Chapter Twelve
Chantilly
I had no idea how long I stood there in my captor’s study, staring at the empty doorway like Valentino would suddenly reappear. This was madness! It was as if I wanted to be with him!
Stockholm syndrome?
I’d never once felt that way with Sean, I’d secretly despised him, every cell in my body shrinking away from him whenever he was near.
Yet Valentino had never made my eventual fate a secret, so why didn’t I truly hate him even more? I glanced around at the monitors that revealed most of the interior and exterior. Somehow he made me feel safe, his aptitude for violence making it seem like nothing bad could touch me, until he did.
Or until Sean found me.
Fury stirred then faded as weariness descended over me like a dark cloud, and as I walked out of the office, I realized I’d never felt so defeated. I stepped inside the bedroom I’d shared with Valentino, shivering at the rumpled cover and sheets, at the place where I’d lost myself to him while pleasure had swamped me.
I couldn’t take a nap here. His scent would only make me crave him more, and I needed to do everything in my power not to have his hooks sink deeper into me. I needed to distance myself from him.
Relief filled me as I opened the door to the guest bedroom. I thought he might have locked me out. I glanced around at the far less dominant bedroom, from its cream walls and furniture with its olive green curtains and bedding. An oil painting showcasing a dark green forest with glints of gold sunlight on the leaves hung on the wall above the bed.
I sighed even as I sank into the comfortable mattress and closed my eyes, sleep then coming to me quickly.
I was sixteen today, but I’d yet to find anything sweet about it. Not while trudging to school with my twin sisters, and especially not while a black sedan with tinted windows had slowed behind us.
I glanced at Regina, the older of the twins by a few minutes. “We’re being followed,” I pointed out, my shaky voice giving away my trepidation.
“Whoever it is, he’s rich,” Regina said with an airy laugh, tossing some of her frizzy hair over a shoulder. “I don’t doubt he’s besotted with me.”
I touched my own straight hair. I hadn’t been lucky enough to inherit my mom’s curly tresses, instead I’d gotten my dad’s straight hair. That it was darker and thicker than the twins’ hair was its only saving grace.
Victoria snorted. “You wish, Reggie! I’m not only younger, I’m far prettier! Don’t worry though, I’m sure he has a cousin somewhere I can introduce you to.”
As they dissolved into fits of laughter, my shoulders grew more rigid. Why did they think it was a joke? All three of us could be kidnapped and never see our mom and dad again. My eyes narrowed. I should have been born first, I’d always felt older and wiser than my seventeen-year-old sisters.
The car moved up beside us and I had an eerie feeling I was the one being targeted. Then the car sped off and my sisters sighed dreamily.
“Looks like our rich prince has sailed off into the horizon without us,” said Regina.
“He’ll be back,” Victoria declared in a dramatic voice.
I didn’t join in, not when a strong presentiment thickened my throat and took away my voice. And not when dread filled me from the inside out. Whoever had been in that car wasn’t someone I wanted to know.
Not ever.
I woke with a sharp inhalation, my lungs burning along with my eyes. But anger was a wasted emotion. I brushed my hands up and down my arms. There was nothing I could do about my past or my future, not right now. I might as well enjoy my enforced stay.
Glancing at the clock, I gasped. I had no idea what time I’d lay down, but I’d been asleep for at least a handful of hours! Clearly being kidnapped took it out of a person.
Getting out of bed, I grabbed a towel from out of the attached bathroom before I walked back through the guest bedroom, the open kitchen, dining and lounge room. Once I’d descended the stairs to the ground floor, I headed toward the lap pool gleaming in the sunlight that streamed through the windows.
I tossed the towel onto the polished concrete floor that looked clean enough to eat off. I stretched, my borrowed T-shirt riding up my ass. It made me remember the cameras everywhere inside Valentino’s house, recording whatever I did.
I barely withheld as smirk as I slowly took off Valentino’s T-shirt, baring my body. Running my hands up and down my torso, I focused on my breasts, pinching my nipples and squeezing my flesh.
