Chapter 9 Stella
STELLA
I’m left all alone in his giant mansion, and I stroll around to try to entertain myself, while his guards stare at me from every corner.
I don’t know whether to feel safe or spooked by their presence.
They listen to Matteo, but now that he isn’t here, how do I know for sure they won’t disobey his orders? How do I know they’ll keep me safe?
I avoid them as much as I can while perusing his house, pilfering through his library to find a book to read.
I’m not allowed to have my phone yet, so things can get boring pretty quickly.
When I’ve finally found something I want to read, an old copy of Wuthering Heights, I walk back upstairs and head into my own room, where there’s a guard stationed outside.
I nod at him and go inside, then close the door.
It’s locked from the outside.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
I feel safer here than out there with them all by myself. Leticia and Sarah have left the house to do some shopping, so I must be the only woman left in this godforsaken house.
I peel away the bandages that Matteo wrapped around my hand and look at the scab that remains. The wound healed quite nicely, but every time I touch my skin, I can still feel his hand running over it, giving me goose bumps.
Sighing, I sit down on my couch and open the book, but I keep reading the same page over and over again, while my mind has already trailed off. I wonder what Matteo’s doing now—if they’re hunting Lucio, or if they’re just trying to get that lady back home safely and out of their grasp.
I didn’t care that Lucio had attacked one of his restaurants, but to hear that he’d taken a woman captive as payback for Matteo stealing me was a bridge too far for me. I can’t stand that another woman would suffer in my stead. But what can I do from here?
Every page I flip, the ring that’s on my finger gleams in the light, and I can’t help but touch it in the moment as if it’ll connect me to him and give me an update about his whereabouts and well-being. As if I even care whether he’ll live or die.
I breathe out and look away, releasing my own hand.
Why can’t I get this man off my mind?
He forced me to marry just for the sake of revenge.
I want to scream at him, stab him, skewer him on my fork just for having the audacity to lock me up in here like he owns me … yet I can’t stop thinking about that damn kiss I gave him.
The kiss that I never should’ve agreed to give to him, just to atone for my sin of trying to kill him.
Goddammit.
Even now that he’s gone, I still can’t stop fantasizing about him, and the way he so easily made my knees weak.
What’s wrong with me? I should hate him, and I do. I hate him. I hate him.
“Ma’am?” Sarah knocks on the door. “I wanted to let you know that Matteo called.”
I immediately drop the book and head to the door. “Yes?”
“Matteo says it’ll take a little while longer, but that you shouldn’t worry.”
“I never said I worried about him,” I respond.
She shrugs.
“Did they get the girl?” I ask.
“He didn’t say, but he did ask if I could prepare a bath for you. Is it okay if I come in?”
I sigh in disappointment and step away from the door. “Okay.”
She opens the door and steps inside. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine, I guess,” I reply. “Did you finish shopping?”
“Mm-hmm.” She holds up a basket filled with all kinds of bath supplies. “I got some extras for you.”
I know it’s not her fault I’m stuck here, and she’s just trying to help me make the best of it.
I smile. “That’s nice of you.”
Matteo
The restaurant is in shambles. Bullets are scattered all around, and holes litter the walls and floors. There’s nothing left of this place.
It’s only one of many establishments I use to launder the money I earn through multiple means, but this … this note hurts the most.
An eye for an eye. You take my woman, I take yours. And I will continue taking one of yours for every day you keep mine. – Lucio
I scrunch the paper up in my fist and grumble, “Do you have a goddamn lead or not?”
“Our staff wasn’t able to see where they went. All they had were a few numbers on a license plate,” Franco replies.
“What about the girl?” I ask.
“Follow me.”
We head through the restaurant toward where most of the gunfire erupted. All the food and utensils are strewn about the floor, the soup still warm as it lies ruined in a puddle on the floor, splashes of onions mixed with the blood of my workers.
Damn him. I will fucking make him pay for this.
“Out here,” Franco says, as I follow him out the side door, where there’s a bloodied mark on the pavement.
BANG! BANG!
I duck for cover as the gunshots rattle my bones.
“Franco! Behind us!” I yell.
Franco pulls out his gun and shoots back, while I make a beeline for the road where they just ran across. I bolt after the guy who shot us, around the corner, and into another alley. A dead-end.
He aims up close.
BANG!
Too late.
My gun fired first, blood splattering everywhere, even on my suit as he slumps against the walls, blood smearing the stones.
