Lanny darted her gaze back and forth between Luna and Vladimir, her sharp eyes demanding an explanation.
"I appreciate that Luna managed to discover sothing about Dominique’s connection with Alice. This is sothing I want to dig further. But..." Lanny made a dramatic pause as she locked eyes with Vladimir.
"What is the aning of this, Vlad? Why did you mobilize Luna to follow Dominique? Are you breaking your promise to Athena about not getting involved with her revenge plan against Dominique? You are breaking her trust, Vlad! Stop this already." Lanny lectured her brother, displeased by his actions.
Luna was about to say sothing but she was stopped by Vladimir’s warning look.
"I’m not doing anything wrong here. I’m just trying to assist Athena behind her back. Besides, Luna is just monitoring Dominique’s movent. I’m not ruining Athena’s plan."
Vladimir was careful with his words. He couldn’t afford to be busted by his own sister. He ordered Luna to dispose of Dominique for good. It was sothing he couldn’t tell Lanny. He knew that Lanny would stop him once she learned about his initial plan.
"Sigh!" Lanny exhaled deeply. "I’m warning you, Vlad. Don’t complicate things further. Do you understand? Pull out Luna from her mission. She doesn’t need to monitor Dominique’s movent."
Lanny was also hiding sothing from Vladimir. Athena was seeing Dominique, and having a secret affair with him. That was sothing Vladimir shouldn’t know.
To avoid further argunts with his sister, Vladimir imdiately agreed. "Alright. I’m pulling her out of this mission," he lied, glancing at Luna aningfully.
His gaze ant their initial plan must continue. But she had to do it discreetly, not allowing Lanny and Athena to know about it.
"So what’s your plan about Alice? Luna didn’t hear their conversation but it looked like the two were up to sothing. They look very suspicious. Enzo’s savior is connected to Dominique. What if she is no savior? What if she’s a spy working for Dominique to keep an eye on Enzo?"
Vladimir’s expression turned grim. He could tell that Dominique was not a simple guy. He was a clever man.
anwhile, Lanny clenched her fists. If Alice was a traitor and in cahoot with Dominique then she will not forgive her.
"Once we’ve proven our suspicion then I will teach her a lesson. I hope she is not manipulating Enzo. That man cares so much about her. He will be heartbroken once he finds out Alice is just deceiving him." Lanny gritted her teeth.
Luna and Vladimir nodded in agreent.
"Dmitri’s gut feeling was right. There is sothing shady about this woman," Lanny added.
"Oh, by the way, where is Dmitri? I ca here to fetch him." Lanny rembered the reason why she dropped by the V Club tonight.
She was glad she did. Because of that, she caught Vladimir and Luna. Then she found out about Alice and Dominique.
"Dmitri already left. He said he would drop by sowhere before going back to your place," Vladimir responded.
"Huh? Did you let him leave? Does he know soone here? Does he have a friend? Did you mobilize so bodyguards to accompany him?" Lanny asked him spontaneously.
Vladimir arched his eyebrow. "You sound worried about him. Don’t worry. He is not a kid anymore. He is the successor of De Luca Clan so he can protect himself."
"Sigh! Our father emphasized Dmitri’s safety. It’s our duty to protect him while he is in your territory. If sothing bad happens to him, we are dood!" Lanny exclaid exasperatedly.
While Lanny was complaining, Vladimir signaled Luna to leave. She still had tasks to do in the following days.
Luna imdiately excused herself, avoiding Lanny’s interrogation. Vladimir and Luna were aware of Lanny’s persistence. If she wanted answers, she would do everything to get it from them. So the best way was to avoid direct confrontation.
When Luna disappeared, Vladimir felt relieved. His plan remained a secret from Lanny.
*****
anwhile, Ashton couldn’t hide his excitent while driving his car. He was on his way to pick up Athena from her house. They were both invited by Sasha.
"I still can’t believe that my relationship with Athena is progressing like this. I feel like we are now exclusively dating. I thought she would be out of my reach. Who would have thought I would get closer to her day by day?" Ashton spoke to himself.
Before he knew it, he finally reached his destination. He excitedly alighted from his car. He fixed his shirt and hair, checking his fresh breath and his scent before ringing the doorbell.
