Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Dimitri

" Dimitri, is your mother coming today? " Blair asked from the kitchen.

I got up from the couch I was settled on, making my way to the kitchen, finding her standing in front of the open refrigerator door, investigating the contents of some jars my mother had left when she visited us three days ago.

It had been a little over a week since I had been discharged from the hospital, and, despite assurances that I believed Blair and I would do just fine on our own, my mother showed up every three or four days with the excuse of bringing some food and checking if we needed anything.

" I don't know, why?”

" I was thinking of buying food today, but if she comes, you know she'll insist on cooking," she explained, closing the fridge before opening a cupboard, "I guess I'll have to do some shopping later.”

" You will Shop alone? " I frowned.

Blair had started learning Russian since she moved in, and I must say she was doing well for someone who had only been learning for a week, but she was far from being able to understand everyday situations on her own.

" Of course, why not?”

For a moment I considered suggesting that she invite my mother to accompany her, but I quickly dismissed the idea.

She returned to the living room, opening a dresser drawer in search of something.

" We can go together," I finally suggested.

My fiancée stopped what she was doing, giving me an amused look.

" What? Have you gone mad?”

" The doctors say I need to resume my normal life.”

" Well, you should start slowly and not go to a market, walk for I don't know how long, and carry heavy loads," she closed the drawer, crossing her arms as she stared at me.

I let out a frustrated sigh, I was already tired of all the care they were taking with me, okay, what happened was serious, but I already feel much better!

" Can you stop treating me like I'm going to break down with the slightest effort? " I rolled my eyes, turning away from her and heading for the bedroom.

" Dimitri?”

I heard Blair call out, sounding surprised by my reaction. All right, I was doing a little drama, but I still didn't trust Blair alone in a supermarket here.

" Hey, are you mad? " she followed me, giving me a worried look as I sat up in bed.

" I had the surgery almost twenty days ago, Blair. And you keep treating me like I'm in danger," I stared at her.

" I'm just trying to take care of you, Dimitri," she sat down beside me.

" And I'm trying to get over what happened and get my life back on track. I know I'm not one hundred percent recovered and it's going to take a while, but I want to live again.”

We were silent for a few seconds while Blair absorbed everything I had just said. Soon her fingers intertwined with mine.

" I'm sorry, I didn't think you felt this way," she sighed.

" Blair…”

" Two days is twenty days away from surgery," she began, "I think we can wait a little while and we can shop together, what do you say?”

Great, I probably managed to avoid a complete disaster.

" All right," I offered her a small smile.

" But we're out of milk and coffee, so I'll have to buy some," she warned, getting up.

" But…”

" It'll be quick, I promise. In the meantime, you can concentrate on recovering, I need you one hundred percent soon," she assured me, walking to the closet.

For a moment I thought about discussing it again, but gave up. It's just coffee and milk.

" Really? For what?”

Blair returned to the bedroom carrying a pair of pants and a short sleeved blouse in her hands, laying them on the bed before removing the dress she was wearing, leaving her wearing only panties and a bra.

I ran my gaze down her body, missing having her completely.

" Well, don't get me wrong Commander, I loved the fact that we were back together and all. But all that drama and despair was definitely not part of my romantic comedy script," she explained, putting on her pants.

I couldn't help but laugh at her statement, and pulled her to sit on my leg, wrapping my arm around her waist.

" Sorry, I promise this won't happen again.”

Blair leaned over, kissing my lips tenderly before pulling away a little.

" I hope it won't.”

She stood up, beginning to put on the blouse she had separated.

" But don't you think I should know your script? You know, so I don't make any more rookie mistakes, like... trying to die.”

That sentence drew a small laugh from my fiancée, and she picked up her dress from the floor, carrying it to the laundry basket in the bathroom.

" We can discuss the details when I return, but for now all you need to know is that your death is not included in any part of the script," her voice came from the other room.

