oblivious [l.n.]

35

lando's pov
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Crystal's lips turned up in a small smirk. "There you are! I was wondering when you were going to show up..."

I looked at her in utter disbelief, trying to find an explanation for her being here. "What are you-? How are you even in here?"

Giana would never open the door for her. She made me promise to never bring her to our home. I had kept my word with no hesitation. Therefore I was in confusion trying to understand how she even got into the apartment.

Although I knew the chances of Giana being here were minimal, I still looked down the hallway to see if she was home. All the cars were in their parking spots and I could swear I saw her grab her McLaren keys in the morning.

"Don't bother. She's not here."

"Was she here? Did you talk to her?" My brain was attempting to make sense of the situation.

"Just a small girls' chat. Nothing major."

The tone in her voice was making me feel uneasy. I needed to talk to Giana as soon as possible. First I needed to get rid of Crystal. "I don't know what you're doing here or what your intentions are but I need you to get out."

"Come on Lando. You don't want to fix things?" She made an effort to get closer, her arms outstretched towards my chest.

Stepping back immediately, I raised my own hands to block her from placing hers on me. "No. I made it pretty clear that I wanted to end things for good."

"After all the effort I made just to be here..." She said as if that was going to invoke some kind of pity from my part.

"Nobody asked you to do that. I need you to leave"

Crystal reached for her purse on the counter. For a second, I thought she was going to get out but I was disappointed when I saw her reach inside it. However, my interest piqued up when I saw her pull out a set of keys.

It was my set of keys. The ones I had lost the exact weekend she went over to see me on the track. I felt stupid for not connecting the dots before.

My hand reached to remove them from hers immediately. At least that explains how she got in. How she figured out where we live, I have no idea. I'm pretty sure it didn't take long to get it correct; all she probably had to do was ask the right people. Honestly, right now I didn't even care how she found out. I wanted her out.

"You're crazy and I already said that I want you out of here." I shoved the keys into my pocket in case she got any ideas of taking them back.

"I just wanted to return them to you." She feigned innocence as she spoke.

"Sure you did. Honestly, I don't care. Just get out." I felt annoyed having to repeat myself so much. "I'll call security up."

"You don't want to know what I told Giana?"

I hesitated, not sure if she was just saying that to get me to engage in her pitiful conversation. At my lack of response she kept talking.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Probably not through her. After she found out the truth, I'm sure she won't ever speak to you again." She said in a condescending tone.

I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. What was going through my head for me to have ever dated Crystal in the first place.

"What truth are you talking about?"

"It's not a big deal really. We just clarified some things about some past issues and she was really desperate to know why I was here."

When I heard her say that, my anger and discomfort only got worse. What lies did she spin up for Gi?  It was then, that a realization came to mind as bright as day.

Giana was right. The person behind the audio was Crystal. I was just too proud to admit I was wrong. My own ignorance and ego allowed for me to get washed up in Crystal's lies and push Giana to the side.

My stomach turned thinking about how I treated Gi because of it. She didn't deserve any of it.

"It was you. You leaked the audio, I don't know how I didn't see it before." I told Crystal.

She didn't seem surprised by this. "Honestly Lando. I don't get how you could be so stupid."

She was just pissing me off more by the second. "You're right. I am stupid. Stupid for believing your lies, for getting involved with you, for pushing the best thing in my life off to the side. For everything, and I'm done. Done with all of that and done with you. So, I'm giving you ten seconds to leave. I don't want to hear a single word from you anymore. You're so desperate for attention, I'm not going to be the one to give it you any longer."

I made sure to enunciate the next words as best as I could so she wouldn't misunderstand. "As for Giana, if you ever think about coming near her again, you will regret it. I don't want you even breathing in her direction."

Her head tilted to the side as she looked at me cockily. "You think I'm afraid of you? I could easily make up something to the media and you'll never hear the end of it."

To her surprise, a smirk overtook my expression as I let out a dry laugh at her words. "You really think that's a threat? That might give you your five seconds of fame but it will blow over. Everything does. By the next day, no one will care. On the other hand, you underestimate just how much I could legally and publicly ruin your life."

Crystal kept quiet, a mix of shock and surprise on her face when she realized I wasn't giving her the reaction she wanted.

My words just kept pouring out. "Your pathetic accusations wouldn't even leave a scratch on my career. Yours would be over before you even have a chance to come up with a new lie. It's like you forget who I am and the people I know. I have connections everywhere and the best lawyers, all it takes is one call."

At that point, I was willing to do whatever it took to get rid of her. In order to protect Giana, there wasn't a length I wouldn't go to.

Her face paled when she seemed to realize the point I was making. "You can't do anything, you're exaggerating." Her previous tone of pure confidence was diminished.

"You really think so? Does it not get in your head what I do for a living? One single phone call and you're done for. So let me tell you one last time: get the fuck out and stay away from us."

The message finally got through. "Psycho." She mumbled as she walked to the door letting it slam loudly behind her.

Letting out a groan of relief, I collapsed on the couch. I prayed that she would actually stay away from us for good. I never wanted to see her again for as long as I lived. And I wasn't kidding. If I saw her try to get near us again, I wouldn't hesitate for a single second to get lawyers or the police involved. Anything to keep her away from Giana for good.

Right now, I needed to know what Crystal told her, and I had to know if Gi believed her.

There was a sudden knock on the door that had me getting up in an instant. Every thought in my head prayed it was Giana.

To my surprise, it was Charles on the other side of the door.  He looked like he was five seconds away from swinging at me.

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