19

"She's been here almost a week, since I brought her and one of them in the hospital, due to the high dehydration she suffered there," Dante finished saying, after having explained from the beginning of my kidnapping until that moment, clearly omitting the parts where he was obsessive and we kissed.

My whole body was satisfied with Mauro's mortified face, as if his body still couldn't process that I had been released and it was clear that he couldn't deal with the fact that his brother had rescued me.

The real question was, how had he done it and why?

However, that was going to be later, after burying his integrity to the center of the earth for selling me out and turning his entire family against him. It was going to make him the most unhappy and shameful being on earth.

"I know it's very strong news, but just like me, try not to remind her of what happened and help her get over it, at least until I sort out my position," the black-haired man's voice was an echo in a cave, while Mauro's black eyes didn't miss me for a single second, as if I was about to throw him into the void, "When I have more time, we'll finish talking. You have a lot to process," he got up from his desk chair, "I'm traveling to Venice and you're going to accompany me, Mauro. We have things to talk about, while Evie is taking advantage of her time here to study Italian with one of the employees; she offered to teach you," he reported and I clapped my hands happily, "I'll wait for you at the heliport.

"Wait, Dante, I'm coming with you. I want to talk to Alessandro," I got up to follow him on the way to the exit.

"You want information about the girl?

"Yes, can I see her?" I questioned and he looked at me sideways.

"She is the daughter of one of my acquaintances; a woman with a bit of a rebellious background, but no risk. However, are you sure you want to see her, why her?" he paused at the exit door to watch me.

"She found me on the beach and helped me, convinced me to go back to the hospital," he raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I liked her.

He sighed, "Good, I'll have Alessandro call her. They'll take you to her location, it's risky for someone to come all the way to the villa, are you okay with that?" he asked and already had a smirk on his face.

"I don't refuse to leave this place.

"Careful what you say, Evie, don't make me regret it," he warned and I denied innocently, "If you don't want to be there anymore, just tell the bodyguard and he will bring you to the villa again," he said and I nodded, as his fingers caressed my cheek. Seizing the moment, I placed my hand on top of his to make it clear how much I enjoyed his caresses.

His sublime gaze made me feel satisfied, as if I was achieving the first goal.

I hated having to use him and his feelings, but his brother had to pay in life for what he had done to me. Even if it wasn't healthy for me to think about revenge, I didn't have much to do until Dante resolved his situation and I had that hatred in store that I couldn't get rid of, not even by crying.

"Have you thought about how to talk to Mauro about what you want?" he questioned without turning away and I denied, "Are you sure you want to tell him?

"I can't keep something like that, he deserves to know that.....

"Do you have feelings for his older brother?" he smirked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," I rolled my eyes and stepped back. He seemed annoyed by my action, but I wasn't going to make it easy on either of them, "See you tonight, take care," I turned and walked away in the direction of the garden, as I hadn't had breakfast yet. However, I met Mauro head-on on the path and he looked uncomfortable.

I was sure the worst case scenarios of existence were going through his little head, but it wasn't even close to the reality in front of him. I was his deadly weapon.

-------

"Will they take me by helicopter?" I asked the woman who had been teaching me Italian all afternoon, as I saw one fly over the village and come down in the distance.

"Yes, Mr. Di Marco finds a helicopter a safer means of transportation, as it doesn't show your actual location by sound and remoteness," she clarified with a smile, as a man in a bodyguard uniform arrived to escort me to the helicopter, "He is Fernando, your bodyguard.

"A pleasure, Signorina, I am at your service," he said and I nodded uncomfortably. I still wasn't used to having people treat me like their boss, when in reality I was just Dante's protégé, "Have you ever flown in a helicopter?

"No, never.

"Just follow my directions and you'll be fine. Shall we go?" he pointed the way and I nodded, walking towards the metal transport I had never seen up close in my life, to note that since meeting Dante I had been filled with experiences I would have never known with anyone else.

Regardless of the situation, I lived in a luxurious mansion on an island in Italy, a spectacular view, very friendly employees, a bodyguard and on top of that, an unconventional means of transportation.

