Nico looked at the man standing right at the opened door staring back at him, the expression the same—one of tiredness and burnout. Even though the man hadn't said anything, he knew what would be reported to him.
He sighed, facing the papers at the top of his desk, drumming on the table with the tip of his fingers, before finally speaking, "What did Matteo say?"He damn well knew it was Matteo, especially on a Friday morning; there had to be some whining, except the whining was silent, staring up at him with green pupils that had him wishing he could remake most of his life's decisions.Like why he even thought of getting the papers almost four years ago. The worst decision of his lifeThe man at the door struggled to force a smile, "How did you know...?" Seeing Nico drop tired brows at him, he straightened up and began professionally, "He refused to go to school again."Nico crashed back on his seat; so far, there was just one problem he couldn't solve with a snap of his fingers, and it wasn't the state's problem; it was a five-year-old boy with a locket around his neck who never stopped demanding for his mother.Maybe, hopefully, this wasn't one of those situations. Besides, he hadn't heard anything about Elena from Matteo; although he held the locket every damn time, there was no complaint, so what was it this time?"What did he say was the reason?"Noah raised a brow, shaking his head, "Told me nothing; his legs are crossed on his bed, playing video games. And when he's in that mode...""He says nothing to anyone," Nico completed, finally losing interest in the work on ground; he threw the pen on the table, blowing out air from his cheeks, before standing up, loosening stiff shoulders, and he began to walk, passing the door opened for him, toward Matteo's room.Matteo was Zayne's replica, not easily pointed out by others, but he knew. Each time the boy smiled, the sides of his eyes crinkled up—guilt being the one emotion he couldn't hide from his face.Nico wondered if anyone would notice if the two were to stand side by side; helping matters was that Zayne never requested to see the boy, and the last he saw any of his family, except Milo, was at the hospital years ago after Alexa gave birth to Matteo.And that he knew it was slowly killing his mother, but what could he do? Being President needed sacrifices; he only hoped they'd understand.Understand why they never set eyes on their grandson.Finally, he was before Matteo's door, and even with his overthinking, he didn't dare forget to knock; Matteo's anger wasn't one he'd like to experience, especially not today."Come in, Dad," the careful voice said, and turning the knob, he flowed in, coming in contact with a room that had Elena's pictures scattered on the wall, most of which she took with little Matteo and the others of which he had ordered to be ripped from the sitting room wall and placed in his.Nico closed the door after him and placed his back on it, taking in the frame of Matteo's legs crossed on the bed, not even bothering to look up from the video game he didn't seem interested in.Nico sighed and finally broke the silence, "What's going on?" "Nothing, Dad."Nico couldn't help the frown that masked his face. "Did you say nothing?""I did"Helpless President Nikolai Rossi nodded, understanding that anger was directed at him. Was it something the little guy found wrong in his speech about Elena?"It's Friday, son; you should be in school."Matteo shook his head; Nico could see his hand gripping the sides of the video game. "I can't go today.""And why?"When Matteo looked up, he could sense the accusation from the green orbs. "We were asked to bring our mothers to school today; I decided not to waste my time."Sensing no reply from his father, the boy lowered his eyes to the game.Nico offered, "You could have said something. I'd have had Miss Rita go with...""Miss Rita is not my mom." No, Miss Rita wasn't. She was just someone who had been around and helped when it came to Matteo.But so was Elena."She's nice, Dad, but she's not my mom."Nico left the door, walking the problematic steps toward Matteo, where he sat on the bed beside the boy, watching the boy press away at the pad."How do you play that?" He tried to make the atmosphere light, collecting the pad from Matteo, who let him, "Level 59, woah, that's a lot of hard work."Matteo's next question had his borrowed cheer vanishing."Dad, did you divorce Mama?"Nico knew that question would come up once the boy found the word's meaning, and he wasn't ready.He shook his head, "No, Matteo." In a way, he wasn't lying; he never submitted the papers to the court. "I didn't divorce Elena; she had things to sort out."Turning to look at the boy was a mistake; the unbelief was on Matteo's face.Luckily, he had one trick up his sleeve.He stood up, walked to where little Matteo kept tidy, his bat and ball, picked it up, turned to the boy, and smiled."How about a game?" Seeing he had caught the boy's interest, he added, "Besides, moms' things are boring; let's hit it boys style."Knowing he was joking, Matteo jumped from the bed and went to the wardrobe, "I'll get my cap, Dad."Nico smiled, watching the boy shift clothes from his wardrobe to get to his game polo. Inwardly, he sighed; he'd escaped this one. But this won't work forever.He had to get to Elena as fast as possible.But how?In about an hour, he has his dark sunglasses on, along with a pair of black joggers under a matching polo shirt, matching Matteo's outfit.Holding the instruments as Matteo got into the car, he threw the bats and the ball into the vehicle's trunk before joining Matteo in the back seat. Seeing Noah's questioning glance at him, Nico only nodded.The car drove away with Matteo's voice filling the air about how his coach taught him new tricks to get the ball with the bat; Nico was in another