39. Unexpected
THIRTY-NINE
UNEXPECTED
Lake
Ever since I saw Alessio’s routine, I can’t stop wondering how in God’s name this man functions the way he does. He’s up and about before dawn, even though we went to bed late. It’s like no matter what, this man will rise early and work out and then work all day long. I wouldn’t survive two days on his schedule.
When I heard him wake up this morning and whisper something Italian in my ear, I opened my eyes and smiled at him, still blissfully happy from last night. I told him he was right and that I needed a proper fucking and a nice cuddle. What I didn’t tell him was that it makes me feel worse about betraying him.
In the bathroom now, I brush my teeth and lift the hem of the T-shirt he dressed me in last night.
Across my belly, in bold all-caps, is a word:
MINE
I drop the T-shirt and rinse my mouth, then step back and look at it again.
MINE
His. I guess it’s only fair that I told him I loved him after he wrote that, even though I didn’t know this is the word he wrote when I professed my great love. I consider showering, but I don’t want to wash it off. If it were permanently tattooed on my belly, I’m not sure I’d protest.
Alessio owns my heart, and I wish I could find a way to make us work, but there isn’t one, not when it will come at the expense of my little brother’s life. The truth of us is devastating. Heart-wrenching.
It’s like a brand-new tear next to the bleeding wound I’ve had since my parents died. That wound still bleeds. Their death tore something inside me that I can’t suture back together. There’s a void I can’t fill.
My parents and I were close. When I was going through hard times, they helped me.
With them gone, nobody tried to get me out of bed and into the shower. I didn’t have a man to wash me when I couldn’t get up for five days, secretly resenting the universe for not letting me just rot under my comforter forever. I had to make sure Prescott ate and bathed and went to school.
I can’t help but think about how Prescott and I would have fared if we had someone like Alessio with us at that time. The man literally makes you want to wake up in the morning and do the best you can with your lot in life, and if you can’t do it on your own, you can be sure Alessio will take care of it for you. I can’t unsee him.
I want to ask him for help with the sadist.
I do. I really do. It would be so easy to surrender yet another burden onto his shoulders and let him take care of it all, to say consequences be dammed.
But I’m in love with this man. Despite all the connections, Alessio is still a man made of flesh and blood, and I fear that if the sadist and his wife, along with the powerful man we met in the vault, could hurt Alessio too. And God forbid if they come for Leo.
The consequences, the risk, and the possible fallout are far too great. They’re watching my every move. They have a gun trained on my little brother, and all it would take is a single pull of a trigger, a single wrong move on my part. I’m terrified they’ll know if I say something, and my family will die because I didn’t meet their demands.
Having already suffered the loss of my parents, I know what the death of a loved one feels like. This is the threat of the death of a loved one, and for me, it’s as real a threat as any. It’s why I must carry on alone.
When I check my phone, I hear from my uncle’s doctor, who says that my uncle moved his arm during my aunt’s visit with Prescott. We consider this a great sign. “Thank God,” I mumble.
I dress in black slacks, a black button-up shirt, and a white silk scarf. I double-check that the plastic piece I peeled off the gun’s grip, along with the screwdriver, are in my pocket. I must deliver this thing today.
It’s almost over. After I deliver the piece and give them whatever information they want, I’ll be free to move on with my life, whatever is left of it. I haven’t thought about what I’ll do if they ask for more. My hope is that I won’t need to run to the US embassy and seek protection. But I grabbed my passport just in case.
In the movies, Americans in trouble always run to the US embassy in a foreign country. And it’s always dramatic, with guns blazing. I hope no guns will blaze. I’m not a very good runner either, so I’d probably just die as roadkill.
I lean my ear against the door to listen in on who’s in the suite.
Behind my back, I cross my fingers that Alessio took Leo out with him. When I hear nothing, I open the door and find the living space empty. Yes!
I’m moving toward the front door when a box of donuts catches my eye. It’s a box from a famous American donut company, and I can’t resist. The craving leads me to the coffee table, but when I open the box, my stressed-out, knotted belly protests.
The sadist could kill me today. Yet I have no choice but to heed his demands.
I close the box and am heading out when footsteps pound the floor.
