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I know now is when I should still be scared, crying even. But of all things, I am not weak. In shock maybe, because at this time where only fear and trepidation should be present, excitement was beginning to bloom brightly in the pit of my stomach.
"Let's get one thing straight, Esmeralda." His voice was pure gravel. As if he were lying in the sun without water for days.
"I don't fuck little girls." He said it roughly, with pure disgust, which should fill me with elation, but I feel dejected. Like I repulse him. Like I am a child and not a grown woman. I wriggle in his grasp, trying to get free, feeling pissed off. He tightens his hold and tilts my jaw up, holding it between his strong fingers and forcing me to look into his strange, golden eyes. For eyes the color of embers, they were incredibly cold.
"And when I find those men that touched your body, I will cut their fingers off one by one and leave them to bleed. I only need a first name."
He inhales deeply again, like my scent was a life source, his life source. Like he thrived off of it, the scent of my fear and helplessness. He is so confusing, this man. He's a walking contradiction and the more he treats me like a submissive child, the more I want to act out against him. I wriggle again only to have him shove me back, his thumb pressing against my pulse, sliding down to the base of my throat. Damn near mimicking a caress, but that wasn't possible. This man wasn't capable of such tenderness.
"Don't underestimate my power anymore, Esmeralda. I'm a very important man, one many should fear. Especially you. So maybe you should bite your tongue and don't cross my fucking path. Especially when I'm running a goddamn business."
"You're a fucking monster," I spit at him.
He lets go of me quickly, backing away as if I had burned him. As if I was the acid. My hands rub the skin of my throat and I look at him defiantly.
"That may be true, but will you be thinking that when you moan my name again from making yourself come tonight? The walls are very thin."
A ghost of a smirk flirts with his full lips and I swear I feel fire course through my veins.
"Get the fuck out."
He smiled like the devil and smoothed his dark hair back, turning on his heel.
"With pleasure. Just remember one thing: this family is under my control now. Your junky mother is paying the price for fucking with the wrong club, sweetheart. And you will too if you keep up with that smart mouth and stupid decisions."
He straightens his crisp shirt, rolling up his falling sleeves to expose more dark, bulging flesh. I look down at my feet, feeling small while he starts to grow stronger before me.
"Do as you should and let me tend to my business. You'll be on the road to freedom before you know it, free from the chains and burdens she's caused your whole life. But buckle up, pequeña, you're in for quite a ride if you choose to defy me once more."
He winks and walks out, his Italian shoes clicking against the tile. I throw a vase after him, and it hits the hallway wall, but I slam the door after I hear all the glass shatter against the floor.
"Fuck!" I bellow, my voice echoing in the now empty room before me. I pace before the fireplace, steam practically leaving my ears like a cartoon character.
I watched someone die tonight. No, I watched someone getmurderedright next to me and bleed out on top of my feet. Someone I thought was innocent, like me. Someone who was just as big of a monster as the man that holds me against my will.
I walk to the bed and rip the covers back, climbing in and pulling the duvet over my head to shield any outside source away from me. I begin to shake with both anger and fear. My whole life has been flipped upside-down in a matter of days and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.
All I've ever wanted was a life of peace. A life that I built and could live in contentment. A restaurant to call my own, a place that I could call home. Maybe a husband and a couple babies later on. Now, everything was completely obsolete. Any dream or goal I had worked for before has become nothing but a wish now.
I wish I had Ricky right now. I wish I had a loving and familiar shoulder to cry on, but I am only met with pillows that smell like Dante and silence all around me. I shed a few tears and burrow deeper into the pillows, smelling his spicy, citrus smell and growing frustrated by it. I throw the pillows off the bed in anger and they hit the floor with soft thuds.
After the events of tonight, I really don't have the strength or wish to leave this room again. I'd happily wither away into nothing on this bed than go out and witness another death in those halls. There is no room for peace in this mansion and it's starting to feel awfully like my own home growing up. Which I survived through by hiding away, so it's almost second nature to me now.
Silence stretches as does the night. My body is molded into the bed and I've yet to find comfort.
I toss and turn all night, sleep finally coming to claim me when the dawn breaks and the sun shines through the windows.
* * *
I awake to the sound of shuffling by the bed. Alarmed, I jump up with the covers pulled tight to my chest, guarding my breasts that are only covered by the thin layer of my nightgown. Sergio steps back immediately when he spots my tense form. He offers me a short nod, his face grim with drawn eyebrows. I notice he set a laptop down on the table beside me and I am both excited and confused.
“What's this?” I ask quietly.
“A computer, for your schooling. Dante instructed me to give this to you so that you can register for classes next semester, but be aware, this is heavily monitored by our security team so I advise you not to try anything outside of your limits.”
His voice is dark, like he despises me almost. I can’t say why, though I am sure my rescue attempt last night may have something to do with it.
“I don’t have any money for school, I told Dante that. You can take it back.”
