Page 75 of Care: Part 1

"You know what? You'll see for yourself. Zolotov's only use you to get what they want and then just like that," he snapped his fingers, "they're gone."

"Adrik isn't Natasha.”

"And you know this based on the three little months that you've spent with him?" Vincent asked her.

"That's three months longer than I've known you."

"You'll see.”

Avelina watched him turn towards Miss Paola, who was sitting on the couch, watching the scene unfold in front of her.

"Goodbye, Paola. Thank you for allowing me to stop by and have a word with my sister," he smiled at her kindly.

She gave him a hard wink in response. "Stop by anytime you want, handsome. You know where I live."

He gave her a tight-lipped smile before hurrying out of her penthouse as if his life depended on it.

The second he was gone, Avelina let out a loud exhale and threw herself down on the couch. Her hand had risen to her head as she began to rub it with the pads of her thumb and index finger.

"I have no clue what just happened,” Miss Paola muttered, “My first question is, why did you never think to tell me that you have a brother—a fine brother?"

Avelina couldn't help her irritation from hitting a world-record peak. It crept up on her before she had a chance to stop it. "I don't want to talk about this. I'm sorry.”

Miss Paola let out a sigh before getting up from the couch. She walked over to a record player and reached for a vinyl record. Avelina could only watch the woman place the record onto the player and move the tone-arm over it.

"What are y-"

"Shh, child," Miss Paola spoke just as the soft, rich music began to shuffle onto her ears. “Music always helps the soul open up.”

It was a beautiful sound—a hint of jazz, maybe. The song sent a vibration right to the center of Avelina's heart, and it was warming.

"Dance with me, and you can talk when you are ready," Miss Paola commanded.

Avelina stood up and grasped the woman's arms before dancing with her around the room. A laugh escaped her as she spun the woman. Their bodies danced to the slow sound of music that withheld so much soul.

"Tell me. What's wrong?" Miss Paola asked as they continued to move with the music.

A frown eased upon Avelina's face, but she still managed to continue dancing despite her sadness. "My—whatever he is—has a sister who has done something terrible to me and my brother. Of course, he never told me about any of this. So, it hurt me for a while, but I guess my big heart couldn't stand being mad for too long because I opened my arms—"

"And legs! I bet you opened them arms and them legs, girl. It's okay, and I get it. If I had a freaky little Russian, I'd spread my legs so far that my old ass would be doing the splits,” Miss Paola chuckled, “Gon' on ahead and tell me the rest of the story.”

A smile quickly coated Avelina's lips as she shook her head. Even a small blush made its appearance at the memories that were leaping over each other in her mind.

"Anyways, my brother is mad at me for going back to my guy. Keep in mind that I only met my brother a few days ago. It isn't like he's been in my life forever," Avelina finished.

“Oh. Yikes. Well, it sounds to me that you've chosen the Russian.”

Avelina quickly shook her head as she gently pried away their dance. "I don't want to choose between family and someone I love. So, I'm just leaving it all behind. I'm going back home to Brazil, and I'm leaving all this drama behind me.”

"You can't just run away from your problems and expect that everything will just go away. The love you have for that man won't disappear. And if he loves you even half as much as I can see you love him, he would let you leave, but he will never let you go," Miss Paola advised.

Avelina processed her words as her eyes began to get glassy. "I don't want to ever let him go."

"Do what you want to do, Avelina. Don't do what you think is right but do what you feel will make you happy."

"I—"

Avelina could feel a tightening in her stomach. It was a feeling she knew all too well. She quickly raced over to the nearest faucet and let everything come up. Miss Paola promptly joined her and reached for the young girl's hair.