Chapter 79: Chapter: 79

ANDREA

I didn't mind him, just thinking about what I had seen back at the penthouse and what it meant. I was just about to throw the phone out the window and let the moving vehicles crush it when Beth called me.

Her call arrived at a moment when I felt completely lost, and I clung to the hope it brought. It was as if fate was offering me a lifeline, making me feel less alone in my distress.

We had kept in touch after college, Beth, Jess, and I. Beth had moved to Paris two years ago. Though we were all busy with our lives, we did talk from time to time. I had even told her when I lost my parents. She had called me and had even wanted to come for the funeral. I was the one who had stopped her from coming.

I could tell Beth was happy; her voice was all high, and she was speaking fast. She called to share the news of her engagement to Saul and to invite me to Paris to help with the wedding preparations. Beth was an orphan, just like me; her only family was a distant aunt who didn't want anything to do with her. Of course, I had said yes.

A week later, I had gotten myself a new identity, a new passport, the complete works, which had cost me a whopping five thousand dollars, with the help of Katie, who knows someone through the dark net, and I was out of the state the following week.

After I'd arrived at her apartment, Beth had instantly known something was wrong. I desperately needed someone to talk to, so I told her bits and pieces. Not enough to endanger her life. My stay in Paris was wonderful. I made friends like Pierre, Lou, and Don. Who has helped distract me from the problems in my life?

Two weeks without Nicklaus left me aching inside, craving his touch and the relief only he could give. My conflicting feelings made me feel desperate and confused.

He'd trained me so well that I couldn't escape him awake; everything reminds me of him, and whenever I go to sleep, I would either dream of him taking and possessing me, fucking me hard, like he used to. Or having a nightmare of being caught and punished by him.

I would wake up sweaty, wet, and frustrated most times; other times, I'm more afraid of what he would do to me for running away. Touching myself never helped. I would cry in the shower, not wanting to worry Beth.

I developed a new routine for my own sanity. Every morning, I would go jogging with Beth, come back to the apartment, clean, scrub, do laundry, take a bath, and nibble on something. I would stay inside, afraid to go out, thinking that the instant I left, someone would nab me.

The only times I went out were with Beth. When we go shopping, or when we go out, we're here: Saul and Pierre. When weeks went by and nothing happened, I let my guard down. With Beth and Pierre's help, I started going out and even accepted his job offer. Working at the Cafe helped me a great deal.

In the weeks I have been working at Pierre's, I have tried to avoid anything that reminds me of Nicklaus. It wasn't easy; he'd messed me up good. But I was determined to forget him.

I didn't deviate from my new schedule; it was something I had promised myself, one I had intended to keep, unlike my other promises. I come to work, bustle the tables with a friendly smile, and when it's time to leave, I leave not a minute later.

I enjoyed chatting with Lou; she's a sweetheart, someone I knew I would miss when I'm gone from here. But I didn't divulge anything about me to either her, Lou, or Pierre. They all thought I was suffering from heartbreak, and I let them think it. Yeah, I've learned my lesson. I don't trust anyone anymore.

While I am all smiles and jokes, nobody knows how every new sound startles and frightens me. But I was less guarded than when I first came here. I guessed that ningling feeling of being watched I had been feeling was my sixth sense warning me against danger.

It was a hard pill for me to accept that all my efforts to hide away from danger and recuperate had gone to shit. That Nicklaus or whoever had found me after all.

“Rise and shine, Bella,” a deep, manly, slightly accented voice said.

I was sleeping or had been sleeping, but I quickly woke up, not expecting the new voice, pulling the black duvet over me, I had on a pair of long, silky pajamas I had found in the closet. Even with that, I didn't feel safe. I also didn't want to give anyone a glimpse of my body, and I didn't want to draw the wrong attention to myself.

Not that it would deter them if they wanted to hurt me in that way. Most rapist don’t care if your body is bare or covered, if they did, they wouldn’t hurt little defenseless kids who hadn’t even developed womanly curves. I blink, trying to clear the sleep in my eyes. Instantly, I knew it wasn't my kidnapper, whom I still didn't know.

This man was drop-dead gorgeous, period. If I hadn't met Nicklaus, I would have said he was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. But Nicklaus was in a class all his own. Nicklaus was dark edges and sharp angles.

This stranger is younger, with dark brown hair and light brown eyes that are too bright and somehow cunning; his face is clean-shaven. His boyish looks didn't make him any less of a man. There's a hardness and darkness to him I recognize from Nicklaus, though on a tamer scale.

He was very tall and built, though not as broad as fake Nicklaus. He had long dark hair, currently in a man bun, and was dressed casually in faded blue jeans and a white button-down shirt.

I had no doubt that wherever he went, he had the ladies flocking around him, and with his sexy accent, they would have difficulty saying no to him. He could very well be on the cover of GQ magazine. Right now, he's staring at me like I have two heads.