I stood up, going to the door where she had disappeared a few moments ago. Blair was standing in front of the mirror, applying mascara after having put her hair up in a ponytail.

Her beauty never ceased to amaze and delight me.

The ringing of my cell phone brought me out of my contemplation, I picked it up, sighing when I saw the unknown number.

This has been happening frequently in the last few days. I received numerous calls from the company's lawyers who had various instructions to give me. Sometimes to talk about the lawsuit they had filed against the airport, or about the deposition I was to give in a few days, sometimes to instruct Blair and me on the kind of statements we should avoid in the press, who just happened to always find a way to get in touch.

" More lawyers? " She gave me a corner-eyed look.

" Probably. Or another invitation to a TV show," I shrugged.

" Well, you already know the standard answer, at the moment you are still recovering and have not been cleared by the doctor to leave.”

It wasn't long before the sound of the front door being opened and closed indicated Blair's departure.

" Hello," I decided to get it over with.

" Dimitri Voitovich? " a male voice with an American accent sounded on the other end.

Great, now the international press will want a statement too?

" That's me.”

" Hello, I'm Ethan Roberts, and I speak on behalf of Mr. Vito De Angelis.”

For a moment I searched my memory for some information about this man, failing miserably.

" I don't know him.”

" And we wish to change this as soon as possible, Mr. Voitovich, Mr. De Angelis... please, wait a minute.”

He interrupted himself after someone said something from the other side, starting a short muffled argument, which he probably hoped I wasn't hearing.

" What? Mr. De Angelis, no!”

I couldn't understand what the other person was saying to him, but I could understand the content of that discussion based on his answers.

" Well, I am your advertising executive and you are a respected Italian businessman, you shouldn't use ready-made phrases from gangster movies.”

The answer was not long.

" We don't know if he has a sense of humor, Mr. De Angelis, I don't…”

This time the only response was a resigned sigh before the man's voice came back full force into the machine.

" Mr. Voitovich, we have a proposal that you can’t refuse. Can we handle it personally? " Ethan stated begrudgingly.

" That depends. Am I at risk of ending up with a gun to my head? Because it definitely goes against my doctor's orders.”

" Great, he has a sense of humor," Ethan warned the man next to him.

I felt my curiosity light up at this strange interaction, I knew I was already caught and they didn't seem like undercover journalists, but I decided to make sure before I accepted anything.

" I can't make any comment about the accident itself," I warned.

" Don't worry, we are not interested. Can you send us an address? " he asked.

I was surprised at how quickly the two men rang my doorbell a few minutes later. I had no trouble identifying the two of them.

Ethan was my age and seemed more serious than Vito De Angelis, who was much older.

The two men sat on my couch while I went to the kitchen to get them something to drink.

When I returned, Vito was walking around the room, looking at Blair's decorations, taking one or another in hand from time to time, while Ethan muttered that he should sit down and wait for me to return.

The dynamic of those two aroused curiosity in me, that relationship didn't seem merely professional, in fact, if it weren't for the different last names, I could have sworn they were father and son.

" Vito, please sit down.”

" This one is definitely from Venice," the man ignored the younger man, analyzing the mask hanging on the wall.

" We're not here to see the decorations, Vito," Ethan scolded, not noticing my presence.

" This is a bonus. You have an interesting decoration here, Mr. Voitovich," Vito declared with his back still to me.

I walked over to the sofa, handing one of the bottles to Ethan, before walking over to the other man, standing beside him.

" Yes, these are souvenirs from each city.”

" This one is from Venice," he said, pointing to the carnival mask after accepting the bottle I offered him.

" I couldn't tell you, all these decorations are Blair's, she brought them when she moved in a few days ago.”

Ethan gave in, getting up with a sigh before walking over to where we were standing.

" Blair... she has peculiar taste," Vito commented, indicating the Dutch clogs in the corner of the room.

" You have no idea. Excuse me for asking, but what is this about?”

