AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As I lie in bed, my body exhausted, I feel my eyes growing tired, and I am just about to drift off to sleep when I hear my door crack open and my heart stops. I forgot to lock my door! I am so tired and jet lagged that I forgot to secure myself in my room. My breathing stops and I stay completely still but peek my eyes open to see Enzo enter my room and a feeling of dread comes over me. My heart starts to race, my palms sweat, and I know that I need to move, otherwise he will be on top of me, and I won’t be able to fight him. With no Sebastian here to help, I need to save myself.
He has had a lot to drink with my papa and he reeks of alcohol. He is sloppy, staggering about but manages to close the door behind him as he proceeds to take off his tie and suit jacket, appearing to be getting comfortable. While his back is to me, I move slowly across the bed further away from him, ready to make a quick exit. I thank God that I put on my tank top and shorts, they are a bit revealing but nothing like the silk negligee I would usually wear when in Sicily.
He continues to remove his shirt and pants, until he is just left in his boxer briefs. He is disgusting. His big round stomach is protruding over his underwear. If he were a female he would need a bra to support the fatty breasts he has, which are covered in salt and pepper hairs that are unruly and tangled. He is huffing and puffing either in exertion from undressing or anticipation of getting to me, and I don’t like it at all.
He is too drunk to notice that I have moved across the bed and as he gets into the bed on his side, I slip out on the opposite side and take a few steps away. I watch him as he gets into the bed, thankful that he didn’t turn on a light to see me. I see his hand reach out to grab me, thinking I am in the bed next to him, but he sits up in surprise when he finds the bed empty, patting a flat spot on the mattress.
All the while, I take small steps and edge closer to my vanity. I could unlock the door and scream but no one would come to my rescue, so I need to protect myself. I’m glad I touched my knife and gun this afternoon, reminding myself that they were there.
He sits up abruptly and turns on the lamp on the bedside table with such vigor that the lamp wobbles and bangs, but doesn’t fall. His eyes find mine as I stand in the bedroom, and he looks me up and down while licking his lips, thinking that he is going to get a taste of me and the very thought of that has bile rising in my throat.
“Get into bed, Francesca and give your fiancé some pleasure,” he all but demands, in a low voice so as to not wake anyone. He is slowly rising from the bed, knowing that I am a flight risk, and he walks slowly toward the bedroom door thinking that is where I am headed.
“Get out of my room!” I scream back at him because I don’t really care who hears me in this house.
“Get back into the fucking bed, bitch! Now!” he screams back at me and starts walking with purpose across the room to grab me. He stumbles a little and given the amount of alcohol he has consumed, I am surprised that he is even still awake. I stumble around the bed walking just as swiftly closer to my vanity, but he is too fast and reaches out and slaps me across the face and I fall to the floor, hitting my head on the end of the vanity as I drop to the ground.
He picks me up by my hair and yells in my face, “How dare you embarrass me and sneak off leaving me without a fucking fiancé!” Spit flies in my face, and my scalp is burning as he slaps me again before letting me fall to the ground. It hurts like hell, but I know he won’t kill me, not yet anyway. He needs to be married to me first. So, I will endure the pain. I feel blood run down the back of my throat, and I touch my forehead and can feel a bump the size of an egg forming.
"You think running off to marry someone else will protect you? You are a Romano and will marry into the family. Your papa is already making arrangements for your annulment."
He walks away and puts on his pants and shirt, grabbing his tie and his jacket. “We get married tomorrow at midday, you are lucky that I don’t kill you tonight, but I will. I will pay you back for disappearing on me, you disrespectful bitch!” He spits out at me, but his words don’t hurt. I don’t care what he thinks of me.
My head is pounding as I watch him leave my room, and I crawl over to my door and lock it immediately after he leaves, not wanting a repeat performance from him later. I sit up gingerly and slowly, resting my back against the closed door to catch my breath and my thoughts. I want to cry but I don’t. I will cry, but later, when I am safe, because right now I need to be strong. I need to continue to survive, and I need to escape. I feel wetness on my chin and look down to see blood dripping on my top. I slowly stand and make my way to the bathroom to inspect the damage to my face and body.
