THE BILLIONAIRE'S FOREVER CONTRACT

DIANA

DIANA

It was dark by the time I awoke or maybe it was the dark room that had me thinking it was night. My head was pounding furiously and I remained still, my eyes to the ceiling thinking furiously of what had happened.

It came to be a nanosecond later that I had been kidnapped and by Dante

Dante, my head screamed.

I scrambled out of the bed out of the bed, adjusting my shirt... this wasn't my shirt.

I was wearing a man's shirt; his no doubt scoffed

I walked quietly to the door, pressing my ear to it and trying to hear if there was somebody out there before I made the risky trip I was about to.

There was no way I was going to sit here and wait patiently for my brothers to come knowing fully well that they were going to die if they so much as stepped foot in Italy. I groaned touching the side of my head where the bastard had hit me and cursed silently.

I was a fool; prancing about with a man I barely knew and allowing him touch me.

I shivered as I recalled the day before and shame filled me as I recalled the way I had screamed his name; the name of an enemy.

I could not begin dwelling on the past now; I had to figure out a way to leave and place a call to my brothers. They could not come here and I had to tell them that

I wrapped the shirt tightly around my body and touched the doorknob, stepping back when it turned in my hand and opened. A huge man stepped in, taking one glance at me with narrowed eyes

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked me

"I am sorry, I need to... water... I need water" I stuttered, hoping there wasn't water here and he would have to get it from the kitchens or somewhere so I could escape.

"You will wait until the boss is here and then I shall get you the water" he responded in broken English.

I nodded and my heart sank as he closed the door in my face. I walked back to the bed, my head whirring with different escape plans all which ended with me being dead and Dante hovering over my bleeding body, his look smug.

How had I not known? He had been too nice to me but I just figured that was...

You were attracted to him, the voice in my head accused

I was; I admitted but that was all in the past now.

A glint caught my eye and I saw the knife sitting prettily by the side of the table. There was no way I could overpower the man but if I could just figure out a way to get him away from the door.

The thought soon crept into my head; Dante was keeping me alive so he could lure my brothers to their deaths and that could only mean that he did not want me dead.

If I managed to bleed myself, then the man at the door would do anything to keep me alive including dashing out to call a doctor or drawing Dante's attention which could give me ample time to escape and figure my way out of this hellhole.

Now the only thing left was for me to cut myself somewhere and make it appear as though I was bleeding from a major artery.

I touched my palm gingerly right before sliding the knife across it, wincing at the sharp sting of the blade. I held my palm out dotting the ground with blood and then rubbing it across the white shirt I was wearing. When I was sure it was pretty convincing that I was bleeding out, I lay on the ground beside the bloodied knife and began crying for help.

The man stormed in, took one look at me on the ground and dashed out to call for help all the while telling me to maintain my position and not move.

I waited until he was far before I jumped to my feet, cradling my palm which was still bleeding. Maybe I had indeed cut a major artery but there was no time to think about that as I dashed out of the room, hiding whenever I encountered any one of his men.

I climbed slowly, staying close to the wall so I could blend in when necessary until I reached the gates. I stared in dismay at the size of heavily armed men gathered at the gate. There was no way that I could escape that without getting gunned down before I even took one fresh breath outside this place.

I turned and collided with the one person I did not want to see; his eyes held fury and his lips were pursed as he observed me, his grip on my hand tight.

"Going somewhere, Diana?" His seductive voice reached me.

I shivered, trying to maintain the glare on my face as I stared up at him

"Let me go" I snapped

"I cannot do that, amore mio" he murmured, drawing me closer

"What do you hope to achieve by holding me captive? Luring my brothers here and killing them; what next? You are going to kill me too?" I raged

He stared at me, the hurt and confusion evident in his gaze

"I would never hurt you" he said

"You have hurt me; Dante and if you get what you want and kill my brothers, you better kill me. If you don't, I am going to hunt you to the far ends of the earth and kill you myself" I threatened, my eyes glued to his

His eyes hardened as his face blanked

"Walk" he commanded, pushing me in front of him

I walked, allowing him push me until we were back in his room; the place I had tried to escape from by bleeding myself. The man who was supposed to be guarding me stared at me in disgust as I sat at the very ends of the bed.

I was sure he wasn't going to ever fall for anything I said or did again.