

"Tomorrow morning, at this place Everything will be arranged by then and I will tell you about it. "

With these words, she hurried and left.

The footsteps became louder and my heart was pounding furiously.

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