4 Paying respect to the dead

Her shoulders dropped down upon seeing Vladimir leave the company with his men. If only she had run a little bit faster she would have gotten to him. She knew she had to tell her mother what happened at the company. There was no other way now since he had left angrily. She slowly turned around and headed back to her office. Later in the evening, Linda stood in front of the cemetery gate. Today was the date her parents died in a motor accident. No matter how much years had gone by, she could still remember how the grief had struck her for months. She could still remember seeing her parents cross drenched in the heavy rainfall. Swallowing hard, she slowly drove into the black gates of the cemetery. During the time her parents were alive, Linda hadn’t lacked any material things she wants. She used to live the life of a princess when she was young. Everything she wanted was given to her in the blink of an eye. But the very minute her parents were dead, her dreams crumbled into dusts. She knew they were more to her parents death and found it suspicious when the police closed the case of her parents death investigation. The guard and maids lied to her that they died in a motor accident and because she was still young and naive she believed them. She still remembered the look on her mother’s face before they traveled to meet an acquaintance. She saw fear in her mother’s eyes and she couldn’t help with anything. She didn’t remember much after that. Linda had tried to open the case of her parents death but there was no proof for the police to believe that they didn’t die in a motor accident. The police really didn’t want to open the case and no matter how much money she paid them, the case still remained closed. She parked the car in an open slot and got down from it. Slowly she walked closer to where her parents were buried with the flowers in her hand. A drop of tear escaped from her eyes as she neared the grave. As she stood in front of their graves, she felt the presence of a powerful person. One whom was familiar yet scared her down to her bones. Before she could turn around to speak, she heard a voice from behind her. “Did you also come here to see me? You knew I was coming here, right?” She scoffed recognizing the voice very much. Was this man really looking for her trouble? She snapped her head to see a tall charismatic proud young man standing in his full glory. She slowly let her gaze ravel around Vladimir’s body from head to toe. His blue eyes was cold and resembled that of a murderer. It was like the one which could unravel the deepest darkest truth of the night. The eyes which feared no man. Upon realizing she had been staring for far too long, she quickly took a step from him and brought out the Taser from her inner pocket. “Why are you everywhere?” She asked. At her words, his eyes narrowed at her before curling his lips into a smile which didn’t reach his eyes. “What is it with the little weapon?” He asked. “To shock you when I have the opportunity to. One wrong move from you and I will shock you to death with this.” She warned him, feeling his predator eyes on her hands. He took a step forward, not paying heed to the warning she had given him. “Scaring a man like me should be the last thing in your list.” He muttered. “Never ever make that mistake again. Now put that little weapon down.” “Just two minutes I’ve been away from you and you already causing ruckus?” A snaky voice from behind spoke up and both persons snapped their heads. Linda eyes moved to see a man which was few inches taller than Vladimir. He had black eyes which was darker that the night sky. His hair was roughly brushed to the side making him look dangerous. The man’s eyes lingered on her for long before a charming smile came on his lips. “And you must be who?” He asked. “Linda.” She stiffly said. “Well.... I am Alexander Novikov, Vladimir’s blood brother.” The man addressed. He had another brother apart from Alexei? She hadn’t seen this one before and if he hadn’t addressed himself she wouldn’t have believed he was related to Adrian. “I must say never once have I seen my brother with women of your age.” Alexander said. “It is a pleasure to meet you Linda.” Linda felt the heat rising up in her body. She could feel nothing but pure rage. The feeling she had for making up things with Vladimir ended up when he spoke those first words to her. If she could, she would stab him multiple times with her hairpin and watch him bleed to his own death. But that was far from her imagination and she knew it won’t be possible. She turned her gaze back to Vladimir and the frown returned back to her lips. “Why are you here?” Her eyes moved to his unbuttoned shirt and noticed that he had same python tattoo as his brother on his chest. The aura coming out from both of them was so strong that she felt fear beginning to envelope inside her. “Well we came here to pay respect for our dear father who passed out a few years ago.” Alexander spoke. “It there any issue going on between you two?” He asked. “You should scold your brother to stop stalking me. We ended everything when we realized we aren’t meant for each other.” She gritted her teeth. “Or maybe he finds you now interesting and fit to be the perfect partner.” Alexander joked. Her eyes moved to him and she gave him a hard glare. Before she could open her mouth to speak, her purse slipped down from her hand to the ground. She quickly bent down to pick it up and realized it was half opened. “And why do you think I would lower my standard for someone like her?” Vladimir spoke back. His words made Linda infuriated and she stood back up with her blood boiling through her veins. She raised her hand up ready to smack his face when Vladimir weighed her hand with his left hand. “What do you think you are doing?” She struggled to break free from his tight grip but he didn’t budge. Why was he so strong? she thought. “I don’t want to hurt you so do me a favour and refrain from hitting me anywhere.” He warned. “Ohh please..... If you hadn’t opened your mouth to blatantly insult me I would have think otherwise.” She said. “That’s the truth.” He snapped. “You are nothing like the women I used to date in the past.” “Don’t make me hate you Linda or you would despise the very air you breathe on.” He said and let go of her hand. She let out a loud hiss and without paying respect for her parents, she dropped the flowers and walked away. Halfway through, Linda eyes widened upon realizing she had dropped her purse and didn’t remember to pick it up. It was not just the purse that made her heart trembled but the contents it held.