“Lake!” Leo catches up to me.
“Hey,” I say. “I thought you guys were downstairs.”
“Not yet.” Leo takes my hand and drags me back to the living room. Alessio stands next to the table, his hands in his pockets.
“Hey,” I greet him, blushing a little because there’s a glint of lust in his eyes that reminds me of last night.
“Hey back,” he says.
“Which one is your favorite?” Leo asks as he flips open the donut box.
“The one with vanilla cream.”
Leo sticks a candle into the donut with vanilla cream.
I frown. “What are we celebrating?”
Alessio steps in front of me, takes something out of his pocket, and drops to one knee.
I cease breathing.
“My dear Lake,” Alessio says, “I have always been the kind of man who knows what he wants, and I knew I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. I also knew that when I kept you in the house as my nephew’s governess, I was auditioning you for a long-term role with his care. A woman I want the way I want you must also love him, and he must love her back. This is nonnegotiable for me.” He clears his throat, and I use the opportunity to inhale a breath.
“Alessio,” I barely manage to utter before he cuts me off.
“I’ve also paid attention to how you react to my long work hours and whether you are as independent as I first thought you were. I’ve examined you in every way. I can almost always find flaws in everyone. I think you’re flawless. There’s not a single part of you that I dislike. None. Zero. This doesn’t mean you have none. It means I’m blind to them.” He clears his throat. “Most of all, I’m certain that you love me. You love me with all my flaws, which is something I never thought possible. I love you back, and I want to make you happy and take care of you. If you would do me the honor of marrying me, I would consider it as if I won the lottery in life. You are everything I’ve ever wanted my partner in life to be and much more.”
He opens the box.
“Oh my God.” Both hands fly to my mouth, and tears cloud my vision.
Alessio smiles, but when I start to retreat, he blinks and then stands up. “Lake?”
I backpedal toward the exit. I have to get out of here.
“Lake.” Leo moves toward me.
I make it to the door and try to open it, but hear it click. Alessio controls the exit.
Alessio’s dark expression at the other end of the hallway tells me I’m trapped.
From the outside, the security guard knocks. “Everything all right?”
“Perfectly fine,” Alessio says, his voice low and downright scary.
He closes the jewelry box, hiding the largest diamond I’ve ever seen, and slides it into his pocket. Leo stands in front of me, blue eyes asking for an explanation.
“Leo,” I say, barely able to get his name past the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry.” I wipe away my tears.
“It’s okay, Lake. You don’t have to say yes.”
“He’s right,” Alessio says. “You don’t have to say yes, but you can’t stay with us if you say no. I won’t put him or myself through anything short of what we deserve.”
The boy starts to cry.
“Alessio, I’m sorry,” I say.
“Don’t be sorry about how you feel,” Alessio says. “But I will say this. You didn’t have to tell me you loved me last night. I never asked for it.” His voice is rising. Alessio is holding on to his control by a thread.
“I didn’t lie about that.”
“That?” He tilts his head. “Was there something else you did lie about?”
For a crazy second, I’m tempted to tell him everything. The burden of all the lies, all the lives I’m trying not to endanger, weighs heavily on me. Maybe he could find a way to help my family. But what if I’m wrong? What if they kill him too?
I need to get a hold of myself. “I can’t… I can’t. I can’t marry you.” I can’t tell you anything. I’m terrified they’ll execute my family. I’m terrified they’ll execute you and Leo.
“You won’t!” Alessio shouts. “Say that you won’t. Say, Alessio, I don’t want to marry you . You’re a fucking monster. You’re not lovable. Say it!”
I jump at his sharp tone and gasp, “I can’t.”
“You can!”
I turn and yank the door open. Leo grabs my hand. I try to tug away, but he’s strong.
“Leo, come back here,” Alessio commands.
“Lake is for me. Lake is for me! She’s my governess. You said she was for me. You ruin everything!” Leo screams at Alessio as he tries to drag me back into the suite.
Alessio picks him up. Leo screams at the top of his lungs and kicks his feet.
Alessio manages to restrain Leo. To me, he says, “I never want to see or hear of you again. Take your passport and get out. I’ll burn all your clothes.”