"You do know that if this marriage isn't where it needs to be, I will be staying here to supervise you, tesoro," Capo's thick and heavy voice spoke.
We have been sitting down in the living room for a solid hour filling out marriage forms and whatnot.
I could feel Damien's gaze throwing imaginary daggers at my soul. So what? I leave the house and it's suddenly a crime? I know he has a lot to say but I guess he doesn't want his father staying with us as much as I do.
"Miss Cikari-" The marriage counselor starts but gets rudely interrupted by Damien.
"-Mrs. Romano"
A nervous laugh leaves her lips, "Not quite. The wedding hasn't been finalized yet,"
I awkwardly place a hand on his shoulder and his body tenses, "We'll have to wait a few weeks,"
Hopefully longer.
"It's tomorrow. I had it rescheduled before my flight to Italy,"
My eyes almost bulge out of their sockets and I reach for the glass of water on the coffee table in front of us. Damien puts his hand on the small of my back and it was my turn to internally cringe.
Don't get me wrong, physical touch is my love language but this is just bloody awkward to do considering how we haven't had an actual conversation about any of this.
"Is that okay for you, tesoro?" Capo's voice is almost in a mocking tone.
I hate the name he called me so much. I don't even know what he's saying and I don't want to because I'm scared it's going to be something perverted.
I'm about to answer until Damien answers for me,
"Father? A word."
Capo looks at him displeased but he stands up anyway, moving their conversation to his office.
Now it's just me, the marriage counselor and the deafening silence. Her smile slightly falls as she looks at me with pity eyes. It's like she sees right through this whole marriage, as if it wasn't already etched out all over my face.
"I could help you if you want," She starts with a low voice, "You don't have to stay silent."
"I don't have any other choice but to," I sigh.
I guess stranger danger isn't a thing anymore.
"I can tell. The way Romano looked at you as you walked in said everything for me."
She rips out a piece of paper from one of the paper files in her hand and quickly scribbles her number on it before handing it to me. My hand reaches for it and stuffs in my pants pocket.
"Thank you,"
"Even if you want to for just a little while, I can use marriage as an excuse to get you out of here."
I nod at her in appreciation but it gets cut short when we hear Capo and Damien approaching. I sit back in my seat and we give each other a last knowing look.
"The wedding is being postponed this weekend. You have five days to prepare." Capo points in my direction, "Assicurati che si comporti bene."
Damien's death filled eyes fall onto mine and I immediately avoid eye contact. Every bone in my body is telling me to leave the room but if I do, he'll find a way to bring it back up. There's no running from this.
The marriage counselor stands up and leaves with Capo, the door slamming shut. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I've connected with someone who understands a fraction of what I'm feeling.
A long silence fills up the room and I can hear Damien sigh but I refuse to look at him.
"Cazzo!" He throws a vase from the side table at the wall behind me.
The sound of the glass shattering makes me jump in my seat and he grabs my throat, pinning me against a wall.
"If you ever leave the house again without my permission, I'll kill you."
With the amount of pressure he was putting on my neck, I could feel the air thinning in my lungs as my feet just about scraped the area beneath me.
"I don't care if you're my fiance. I can find another."
The grasp on my neck loosens and my body collides with the floor while I gasp desperately for air, my chest heaving.
I searched his eyes, through the tears prickling in mine, for even a hint of bluff but there was only promise in them. When I don't respond, he places his finger under my chin to make me face him.
"Am I clear?"
I slowly nod my head, looking down at the floor but he doesn't look satisfied, "I need words, bambina,"
"You've gotten your fucking answer already," I spat.
Shit.
If he decides to kill me right now, I wouldn't hold him against it. Over the years, my mouth has gotten me in so much trouble and I don't expect it to stop now.
He looks shocked but it doesn't last that long because I scramble up from the floor and walk out of the room, leaving him there alone.
I'm trying so hard to not let my big girl facade fall until I get onto the second floor.
I realize my door has been changed from white to a grey color, and compared to the rest of the fifteen doors on my floor, it's the clear elephant in the room.
I enter my room, expecting it to have changed too but it surprisingly hasn't. I quietly close the door, pressing my forehead against it to focus on steadying my breathing. I take a deep breath, trying to stop the urge for tears to stream down my face but they do anyway.
A tug on my leg takes me slightly aback and I look down to see a little girl with puffy eyes and a tear-stained face. In her hand was a dented juice box and by the looks of it, she drank it all.
