Chapter 10 Drunk. Bruised. Bare.
❦ Rosalind ❦
“I hate you!” I screamed at the locked door, throwing the knife while imagining it was his stupidly broad back.
His gaze had made his ill wishes clear, the black bleeding into gray when I’d turned around naked, wielding the knife. He’d known that trying anything in that state would leave one or both of us cut.
I hated how he sucked all the air out of the room whenever we were alone, always leaving me gasping while pretending to stay calm. I couldn’t tell if I could keep the mask on for much longer. I was still just a girl out of her element, hoping to rein in forces I wasn’t sure I could control.
The smell of vodka still permeated the air, tainted by sandalwood mixed with Viktor’s pheromones. Shame reddened my face as I remembered stripping in front of him, drunk and overheated from the alcohol burning through my veins.
I huffed, already cringing at how pitiful I must’ve looked, naked, bruised, and dirty.
The last thing I wanted was to give Viktor the satisfaction of finding me dead in my own bathroom, my skull cracked open on the tiles, so I moved carefully.
Inside the glass-enclosed shower, hot water pelted my body from all sides and above, but it did nothing to wash away the fear and pain in my chest.
The water flowing to the drain ran dark and murky for seconds before turning clear. The heat stung my cheek, forcing open my bruised lips again, my tears lost in the downpour.
After the shower, I stepped out, eyes puffy from crying, and headed to the hotel phone wrapped in a towel. I didn’t have my phone, I’d get another tomorrow. I didn’t even know what day it was or how long I’d been kidnapped for.
I called Marcus, informing him about what happened and that I was fine, and as expected, he reminded me how open I was. And how I should absolutely not trust Viktor.
“How else could he have gotten there so fast if he wasn’t the mastermind?” Marcus grumbled on the other end, full of suspicion.
I assured him the soldatos at the Grand Marlow were sufficient protection while I was here, before he could suggest coming himself.
Then I called Viktor’s famiglia doctor, who told me Dante was awake and insisting on heading over to continue protecting me. I told him to rest and pick me up in the morning with a new phone, to which he reluctantly agreed.
Next was Aunt Carina, who I knew would panic if she so much as called me twice and couldn’t reach me.
“Buonasera, zia…”
“Rosa mia, are you okay?”
Her voice nearly opened the floodgates again, but I forced myself to focus on the loving tone in her voice.
“Yes, I’m okay. I called to inform you I lost my phone. So don’t worry if you can’t reach me, I’ll get another delivered in the morning.”
“Oddio, Rosa! Ti hanno rubato il telefono?” she said, panicked.
I winced. Her voice had that edge, the one that could summon a flight to New York within the hour.
“No, no, it wasn’t stolen, I… I lost it. It slipped out. I’m fine, Auntie, really.”
“Oh, thank goodness. It’s very dangerous there, I tell you. You need to come back soon. Aren’t you done with the burial and funeral arrangements?”
I heard shuffling like she was sitting up in bed. “When will you return?”
Thinking fast, I replied, “Oh, not much longer, Auntie. I just have to finalize some sales and pack the things I’ll need.”
“Okay. Don’t delay it. I never liked that place, you know. It’s so dangerous, especially for a young woman like you. I told your mother but she wouldn’t listen, testarda come un mulo… so stubborn!”
“Ayy, leave her alone, Mum…”
Cackling laughter reached my ears as Juliana snatched the phone from her mother.
“Rosa, are the men beautiful in New York?”
Before I could respond, shuffling filled the line as her mother tried to take the phone back.
“Maybe that’s why she doesn’t want to return,” Juliana added before the line went dead.
I set the receiver down with a sigh and climbed into bed. Juliana was my cousin, not quite a friend, not someone I could confide in about the weight pressing on my chest. And the promise of safety, warmth, and security threatened to pull me back to Boston. There, I wouldn’t have to worry about being kidnapped or threatened with marriage.
But I couldn’t leave. Not until I gave my papa justice. Not until I honored his wishes, not by marrying, hell no, sorry Papa… but by finishing the job and cleaning all the assets left, just as he had planned to do.
But I couldn’t do that alone, not at my current level. This kidnapping attempt showed me even bodyguards could fail.
I could work with Viktor. He was no doubt hunting down his father’s killer as we speak. If I could convince him to agree to a truce, just so we could find the killer, I could use him in that regard.
My skin tingled at the plan forming in my head. Let Viktor think I was becoming soft, falling under his control, all the better to blindside him when the time came.
Meanwhile, I would clean the money, keep my hotel, and dip after the killer was brought to justice.
This meant I’d be in rooms with him more often, but at least it’ll be planned. Just the thought of his cold baritone and searing gaze was enough to bring on the sweats, but I shook the thoughts out of my mind, determined to get some sleep.
Tomorrow, I‘d go for target practice.
Despite my clear vision in mind, I found myself slipping into slumber with a heavy heart and an uneasy feeling, like someone else was watching me.
Someone more dangerous than the devil I already knew.