AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The question now becomes how to get there? I remember Ella’s frightened face. The terror she must have felt when she realized she was being kidnapped, that the woman she believed was helping her, was deceiving her.
My poor, innocent angel.
She trusts too easily. My world will destroy that sweet innocence. Yet I could never let her go. The peace that fills me just thinking of her, knowing that she’s mine, outweighs anything else.
Peace, though, is the last thing I feel at the moment. While a certain amount of fear is necessary so she stops running and obeys me, I want her trust back and the love that was shining so brightly in her eyes when she looked at me on the island.
I need it like the air to breathe.
How can I have both? Her obedience and her love?
My new idea is the answer, and I can’t wait to unleash it on her.
Chapter Nineteen
Ella
Mystomachrumblesandgrowls so loudly it hurts. It’s well past one o’clock in the morning, and I’ve been trying to fall asleep for hours. I have no idea where Gualtiero is, nor do I care.
Annoyed, I turn onto my side, bashing my pillow into compliance to get more comfortable. No such luck.
My mind is hyperactive and churning over everything that has happened over the past forty-eight hours. No, scrap that. Make that over the past two weeks… ever since I met Gualtiero.
Has it really only been two weeks? It feels like I’ve known him so much longer.
The past six years weren’t as exciting and incident filled as these past fourteen days. From saving Gualtiero, to being ravished on a rooftop restaurant. A private island and a kidnapping.I love you, two escape attempts, and a deadly gunfight… I sure have made up for my previous, uneventful life.
It’s been exactly one week since I woke up in this room—alone and terrified—with no clue to what was happening. Now, it seems like a lifetime ago.
After waking up yesterday morning, I considered a hunger strike again, but clearly, I wasn’t of sound mind… hardly surprising after the ordeal the night before. I must have still been in shock, because, come on, I love food way too much and wouldn’t last more than a day. So, I dismissed the idea as quickly as I’d dreamed it up.
For one, it’s unlikely it would have swayed Gualtiero into releasing me, and two, I need to keep up my strength and mental faculties if I ever want to succeed at getting away.
Overall, the day was uneventful. Thankfully, Gualtiero didn’t sleep in the same bed with me. I don’t know what I would have done if he had tried… probably slept in the bathtub, which would have been preferable to sharing any space with him.
He bought me lots of flowers again, turning my room into a floral-show display. It’s his way of apologizing, but even the beautiful flowers couldn’t extract a smile from me. He wanted to belt me, for God’s sake… after I nearly died! And he thinks flowers can make up for something like that?!
I spent yesterday exercising, trying to rid myself of the demons chasing me with physical activity. I jogged and almost swallowed a lung.
Swimming was much more enjoyable and refreshing in the heat of the day, and a round of weight training in the gym had me collapsing with exhaustion. But I’m determined to gain strength and stamina. I won’t be so weak ever again to be pushed around.
Playing with my puppies was a highlight, as was playing two rounds of backgammon with Mariella.
Gualtiero came to the pool when I was doing laps to say he’d be out all day. I haven’t seen him since. Suits me. Though part of me is surprised he’s not come to bed yet.
Is he sleeping somewhere else? Who is he with?
Argh, I shouldn’t even be thinking this!
After the way he treated me, I should be happy he’s not here right now.
My thoughts and feelings are such a mishmash. They’ve been diced, sliced, and blended.
The day on the boat threw me… that kiss. My body tingles with the memory of that perfect, toe-curling kiss. It brought back to life all the feelings I no longer want.
No… don’t go there!
I hate to admit it, but even though I’m still furious at how Tiero treated me, a part of me can understand his rage. It wasn’t all directed at me. But I was there to take the brunt of his fury, and that’s not acceptable.