world.As usual, Nico wound the window down, and staring out of it, he fucking wished for a miracle, any miracle, and he swore he would never make any selfish decision again.He wished he had seen her for her worth when he had her. Yes, it was a contract marriage, but it brought him so much stability; life was easy then.What if, when he found her, she was already married with kids? Two? Three?He blinked. That would mean he had to find a brown-haired woman who looked like her, acted like her, and even smelled like her: fresh lemons and exotic body sprays...His eyes were on a blond-haired woman who was running towards a fashion house, clutching her black bag, and as he watched, she pulled off her shoes, continuing the run until she was beside another amused girl.He felt a faint smile crawling on his lips. that reminded him of Elena; she was never used to heels and hated that she had to wear them to occasions with him, so most of the time before they reached home, she was kicking it off her femur.The woman turned and waved at someone across the road.Blonde hair smiled."Stop the car!"The car screeched to a halt in a second, with Noah turning to Nico, who had his head out of the window,"Sir, are you okay?"Nico pulled back, leaning on his seat, relief clouding his face for the first time in two years.He turned to Matteo and smirked, "I think I just found your mother."***Elena let another batch of girls, who wore the gold lingeries, walk down the runway from the dressing room; she could feel her hands sweat, knowing it was her turn next.The dressing room was rowdy, hustling, and bustling; she could see Joey and Charlotte having a row over what color would go next, pink or blue.She swallowed; they were having all the fun in Italy, but after this was over, it seemed she would still find her way back to Alessandro, concluding after she found out he also had control over the mini savings she had kept hidden from him in case of emergencies.Or she went back to her parents.But Alessandro would find her. She clutched her jeans.Joey and Charlotte walked over to her."Elen," Charlotte's voice oozed fire, "only you can solve this; what color should go next?"Joey rolled his eyes, walking to stand in front of Charlotte and raising the pink nightie he held in his hand, his red-painted nails shining up at her, "Everyone knows pink is the real deal, baby.""it's blue,""You know nothing, Char.""Excuse me; everyone knows you've got bad taste."Joey sucked in his breath, hurt in his eyes, and looked down at Charlotte, who began to regret her words immediately. "I didn't mean it like that," Charlotte whispered, watching Joey walk away, and quickly she followed after him, the blue fabric hanging on her shoulders.The red batch came in now, and gold went forth; after that, it was her, under the spotlight, with fake smiles and waves, getting more impatient to return to her daughter, whom she had left in the care of a nanny.Looking at the far end of the room, where Joey and Char weren't bickering any longer, they gave her a thumbs-up, and she beamed before she turned.Now she was before the train of lingerie-clad models, and they began to walk the runway.As the cheers came, she waved and smiled at the people on their feet, the applause coming stronger now that she was at the edge of the runway.She blew kisses into the air quickly; she couldn't wait to fly back into the dressing room and get the last two batches on stage before returning to Mia.And among all the applause, whistles, and cheers came a loud, familiar voice:"MAMA!"It wasn't the contents of the voice that had her freezing.It was who owned the voice, standing in front of all those people with unbelief in his widened eyes and a dropped open mouth.Was that Matt..."THAT'S MY MAMA!""Mama! That's my mama!" Matteo shrieked again, and Elena struck right on the stage and felt as if the whole light on the runway was turned on her, her eyes wavering.That was Matteo, alright, standing and clapping while everyone else smiled at the cute little boy who had a locket on his neck. To make matters worse, he was making his way to her.Conscious of herself, she swept her blonde hair back; how did he find her? How did he even recognize her? He was so tiny when she left; he was almost three when she left, for goodness' sake.Fighting the wave of emotions about knocking her off her feet, as she watched Matteo's head, he ignored the stairs and climbed straight to the podium, struggling to hold onto it.A sob rose to her throat, deep happiness seeing her baby again, and fear, for if he was here, it meant Nikolai was behind him, somewhere, around.She saw him now, Noah, coming forward to help the little boy climb on the stage where she was, all those time maintaining eye contact wit
Elena's POV.My stomach felt like they were wrenching, and suddenly I was feeling the urge to throw up, and to make matters worse, I caught my reflection in the mirror, and there I was, looking like a heartbroken Maleficent.He didn't change a bit; the Camera and tv shows didn't do him enough justice. My business side was itching to make him an offer to model my male collection of beach shorts.I blinked.He blinked.I looked back at the windshield, clenching my teeth before steadying my breath, then I muttered, "You don't look bad, your Excellency.""You look blonde, Elena." I hated how his voice sounded steady while mine was a whirl of emotions; how had I forgotten that square chin was my weakness, and that hair, dear gawd..."I apologize if I interrupted anything."My frustrations were becoming anger, anger at myself for losing myself; I wished I looked better, but now I was looking homeless, and him .. with that stainless look, full brows and lash, hiding brown pupils so innocent