I kneel in front of him and snatch his gun from his hand, throwing it to the side. “You.” I grab him by the shirt. “Look at me. Where is Lucio?”
“Gone,” he splutters.
I punch him in the gut. “You killed all of those people!”
He merely laughs. “That’s what happens when you steal from Lucio.”
I point my gun at his face and pull the trigger. “Have fun in hell.”
BANG!
Droplets of blood scatter onto my skin, but it doesn’t even faze me.
“Sir?” Franco approaches from behind, and I look up.
“This fucker nearly escaped,” I say, wiping my gun on his shirt. “Did you see any others?”
He shakes his head. “No, but I did spot a pair of feet behind a dumpster in the alley.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
Could it be a survivor?
He beckons me to follow him back to the restaurant and into the alley where we exited and got shot at. A female body lies motionless behind the dumpster, a pool of blood beneath it.
The woman he stole … and murdered.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
I approach the body and look upon the face of the girl, completely disheveled, as the gunshot had entered through her mouth. “Gnarly.”
Franco grabs a cigarette as he glances at her and immediately lights it. “Want one too?”
I shake my head. “Pass.”
“I’d much rather light Lucio’s ass on fire than this smoke, trust me on that,” he adds.
“That fucking bastard took this girl just to kill her out here in cold blood like he wanted to send a message,” I say. “He’s got a vendetta.”
“Matteo,” he mutters, looking me dead in the eyes. “Are we going to war with the Agostinis?”
“We’re not going to war.” I grab the girl’s ring off her finger and tuck it into my pocket so I can send it to her parents when I get home safe and sound. “We’re already in one.”
Stella
I grab the sponge and lather myself with soap as I enjoy the warm bathwater Sarah ran for me on Matteo’s orders.
Even though I was reluctant to accept it because it’s one of the ways he thinks he can subdue me, it does feel kind of nice.
The heat is relaxing, and the expensive soaps make my skin glisten in the light.
Maybe it’s not that bad to live with a rich Mafia lord.
I’d never be able to afford a bath like this working a nine-to-five job with a small salary.
Then again, is having such opulence worth exchanging my freedom for?
My eyes scatter around the bathroom, settling on a small window near the ceiling behind the curtains, and I wonder if I’m allowed to open it up for some fresh air.
Suddenly, there’s a loud bang, and I jolt up in the bath, the water moving from side to side.
What was that?
There are footsteps audible down below.
I immediately get out of the bath and grab a towel to dry myself off.
I don’t know who just came into the house, but the way that door just slammed shut sounded like thunder, so I doubt it’s good news.
I rub myself dry and put on a bathrobe, covering myself up before I walk out of the bathroom, wet hair and all.
I knock on the door until the guard finally says, “What do you want?”
“Is Matteo home? Let me out of here. I need to speak to him.”
It takes him a few seconds to open my door, and I immediately waltz right past him, ignoring his vague grumbling.
I walk into the hallway and look over the banister down below, where a bunch of Matteo’s men just exited a room at the back of the hall, which I’m not allowed to go into and is always locked.
One guy enters with a whole box full of guns, and it makes me do a double take.
Jesus Christ.
I run down the stairs when suddenly Matteo exits the room too. He’s covered in blood, and I swallow back the lump in my throat as his eyes meet mine.
What did he do? Who did he kill?
He made it out alive.
A pang of guilt hits my stomach because, for some reason, my whole body relaxes at that thought. He’s a monster who only cares about his own needs, yet the way he’s looking at me now almost makes the despair that clutches my heart visceral. Real.
He approaches, and I freeze on the stairs, not knowing where to go because he’s coming right at me.
Our eyes lock in a furious battle of unspoken words, but instead of meeting them head-on, he walks right past me up the stairs, blood caking even his shoes, with which he leaves marks every step he takes.
How many people has he shot and killed? How long did it take for them to bleed out?
I wince.
I should definitely not follow him, yet my feet can’t help but turn around and head right back up the stairs, straight into the lion’s den. He’s in his bedroom, pouncing around like a goddamn bear, as I gently close the door behind me.
“What happened?” I ask him.
He briefly throws me an angered look filled with bristling impatience, and I breathe out a sigh. He looks stressed out and doesn’t even respond. Maybe if I help him relax a little, he’ll finally tell me what really happened and whether the girl they mentioned is okay.