Cataleya Valentina Velez:
I slowly open my eyes, letting them adjust to the bright light. My head immediately starts pounding like crazy and I try to glance around the room, to see where I am. My throat feels like a desert as if I haven't drunk in ages.
The bed beneath me feels different, it smells different too, a fresh cologne smell. Where the fuck am I?
I can barely look around the room since the curtains are closed, but I know that I'm in someone's bedroom.
'Shit.' I hear someone mumble across the room. I stare at the figure, trying to match it to someone I know, but nothing. As soon as he steps into the light, I flinch.
'Where is Neveah?' My voice is barely audible and dry. Marco steps towards me, handing me a bottle of water. I pull it out of his hand and gulp it down like a maniac, enjoying the feeling in my throat.
'Thirsty are we?' He smirks and I raise my middle finger to him. Why is he with me and why am I feeling like a truck ran over me?
'Where is Neveah?' I ask as soon as the bottle is empty. Even though I drank all of it, I'm still thirsty. 'She's with Rio and Celine.' 'Why?'
I look at him, folding my arms in front of me. He's standing at the door, keeping his eyes on me. Marco knows I'll run as soon as I get the chance.
He ignores me and grabs his phone, texting someone, before looking back at me again. 'You'll find out soon enough.'
'What the fuck-' He clears his throat and slowly walks my way, making me step away from him a bit more.
The last thing I need is for him to get any closer. Not after what happened last time. I honestly thought he was a decent person, but no. He was ready to shoot us, without hesitation.
Since he's walking away from the door, I run to it, immediately regretting the movements I'm making as my head starts spinning.
I grab the doorknob and pull it open, bumping into the person behind it and dropping to the floor. My head feels like I'm about to explode as I look up.
Right into his mesmerizing eyes. Rio grins and stares me down, waiting for me to pull myself together so he can ask me what the fuck is going on.
The world keeps spinning, making me take a second before I get up and pull my shirt down.
'Did she just wake up?' Rio asks Marco, not caring about my presence. He could directly ask me. 'You told me to text you, so yes.' So that's what he was doing...
'How are you feeling?' Rio stares at me for a second and the way he does it, makes me a little uncomfortable.
He never looked at me like this. So caring, yet not caring at all. He doesn't actually care. He's forced to ask, but by whom?
'Where is Neveah?' I ask, totally ignoring him the way they always do. He sighs deeply, moving his gaze towards Marco, as if that will help, before looking back at me. 'How are you feeling Velez?' No Miss?
'I'm fine. Now tell me where Neveah is.' He shakes his head and closes the door behind him, making sure I hear the click of the lock falling in place. There is no way out now.
'First I need you to tell me how you're feeling.' He states, staring at me attentively. His eyes roam my body, searching for something. Anything. But he finds nothing and stares back into my eyes again.
'As I said, I'm fine.' I state, stepping away from both of them. They look at me as if I might die any second, which I don't understand. 'She's with Celine downstairs.' Downstairs?
As far as I know, the house in Paris doesn't have a downstairs. It's just one floor, that's it. That means...
'Did we leave Paris?' Marco chuckles before walking towards the door and waving at his "boss". Rio grins and closes the door behind his friend. 'No, we did not, Miss Velez.' Aha...
'We have a basement, you've been there.' When? One of his perfectly shaped eyebrows slowly rises, looking at me, debating if I'm telling the truth. 'When?' I ask sheepishly since I don't remember anything from before I woke up.
'You don't remember?' Remember what- just as I'm about to ask him what he's talking about, everything comes rushing in.
I was just asleep, waking up from another nightmare, and looked around the room. Neveah was nowhere to be found. There was a sound, so I looked to see who it was.
Rio stepped out of the bathroom, I barely saw him because of the little light falling into the room, but I knew it was him. His eyes were burning.
I didn't have time to react, he was in arms reach within two seconds, and pressed me back on the bed. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs but he pressed a gun to my chin, making me swallow any sounds I wanted to make.
'Make one sound,' he whispered softly, 'And I'll shoot, okay?'
All I did was nod. I was unable to say or do anything else because I was afraid. I didn't want to die. So I just nodded and waited for him to lower his gun, but he didn't. He knew I was going to keep fighting if he did. He saw the fear in my eyes and liked it.
'Now go back to sleep.' I felt something sharp prick into my arm and tried to look, but I was unable to. I was afraid that if I'd move too much, he'll shoot. He would kill my mother and Neveah as if we're nothing.
He injected something into my arm and kept the gun against my chin, waiting for me to fall asleep again. Which I did.
And then I woke up. Which let us to this moment right here.
I look up and notice him smiling at himself. Rafael is proud of what he did. He's proud of something he shouldn't be.
'What did you do to me?' He walks over to the bed and stares at the door, 'I asked-' I stop when he turns my way. Noted...
'Your arm.' I look at my right arm, the one he's pointing at, and see nothing.
Rio takes advantage of my carelessness and steps closer to me, reaching out to my arm so he can show me himself. But I step away.