"The conversation went too far." Noah said, watching his boss stare at the telephone in front of him, his fingers on the keyboard of the MacBook, "It almost sounded like a threat, sir."A page popped up on the laptop, and picking up a pen, Nico wrote a number on paper, arranging his glasses before peering at what he wrote.The comfort he experienced upon returning home and discovering that Matteo was already asleep; after checking on the boy, he went to his office, carelessly shrugged off his jacket, sat down in front of his laptop, and researched every bit of information he could about her.His ex-wife wanted nothing to do with him, but unfortunately for her, he was ready to go to the extreme for her to return; he couldn't handle any more of Matteo's whining, especially now that he had seen Elena."In a way, sir, she's right," Noah tried again. The look in the president's eyes made him afraid, and he hoped what he was about to do didn't blow up in their faces. "Coming and leaving Mat
Clutching Mia's hand, I ran into the main headquarters of La Belle in Umbria, Italy. I glanced up at the high buildings, feeling my tension oozing out. For the first time in years, I wasn't so sure of myself.The company was mostly empty, and except for the receptionist standing at the side, who looked at me strangely when I entered, there was no one.I walked up to her and tried on a smile, "Elen Santos, please."Her face dawned in recognition, and she quickly came out of the counter and was in front of me in seconds, directing me towards the meeting room, where my fate would be decided.With what Char had said on the phone, hearing of the ruined show the day before, Mason had decided he couldn't wait for us to return to Vegas before giving me a piece of his mind. And he came along with other officials of La Belle. I knew this wasn't just about me messing up the show.Finally, we stopped before a door."Here we are," The receptionist said.I nodded, "thank you very much."Then she pe
AUTHOR'S POV."what is going on?" Char muttered, watching Nikolai glare hard at Mason, whose confusion intensified the more, looking from Elena to the president whose eyes on him seemed to burn him down.Elena could swear she never saw his eyes get this fiery before; it made her stop squirming, looking at the side of his face wondering where all of this was coming from.From the side of her eyes, Elena saw the paper in Joey's hands drop, watching as the President suddenly stood before Elena, unbuttoning her dripping jacket and throwing it at the door.Elena faced the door in time to see Noah catch the jacket and then tip his head toward her direction, muttering respectfully. "You don't look too well, First Lady."She was about to pinch herself, so she woke up from this damn nightmare rendering her speechless.Mason laughed nervously, "Your Excellency, I'm sure you're mistaken," he pointed to her, "This here was a worker in this company; Elen Santos can not be First Lady,"Nikolai's re
She'd never seen the great Nikolai Rossi flinch, she'd never seen his eyes weaken, but right there, she got more reaction than she had expected; The President was knocked off his feet.No sound was emitting from him, she wasn't sure, but she thought she saw his hands shake, eyes on his daughter.Mia left her shoulders turning to take in her father again, and as brown eyes watched each other, Nikolai suddenly dragged his hair backward, swallowing and inhaling deep breaths."Years, and you kept her hidden, Elena? But for how long were you intent on keeping this up?" He demanded palms spread."For as long as it takes me, so you don't take her from me.""Are you kidding me right now?!""No, I'm not," she broke eye contact holding Mia tighter, "You powerful men get what you want with just a snap of your fingers, but she..." Elena inhaled, "she's all I have""Quit that bullshit!" He snapped through gritted teeth, his hand about to clench to a fist when his eyes met her fearful, wavering one
"I beg to differ," he had said, and next, he was in his office, sitting opposite her, eyes holding hers, demanding answers.Answers for?Entering the office, she'd felt Deja Vu; the night she left, she remembered the moans, his groans, and her pain finding the papers right on that damn desk he placed beautifully manicured fingers on.She remembered her tears.But then here he was, demanding she returns, peering at her from his gold-framed glasses.Whether she agreed or not, one thing was sure; he wouldn't have it easy with her.He pulled his glasses and sat back on his seat, twirling the chair, eyes searching hers until she looked away."You still haven't made up your mind, have you?" he raised a brow, "Or you enjoy making it hard for me, Elena? You want me on my knees, groveling at your feet."It wasn't far from the truth; she felt like shrugging. Now that she was open to the world, there was nothing to hide anymore..."Considering how I found the divorce papers, that isn't enough to
"... she's back with my kid, name's Mia, and she can't stand the sight of me," Nico grimaced, glaring at the clock, "And Milo, don't fucking make me repeat this shit one more time when all you do is..."Milo's hard laughter filled the phone again; Nico swallowed his annoyance. He wasn't expecting anything else when he told his brother about the events."Are you done?""No man," Milo wheezed, Finding fun in his brother's misfortune, "Mr. President, aren't you a wild one? Donna's going to be thrilled hearing about this one.""Don't you fucking tell Mum""Eissshh, too late, dude.""You never left the fucking phone; how did you...""I didn't tell you Aunt Abby is here. Did I?" Nico could almost see his brother shrug, "She overheard, and now she's on the phone"Those two..damnit."And you say she got my mole?" Milo inquired, and that was his only fascination in all of this, that and Nico panicking.How stupid of him to think he'll get comfort from Milo."Yo, Boris," Milo shouted, "Nico got