White Is The Color Of Intimacy

Chapter 20

"Do you enjoy playing with your life?" Viktor asked angrily as he sat close to Angel, his arm around her waist, his lips grazing her ear.

She shivered at his closeness. He was right up again her, holding her as close to him as he possibly could on the sofa. After she had returned to Gavriil he had led her back to the room only to tell on her the minute they stepped foot into the room.

The look on Viktor's face when he heard about what she had been doing had immediately prompted Alexei to excuse himself. Gavriil had left them alone as well.

The first thing he had done was yank her down onto the couch beside him. They had been sitting in the same spot for an hour now. She had been nothing but surprised when all he had done was caress her, rub her and touch her. She had expected him to explode but he was calm and in an all honesty that was so much worse.

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, cupping her chin in his hand. "You truly believe she is innocent?" He asked her.

She stared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Why? What has she done to prove that she is?"

Angel could not answer.

"I shall tell you why I think she is guilty and maybe that will knock some sense into you." He mumbled.

She stayed silent.

"Estelle is not wealthy, nor does she have a title. She is merely the daughter of one of my Aunt's deceased maids. My Aunt raised her with all the proper etiquette a lady of society would have but you can't save a creature once it's chosen its path. She grew up to be pretty and spoiled and found that with her beauty she could do as wished because men fall for her vulnerable look and innocent eyes. She's con artist and she's wonderful at her tricks."

Viktor stopped talking for a moment, making sure that he had Angel's attention.

"My youngest brother, Andrei, came to visit my Aunt, she toyed with him while he was here, and got him to buy her new jewelry and when she no longer wanted his attention she told him to leave. He was young and love struck and she was like a Goddess on earth in his eyes. He left but a week after his leaving he died from a fever. One of the maids found a bottle of wine wrapped in a large pink bow. She drank some of it and died days later. The wine had been laced with something. I'll leave you to guy who the wine was from..."

Angel stared up at him wide eyed, "Oh...God."

He proceeded to tell her how his other brothers died and it left her speechless.

"Now you see why I do not trust her. The wine that was used to kill my siblings always pointed back to her and though I could never find any evidence to convict her...that ends today."

"You've found...proof?" Angel whispered.

He nodded at her, rubbing a hand down her back. "Do not look so shocked, she is a wonderful actress. She could fool the socks off of a cat if she wanted to."

Angel opened her mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted by the door bursting open. Viktor scowled at the intruder but the irritation on his face at being interrupted disappeared completely when he saw his younger brother standing in the doorway.

He stood as his brother made a beeline for him.

They embraced in a loud show of back pats and chuckles. "Nikolay, when did you get here?"

Angel turned in her seat at the familiar name.

Nikolay grinned, "Just this morning...I would have come to see you earlier but...I was still stewing over the whole ordeal with Estelle." He mumbled shyly, his cheeks blushing.