He truly prepared for tonight’s dinner. Even though it would be a dinner in the Smith Mansion, Ashton put so much effort into his looks and casual clothes tonight. He simply wanted to impress Athena.
It did not take long before Athena opened the gate for Ashton.
"My lady, flowers for you!" Ashton gave her a bouquet.
"Oh, thank you. That’s so thoughtful of you." Athena accepted the bouquet before inviting him in.
"Co in first. There is sothing I want to show you." Athena smiled at him aningfully.
Ashton’s heart pounded with nervousness and excitent when he heard that. This was also his first ti stepping inside Athena’s penthouse.
"Your place is so relaxing. Are you living here alone? How about your manager?" Ashton was amazed to see the interior design of Athena’s penthouse. He found out she was minimalist.
"Yes. I’m alone. My manager, Lanny, also has a place of her own. I’m glad you like the ambiance. Co. I’ll show you my studio. This is where I do my livestream."
Ashton’s eyes sparkled in delight as he nodded frantically. "Sure. I wanna see it."
Athena guided him to her studio.
"Wow. This is nice. By the way, Athena, how long do you plan to stay here in York City? Are you staying for good?" Ashton asked her curiously. He thought Athena originally ca from a foreign country.
Athena smiled, grabbing Ashton’s hand and gesturing him toward the piano. She made him sit down while facing the piano.
"I’m going to stay here for long. I will sign a project with Oliver’s company and I will also join Timothy’s Entertainnt Company."
Ashton was so happy to hear that. "Wow. So you will do your first live concert soon?! Timothy promised to organize your concert and debut your album once you sign with his company."
Athena could only nod before moving closer to Ashton. His body tensed up when Athena held his shoulders. She was so close to him that he could sll her sweet vanilla fragrance.
’Damn! My heart is beating rapidly. And why do I feel like it suddenly becos hot here?’ Ashton gulped hard as he stared at Athena.
’What is she planning to do? Is she going to kiss ?’ Ashton felt like his body froze on the spot, anticipating Athena’s next move.
She was smiling at him seductively, not breaking their eye-to-eye contact.
Athena leaned closer and whispered, "As I promise... I have an advance birthday present for you."
Ashton almost forgot to breathe. His eyes widened in both surprise and anticipation. ’What kind of gift is she referring to? Damn! I can’t wait to find out.’
"Close your eyes, Honey," Athena said, teasing him a little bit.
Ashton could only bob his head and shut his eyes. Her re presence was like a temptation to him. He wondered if Athena would initiate the first move.
Ashton’s mind began to run wild. With his closed eyes, he imagined himself being kissed by this lovely maiden standing before him.
’I wonder how her lips taste. Can she be mine? Does Athena like as a man? Not just a re avid fan?’ Ashton kept asking himself.
"You can open your eyes now." Her voice snapped him out of his wild imagination.
Complying with her, Ashton slowly opened his eyes, surprised to see Athena’s face, unmasked. She finally revealed the face behind her mask to Ashton!
’Holy shit! Athena is drop-dead gorgeous!’ He gasped inwardly, his eyes fixed on her. Ashton was dumbstruck for several seconds. He didn’t expect this wonderful gift.
"I think it’s ti for you to et my real , Ashton. Not as my fan, but as a man."
Athena extended her right hand in front of him and said, "Mr. Ashton Davis, it’s my pleasure to et you. I’m Athena Ivankov."
Ashton blinked his eyes in disbelief and amusent. He was speechless, just holding her hand and staring at Athena’s charming face.
When he recovered from the shock, Ashton blurted out the first thing that ca into his mind.
"Miss Athena Ivankov, the pleasure is mine. Will you be my girlfriend? Let’s date. I like you!" Ashton blurted out impulsively, his words tumbling over each other.
Athena let out a soft giggle, her eyes twinkling with amusent. "Alright, let’s date. I like you too."
Ashton: "..."
Ashton sat there, stunned. His brain seed to short-circuit at her response.
’What the hell? Is this real? Am I dreaming? Did she just say yes to being my girlfriend?’ he thought, barely able to process the reality of the situation.
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