“Who are you?” I asked cautiously, as I quickly got out of bed, my heart pounding. Uncomfortable with the way he was staring at me. He walked toward me with a charming smile so beautiful that I almost smiled back. Gotta watch myself around him. He's dangerous.

“The name is Lorenzo Marchetti Bella. I can see now why Ombra fell for you and why grandfather couldn't go through with his plan, sei bellissima,” he said, extending his hand for me to take. I stared at the hand like it was a snake, and he'd immediately bite me if I touched his outstretched hand.

“Who's this Ombra and grandfather? And how did I know them? And why are they doing this to me?” I couldn't help the outburst. To my surprise, he chuckled. Still grinning, he said.

“Such innocence!” he drawled. He tucked a lock of hair that fell over my eye behind my ear, before I could step away. Staring at me with something I didn't understand and certainly didn't like. I take a step back, putting space between us, his grin widens.

“Oh, Bella. I've got to hold onto my heart tight. You're dangerous, and to answer the questions, you've already met them; I could even go as far as to say you know them so well. Well, as much as they allow you to anyway,” he added with a secretive smile I didn't like a bit.

I don't trust him; his charming smile and behavior were probably to disarm me. He's playing with my head.

Messing with me. I've been locked up for a week, and he'd never deemed it necessary to see me before or invite me to breakfast, so why now?

And who the hell is Ombra? His grandfather? Where and how did I know them? Could it be fake Nicklaus? No, it can't be. I shake away those lines of thought before my brain explodes with the thousand questions demanding answers.

“Why did you kidnap me? What do you want?” I asked, inching closer to the open door. His lips twitch like he knows I was thinking of making a run for it. That barely there smile made me hesitate. He didn't strike me as stupid; he left the door open on purpose, testing me.

I force myself to stay put and not run as I so desperately wanted to. I'm not going to be an idiot and make him suspicious of me. No, I'm going to be smart, bind my time, and when the time comes, I will be damn sure I succeed. Until then, I'm their captive, whoever “they” were.

“All in due time, Bella, all I can tell you is I'm not to be blamed for your kidnapping. For now, I'm here to invite you to have breakfast with me. I'm sure you're tired of being stuck in this stuffy room. Fresh air might do wonders for your mood right now, but if you're not up for it, then…” he dragged the last word, then turned as if to leave the room.

“No, wait! I will go. I will have breakfast with you,” I rushed to say. If I had to stay inside this room another minute, I might actually go insane.

He smiled so widely at my answer, making two dimples appear on his smooth cheeks—before running his eyes over me. Not that he could see much, with me hugging the blanket tight to my body.

“Go freshen up then, I will wait for you, Bella,” he said and sat down on the bed before taking out his phone and fiddling with it. Hope rises inside me. He had a phone! I badly needed to call Beth; I needed to know they're okay, she and Saul.

I will have breakfast with this Lorenzo, and if an opportunity presents itself, I'm going to steal his phone, and then I'm going to get the fuck away from wherever the fuck this place is, the instant I know Beth and Saul are safe.

Five minutes later, Lorenzo led me out of my prison for a week. I had on a yellow short dress that reached my knees, and I let my hair down.

We walked down a long, carpeted hallway in a beautiful, large house. Lorenzo at my side, typing something on his phone. I felt like I'd been holed up in a cave for years and had just come to civilization.

When a ray of sunshine hit my face, my eyelids slid shut in bliss. I haven't seen the sun in days, haven't felt its warmth. Now, feeling its warmth and the fresh air, I feel rejuvenated and strong. Tears prick my eyes.

The sun is familiar, a little hotter than I was used to; I didn't mind, I missed it. Terribly so, but the air and atmosphere didn't feel familiar even though we were inside; somehow, I could tell it was different.

“Glad you accepted my invitation, aren't you?” he asked cockily when he noticed how emotional I was just by feeling the sun on me.

I refuse to be grateful for him letting me out when he was an accomplice in my imprisonment if his earlier claim was to be believed.

For all I know, he might very well be behind my kidnapping, and he’s lying to me for some ulterior motive known only to him.

“Where is this place? Where am I?”

“La mia villa di famiglia in Italia,” he replied in Italian. I only stared at him, not understanding a word in his accented tongue.

“What was that?” I asked dumbly. My brows scrunched.

“My family mansion in Italy, La villa Marchetti. It's been in our family for hundreds of years, has undergone transformations over the years, but still retains its original charm. Beautiful, isn't it?” he asked conversationally.

It was a rhetorical question, so I didn't answer. You could tell he was very proud of his home. Who wouldn't be?

Yes! It's very beautiful, very large, and you could tell it's old. Though it has all the amenities of the modern world, my room was on the third floor.

I could have appreciated its beauty and luxury if I were a guest, not a prisoner, I thought as we walked down the stairs.

Right now, I don't give a fuck about how beautiful it was. All I want is to get the fuck out of it at the earliest.