Chapter Nine
MONIQUE
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“You can’t own me. You can’t own a person, Orazio,” Monique yelled. “That’s illegal.”
“Calm down, Rosa.”
“Calm down?” Her voice rose another notch. “You’re telling me you own me, and you want me to calm down?” Monique released a sarcastic chuckle. “You know what? I’m not even about to entertain this.” She tore up the document, then tossed the ripped pieces of paper onto the table. “I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave,” he told her. “I had my lawyer print multiple copies of the contract.”
“Fuck you, your lawyer, and that contract. I’m out.”
He sighed. “I don’t like repeating myself, Rosa. I’ve already told you that you can’t leave.”
“Watch me, you psycho. I can’t believe I was considering exchanging numbers with...” she started, only to have him interrupt her.
“I don’t need your number. I have you.”
“You. Do. Not. Have. Me. You psycho! Why am I still arguing with you about this? Goodbye. This is one thick ass you’ll never touch again.”
That said, she turned and stormed toward the elevator. He stood and followed her. It was a little unnerving having him follow behind her. She kept glancing back to make sure he wasn’t doing anything crazy.
Each time she looked back, she found him staring at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Something in her told her that was his version of a sad expression. But that something in her was wrong.
Men like him didn’t get sad. All they cared about was using people in any way they saw fit. Monique wasn’t about to be used by this jerk. And when she saw her ex again, she was going to stab him in his left nut. It wasn’t like he needed it anyway.
Men like Trevor should never procreate. Hope bloomed within her when she reached the elevator without him trying to stop her. Continuing to ignore him, she pressed the first-floor button on the elevator panel.
Folding her arms over her chest, she waited for the doors to open. She could feel his eyes on her. Goosebumps rose against her skin. She swallowed and told her body to ignore his presence.
But Orazio was one hard man to ignore, even when he was being silent. Why was he being silent? She resisted the urge to look back. However, she remained alert. If he ran up, she’d pepper spray his ass.
Monique slid her hand into her purse and searched for her pepper spray. She kept feeling around, but she didn’t feel it. She could’ve sworn she’d put it in there. She jerked her purse open to look for it. Damn it. It wasn’t there.
“Looking for this?”
She whirled around to find Mr. Psycho Big Dick holding her pepper spray.
“You went through my purse?” she seethed in anger.
“I did,” he replied, not appearing the least bit ashamed.
Real fear settled over her heart, drowning out the anger for a second.
She swallowed, then asked, “Why isn’t the elevator door opening?”
“It only opens for me.”
Another wave of fear washed over her. This man was dangerous. She had to be careful, or she’d end up on the evening news. Body found on the gulf coast beach, mutilated beyond recognition.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“As I told you in the kitchen, Monique, you belong to me. You’re mine. And you can’t leave me. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Understand?”
She shook her head. “No, Orazio. I don’t understand. This is crazy!”
He took a step forward. “Rosa...”
She raised her hand. “Stay there. Don’t come any closer to me.” When he stopped approaching, she said, “Look, I just want to go home.”
Sighing, he swiped his hand over his face before speaking. “If you’d finished reading the document, you would’ve seen that you are at home.”
“This is your place, not mine.”
“So, you want to return to your residence?” He went on to recite her home address.
“How the fuck do you know where I live?”
“Because I own that home also, Rosa.”
Her eyes widened. “But...”
“Your bastard of an ex sold it to me before your divorce.”
“Impossible. The mortgage is now in my name. Yeah, he changed banks, well, he changed our mortgage lender but...” she went silent.
The new bank was ONC: Orizon National Bank.
“You own Orizon National Bank, don’t you?” she asked.
“It’s family-owned.”
“By the Cattaneos, right?” she yelled.
“Right. My bank, no, me, I’m your personal lender. You recently applied to refinance your mortgage and lower your interest rate. I’ll be handling that personally.”
Fuck my life! Well, both Trevor and Orazio had both already fucked her life. Angry tears sprang to her eyes.
“I’ll move out,” she whispered, not trusting her voice.
“Rosa, you’re mine. Everything you have is mine. The house. The car he paid off before leaving, then sold to me. Have you gone through the files and papers that Trevor left behind?”
What else of hers did this man own? Feeling overwhelmed, she stumbled back, bumping into the closed elevator door.
“Did you go through the files?” he asked again.
“That’s none of your business,” she told him, suddenly feeling numb.
He took another step forward. “Everything about you is my business. Now, let’s have a seat and talk about this like civilized adults.”
“Civilized!” she yelled. “What civilized man buys a woman from another man?”
“One who wants that woman very badly.”
Heat pooled at her center, embarrassing her with its intensity. Fuck you, pussy. We will not be aroused by this maniac. Lock that shit down. He’s on the do not get wet for list. Monique watched him place her pepper spray back in his pocket. With both his hands in his pocket, he nodded toward the kitchen area.
“Let’s sit down and talk.”
“I don’t want to talk. I want to leave.”
“If you sit down, we can discuss where you’re allowed to go and where you aren’t.”
What. The. Absolute. Fuck!