It was time to burn up some negative energy.
I could only imagine his reaction when he looked at the footage, because no matter how important his next job was, he’d take the time to check on me. He considered me his property now.
Except, although touching myself was all an act, desire soon burned through me knowing he’d be watching my every move. I slipped a hand between my thighs and massaged my nub, my head falling back and my mouth parting as I blissfully sighed. Perhaps I’d missed my calling as a porn star?
Either way, I was getting all in on my little performance. My breathy moans were fast becoming more realism than fake as my mind conjured up images of Valentino giving me pleasure before his finger, not mine, slid deep inside my liquid heat while he continued working my clit into a hot lather.
The mini-orgasm streaking through me caught me unawares and I cried out as I shuddered with release. I exhaled fitfully. I must be going mad to orgasm by simply thinking about the man who’d kidnapped me. The same man who’d eventually do far worse to me.
I withdrew my hand and stuck my finger into my mouth. I sucked it clean, moaning loud enough to hear an echo. I only hoped he’d watch the entire performance.
It’d give him something to get hard about.
Not that he needed any motivation. He seemed permanently aroused.
Stepping nude toward the edge of the pool, I dived in neatly then glided through the water, my arms pulling me through and my legs kicking hard.
Living next to an Olympic-sized pool had been the one good memory I’d had as a child. I’d done laps just for fun, and had even been approached to join the local swimming club.
My mother had declined. Money had been too tight. I’d been lucky she’d been able to afford a seasonal pass.
I was huffing and puffing after a handful of laps. I was nowhere near as fit now as I was back then. Forcing my tired muscles to do one more lap, I glided to a stop before gripping the lip of the pool.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up even before I looked up, my eyes clashing with Valentino’s. “You’re back!”
“I am,” he said in an amused tone. He stepped aside and nodded toward the man who’d been standing just behind him. “Allow me to introduce you to the Agostino fashion designer, Marco.”
I thrust an arm over my breasts and sunk lower in the water. How much had the stranger seen? Going by the redness of his face he’d seen more than enough. The fact he was a fashion designer who’d doubtlessly seen more bared bodies than the average Joe didn’t seem to matter.
Was he worried about Valentino’s reaction?
I lifted my chin. I was my own woman. Valentino might hold me hostage but it didn’t mean I couldn’t make my own decisions. I dropped my arm and outstretched it. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said with a smile.
My smile widened at Valentino’s narrowed eyes and lips.
Marco didn’t really have much of a choice except to clasp my hand and mutter a greeting in return, though his stare gleamed before he averted his eyes.
“Marco is here to measure you for a decent wardrobe.” He nodded toward a bag near the stairwell. “In the meantime, he had a few samples close to your size that you can make do with.”
I glared up at him. “How very kind of you.”
My sarcasm couldn’t have been any more direct, but it was one I instantly regretted it when I noted the glitter of retribution in his gaze. That anticipation and excitement sparked through me wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on.
I desperately wanted to despise him!
He picked up my towel. “Get out.”
I baulked at his order, but at the twitch in his cheek, I knew better than to argue or to tell him to go fuck himself.
I smiled sweetly. “Of course, Sir.”
Placing my hands on the edge of the pool, I hoisted myself out with deliberate slowness, giving Marco a good eyeful of my body even as Valentino stepped closer and wrapped the towel around me, shielding me. Then he bent close to my ear and murmured, “I guess you want to be punished.”
I twisted my head around, my eyes snapping to his. “For doing what you asked?”
“For enjoying doing what I asked,” he corrected. “Though I must say, I did appreciate your little striptease earlier.”
“Of course you did,” I muttered.
He curled a finger around some wet strands of my hair, then tugged on them to draw me closer to him. “What I didn’t appreciate was you choosing to sleep in the guest bedroom. I did warn you about that, did I not?”
“I’ll sleep where I want,” I hissed.
His chuckle was silken soft and full of promise. “Oh, little Tilly, you have a lot to learn.”