The bruises from papa are now dark purple. My left eye is starting to swell shut from Enzo’s assault, and I have a cut on my lip that is bleeding, thanks to Enzo as well. It is not lost on me that the two people who are meant to love me the most, my father and my apparent fiancé, both treat me like a punching bag. My heart aches for Marco. Thank God he has shown me what true love is because what I am experiencing today, is certainly not love. Not love for me anyway.
My cheek is throbbing in pain from Enzo’s slaps. I could go downstairs to the kitchen and grab some ice from the freezer, but if I am getting married tomorrow, then that means there will be a lot of papa’s associates here, and I know from Sebastian that not all of them treat their family in this way.
I hope that if they see proof of what happens under Alessandro’s own roof it may start them talking. I know Sebastian is already talking to a few of them, growing their business stronger through his leadership than with papa’s and so his connections are solid.
I take a tissue and dab the blood, trying to stem the flow. I find new sleepwear to put on, then throw my bloody clothes in the washing basket. Washing my hands, I notice that they are now shaking as my adrenaline is starting to subside, and I keep the light in the bathroom on, not wanting to be in the dark any longer.
I crawl back under the covers, now not able to sleep, and I lie there staring at the ceiling, trying to stay strong under the pain knowing that when I wake up I will be blue and purple and swollen for the entire Italian Mafia to see.
37
Marco
Our jet gets us to Sicily in record time, and we arrive in darkness to a small airport on the other side of the island from where Alessandro’s mansion is. Sebastian has a team waiting at the airport for us, and as Jake and I pile into the blackened cars, I hope not for the first time that Sebastian will protect us because there is a very real possibility that none of us will return from Sicily. Not alive anyway.
We spent the entire flight going over and over our game plan we have put together to rescue Frankie, and Jake and I just have to trust that Sebastian and his right hand man Dante know what they are doing. I trust Sebastian now, I do, but it is clear that he has been working for the past year to overthrow his father, so who is to say that someone else isn’t making the same type of plans to get rid of Sebastian. The rescue mission we are on could backfire, and we could all be captured and killed without a second thought.
We arrive at a safe house not far from the family mansion, and Sebastian and Dante give us weapons and instruct their ground team so that everyone is prepared. As the sun starts to rise over the horizon, Sebastian and Dante leave, to make their way to the family compound where they are expected, and I hope that we are not too late and that Frankie is safe.
Sebastian is confident his father still doesn’t know that it was him that has kept Frankie hidden all this time. Alessandro thinks that Frankie escaped on her own and made her way to Boston, where she met me. Apparently, those paparazzi photos of us kissing in the coffee shop were enough to set him off in search and then the Archbishop couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Sebastian is actually astounded that Alessandro kept me alive, however given my profile in the city and my wealth, having my murder on their hands would have created more issues for them so they left me bleeding on the tarmac instead, thinking that I would just let them take her. But I won't. She is mine.
Jake and I stay at the safe house, watching the clock on the wall tick over, knowing that we will need to move soon. Sebastian’s team are just waiting for the time to come before we can get into the cars ourselves and make our way to the mansion. Jake and I are dressed as server’s for Frankie’s wedding. The very thought makes my blood boil.
While we are still bruised, we have managed to hide most of it and a few scrapes won’t be an issue. Once we get access to the house, we plan to walk quickly and quietly to Frankie’s room to get her out of there. We are armed with guns, but I hope that we don’t have to use them. I am not a violent man, but I will use any means necessary to get my wife, and I know Jake has my back.
I get the call from Sebastian that we are waiting on.
“Ready?” he asks, with all formal greetings now out the window.
“Ready. Did you see her?” I ask at the last minute, wanting to know if she is okay.
“You need to mentally prepare yourself for the condition she is in. She is not pretty. They have hit her and harmed her, and I am going to ruin every last motherfucker who has touched her.”
