The Raven and the Rose (Part 1)

Chapter Four ~ The Raven

She went limp in my arms and I had to catch her before she fell on the floor. I held her by putting one hand under her knees and the other underneath her back, so that I was holding her bridal style. I looked at her face, and strangely enough, I didn't find her as cruel and ruthless as everyone said she was. To me, she seemed more of an ordinary seventeen year old girl than anything. And even though I was two years older than her, she seemed to be the more mature one out of the both of us. I held her against my chest as I pushed open the door with my shoulder and walked out of the sunroom hallway and through the busy crowd in the banquet hall. When everyone's gaze turned to me, it soon left with a shrug of non importance. Everyone knew that I brought in a different girl every other night. So it wasn't new for them to find me with one now. Although, some people gave me curious looks, such as my father, as I made my way towards the doors at the end of the long hall. "Vince, wait!" my father cried. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. My father stared a moment at Valentina's sleeping form before looking into my eyes. "I see that you are taking the De La Rosa heir with you." he remarked. I frowned. "Is that a problem?" I asked. He shook his head and walked over to me, then placed a hand on Valentina's forehead and smiled down at her. "Take good care of her, Vince. She is worth more than anything in the world." he said, and with that, he turned around and left.

I pushed open one of the doors using my shoulder and exited the banquet hall. I hoisted Valentina more in my arms as I made my way down the long hallway and up the stairs. I passed one of the maids but she stopped me when she put a hand on Valentina's head. "My goodness, what have you done to her?" she asked, worriedly. I shrugged. "Nothing, Angelique. Now if you don't mind, she's getting a little heavy. Is the room ready?" I asked her. She only nodded in return and scurried down the stairs. I shook my head and went up the stairs, being careful to not let Valentina's head hit the walls. When I reached the top of the stairs, I nearly let out a sigh of relief and half ran, half walked to my bedroom. I opened the door with my shoulder and stepped inside, then sauntered over to the bed and placed Valentina on it. But before I could turn to leave, I noticed that her breathing was becoming a lot less shallow. She was going to wake up soon; I just knew it. So I bent down and caressed the top of her head, then planted a soft kiss on her forehead before leaning away and smiling down at her sleeping figure. She really was beautiful. Her dark brown hair waved near the ends, and that defined nose augmented the beauty of her face. I shook my head to snap myself out of my trance. I can't afford to fall for someone like her. She was sent here tonight to kill me, and I to her. So I walked away from the bed, but then turned around to cover her sleeping body with the blankets. Then I sauntered over to the door and with one last glance at Valentina, I opened the door and left the room.

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I went back downstairs to continue attending the banquet, although a small part of me would've preferred to stay with Valentina instead. I didn't know what was going on with me. I was supposed to kill her tonight but I started giving her small kisses instead. I entered the banquet hall through the large double doors and walked in with a smile that I had to force myself to wear. To be honest, I would've left if I hadn't run into Valentina, and I was going to, but her red dress had caught my attention. I walked over to the makeshift bar in the far left corner of the banquet hall, and once I reached it, I sat on the stool I was sitting on before and drummed my fingers on the counter as I waited patiently for the bartender to finish serving the other customer across from me. When he noticed me waiting for him, I gave him a subtle nod and he gave me one of his own as he made his way over to me. "What can I get you, sir?" he asked, blinking expectantly. "A glass of wine please." I said to him, and he turned around to reach for a tall wine bottle in the far right corner of the shelves on the wall. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and looked over to see a girl with blond hair and green eyes taking a seat on a stool a couple of feet away from me. She tapped the counter and the bartender nodded to her. "Get me a glass of bourbon. Boy, it's so hot in here." she said, and let out an awkward chuckle as she fanned herself with her hand. The bartender smiled briefly before handing over my glass of red wine, then going back to the counter to get the bourbon under it.

She turned in her seat to look at me while I sipped from my glass, trying the best I could to avoid her gaze. She cocked her head to the side and asked me a question which made me nearly spit out my drink. "Do you happen to know where Valentina De La Rosa is?" I wiped the corners of my mouth and set the glass down on the counter. "I wouldn't know. And even if I did, what would you do about it?" I asked her, giving her one of my stern looks. She narrowed her eyes and scooted closer to me, then fixed me with one of her own stern gazes. "Where did you take her?" she asked. I blinked a few times before picking up my glass and sipping from it. "I don't know what you mean." I told her, and set down the glass, while avoiding her piercing gaze. "Do you know who I am?" she asked me. I shook my head lightly and smiled at her. "Do you know who I am?" I asked her in return, a bit of a grin tugging at the corners of my lips.

She narrowed her eyes even more before leaning away. Then, her eyes landed on the raven tattoo on my right arm. Her eyes widened slightly before her mouth opened and she said simply: "Vince Ravino." I smiled at her and if I was wearing a hat I would have tipped it towards her, but I wasn't, so I instead tipped my head a little downwards. "Alexandra Starr." I said. She fixed me with a hard glare before chugging down all of the contents in her glass. "It's Alex, and if you care about your health and sanity you would do well to tell me where you hid Valentina." she said, and continued to glare at me. I smiled at her in return to her threat and suppressed the chuckle that dared to escape my throat. I played with my glass and avoided her gaze as I said: "She's fine, but she's taking a nap right now and won't be waking up until tomorrow morning. And if you were the good friend that you are to her, you would do well to speak of that information to no one." She gave me one last hard glare before getting off her stool and walking away. I sighed, and when I noticed that the bartender was cleaning a glass with a rag and staring at Alex, I tapped the counter. "Give me another." I ordered, and he did so obediently.