Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 457

Chapter 457: Accomplice in murder (2)
While Ari closed her eyes after entering a guest room which was devoid of the smell of blood, Nicolai stepped out of the penthouse and headed down to the reception.

As he stepped out of the elevator, he glanced at the reception which was filled with only a few people and waited until the number was reduced to zero.

He walked over to the guard who was standing behind the reception and as he came to a stop in front of the man, he said, “Was it you who let that elderly woman inside my penthouse?”

The guard who was about to retire for the day stiffened and raised his head. He looked at Nicolai and stammered, “S—Sir?”

“Yes or no,” Nicolai raised his brow with his hands in his pocket. “I didn’t authorize the entry of that woman into my penthouse. How can you let an unwarranted woman into my house? Come with me and deal with that woman— she is refusing to leave.”

The guard was not willing to follow Nicolai as he could see that he was about to get into trouble. Earlier in the afternoon the woman had said that she was Nicolai’s relative and even confirmed that she was his aunt.

How was he supposed to know that the woman was lying?

Annoyed by the actions of the elderly woman who had lied and played him, the guard followed the man.

On the other side, Penelope noticed Nicolai for whom she had been waiting. But just as she stepped forward to meet with him, she noticed a burly figure stepping in front of her.

“What are you doing here?” She looked at the man who had come to a stop in front of her.

It was Alfred. Her new assistant and bodyguard.

Though Keon said that he was her bodyguard, she knew that the man was there to keep an eye on her and restrain her the second she stepped a single toe out of the line.

“You are not allowed to harass, Mister de Luca, Miss Penelope. As per Master Keon’s order— you need to go back now,” Alfred had already relayed the matter to Keon who had asked him to bring Penelope no matter what the circumstances she was in at that moment.

If it was someone else, Alfred would have used brutal force but the person in front of him was Penelope. If he was to force her, knowing her, she might just call the police on him.

“What a joke,” Penelope scoffed as she tried to step past Alfred. However, the man stepped right in front of her, stopping her again.

“What do you think you are doing?” Penelope asked with her eyes filled with disgust. How did this man stop her twice?

He was just a servant.

“Miss Penelope.. please don’t make things difficult for me,” Alfred stated with a hard swallow, he silently hoped that the woman would not stomp on his feet with her heels. Again.

“You are free to stand in the parking lot if you want but Mister De Luca doesn’t like it when you disturb him, earlier I allowed you to approach him because you said that it was a matter of minutes… but now, I am sorry — you cannot step inside the building.”

“Are you trying to tell me what to do?” Penelope questioned in a low voice. But Alfred didn’t seem to be bothered by her threatening voice.

He smiled and politely said, “I am not. I am just trying to keep you safe, Miss Penelope. You are the young miss of the Ashford family, we cannot have you stay at a man’s house that too at night.”

Penelope narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man who was stopping her. She could feel that there was something wrong with her brothers, they were stopping her from doing a lot of things.

Not to mention they were keeping a rather close eye on her. If not for the fact that they had made no moves to have her kicked out of the Ashford family, she would have thought that they knew something.

As she couldn’t tell the man that she wished to stay the night at Nicolai’s house, Penelope could only back off. She snarled at the man, “You better hope that I don’t get hold of your weakness for your own good.” With that, she turned on her feet and walked back to her car.

Though she returned to the car, Penelope made no move to leave. She was not going to leave without talking with Nicolai.

After all, the man was the key to her survival.

Nicolai returned to the penthouse, unaware of the little episode that took place in the parking lot or the fact that an obsessive woman was waiting for him there.

He stepped inside the guest room, where his eyes fell on Ariana, who had fallen asleep in the bed in a haphazard position, he closed the door of the room and walked over to the bed.

His footsteps were light as a cat.

With his eyes flickering he looked at the young woman, whose eyes were closed, her lashes fanning against her skin. Her lips were parted as she breathed through her lips.

Her pink locks were sticking to her face because of the sweat.

Ariana might call herself a murderer but for Nicolai, this woman could never be one. She was so vulnerable — like a child who was caught doing something she shouldn’t have done.

Even though it was not her fault.

He walked over to the side of the bed and brushed the locks that were sticking to her lips. She was no longer looking at the world with a frown on her face but seemed completely oblivious to things that were happening around her.

Carefree and calm.

It was only when she was asleep that Ari looked like this — when she was awake, she eyed everything with a guarded expression.

Even the smiles on her face were simply polite and fake most of the time.

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, causing Ari to furrow her brows and open her eyes.

She turned to look at him with a startled look in her eyes but those baby blues softened when she realised that it was him.