A small smile appears on my face as I meet her big brown eyes. She offers me her empty carton, waving it as high as she could so I could get it and I happily take it off her, putting it on my vanity table.
Wait. Why is she here?
"Adora, let's finish our tea party," Dante groans coming out of my bathroom with a juice box of his own.
I see his mouth moving but I can't focus my mind on a single thing he's saying. It's too clogged up with the events from downstairs and the mess it ended up in.
He raises an eyebrow and I gulp, quickly breaking my eyes away from his bright ones.
"Sorry darling, Adora and I were waiting to invite you to our hangout,"
Only then do I notice the number of toys scattered all over the floor that have been brought into my room.
"But, I don't think now is a good time," He points at the smudged mascara on my face from my tears.
"No, it's fine," I make an attempt to wipe it off but something tells me it's still there, "Do you mind if I join in?"
I'm desperate for a distraction from what just happened.
We decide that Adora could pick any movie she wants and we make a fort on the floor to watch the Bee Movie.
It's not bad but the movie in general is annoying. I can tell Dante has the same opinion because he keeps flashing glances at me to show his frustration.
Towards the end, the movie slowly fades into a background noise when he turns down the volume to not wake up Adora.
She's sleeping on my shoulder so I try not to move for the next twenty minutes but the sleep catches me as well.
"Got anything hidden here?" Chase asked me, running his hands further up my inner thigh.
I leaned into him, smiling, "I guess you'll have to find out another time,"
I moved the weighted blanket off my body and reached for my shoes on the rack. His hands grabbed my waist to stop me as he showered my neck with kisses.
Slow wet kisses.
"I need to go," I say between fit of giggles. His hands traveled below my waist and I could already feel something different about him. When I take another look at his face, it changes to the man in the car park's.
"You can stay a little longer,"
He shoved me back onto the bed, my smile slightly fading,
"I'm being serious, I have to meet my father."
He doesn't process a word I said as he grabs both my legs, pulling me towards him. A wicked laugh slipped from his lips and I shook my head hoping that would be enough to stop him.
"You are mine and only mine, I want you to remember that, Bella."
I can't scream.
My lungs won't expand.
My chest feels too tight.
I jerk up so quickly, I double over. My entire body is shaking so to distract myself, I head down the stairs into the kitchen for a glass of water.
"Bambina? What are you doing up?"
I find Damien leaning against the black marble counter, shirtless. His whole body is on display and I take no shame when my eyes rake over his abs.
I ignore his presence and I make my way to the cupboards, reaching for a glass and filling it with water.
"Lilah-"
"-Mikayla" I snap.
"Interrupt me again and I will-"
"-Choke me? Again? Or will you strangle me to death?"
I give him a raised eyebrow as the cup meets my lips and I take a few gulps as he watches me observantly.
I approach Damien slowly, putting the cup in the sink behind him but he blocks it, spilling some of the water on his chest. We both watch as the water mindlessly travels down to his abs, tracing every perfectly sculpted muscle.
He steps towards me, turning around and closing the distance between us. He has me trapped against the wall and I can't help but to look at his lip that's wedged between his teeth.
I hesitantly put my hand on the side of his face and he watches me with dark, narrowed eyes. My thumb hovers above his trapped lip, eventually pulling it out from his teeth's hold.
Everything becomes a blur as my lips find their way to his jaw, travelling down to an area on his neck, sucking and pulling on his flesh. His hands go under my loose shirt, running over my bare back. When I pull away, a small, purple bruise is marked on his skin.
His breathing intensifies as he stares me in the eye. I know he's waiting for me to break the silence but I can't do it. I don't want to do it.
Since dating Chase, I haven't gotten the chance to make myself fully available to anyone else. The idea of me and him lasting forever had been so engraved in my head, I didn't even think about getting with anyone else. But now's my chance and I'm taking it.
He moves his hands onto my waist and I allow it. When he sees me nod, he applies more pressure on his hold on me,
"Bella.."
"What?" My stomach drops to the floor and the tightness in my chest comes back stronger.
I think I caught him off guard because he immediately lets go of his hold on me with knotted eyebrows.
"You're shaking."
I try to push him away but he doesn't budge so I do the most rational thing I've ever done.
I slap him, rushing out of the kitchen, all the way up to my room.
So many thoughts cloud my head but there's one question I need to know;
Was he there that night?
I'm trapped in a house with people I don't know and my father has trusted a bunch of criminals to be in control of how I live.
And that's when I finally realized...
I'm in hell.
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Thank you for reading 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐦.
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