“I’m a whole grown-ass woman, Orazio Cattaneo. I don’t need anyone, especially not a man who I haven’t known for twenty-four hours, to tell me where I can and can’t go.”
“If you want a home to return to, and your car, and the funds in your bank...”
Interrupting him, she sputtered, “Wait! Wait! What does the money I have in the bank have to do with you?”
“Trevor gave me all your banking information. And I happen to have friends who owe me favors. All of your funds are currently being moved into another account. One I’ve created for you. One that I’ll direct deposit your allowance into each month.”
He was really crazy! Monique laughed. Not because she was finding any of this funny, but because she had to be dead. This was hell. More laughter bubbled up out of her. Orazio looked at her like she was losing her mind but said nothing.
She’d died and gone to hell. Or maybe she was still asleep, and this was a nightmare. That had to be it. She was dreaming. Monique pinched her arm. Damn it . Orazio took a step back and moved to the side.
“Let’s sit down and talk, Rosa.”
Did she have a choice? She couldn’t escape. She couldn’t beat him up. She’d been up close and personal with his body. He was all muscle. She didn’t have any weapons. Wait . He wanted her to go to the kitchen, where the knives were.
Monique smiled. “Okay, I’ll sit down and talk.” To your corpse.
His eyes widened briefly as if he was surprised that she’d agreed so suddenly.
“After you, Rosa.”
“Stop calling me Rosa. The man I spent a magical night with called me that. You’re not him. You don’t get to call me that.”
He flinched but said nothing. She was just happy her barb had struck him. Now, she needed to find something physical to strike him with. She didn’t want to actually kill him. She just needed him distracted long enough for her to find another way out of this room.
Surely, the elevator wasn’t the only way in. That would be stupid. How did he leave when there was a fire or when the elevator was down? There was another way out. And she was going to find it.
First, she needed to find a way to knock his ass unconscious or wound him enough so he couldn’t follow her. Head held high, she strode back to the kitchen with him following behind her – this time, with a little more distance between them.
Once she reached the kitchen, she scanned the area. No knives or forks were in sight. Even a spoon would suffice. But one wasn’t around. She did, however, notice a door and wondered if it would lead her out of this suite. If she raced to it now, he’d catch her.
She wasn’t the fastest woman alive. Once she was free, she would add morning runs to her list of things to do. You never knew when your ex would sell you to a maniac and you’d end up having to run for your life. Left with no other choice, Monique sat back down and stared at the document she’d ripped to shreds.
He lifted the briefcase from the floor next to his chair and opened it. Seconds later, a new document was before her. Sighing, she resumed reading it. There was that sinking feeling again, and like before, it grew deeper the more she read.
“This document has multiple pages.” She turned to the next page. “The previous one wasn’t like this.”
“I figured you’d rip that one up.”
You know me so well, huh? Do you know I’m thinking of using this pen next to me to stab you in the neck? Keeping her murderous thoughts to herself, she read the next page. Between Orazio and Trevor, she didn’t know who to hate more.
This document’s requirements for her were so detailed that the two of them had to sit down and discuss them for it to be this way. Her gaze jerked to Orazio. How could his handsome ass sit there looking calm and collected when he’d partnered with her ex to bring her down?
“I got divorced to be free of an asshole,” she told him.
“Congratulations.”
“Yet, I find myself in the clutches of another one.”
“I’m nothing like your bastard of an ex.”
Monique chuckled before lowering her gaze and mumbling, “No, you’re worse.”
“What did you say?” he asked, tone tense.
“Nothing. Just reading.”
“Rosa...”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Rose...”
“That either. Only my closest friends call me that. And even they stopped after the divorce since hearing it reminds me of my bastard ex.”
Except for when you say it. When you say it, it reminds me of the man I was with last night. The man who’d stared at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the world. The man who’d made my body feel things it had never felt before. But that man wasn’t real. He was a sham, a facade. The real Orazio was the one she was faced with now. And he was a jerk.
“I didn’t just decide this at the spur of the moment, Ro... Monique. I’ve wanted you for a long time. There’s something I want to show you,” he told her as he stared down at his briefcase.
Her gaze darted to the door at the back of the room. Her eyes returned to him when he spoke again.
“I want to show you something, and maybe it’ll remind you of the first night we saw each other.”
“Wasn’t it last night?” She asked, grabbing the pen and gripping it tightly.
“No.”
He searched the bag, looking for whatever he wanted to show her. Leaning to the side like that, his neck was fully exposed. If she stabbed him and he bled out, he would die, and she’d become a murderer. But if she didn’t act soon, this man would really force her to sign these damn papers.
If she didn’t sign them, she was sure she could get a judge to return to her all of the items Trevor had tricked her out of. What Trevor had done was illegal and unethical. There was no way this shit could hold up in court.
But to see a judge, she needed to escape Orazio. And if she had to stab him in the neck to do that, she would. She just hoped she missed an artery. Stop overthinking, Monique. Just do it. Do it!
“Found it,” he said.
Damn . She had to act now. Gripping the pen tightly, Monique rushed over to Orazio, ready to attack.