Darkness surrounds me, and the cold sting of terror runs down my spine, from the base of my neck straight down the length of my body. It always starts there once I hear the echo of footsteps against the stone floor. He’s coming again.
Before I can think it, he comes, and his breath on my skin is the reminder that what is happening is real. It’s hot, and it makes my nerves stand on end. Everything inside me struggles to flee, except I can’t.
A firm hand grips me, holding me down, then laughter. That victorious laughter of triumph that kills my soul. The laughter gets louder, the grip tighter. It hurts, and I jump.
My eyes snap open, and I’m breathing hard. I look around trying to figure out where I am as the door opens and the face of an elderly woman comes into my view.
I was dreaming. It was … a dream. But… looking around confirms I’m still stuck in a nightmare, just a different one.
The woman walks in. She’s carrying a tray with cookies and a cup. I smell chocolate. She looks at me huddled on the floor in the same position I’ve been in since last night.
“Hello, signora,” she says with a little smile. “I thought you might like this, since you have not eaten anything else.” She speaks with a heavy accent and a warmth that’s very motherly.
I’m surprised by the warmth as it’s the first flicker of safety I’ve felt since I’ve been here.
“I mean you no harm. I just wanted to check on you. You were talking in your sleep. The kind of talk a person does when troubled,” she adds.
“I…” I wonder if she knows why I’m here. She must know something.
She lowers to the floor and sets the tray down on the wooden surface. The sun catches the silver in her hair as she looks up.
“I’m half Italian. My mother was from Guatemala. Our people loved chocolate. The ancient Mayans and Aztecs believe it was a gift from the gods. We think we can tell what kind of person you are from the chocolate you like. I made yours with a kick of cinnamon and chili, sweet but fiery when you need to be.”
I look at her and decide to smile. I like what she said. “Thank you. That’s nice.”
“It is, and it tastes good too. We also believe that chocolate calms the soul. Will you have some?”
I realize she’s trying to calm me down.
I shuffle, and my legs ache from being in that position for too long. All night, I’ve been like this. I haven’t even gone to the toilet.
I reach for a cookie and smile when I see they’re the soft gooey type. I take a bite, and it ignites my taste buds, making me devour it in seconds, and reach for another and another.
She laughs. “I’m glad I was right. Try the hot chocolate. It’s good to have something hot in your stomach.”
“Thank you.” I take a sip, and oh my God, this is something I would definitely savor.
It makes me think of Holly, my best friend, and I can’t believe this is the first I’ve thought of her. Holly works with me at Escada as a freelance photographer. She knew how worried I was about Dad. She would have called last night to check in. I can just imagine her calling me and panicking when the phone rang out. It was taken away along with my purse and keys.
As good as this delicious chocolate all is, thinking of her brings back everything to my mind, and I’m still left with the question of what I’m doing and what’s happening.
I finish the hot chocolate though. I need it. I’m starving, and I don’t think it’s going to help me if I don’t eat. I barely ate anything over the last few days as it is from my worry over Dad.
“Feel better?” she asks.
“Yes. Thank you for this. It’s delicious.”
“I’m Marguerite,” she introduces herself with a wide grin that makes her eyes twinkle.
“My name’s Ava.”
“It’s great to meet you, Ava. If you need anything, call me. I hope you do.”
I wonder if she’d allow me to use the phone. “Is there maybe a phone I could use?”
Her expression gives me the answer to that. It’s cautious, and her eyes are the same. She shakes her head. “It’s probably better if you wait until later to speak with Mr. Giordano.”
Giordano. That’s his surname. I’ve heard that name before. There’s a massive shipping company by the docks, and everybody knows it’s owned by mobsters. Giordanos Inc. That’s not where Dad worked though.
I nod, feeling weaker. I get that she can’t help me more than she has with the food. That doesn’t make it any less awful.
The door pushes open, and I straighten when Vincent comes in.
He’s wearing a suit today that makes him look more alluring. His expression is still the same though. Hard and stern, his eyes cold and metallic.
I don’t know what time it is, but I’m guessing it’s lunchtime. He said he would give me until lunchtime today to finalize my answer. What I want, though, is to know if Dad is still safe, and where he is.
Vincent looks from Marguerite to me, then back to her as she stands up.
“Leave us, and do not disturb me for the next half hour,” he says to her.
“Yes, sir,” she answers and walks out, closing the door behind her.
His eyes zero in on me, and I see that same look he gave me last night. Not the look of interest. It’s desire.
It was just after I asked him if he wanted me.
Now that several hours have passed and I’ve settled into the situation, I actually can’t believe I asked him that. It was desperation talking.
I stand up, once again on shaky legs. He comes closer, and it’s like déjà vu.
