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And tonight, I was going to go to dinner with the man who had just put me on display and fucked me in front of his whole kingdom.
Chapter Four
Isabella De Luca
I slept for hours until a tentative knock on my door woke me up from a dead sleep. I groaned, stretching my sore limbs. When I felt the achiness between my thighs, I pressed my legs together, remembering everything that had happened to me earlier that day. My mouth went dry when the memories of what the king had done to me over the windowsill and I shivered, thoroughly ashamed and reluctantly aroused.
I was still naked. I looked around and saw that my dress was crumpled in a pile on the floor. Quickly, I pulled a sheet around me and covered myself before anyone came inside.
The knock sounded one more time.
The door opened and I lifted my head to see a young woman walk through the door. She was maybe twenty, with strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled and curtsied before me, dropping her eyes as though I was some sort of royalty myself.
Where the hell was I?
“You don’t have to curtsy on my account,” I grumbled, and she was silent as she appraised me, almost like she was waiting for me to say something. “Can I help you?” I finally offered.
“I’ve been sent to bathe you and prepare you for dinner tonight,” she replied expectantly.
“I can bathe myself,” I muttered, and she bit her lip.
“It is at the king’s request. I must do my duty,” she answered, her mouth tightening with nervous anxiety.
I sighed and nodded. It was no use taking my annoyance out on her. She simply seemed to be a servant in this mystery place I’d woken up in, which might prove useful if I played my cards right. Maybe through her, I could learn more about this place and who Matteo really was.
“What’s your name?” I asked carefully.
“Maria,” she replied, smiling as she acknowledged my acquiescence. “If you’d like, I’ll run a bath for you. I can also fetch you a cup of coffee or tea in the meantime.”
“I’d love a cup of coffee,” I answered. “Cream and sugar, please.”
She grinned widely, pleased that I was indulging her. She opened the door and rolled in a cart full of fruit and a number of jugs and carafes that I could only assume were filled with coffee, hot water, and whatever else she had brought along. It reminded me of room service, only much more extensive than I had ever seen before. Quickly, she took a gold-lined porcelain cup and poured a hefty portion of coffee, before mixing in the sugar and the cream that I had requested. She walked over to me and handed me the cup, and I took it carefully from her grasp.
I smiled, trying to seem as nonthreatening as possible. I took a tentative sip, finding it even more delicious than I remembered. Whatever bean this place used was divine and I couldn’t help myself as I took another taste of it.
I wrapped myself more tightly in the white sheet, more than aware of the fact that I was naked beneath it with a complete stranger in the room.
The more I enjoyed myself, the larger she smiled, and I decided that I needed to make this woman my friend. The more I seemed amenable to her requests, the more relaxed she became and if I used this to my advantage, I could learn everything that I needed to know.
“I’m Isabella,” I offered.
“I know,” she replied lightly.
I climbed out of bed slowly, ensuring that the sheet covered my nakedness. I held the fabric tightly and followed her into the open bathroom. She turned on the water and measured out several cups of oil that she poured directly into the running bathwater.
“Am I still in Italy?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” she replied. She didn’t offer anything else.
“Where in Italy?” I pressed.
“We’re in a valley in the northern Italian Alps,” she said.
“But where exactly is that?”
“It’s known only to those who know where to find it,” she offered.
“Do you know how to find it?”