I was fitted with headphones to avoid the noise of the propellers and this one had a microphone, to communicate with the other people in the cabin.

I had a smile of excitement and nerves on my face, at the moment it began to ascend in the air.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Lawrens. I'm Cato, your driver today. I hope you enjoy the ride and don't panic, we're not going down," he gave me a smirk as he saw my panicked face at the height we were carrying. The village looked smaller and farther away, suddenly the land looked tiny, that meant we were very high.

"Thanks, but it didn't make me feel any better. I've never been this high in one position before," I bit my lips, squeezing Fernando's arm.

"Relax, there's a parachute for you in any case," said the aforementioned, impatiently. I nodded uncomfortably.

It was clear that the helicopter was a very efficient means of transportation, there was no traffic and you could see the whole island. His methodology was efficient, as long as he didn't cross another helicopter over the village.

When we landed, I was faced with a different villa than Dante's, it was just as large. However, the terrain was small, there wasn't much room for the helicopter to land and I was sure Nina's gardener would hate me for life for blowing up his flowers.

The aforementioned woman was waiting for me standing with other people, but her wide black suit of fine silk-like fabrics and sunglasses caught my eye. She looked like a carefree millionaire.

"Evie," she said with a smile as she approached me and gave me a small hug of greeting, "How nice to be able to see you, I thought you would never communicate with me.

"Technically it wasn't me, but yes.

"Yeah, well, you'll tell me about it. Better come, we need to chat," she invited me towards her house, but she stopped suddenly and looked behind her, "Hey, is the helicopter going to stay there?

"Yes," Fernando, my bodyguard, answered without hesitation.

"Well, it doesn't bother me, but if my father sees it, he'll probably make it go away. It's not a nice decoration in the garden they just fixed up," she commented and I was immediately worried. I didn't want to cause trouble with people I didn't know, let alone, with someone dangerous like her dad, "Just kidding, the villa is borrowed," she looked at me mockingly, realizing what she provoked.

"Well, that doesn't reassure me.

"I know, so what can you and I do without leaving this place," she grimaced thoughtfully and I looked sideways at Fernando.

"The day at the hospital and today, you have a style of clothing that really catches my eye. I wish I had the same style as you," I said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Really? that's very flattering. Do you want to see my closet?" she questioned pointing towards the stairs and I nodded, "Follow me," we went up to the second floor, towards one of the rooms and I realized that the layout of the villa was very different from Dante's; most of the rooms were on the second floor and the second floor only had one and a large space for office, gym and a living room. I entered behind her, but she stopped Fernando, just as I expected, "Stop right there, women only, that's my room. Go away," she ordered.

"I can't leave Miss Lawrens, those were clear orders.

"I'm not going to kill her, you idiot, she'll be fine. Just stay outside.

"I'll be fine, Fernando.

"She's not the one I'm worried about," he said, watching me very intently, as if telling me with his eyes that I was the one with the problem, "Remember one thing; I can carry her all the way to the villa if necessary, so please don't do anything crazy," he finished saying and walked away towards the stairs.

I closed the door and Nina was looking at me just as surprised as I was. I didn't understand the need to be so obsessive with me, starting that escaping was not part of my revenge towards Mauro.

At another point in the situation, I might have gone out of my way to steal a cell phone from one of the employees to communicate with my parents, but I trusted Dante. Regardless of his obsession, my body felt protected by him.

"I don't know if the thing about my clothes is any more interesting at this point, after hearing that warning," Nina commented, crossing her arms, "I'm really intrigued to know who you are and why they treat you like a treasure that might get away.

"Yeah, about that, it's a long story.

"Good thing we have time. Shall we start with why you're here in Italy?" she asked, sitting down on the couch next to her window.

My room was definitely smaller than Nina's, but I didn't care at all; it was still much bigger than my room at the university.

I sighed as I remembered Lexi. She was also part of the long story and I wanted to know if she had the means to know his whereabouts, but I was afraid to reveal too much about Dante.

He said it was dangerous.

A complete dilemma, as if I had to choose between two people.