“Is my father safe?” I ask. I just need him to tell me yes.
The beginning of a smile tips the corners of his lips, bringing out the dimple in his left cheek. “The funny thing about it is, he is.”
My whole body sighs with relief, but I try to control my reaction. He knows I’m scared, but anybody would be. What I’m trying to do is maintain some level of control, just something so I can protect Dad.
“Have you thought of an answer, Bellezza? It’s not often someone rubs me the wrong way and gets the chance to walk away.”
Walk away… freedom. Leaving this house. I could leave. I could have left. I’m sure there would be stipulations of never talking to anyone about what happened, but what would happen to Dad?
Death.
Not even a beating. Vincent had a gun and fired it several times. I won’t be a hypocrite and pretend I’m not enraged by everything Dad has done.
He’s gotten himself in some serious trouble with these people. Enough for them to want to kill him. The fact that he’s still safe means what I’m doing is working.
“My answer is still the same. I haven’t changed my mind. I think you know that. You know I’m aware of what you want to do to my father.”
He steps closer. “Yes, I am aware. I just want us to be clear on your offer… You’d be mine to do with as I please, mine to do anything to.”
He holds my gaze, and my breath hitches. I swallow hard. “Yes, have you accepted my offer?”
A devilish look comes into his eyes with a faint glint of lust. “I need to see what’s on offer first.”
I slow my breathing as something sinful enters his gaze. I exhale slow and slower so I can focus. I can do this. I can do this. I can.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Take your clothes off.”
Here it is… what I knew was coming. I can’t even act surprised. I’m infuriated, not with myself but this. The fact that this is happening to me.
I’m not some slut. I’ve never lived my life in that way, and here I am, about to take my clothes off for this man I don’t know so I can show him what’s on offer.
He smiles and seems taller, or maybe it’s me shrinking away with fear.
“Something wrong, Bellezza?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me to do this yet.”
“What do you think this is? Some kind of courtship?”
“No, of course not.”
“Well, you said you’d do anything. This is what I want.” He stares back at me daringly, as if he’s testing me to see if I’m really going to do it.
I’m not going to let him faze me. I got myself into this, and there will be a way out. Somehow. I take a breath and reach for the hem of my blouse. I then pretend he’s not standing in front of me and take it off.
I tackle my jeans next and step out of those, leaving just my bra and panties on. His eyes rake boldly over my body, and I wish like hell I felt nothing, but his lust-filled gaze is so strong it’s like it actually touches me.
“Bra and panties off too,” he says.
Again, I swallow and breathe slower. I start with my bra by snapping open the little clasp holding it together across my back. As I move it away, my breasts pour out, free from the restraint holding them together.
His eyes go straight to my breasts, and I look away.
I slide my panties down my legs and step out of them.
I’m naked now. Naked before him, showing him what’s on offer, and I can’t look at him.
“Look at me,” he says as if reading my thoughts.
I lift my head gingerly and meet his hungry gaze. His eyes eat me up and burn my skin everywhere it touches.
“Turn around, slowly,” he commands, and I do as he says. I turn slowly, lingering with my back turned to him as I face the wall, and in those few seconds, I allow myself the respite from his predatory gaze.
It’s just a few seconds, just seconds until I turn to face him again. This time though, as I stare at him, I notice he’s looking at me the way he was last night, when our eyes first locked.
Something stirred inside me. I’m not sure what it was, but it was like he saw something inside me that must have come out in my desperation.
Just like last night though, the trance is broken within moments.
It’s as though neither of us can stand it.
What is it?
I pray it’s not that he’s intuitive. I hope it’s not that he’s one of those people who can look at you and see right through you into the deep end and see you had to fight through shit to come out on top. I won’t allow anyone to see that part of me. It’s locked away so deep inside me that not even I can reach it, and I don’t want to.
He steps forward, and instinct makes me move back. I’m already close to the wall so I couldn’t have retreated any further than the one step.
“You…. you haven’t asked me once if I intend to hurt you. You’re so worried about your father, you haven’t thought what I might do to you.”
“I don’t want you to kill him,” I answer. I thought that was a given.
“But you’re not worried I may hurt you? Do you think I won’t?”
A chill runs through me, and I look at him, really look at him. The answer is, I don’t know him so there’s no way I can give him an actual answer to that question.
I’m so protective and worried about Dad that I’ve only thought of him. Things quickly escalated to this stage, and I’ve been so worried that my own safety was the last thing on my mind.
“I don’t… I don’t know,” I answer, just to give an answer, and his smile turns sensual.
Closer he comes, and closer, until he rests his hands on the wall on either side of me. He leans right in, so close, too close. So close I see the lighter hue of his eyes while he stares into mine.
