Page 85 of Gamble with Me

"Valeria!" Alice yelled again. "Open the fucking door!"

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Valeria

"Open the door, Valeria!" Alice continued banging on the front entrance. "I know you're inside. Open, or I'm calling the police!"

My heart clenched painfully at the idea of the police seeing me in this state. However, my best friend wasn't a better prospect either. She would freak out. I knew it. Yet I didn't have any other choice but to let her inside because her threats escalated.

"Fine!" she shouted, hitting the wood like she wanted to break it. "I'm calling."

Exhaling loudly, I stuck the key into the lock and turned it. But I didn't have the courage to face her, so I only opened the door and walked to the living room.

Plopping on the couch, I tightened the bathrobe around my aching body, waiting for Alice and her scolding.

"What the fuck, Valeria?" she yelled, slamming the door hard. She appeared on the doorstep in the living room with an angry expression, looking like she ran all the way there. Her usually perfect hair was messy, her glasses skidded down her nose, and her blue blouse stuck out from her skirt.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking everywhere but at her. "I didn't hear you."

"You didn't hear me!" Alice repeated, throwing her bag onto the armchair. "The entire complex heard me. And what the hell happened to your face?"

The moment our gazes met, her face lit up in realization, and her expression went from angry to enraged in a millisecond.

"That fucker!" she hissed, dropping to her knees before me and taking my face tenderly into her palms. "I knew something terrible happened. I fucking knew it when you sent me a text with three mistakes!"

Tears ran down my face like waterfalls while she tried to wipe them away.

"Where is he, Valeria?" she asked, a threat evident in her strained voice. "Tell me where he is so I can kill him."

"Stop," I breathed, fighting with sobs that wanted to tear me apart. "Please, stop."

I burst into tears, choking with pain and humiliation. My feelings were everywhere, ripping me to shreds, but Alice wrapped her arms tightly around me, holding me together.

"It's okay, love," she whispered, soothingly moving her open palm up and down my back. "You're safe."

I held her for dear life, unable to control my shaking body. The desperate wails escaping me sounded like I was a mortally wounded wild animal. But I just couldn't help myself. If I tried to stop them, I would've exploded.

It took long minutes until I finally calmed down a little. My body was exhausted, and my mind was hazy. Alice's blouse was soaked with my helpless tears.

She gently patted my head and brushed my shoulders, serving as the support I desperately needed. I'd never felt so broken and ashamed. It was as if my spirit had been torn away from my body and stomped and spit on. Chester made me feel like a dirty, useless rag that deserved nothing but a beating and humiliation.

"You have to leave him, Valeria," Alice said gently, brushing my hair from my face. She sat on the carpet at my feet, looking at me like I was a shattered porcelain doll that was once a stunning beauty but ended up a pile of trash.

"I can't," I replied, wiping my cheeks and nose with a napkin. My eyes stung, and my jaw hurt like hell. I didn't want to know how scary I looked with a purple slash stretching across half of my face.

"Of course, you can," Alice claimed, taking my hands into hers. "You're staying with me. Where is Zara?"

The mention of my baby girl pushed another wave of fresh tears into my eyes. She couldn't see me like this. No one could see this.

"She's at school," I mumbled, clutching the napkin as if it was my lifeline.

"Fine, we'll take her with us," Alice stated, standing up. "Let's pack your things."

"No." I shook my head weakly. "You don't understand."

"Then explain it, Valeria, because I really don't understand why you want to stay with him." She exhaled, losing patience with me, but I just couldn't leave Chester, knowing he worked for someone powerful.

His threats were real. He had the ability and backup to take Zara from me. I couldn't let that happen. I had to be clever about this.