Salted Wounds | 18+

SIX

KARINA

What was he doing here? How did he even know Angela?

I had never seen them together at all. He tried it with me, and now Angela? What a joke. As much as I wanted to concentrate on Aldo's performance, I couldn't; his eye was on me all night. I felt them. I tried to re-direct my eyes to the stone fire pit that was burning before me, but our eyes kept meeting. Minutes later, I heard the crowd cheering, and it was already over.

"Are you okay?" Bianca says, touching my leg to get my attention.

"Yeah, no, I am great. I am just going to head in the bathroom for a second. I'll catch up with you and Aldo in a bit." I say, getting up and rushing to the bathroom. I found my way up the stairs, and there were so many doors.

Angela's house was beautiful, filled with antiques worth more than mine. It balanced modernity and ancientness, from the paintings on the wall to the intriguing yet disturbing sculptures. The house screamed the wealth of her family.

The Martinez family was known globally for their business, from the USA to China and Dubai, and it kept spreading by the minute. Santiago Martinez, Angela's father, was the chairman and chief executive officer of Martinez Atlantica, making him the most powerful man in Italy. He had bled power. On the other hand, his wife, Natalia Maerious, also came from a wealthy background and knew nothing but money growing up. Every woman in Italy wanted to be like her, the rich husband, the perfect child who lived comfortably in an empire. Any scandal from the Martinez family would be destroyed within seconds of release.

I continued to walk down the hallway, finally reaching the bathroom. I saw one of the maids cleaning the mirror; I assumed maybe one of the guests had already vandalised the place, and the last thing I wanted to do was make it worse.

"Ciao, Puoi dirmi dov'è un altro bagno, per favore?" (Please tell me where another bathroom is?).

"No, va bene, signorina, puoi usare questo, ho finito qui." (No, it's okay, miss, you can use this one. I am done here." she smiles and walks away.

"Grazie!" (Thank you) I say, smiling.

I immediately shut the door behind me and took a deep breath, looking at myself in the mirror. Her bathroom was huge. Why did someone need this much of a toilet? Coming from a wealthy family myself, this was next level.

"Come, Karina, get yourself together. We're fine. We're fine." I say to myself repeatedly, taking deep breaths.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. I go towards the door and open it. It was Leonardo who was standing there with one hand on the entrance. I hated to say it, but he looked good. I couldn't take my eyes off his shirt, which was unbuttoned.

"What are you doing here?" I say, attempting not to stutter.

"You're hiding from me." He says, walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind him.

"I am not," I say, breaking eye contact with him and looking towards the mirror.

"You look good." He says, turning me around.

"Isn't Angela waiting for you?" I question.

"You're jealous." He says, lifting my chin.

"You're so full of yourself," I say, chuckling and head towards the door.

He then looks deeply into my eyes and pins me against the door. The scent of his cologne was getting stronger and stronger. He smelt so good. Fuck, He looked good.

He looks me deep into my eyes and cups my cheek.

"I know you're slowly falling for me; you're just putting on this act. I see the way you look at me when you think I am not looking." He says grinning