To Intrigue a Cavelli [The Seven Cavelli Brothers #1]

20. | Buzzkill |

The flowers came in and Ollie naturally assumed that they were from Vitelli since he was the only one who knew she was staying with him and Dimitri and Luca weren't exactly the type of send her flowers randomly without occasion.

The red roses are beautiful and Ollie grins. It was a bit cliché but they were her favorite. There was a small card attached to it, her name was written on the front in glittery golden cursive. Ollie places the flowers on the table and opens the card. The words written on them drains the color from her face and Ollie can't help but tremble.

Vitelli finds her seated on the chair with a card in hand. He glances briefly at the roses before he makes his way towards her. "Who sent the flowers?" He asks her and she sighs shakily before she hands him the card. He takes it wordlessly. 

It seems that I'm going to have to remind you, little whóre. That you belong to me. Toys that forget their owners never like what comes next.

Sit tight while you can. And keep those thighs closed.

Vitelli glances at Ollie briefly before he crumples the card and throws it in the bin along with the flowers. Ollie doesn't say a word. Vitelli takes out his phone attempting to call Barnard, his head of security. "Don't bother. I already called the florist shop. The order was anonymous. They have no way of tracking it and neither do we." Ollie tells him and Vitelli drops the phone on the table with a slight thud. 

Ollie has a haunted look in her eyes and Vitelli sighs in anger. He doesn't know where he stood with Ollie, he wanted to get into her pants but he also hated the forlorn look in her eyes. Vitelli had been drawn to the free spirited woman Ollie was, he liked her vibrancy, liked the fact that she was independent and she didn't hesitate to speak her mind. She was the embodiment of strong and willful but there was underling passion that showed in her work. She drew him to her without even realizing it and it vexed him to no end. 

"He isn't going to keep evading us for too long," Vitelli tells her in a matter-of-fact voice, he was already investigating all potential leads but had a feeling if he mentioned it to Ollie she might feel offended or worse yet, as though she owed him something. He wanted the woman to come into his bed willingly, not because she felt like she needed to pay a debt. 

****************** 

Three days into the red rose and the threatening card, there was no sign of whoever it was that had been stalking her. Work at the office too was rather normal without any incidents arising. It was almost as though the stalker wanted Ollie to regain that feeling of safety.

Ofcourse in the following three days, Ollie felt as though the tension between Vitelli and herself was about to reach a boiling point. The infuriating man walked around in his house without a shirt on, teased her endlessly during the meals they have and would vanish for hours afterwards into his half of the rather expansive apartment. The bodyguards he hired followed her silently everywhere, it was a distraction she would forgo if given an alternative choice. 

Three days dissolved into three weeks and Ollie was slightly startled by the extent of how used to she had become with sharing meals with Vitelli. Other than the shared gym and eating space, he made no effort to show up or interfere in her life nor did he try to seduce her with his words like he did the first time he had asked her to come live with him. 

Luca and Dmitri had taken a well deserved break from their respective working life after much persuasion from Ollie and had taken the first flight to Hawaii they could book.

******************* 

Maybe Ollie was weak willed, perhaps she was falling to those feminine wiles like the rest of the women who became prey to Vitelli's easy charm. But by the time she realised what was happening, the wine had already gotten into her head and she was dressed in a sultry red dress and gliding through the dance floor in the restaurant he had invited her to in the form of a seductive dance. Vitelli held her close to his as they both matched their steps to the music played by the live band with ease. He was a good dancer, nice company and a pretty face to look at.

And when they finally stumbled into the apartment they had been sharing, Ollie had her nails raking down his chest from underneath his shirt and he had one hand cupping the side of her jaw and the other squeezing one of her thighs as he presses her against the door. His kisses made Ollie feverish and she was just about to indulge in the more primitive pleasure he was promising her when she had accidentally dropped her purse on the marble floor instead on the counter she had originally intended. The noise it emitted was loud enough to shock her out of her sexual haze and Ollie pulls back from Vitelli almost hesitantly. He rests his forehead against hers and their breaths mingle as they try to catch their breaths. Both of them had slightly swollen lips and there was lipstick smudges on Vitelli's. 

Ollie licks her lips before she looks away from Vitelli's dark, seductive gaze. Thankful for the distraction that the spilled contents of her purse presented. 

There were cards, random money bills, coins and small white bills spilled on the floor. "I should get that." Ollie's voice is breathless and she takes pleasure in the fact that the tone of her voice has Vitelli's own eyes darkening with desire.

He lets her go silently and helps her pick up the spilled contents of her purse. There was a pale sealed envelope among the array of stuff and Ollie picks it up with mild confusion. She can't recall putting in in her purse. She absently thanks Vitelli as he hands her one of her credit cards. Ollie stands up and opens the envelope, finally recalling that it had been dropped in at her old apartment from the slot underneath the door, she had been in a hurry so Ollie hadn't read it. She'd dropped it inside her purse to read later and had completely forgotten about it.

The envelope had a card inside, her name was written in the same glittery golden font as the one that came with the flowers.

I hope you didn't miss me, little Ollie. I promise I won't leave you for so long again. This time, we'll be together forever.

Ready or not, get ready to play!

The previous teasing and seductive atmosphere withered and vanished the moment Vitelli spotted the first traces of fear appear in her eyes. He reads the card in her hand before he glances at her in sharp concern. "Ah," Ollie takes a deep breath, "It...was send under the door in my previous apartment, a few weeks before it was trashed. I was in a hurry to get to work so I just kept it in my purse. I forgot all about it." She tells him.

Ollie was shaking badly as she recalls the past trauma that all began from the last line written on the card. 

"I think I know who my stalker is," Ollie tells him, "But it shouldn't be possible, because I saw him die. He shouldn't be alive." Ollie tells him with wide eyes.

"Benjamin was supposed to be dead."

****************** 

edited: 21st Nov 2017.

I realised that there was no 'Taylor' in the story, and Vitelli's head of security is actually called Barnard and his IT head is called Silas.

Also, I changed the chapter names so that it's easier for me and my readers to find their favorite chapters. Sorry for all those notifications!