“Interesting….” he breathes, and his breath smooths over my skin like a gentle caress. It’s striking for the tenderness in comparison to the formidable force he is.
It’s tantalizing from the way it smooths over me and makes arousal crawl over my insides. It works its way through me and pulses through my skin, making my nipples tighten. “Very interesting,” he adds, gaze dropping to my diamond-hard nipples.
“What is?” I falter.
“You… you fear me and want me at the same time,” he observes, and instantly, I’m stunned.
I shake my head. “No… I don’t.”
A real smile dances on his lips. It’s the first actual smile I’ve seen him give me. “Your body betrays you, Bellezza,” he says, running a finger over the tip of my left nipple.
The slight touch sends a shiver of desire through me. I don’t want this. How can I? It’s crazy. If I do, then I’m more fucked up than I realize. So much more than I thought.
“No,” I rasp.
This time, he brushes his finger backwards and forwards over my nipple and circles around it.
“No?”
“No,” I repeat, but we both know it for a lie.
“We’ll see about that, shall we?”
To confirm it, he shocks the hell out of me by reaching forward and smoothing his hand over the soft skin of my mound. I gasp when he slides two fingers slightly inside my pussy, and because I’m so wet, he slides in easily then strokes over the hard, sensitive bud of my clit.
I gasp, and my eyes turn to saucers when he takes his fingers out then holds them out in front of me to see the glistening juice.
I’m so shocked at myself I don’t know where to put my face.
Heat creeps into my cheeks, and an unwelcome blush sweeps over my body.
“Liar, you’re wet… and ready to be fucked.” He grins wide, revealing perfectly aligned white teeth, then shocks me more by placing his fingers in his mouth so he can lick them off.
I can’t say a word. Nothing comes to my mind, and nothing will come when he places a hand on the flat of my stomach and bends down to take my nipple into his mouth.
I draw in a sharp breath as he sucks me. I fight against emotion and everything inside me that wants to give in to pleasure. Everything that wants me to fall into the pleasure of the moment and enjoy what he’s doing to me.
The second he starts alternating from one breast to the other in a wild suckle that makes my head spin, I know I can’t hold it back any longer.
A moan falls from my lips, and he glances up at me and smiles.
His fingers return to my pussy, which is dripping with need, and he starts pumping in and out of me.
Slow then faster.
I press into the wall groaning and moaning as he finger-fucks me, the pleasure building and rising, beckoning me to enjoy it.
It’s been so long since I was touched like this that I can’t remember what pleasure is supposed to feel like, and he’s about to give me more.
He crouches down, looks up at my shamed yet pleasure-filled face, and when he lifts my leg, I allow him to slip it over his shoulder so he can bury his face between my thighs.
His tongue presses up into my entrance, stroking over my clit. Stroking, teasing, tasting, taking.
He’s taking me, making his mark on me in this way, and I can’t stop the feelings that course through my body. I’m taken higher and higher as he sucks and licks, eating out my pussy like it’s his last meal.
I’m not sure who could even pretend with this consuming pleasure designed to devour.
That’s what he’s doing, devouring me. And, I’m certain like any other woman, I come undone in his hands. The pull of orgasmic bliss takes me, swallowing me whole. It ignites from deep within. Deep, deep inside a place I never knew existed, then spreads over my body with fiery heat that sizzles and scorches, burning me from the inside out. The only thing I’m left to do is grab his wide, powerful shoulders and cry out from the intensity.
I’m left gasping for air, left trying to unscramble my mind from the buzz that fills it. I’m left undone indeed, but he seems the same as before as he lifts his head, licks his lips, and wipes his chin with the back of his hand.
I know my skin is crimson, and I’m so hot my throat feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton, but he’s unaffected except… except for that look in his eyes. The predatory one that’s looking at me with hunger, the type that wants to own and possess.
He rises to his feet with a wild smirk and comes close to my face, close enough to brush his cheek against mine.
“Ava Knight, I accept your offer. You’re mine. Mine to do anything with.” He speaks in a low husky voice. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t fear you, but I want you too.”
I gaze deeply into his eyes. That makes his smile lift, deepen, and I wonder what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.
“I think we’re in for a very interesting time. You’ll get the terms and conditions of your stay at dinner tonight.” He backs away from me, and something clicks. It’s reality.
We just agreed to this arrangement, made this sinful contract, but how long for?
“How long?” I ask as the panic rises within me. “How long do I have to stay with you?” The words come on the edge of a stutter, and he chuckles.
He chuckles and doesn’t answer me. He walks away, leaving me standing there wide eyed and naked against the wall.
The door closes, clicks shut, and fear claws away at my insides.
What the hell did I just do?
What have I done?
What did I agree to?