The last time I let him come close to me, he drugged me. No way in hell, am I letting him close to me.
He sighs and rolls his eyes, before turning back to his place on the bed.
'Lift your arm.' I do as he suggests and notice a bruise near my armpit. It's barely seeable, but it's there. My stomach starts whirling, making me nauseous.
The fact that I didn't notice until now scares me the most. 'Is that a...' Everything starts spinning again and I can barely stand straight, so I grasp onto the wall and look at Rio.
He's not looking at me, still staring at the door, and nods. 'I told you to stop with the attitude.' Fucking prick.
I want to shout at him, scold him, hit him, kill him even, this man has some audacity to act as if chipping us is nothing, but I can't.
Instead, I run into the bathroom and towards the toilet. I make it just in time as everything I ate, from before I fell asleep, shoots out of me.
'Shit.' Rio mumbles, slowly making his way towards me. I crawl away from him, but it's no use. He makes sure my hair stays out of my face and rubs my back gently, making me feel weirded out a little.
This man killed someone to prove a point, drugged me, then chipped me, and is rubbing my back as if I'm his drunk friend he needs to support!?
'We need to talk to Celine about this.' I push his arm aside, making him sigh deeply again. He's disappointed, but what did he assume my reaction was going to be?
That I was going to accept his "support" with open arms. I wouldn't be throwing up if it wasn't for him in the first place!
'Can you get up?' He asks, waiting for me to move. I stumble over to the sink, wash my face, and stare at him through the mirror. 'Where is Neveah?' I ask again, making him mumble something under his breath.
We stare at each other for a while, waiting for both of us to say or do something. But neither of us do. We just stare at each other as the world around me starts spinning again.
'Cataleya I swear-' I turn around, wanting to face him, but it's too fast. Everything becomes blurrier than before and I fall to my knees. Just as I hit the ground, I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around me.
It takes me a few seconds to understand what's going on. Rio caught me. He didn't let me hit the ground completely. Shit.
'Let go of me!' I shout as soon as I'm able to see straight again. He sighs, lifting me as if I weigh nothing. 'I said.' I hit his chests as I shout at him, 'Put. Me. Down!'
'Dannazione.' He huffs, walking back into the bedroom. He doesn't budge at all. 'Rio I mean it!' 'Shut the fuck up, you should be glad that I'm not dropping your heavy ass.' He sneers at me, almost dropping me in the hallway.
I grasp onto him, not wanting to fall right on my ass, and hear him chuckle. Asshole...
'You wanted to see North right?' He asks, looking down on me. I nod before looking away. He's way too close for comfort and his eyes are making me uncomfortable.
As soon as he looks away, I stare at him again. Glancing over his perfect features. I've never seen a man this godly before. If only he wasn't such an asshole.
He carries me towards a door, I didn't really notice it was there until now, and waits for it to close behind us. We enter a dark room, with only one other door that probably leads to another room.
I watch as he steps closer towards the metal-looking door and wait for him to put me down, which, for the first time, he does gently. I want to step away from him, but he still has one arm wrapped around me, trying to support me so I won't fall again.
He slowly types in a code on the left side of the door, keeping me close to him.
I follow his hand that reaches out to some kind of pannel with numbers on it. Rio types in a code, 5263, and the door unlocks, barely making any sound.
'You think you can walk on your own?' He jokes, letting go of me slowly. I push him away and turn around, almost tripping over my own feet as I start walking. I hear him chuckle behind me and keep walking until we enter another room.
This one has six doors. Six doors that look exactly the same.
I want to turn towards Rio, to ask him which one we need to go through, but I hear someone screaming something on the second door on the left and look at Rio for a second.
He rolls his eyes, before rushing to the door and slamming it open. I follow him, trying not to faint or throw up again.
The room is filled with shelves, filled with all types of pills and papers, different types of beeping machines, and bright lights, making it seem like a hospital room. The metal table in the middle of the room makes my skin crawl.
'You fucking bitch! Just yesterday you were talking to me as if we were friends!' Neveah shouts at the girl in front of her. It's Celine.
She nods, seemingly regretting what she did.
I don't trust Celine and I don't think I'll ever will. She works for Rio and she will always stay loyal to him, no matter the cost.
Loyalty... The loyalty Rafael Curzio receives from some people is utterly insane. People would risk their lives for him, just because it's him. Because he's Rafael Adriano Curzio.
'Cataleya!' Neveah shouts, before rushing towards me. She doesn't look bad at all. Instead, she looks furious, which I understand.
'Are you okay?' I nod and lean on her since everything starts spinning again. 'I am so sorry that these idiots did that to you.'
I scan her body, looking for the stitches. She has one on her left shoulder, just above the edge of her top.
'What about you?' I whisper, gently touching her ruined skin. She flinches at my touch but keeps her eyes on the people in front of us. 'I'm fine.'
'How could you do this to us?!' She shouts, making my head pound again. Celine looks at Rio, but he's too busy pacing around the room. 'He asked me to.' 'So if he asks you to kill someone, you would kill someone!?'
