Chapter 7
Elise
I spend the afternoon in my room, organizing my things and exploring what was already there when I arrived. Enzo must have sent someone to my apartment because the rest of my stuff seems to all be here now. Whether they broke in or borrowed my key without permission, it doesn’t really matter. Nothing that I kept there would blow my cover. It’s just a stale apartment that I’ve lived in since I passed my audition and solidified my cover story.
My new room is huge, as are the closet and the bathroom. My clothes only take up a fraction of the hanging space, and my shampoo isn’t nearly as good as what Enzo provided. I debate between keeping what I brought just to prove a point and treating myself to what is essentially a spa treatment every time I bathe. In the end, I swallow my pride and toss my cheap shampoo in the trash, quickly followed by every other product I own. If I’m trapped in this gilded cage, I’m taking advantage of every perk that comes my way.
Once I have my room as organized as it’s going to get, I crack open the door and peek out into the hallway. To my surprise, there isn’t anyone guarding me, so I decide to explore a little more of the house. The hallway, stairs, and entryway are all familiar to me now, but I’ve only been into the dining room on the first floor. Turning the opposite way, I find myself in the living room, which is not empty. Sal and Joey are playing a video game, and they have an open box of pizza on the table in front of them.
Neither of them sees me standing in the doorway, but they don’t miss it when I waltz in, grab a slice of pizza, and turn around to leave.
“Hey, not so fast, sunshine,” Joey says while Sal pauses the game.
I roll my eyes, and they both give me their full and undivided attention. “I just wanted a snack. I haven’t found the kitchen yet.”
“Enzo didn’t give you the grand tour?” Sal jokes. We all know that Enzo wouldn’t care if I got lost in his house. In fact, he might prefer it if I did. My chances of escaping would be significantly lower if I couldn’t find the door.
“Not quite,” I respond. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to figure this place out on my own.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Joey warns me. “Enzo doesn’t take kindly to snooping.”
“I promise I won’t go through his underwear drawer. But I do need to know about my new home.” I try to make myself sound more excited about my current situation, but I’m not fooling anyone. They know that I’m a prisoner, they just don’t know the details of my deal with Enzo. Or at least, I’m assuming they don’t, and they won’t be hearing about it from me.
“How about we give you a tour? We basically live here. We know all the secrets this house has to offer.” Sal wags his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes, smiling at his antics before nodding in agreement.
“Fine. Kitchen first. And this place has to have a gym. I want to see it. And then everything else.”
Sal and Joey both stand, and I’m suddenly reminded of the night of my audition. The way those three big, hard bodies moved in and around me… Joey snaps his fingers in front of my face, pulling me from my daydream.
“Where’d you go, sunshine?” he asks. The knowing smile on his face tells me he knows exactly what I was thinking about, but I’m not giving him the satisfaction of hearing me admit it.
“I was thinking about all the food that’s bound to be in the kitchen. I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
“Yeah, I bet you’re hungry. But not for food,” Sal calls after me as I stomp away down the only hallway I haven’t explored on the first floor. I ignore him, and, predictably, they catch up before I reach the first door. It surprises me that their presence didn’t send me running back to my room. While I know they’re not the ones holding me captive, there’s not a chance in hell that they’d be on my side when it comes to this whole situation with Enzo. I’d be better off thinking of them as the enemy, but they ooze charisma and draw me in against my better judgment.
I need to stay focused. Right now, that means exploring this massive house. Thankfully, the first door is the kitchen. If I never see anything else in the house, at least I’ll know where to find food. But I am hoping they show me the gym so I can stay in shape. My apartment had a crappy gym with ancient weight-lifting equipment and one finicky treadmill. I’m willing to bet that Enzo invested a little more in the equipment for his home gym.
The kitchen is spotless, with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and gadgets I couldn’t even begin to guess the purpose of. A coffee bar sits along one wall, with every kind of coffee pot a person could ever need. Yeah, I’m glad I know where the kitchen is. I can tell I’ll be spending a lot of time here.
We keep moving down the hall towards the back of the house, but they don’t open every door. There are a couple of bedrooms and an office, but they won’t tell me what’s in the rooms we skip. At the end of the hall, we finally find the gym. Just like I thought, every piece of equipment is top-of-the-line and looks brand new, even though I’m sure it gets used regularly.
“Thanks for the tour. You can leave me here.” I’m not surprised when Sal and Joey don’t immediately turn around and leave, but a girl can dream. Instead, they lean against the wall on either side of the door and watch me move around the gym. “Are you just going to stare at me?”
“You’re not dressed for a workout. And the tour isn’t over. We’ve only done one floor.” Sal nods in agreement before Joey continues. “Let’s go, sunshine. You can come back later.”
I roll my eyes, but he has a point. I’m wearing flip flops and jean shorts. The most I’d be able to do is walk on a treadmill. “Fine. Upstairs, then?” Without waiting for a response, I lead them back the way we came until I get to the stairs. The rest of the house is basically bedrooms and bathrooms, but there is a fairly large library on the second floor. At least I know I won’t be bored. Between the gym, the books, and whatever Enzo makes me do, I’ll be busy.
Sal and Joey get a text before we get back to my room, and they take off back down the stairs. When I walk back into my room, I find a hot bowl of tomato soup and a turkey panini waiting for me. The smell draws me in and by the time I finish eating, I’m too full to consider working out. Instead, I opt to call it an early night.
My t-shirt and panties are all I need as far as pajamas go, so I brush my teeth and crawl between the sinfully comfortable, soft sheets and drift off before I have a chance to reflect on my day. There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.