Chapter 5:His Payment

She looked around  the room, trying to figure out what Don Diego looked like.

Ravenna's heart skipped.

"This cannot be true. I must be dreaming. Don Diego cannot  know  Ortega. What is  going on here, or is my head messing with me? Why is his picture hung here?"

45 minutes after , Don Diego was back drenched in his own sweat; a white towel hung across his neck. He barged into his room, and to his utmost shock,there was the frail image of the love of his life sprawled on the floor, her head hung beneath her knees. Ortega didn't know how he felt. His lover was in a bad state...he reached his hand across her shoulders to hold her but withdrew his hand quickly.

"Good morning, Don Diego...." She raised her head, and he confirmed she was the one. He couldn't miss her image even in the dark.

"What are you doing here, Ravenna?"

"No no no don't tell me you are Don Diego, please."

Don Diego was quiet. He tried to touch her again, but his hands trembled.

"Oh my god i fucking fell in love with you."

He tried once more but his hand trembled yet again.

"Why didn't you tell me Ortega, or do i say Don Diego?" Don Diego swallowed hard.

"Oh my God, I was just a fool! I thought I had found love in your eyes....but again, I was fooled. Fooled by the ones i love the most.

Don Diego reached out again and touched her this time .

"I am so sor...." he muttered

"Get your filty hands off me!!!! How dare you touch me after all you've done?"

"Raven, I promise I didn't mean to fool you... I promise I gave you the money so that you could be free to love me without being obligated to."

"Hahahaha, you almost got me , but nahhh... you lie. You wanted to show off how much money you had by throwing it at me. You came close to me because you knew my Papa owed you some money."

"No, Ravenna, I never deceived you when it came to my feelings...yes I had you investigated when I first met you... you made my heart flutter and made my body tremble . No one has ever made me feel weak, but you. No one has ever made me feel powerless and confused, but you did so without even trying."

"And I am supposed to believe you because?" She asked,her face squeezing in disgust.

Okay, let's assume i believe all you are saying, you expect me to love you!, you? The deadly Don himself?"

To you, Raven I am Ortega not Don Diego please.

"Because I have no reason to lie to you...I gave you the $200,000,000 becasuse I didn't want you being with me out of duress so the money was supposed to be used to offset the debt your dad owed me, so I am shocked to see you here instead of the money."

"Ortega, but why do you still need someone from my family? You literally can get any lady you want...why did you have to take me or Mariana?"

"I never liked Mariana and wasn't even interested in her. I didn't even know what she looked like.Your Papa owes me, and I don't play silly jokes with my money, no matter how little it may be. And I believe that people ought to pay their debt and your Papa owes me, and I was not going to wave it because I can but instead I provided the money through you so I could get the money back. But i am sorry to say your Papa is nothing but greedy. That was me letting go."

"Look at me beginning to like you... beginning to fall in love with a beast... because in the right frame of mind I  would never fall in love with Don Diego."

"If i had let things go just like that, people would take my words for granted."

People already dread you. So that excuse doesn't cut it, Ortega. I dreaded you before I met you. And now I dread you even more."

Diego's face suddenly became cold as he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Those words were like a dagger driven right into his heart.. Ravenna sat still where she was as uncontrollable tears flowed down her cheeks. Too many things were happening at the same time, and she couldn't put everything she felt in words.

"How could I be decieved so much by the people I claim to love, for a moment I thought Ortega, or do I say Don Diego was better than my family. I thought he truly cared about me. Not that I expected anything much from my family, but at least they showed me that they cared  more about money than they cared for me. I have been sold to Diego. And Diego is Ortega, the one I fell for at first sight."

Ravenna drowned herself so much in tears that she could no longer cry. She sat numbly, staring at the wall in front of her. Rejecting every kind of meal that was brought to her.

"You have to eat, miss....you're lucky Don Diego really likes you. If not, you will be in one of his secret prisons."The last guard muttered to her."

"So i finally am in Don Diego's mansion, the same Don Diego that shook the city with terror. The same one that could rip off people's fingernails one after another with no remorse and enjoy the sight of it. This is the same man I  have fallen helplessly for. It is the same man Ortega; who didn't seem like anything that has been said of him....he had been such a gentle, charming man since the first time i met him."How could i be in love with a demon?"

Don Diego stood outside his room with a glass of vodka in his hand, his eyes red with emotion, Santiago stood beside him as he lamented.

"I had never felt this weak because of any woman before. Never needed validation from nobody. And now i crave to be listened to by this little girl who is the most attractive thing he had ever seen.

Something inside me just wants to hold her close, kiss her on her forehead, and tell her how sorry I am and promise her  the best life she deserves. I ached to comfort her and let her cry in her arms.Falling in love was a weakness i could not afford but still couldn't help either,  and if i did, it could cause me everything. But Ravenna isn't the type I  can ignore. Her eyes pierce through my thickest walls, ripping off all my defences... Ravenna is the only place that holds my weakness." He spoke to Santiago, who did nothing but listen to his rants.

"But Don, I think this is just a feeling. Feelings aren't stable....they come and go, maybe  you'll get over her pretty soon. Besides, falling in love isn't what you need now."

"That's the point, Santiago. I have never felt like this for any other woman. Right now, i feel like she is the pill that i need for survival. Even though i know that there is doom lurking around my decision, I  still ache for her validation ,her touch and embrace. I want to be with her desperately, but what it seems like right now is that the only chance I  got I lost it because of how greedy Nickolas is. His chest tightened. He had known her for barely three days, I can't shake off this feeling. For the first time in my life, I want to protect someone so bad."

"I will have my revenge on Nickolas, but first, I need to have my lady's forgiveness. I need her on my side to survive."

He took a gulp of the drink  in his hand.

"Wait, Ortega, you were alright without her a few days ago. How come it feels like you're about to die if she doesn't speak to me. Get a grip of yourself. This is only an illusion. "

He tried assuring himself.