Yes 'Yes.' She states as if it's the simplest thing on earth. There it is again. Loyalty.
I would never bow down to a man like Rio like that. I would never kill for someone like him. Never.
He's an absolute monster with a serious personality-disorder. He's a fire, ready to destroy everything and everyone coming in his way.
'You are fucking insane!' Neveah shouts at the sorry-looking woman. I notice how she hasn't looked me in the eyes yet. As if she's afraid of what she might see, even though she's the one who chipped us.
'Calm down North,' Rio sneers, grasping all our attention.
If I was able to stand on my own, to attack him without needing something or someone to support me, I would've hit him. I don't care about the consequences right now.
This gorgeous motherfucker fucking chipped us.
There is no way we're getting out of here now. they'll know as soon as we step outside. They'll have eyes on us twenty-four-fucking-seven.
'Celine just did what I told her to do, so if you want to shout at someone, shout at me.' Neveah snorts and turns towards the monster himself. He'll end her. I just know he will.
'You promised Tiago you wouldn't do anything!' She fumes at him, exploding in every way possible. He simply nods and looks at her as if that doesn't mean anything. I wonder what happened before I got knocked out...
'I didn't promise him shit.' Rio steps towards Neveah, but she stays put. She's too stubborn to step away. 'You d-' 'Leonardo promised you something, but I didn't promise him anything, North.'
They stare at each other, ready to kill.
If Rio is fire, Neveah is water. The two hate each other in every way possible, and both have different reasons for it.
It's obvious Neveah hates him because of what happened with Andrea and because of how he treats us.
Rio hates her because... The only thing I come up with is because she's making Leon soft. He would do anything for her.
'Does he know?' she mumbles stepping away from Rio slowly. I grab her arm, pulling her towards me so I can lean on her again. 'I haven't told him yet,' He states.
'And since you two,' He looks at us and smiles, 'don't have a phone. I don't think he knows.'
'I texted him yesterday, right before I started.' Celine chimes, walking over to the desk in the corner of the room.
'Wait, how long were we out for?' I ask Neveah since she's the only one looking at me. 'Over twenty hours.' Twenty hours!?
Rio sighs deeply before turning to his dear friend, who chipped us. 'Celine, I love you to bits. But why?'
'Do you really want me to answer that in front of them?' She asks, trying to annoy him a little more. I love her for that, but not now.
The last thing we need right now is for Rio to get even more annoyed. Plus, she helped him with this shit. She's the one who put those stupid trackers in us.
'You wouldn't dare.' He grins, thinking that she won't. Whatever she has on him, must be special, because he watches her every move, a little nervous about what she might do or say.
Rio is nervous? Who thought I would see the day that Rio Curzio would be nervous?
'What did he say?' I ask, wanting to continue the conversation a little. They all stare at me, not getting what I'm on about. 'Leon.'
This is the first time Celine looks directly at me. I know she'll never pick us over Rio. She's way too loyal to him. I am not as mad as I thought I would be, but I'll need time to get over this.
'Oh, he didn't respond.' Celine mumbles, looking away again. She can't look at me too long for some reason.
Neveah turns towards the door, wanting to walk away, but Rio stops her and pushes her back. 'Asshole!'
Her hand flies through the air, slowly inching towards Rio's face, but he swiftly pushes her away, towards me. Neveah crashes into me, making me stumble back for a second.
Just when everything stopped spinning, this happens. Everything starts spinning again and I feel like I can't stand straight even though there is nothing wrong with the floor.
I feel myself fall and try to latch onto something or someone. Neveah wraps her arms around me and shouts something at Rio and Celine. I can barely understand a word of what she's saying because my head starts pounding again.
Everything goes black for a few seconds and I feel someone's strong arms wrap around me again. We're moving, but I have no idea where to. All I know is that we're getting out of that weird hospital room and into the silent hall.
'In there.' Celine shouts at the person carrying me. It's Rio. I just know it is. His arms just feel different and I think he's the only one who's able to carry me.
He puts me down onto a soft surface. I let my fingertips stroke around, feeling the soft cotton under my skin.
'What the fuck is wrong with her!?' Neveah asks anxiously. She's afraid. I want to open my eyes, I want to tell her that I'm fine and that she doesn't need to worry about me, but I can't. I can't move anymore and my voice isn't working at all.
'You gave her too much didn't you?!' 'You were the one who took too damn long!' All the shouting is making my head explode. I want to shout at them to shut up, but I can't.
'How much did you give her?' Celine asks as I hear some rumbling around the room. She's probably running around the room to grab something to help me.
'Two doses since she almost woke up.' I almost woke up? I barely remember anything. 'Fucking hell Rio-' The bickering slowly fades and I feel a soft hand grasp onto mine.
'I am so sorry Leya... I truly am.' Neveah whispers softly. I want to tell her that none of this is her fault, but I can't. My body still isn't cooperating. It's okay...