While Ethan looked puzzled, Mr. De Angelis gave me a small smile, indicating the sofa for his colleague. They both settled in, and soon I was seated in a vacant chair, waiting for them to clarify what had brought them to my apartment.

" Sorry for the indelicacy, Mr. Voitovich. We broke into your house, looked at your decorations, and didn't even ask about your recovery. This was certainly Mr. Roberts' fault," Vito declared, receiving a tired sigh from the other man.

" I am sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Voitovich. I was just about to tell you about our business when Mr. De Angelis decided to play the 1940's mobster.”

The man threatened to answer, but Ethan was quicker, going on with his explanation.

" Mr. De Angelis is the founder and owner of an up-and-coming chain of jewelry stores. Angelo D'oro has branches spread over several cities in Italy, France, the United States, and a few months ago we opened our first branch in Moscow.”

The explanation was interrupted when the front door was opened and Blair's voice came from the entrance hall.

" There you go, Commander. I survived the first trip to the market, it wasn't so difficult," she joked, interrupting her steps as she entered the room to find our visitors, "I'm sorry, I didn't know we had visitors.”

I stood up, moving toward her to help her with the bags.

" Blair, these are Misters Ethan Roberts and Vito De Angelis, they are here to…”

" Make you an offer you can't refuse " Vito interrupted me, getting up " It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Blair…”

" Ozkan. Blair Ozkan," she smiled in reply, "I'll go in the kitchen and put these bags on and be right back.”

" I'll help you…”

"No way, Commander. I can do it myself," he winked at me.

I sat back down in my chair and it wasn't long before Blair joined us, taking a seat on the armrest next to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist in a half hug as I turned my attention back to the two men.

" As I was telling Mr. Voitovich, Miss Ozkan, Mr. De Angelis owns a jewelry chain, and we opened a branch in Moscow a few weeks ago," Ethan resumed his explanation.

What does a jewelry store owner want with me? To sell me a ring personally?

" We were in the country to discuss with the local team the new marketing campaign that will involve the launch of a special Collection that will be released in September," he continued.

" The collection will be my birthday present to my daughter, Destiny. " Vito took the floor " Initially we would only make the necklace, earrings and bracelets, all designed exclusively by me.”

His daughter's name is Destiny?

" I don't quite understand," Blair frowned.

" This is where our proposal comes in, Miss Ozkan.”

" Ethan saw the news about the accident and what happened to your engagement ring, and I think we can help," Vito explained with a smile.

" Will you give us a discount? " Blair joked beside me.

For a moment I thought about that possibility, but something still seemed to be missing from the story.

" I'll do better than that, Miss Ozkan. I'll give you a ring from the new Destiny Collection," Vito assured her with a satisfied smile.

Blair and I looked at each other with surprised expressions. Lying to everyone about the engagement was one thing, but we couldn't take advantage of someone like that.

" Mr. De Angelis, we can't..." Blair was interrupted when the man raised his hand to stop her talking.

" Before you draw any conclusions, you should hear the rest," Ethan assured her.

" Don't get us wrong, we're not doing any kind of charity work. As touching as their story is, I'm not that easily moved," Vito assured.

" So what exactly do you want? " I took the lead.

The two men looked at each other, and Ethan resumed his explanation.

" We want the story of both of us," he explained.

" Our story? " Blair frowned.

" I'll put it in simple terms. We'll give you a ring, you'll publicize our act of generosity, and you'll allow us to use your story to promote our new collection.”

" Exactly, everybody wins," Ethan emphasized.

Blair and I exchanged a complicit look, this was an opportunity we couldn't miss, in fact, it was an offer we couldn't refuse, and the way it was presented to us, we could accept it without any burden on our conscience.

" Well, since I want the ring to be a surprise, I'll stay in the room while you work everything out," Blair stood up.

And so she left, leaving us to work out all the details of the situation.