The Vindication Gents

Chapter 2.26

Christine Rovski’s POV

I cannot believe that Antonio did not suspect a thing. I have been giving all the clues that I have found him. But maybe I was being too hopeful that he would come for me.

He did not love me, he loved Christina Dobulski.

I sighed as I was looking at the night sky as I was on my way to Hungary. I was tired of playing this game with Christina and Antonio. He would never see me for who I was.

I was only his PA after all.

I could never be more than that. I know I was being too hopeful, as I was trying to be such a klutz and clumsy around him. Even though I have trained for 4 years in a school that is run by monks, they taught us to be warriors.

After that incident, when I was 20 years old, my dad asked me to go on a train with them. It was the same place that I met the Finnish princess who was rumored to be sent to prison, but she was being trained to be tough and learning more about herself. We quickly became friends.

I sighed as I put the headphones on and I listened to the classical music that they have on their playlist. At least for now, all was well. I will be home and nothing will ever change again. Well, except the fact that Antonio was never looking at me like I was the only woman for him.

“You’re okay?” Kiara asked me when I was peeking at her under my lashes. I sighed as I was staring at the ceiling of the plane.

“Well, I’ve been better. I have shown him my love but he did not reciprocate. I guess it was never meant to be,” I said as I was smiling weakly.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Kiara said as she was hugging me. I did not understand what was happening but, without knowing it, I shed tears. My sadness for Antonio’s blindness that I, Princess Christine Rovski of Hungary, was in front of him after all.

Maybe he changed after 5 years. He did not see through my disguise and it hurt like hell.

Kiara soothed me as I was taking a deep breath. No need to dwell on the past. I have done what I must and he did not reciprocate my feelings. I just have to let that feeling go.

From now on, Antonio Romano was dead to me.

We landed in Budapest as I was still carrying my fake identity as I asked Alicia to hold on to it until I was passing the immigration of my home country. Until then, she can clean the slate of my fake ID.

“Passport,” the officer said as I was handing in my passport. He looked at me as I was smiling at him. I put some oil in my hair as I was not taking any chances that I would be getting caught by my father’s spies.

“Name?”

“Christina. Christina Dobulski,” I said as I was smiling at him. He nodded before he scanned my ID and I was smiling into the camera to let my father know I was back in town. Only that I was in disguise. Suck it up, father!

Kiara was on the foreigner line as she was a Swiss. I did not blame her for getting away from the neutral country as she was having an assignment that she did not tell me about.

Not that I was bothered by it.

I was walking past the security as I just had my backpack and I didn’t bring any clothes that Tony had bought for me. It was not fitting. I already have all of my clothing back in my room at the mansion. A few moments later, Kiara emerged from security.

“Well, this is an interesting experience for me,” she said as she looped her hand around my arm before we were walking on the public transport to get us to her apartment. My thoughts lingered about Tony and how he would react if he ever found that letter. I just put it on the floor. He might not notice it at all.

“Kiara, do you think I was doing the right thing?” I asked her as she was looking at her.

“Yeah. You need to show that you will not be at the beck and call of a commoner,” she said as she was pulling the signal for our stop.

We got off the bus and we were walking to her house. She got the keys out and we were inside before we took the stairs to get to the living room.

“I will miss you, you know. Remember that time when Tony came to the nightclub and dragged you out because you were drunk? That was the most hilarious expression that I ever saw on his face. It’s like he was afraid of something,” Kiara said as we had settled down and I was ready to go to bed.

“What? I don’t remember that,” I said as Kiara was arching her eyebrows at me.

“Really? I mean, I swear he kissed you and you kissed him back. And when I was following you guys into the hotel, he was mad that I knew you and we were friends,” she said as she was yawning.

“Why would he be mad?”

“Beats me, but one thing I know and sure, he loves you, Christina. Oops, sorry, Alicia might have cleaned that up. I need to call you Princess Christine now,” she said before I threw the throw pillow at her.

“Hey, watch it. I just bought that from IKEA.”

