Carlo

Chapter 3

"Adelaide, sit down" Santiago demands.

Carlo sits back in his chair the same way he did before, legs apart and slouched. As I walk past him to get to the free chair our legs brush against each other.

"You will be allowed to go on missions as long as Carlo says you can. There's a ball on Saturday and we have heard that someone will be there to kill the Knights."

Seems like a them problem to me.

"You will stay here until Saturday. After the mission at the ball you will report back here before leaving and moving in with the Knight's"

I look over at Carlo and Rico. Rico is still staring at my exposed stomach and the top of my breasts. Carlo seems to be staring at my stomach as well.

But not with hunger in his eyes like his father. More like anger.

I look down and see that he's probably looking at the cigarette burns on me or the rolls that have formed on my stomach from sitting down. I know that the rolls are normal but I still get insecure about them.

I do up two buttons on my blazer so it hides my stomach.

I look back at Santiago.

"So are we just going to brush past the fact that I am being forced to marry someone I don't know?" At this point I don't care what the punishment is. I don't want to marry. I'm only eighteen.

"Yes. Now get out." Santiago says, trying not to shout.

I stand up and walk towards the door.

"Carlo go with her. I need to speak to Santiago" Rico says.

Carlo walks up to the door and I walk out. I walk through the hallways to my room and I can hear Carlo's shoes behind me.

I walk into my room and go to my wardrobe and walk in closing the door behind me. I put on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. I get some makeup remover and take off the little amount of makeup I have on.

When I walk out of the wardrobe Carlo is sitting down on the edge of my bed leaning his elbows on his knees, messaging away on his phone.

His hair has fallen over the front of his face as he types fast. When he hears the wardrobe door shut he looks up and pauses his typing to watch my every move.

Carlo left my bedroom door open so I went and closed it. I grab a pair of socks and quickly put them on before going to my window sill and opening the window. I take my hidden cigarettes and lighter from the small ledge outside of it.

I sit down and criss cross my legs, leaning against the wall slightly. I light up the cigarette and blow the smoke out of the window.

"Thank you for saying that to my father." I mutter and I hear him mumble a "your welcome" before it's silent again. An uncomfortable silence.

"Did you know?" I ask, looking up at the sky.

The bright colors of the sunset taking over the sky making it look like someone used a paintball gun to shoot at the sky and it all exploded into different colors.

"The marriage?" I hear him question.

I hum in response.

Carlo walks over to the window sill I'm sitting on and leans on his forearms.

"No. I only knew about the mission" He lets out a sigh.

I look at him to see him already looking at me. I notice how he looks tired, but not all of it looks like a lack of sleep. He looks drained.

I nod my head and give him a sad smile. I put my hand out the cigarette between my index and middle finger.

He takes it and smokes it. On the third time he brings it to his lips and takes a drag he manages to blow it out and inhale it through his nose. Making it look like a waterfall.

"How'd you do that?" I ask, retrieving the cigarette.

"As you let the smoke out, use your tongue to push it out slowly and inhale it through your nose." He shrugs, as if it's the easiest thing to do.

I do as he says and end up coughing. I pass him it back and he chuckles.

Not the easiest thing to do.

I playfully glare at him until I hear a creak of a floorboard. I count to five and another one creaks.

Someone's coming to my room.

I take the cigarette and throw it out of the window and waft the smoke out before closing the window. Carlo stands there staring at me like I'm an idiot but also like he's trying to figure me out.

I waft the air a little more before flinching when another floorboard creaks.

1,2,3,4,5,6.

Another one.

I feel myself turn pale and I look at Carlo who is now standing next to me. I furrow my eyebrows when I notice how tall he is.

"How tall are you?" I ask, completely forgetting the fact that someone's on the way to my room.

"6 foot." He looks me up and down and smirks "How tall are you?"

I roll my eyes before mumbling "5'5. Nearly 5'6 though" I point at him.

My bedroom door swings open and I put on a blank face. Santiago walks in and gives me a dirty look before looking at Carlo. "Your father is waiting downstairs for you"

Carlo nods and walks to the door giving me one last look before leaving.

Please walk slow Carlo.

I listen to his footsteps and as soon as I hear the front door close I get a slap across the face.

My head snaps to the side and I turn it back slowly looking into the eyes of what should be a loving father. But it's not.

"No food until the ball. You won't be able to fit into your dress if you eat."

I nod my head. It's only four days until Saturday.

He grips my arm and drags me through the corridors and down the cold stairs of the basement.

Wait.

"Dad. Stop. Let go. I'm sorry for what I did" I panic, not knowing what I did wrong this time.

Think Adelaide. What did you do?

He stops and punches me in the stomach. I curl over, my hand over my stomach as if to try to suppress the pain. "Don't call me that. I'm your boss. Nothing else"

You were my dad once. A long time ago...but still once.

He carries on dragging me until we get to the dark room and I'm thrown in and the door slams shut. I bang on the door and scream until I can't anymore.

"Please." I cry into the door.

Deep breaths it's okay.

It's okay

It's okay

It's okay

I put my hands over my ears and slid down onto the floor.

"Get out!" I scream, to what may seem as no one. But the voices in my head start to over power me and the darkness makes me feel as if the walls are moving closer and closer to me.

I can't breathe and that only makes me panic more.

Help.