“No wonder it was not that fluffy,” I said as I was pulling the duvet over my body, getting ready to sleep.

“Ha ha, very funny. Night, Christine,” she said before she went to her bedroom.

“Night,” I said before I closed my eyes. But my mind would not shut up about that missing piece of the puzzle. How can I not remember anything of it?

How humiliating it would be if I had made sure that I did not do something stupid and everything. But now that everything has come to light, I think I might just die and go to heaven now.

“Damn it,” I cursed, as I cannot sleep my mind off that thing. I need to know what happened. Was I being shameful in front of Tony? Or was I being bold? I cannot remember.

“Stupid brain, can’t remember a thing when alcohol hits,” I said, as I just remembered that after we confessed, Tony forbade me to drink under his watch. Maybe that was the reason.

“Oh my God, I want to kill myself,” I said as I had just remembered what I wrote in the letter.

God, just kill me now!

Antonio Romano’s POV

After I called Kai and made some appointments to get to Finland as soon as possible, Christina was still in her office and I flew out to Finland with a happy heart. I was ready to confess that I knew what I wanted from her.

Spending the rest of her life with me.

I smiled as I was standing in front of the castle that belonged to Princess Kathleen and her husband, Kai, my colleague back in the day. I went inside the castle as I was being directed in their direction. I heard laughter in the painting room as I saw that Kathleen just smacked Kai’s butt.

“Well, if it is a sight in the morning for my single eyes,” I said as I was leaning against the doorframe, trying not to vomit at their playfulness.

“Tony, it’s good to see you,” the Finnish princess said as she kissed my cheeks in a friendly gesture. Then, my eyes caught her hair.

“Well, I could say the same to you but, darling, your hair said something else,” I said before I went to make my magic happen.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Well, if you don’t do anything to it now, Kai will go to another woman, the one with the natural hair color that you choose from,” I said with a smirk before her eyes were wide as a saucer.

“He would never, we have been making progress,” she retorted before I just arched my eyebrow at her.

“If you say so, darling. Now come, we need to get this hair to perfection,” I said before I went to sit her on the chair as I was doing my magic on her hair.

“So, do you have a girlfriend or love interest, Tony?” She asked so suddenly that I just smiled at her.

“I think I will not answer that question.”

“Why not? We have been friends for 5 years now, oh wait, it has been longer than that,” she whined before I sighed as I looked at her reflection.

“Well, a man like me would never have a woman by my side,” I said. If only Kathleen knew the truth about me.

“Are you gay?” Finally, she asked that million-dollar question. Seriously, why does everybody think that?

Maybe because you never had a scandal with a woman.

Oh.

Oh!

I turned to Kathleen to look at her hair before I smiled at her. Maybe I should clarify to the public that I preferred a woman and that woman was Christina Dobulski. She was my love and she will be the mother of my children. My heart swelled at that thought.

“When I am doing this, please restrain yourself from turning around so much. Stay still,” I said before I smiled at her. She sighed before I remembered that I was not answering her question.

“No, I am not gay as you claimed, but don’t ask that question of people real ones. They get mad or perhaps they will be proud to answer it as well,” I replied before she beamed again at me.

“So, any girls that you might have kidnapped or hide?” She asked before I smiled as I was thinking of Christina.

“Well, I might do that as well,” I said before I was done with dyeing her hair. It was an exhausting process as her hair was long but I just touched her roots and made her hair shine again.

“Well, all done,” I said as I was cleaning up the mess and the tools that I used.

“Thank you,”

“Don’t mention it, girlfriend,” I said and Kathleen just arched her eyebrows at me. Okay, maybe I should stop using that phrase if I wanted to be seen as a straight, heterosexual guy.

“Ciao,” I said before I was going to the foyer at lightning speed. My heart was beating fast as I wanted to tell Christina what I truly felt for her.

But as soon as I got back to my apartment, a letter was on the floor and I knew that my heart just broke into two and knew what it meant. I went to the bedroom. The attire that I bought was still there but her clothes were gone.

Christina was gone from my life, forever.