Chapter Three
Chapter Three
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Fia
Yawning through an off-tuned note on my violin, I groan with a cringe at the pitched sound.
I blame it on the lack of sleep last night. How could I even get any rest when I have Vito right next to me, arms coiled around me, and the suffocating heat eating away the coldness of the cabin?
He cuddles in his sleep.
It was an experience and a revelation that took me by surprise. I never expected a man as detached as him to be someone who likes to be close to another source of body heat at night.
Vito is everything but cuddly. He’s big, but not the teddy bear sort of feeling. He’s quiet and protective, but his actions speak louder than the steady beats of his heart against my head.
When I woke up, he was gone, and there was a hearty smell of breakfast. He didn’t mention the incident, but I don’t think he realizes it because I move a lot when I sleep, so I must have rolled out of his arms.
It was a shame. I would love to wake up in his arms, but that would put me in a situation where I have to awkwardly explain that I’m not taking advantage of him.
Even in his sleep, he’s far stronger than anyone can give him credit for. It’s ridiculous how much raw power he has when he’s not conscious.
Out of respect, I tried to move away from him when I first woke up in his arms. It was in the middle of the night; the moon had thrown light through the roof window and straight onto the wooden floor.
His grip was unrelenting and frighteningly possessive. Then the moon was blocked by the gray clouds, and I stopped trying to leave his arms because the cabin had this hauntingly silent atmosphere where the unexplored and unknown lingers in the back of my mind.
I’m the safest in his arms, and then I was knocked out within minutes.
Pushing those thoughts to be back of my mind, I let the music flow into my ears as I begin to play. It’s a gentle piece that matches the calm scene. The windows reflect the rich colors of nature as I indulge in the notes.
I love this piece because it’s the first time I had fallen in love with music. I was young and lonely when I found comfort in the melody being strummed out by a pair of skilled hands. I don’t remember the person who played the piece, but it made such an impact on my brain that I wanted to be a violinist.
Rolling towards the end, the flow of music is disturbed when I open my eyes to see a figure standing on the other side of the lake. It’s a massive body of water, but the man in complete black clothing stands by the vibrant colors of the blue water and green trees like a splash of corruption to nature.
My body seizes up in momentary fear, and fright triggers a lock on my muscles as a screeching note on the violin snaps my attention to the instrument. By the time I look up, the man was gone, and it leaves the scenery back to its tranquility.
I quickly store the violin back in the case and clip it shut with a shuddering breath. Closing my eyes tightly, I bring my shaking hands to my face and rub the paranoia off my skin.
I’m probably seeing things. My stalker couldn’t possibly know where I am. If there is one thing that I know about Vito without a single doubt, then it is his ability to drop off the face of the earth in the blink of an eye.
Cyrus can attest to that because they were in the army together, and they worked very closely for years. I have heard war stories from Cyrus, and from what I can gather, Vito is a born leader with the type of intelligence that worries many people.
Maybe Cyrus was exaggerating, but I don’t want to let that thought go for now. It’s the only thing comforting me in this room, and I know Vito won’t let anything happen to me.
His intelligence would allow him to plan and predict every wrong turn during our stay. Vito most likely predicted where and when the stalker comes—if the stalker finds out where I am, and I implemented some protection around the cabin.
I shake my head, hands rubbing away the anxiety on my arms before making my way out of the room. I make sure to keep my violin case away from direct sunlight and into the shadow where it’s not fluctuating temperature.
My nose picks up on a delicious lunch meal. A smile graces my lips, and my stomach growls as I follow the smell to the kitchen.
It’s a sight to behold. Vito stands there with two plates of food in his big hands, the wind blowing into his black hair through the opened windows, and the grayness in his intense eyes holds me captive.
He’s in all black. A triggering image of the man standing on the other side of the lake startles me. I’m not sure if what I saw was a fragment of my imagination because of the traumatic car incident by the crazy stalker, but it felt too real.
It can’t be Vito. There is no way he could be on the other side of the lake, come back before I came to the kitchen, and make lunch on time.
I take in a deep breath. Yes, I’m imagining things. It’s the sleep I had last night. I’ll make sure to get a good night of sleep tonight, whether Vito cuddles or not.
“What’s wrong?” he inquires, the slow steps to the dining table draw my attention to his massive body.
The person I saw was not as big as Vito, but he was at a distance, so I can’t be sure. I have to stop thinking about it and focus on the day, but my heart is rumbling with worry.
If it is the stalker, how did he find me so quickly?
This cabin is deep in the woods, and it’s a place that a former armycommander finds secure enough to live.
“Fia,” Vito’s deep voice echoes hollowly in my brain.
I shake my head, and I force a smile on my face. “Nothing. Let’s eat!”
He stares at me with no qualms about my comfort until I awkwardly plop down on the chair. Vito lets go of the matter by setting down my plate of food before he finds a seat in front of me.
I dig into my plate with a gleeful moan as the flavors burst into my mouth; the dish is perfectly seasoned with a different kind of seasoning that doesn’t usually go with the dish. I don’t mind the new change for my taste buds because it’s just too good to question what he did.
When we finish, he takes the plates, and I wash the dishes. He doesn’t complain as he tells me about this cabin and how he made it when I asked.
It’s an easy conversation that eats up the time, and I get to know him a little bit more throughout the day.
Just as I get comfortable, the image of that man standing there comes back in full force. I know at this point that I can’t find peace until I know for sure that I was imagining things.
Bracing myself and taking a deep breath, I turn to Vito, who is outside doing some work. His thick muscles flex and tighten as he lifts up the generator to see the bottom. The heaviness doesn’t show on his face as he simply lays it back down on the ground before grabbing a tool from a toolbox.
I don’t want to bother him with something so trivial, so I silently back away from the front door to go find the room with a sliding glass door that leads out of the cabin. I had come across the room when I went exploring again after breakfast to get my digestive system moving.
I remember the warning Vito had given me about a specific room, and I avoid it with great determination. Curiosity is a dangerous concept and I wanted to go inside every time I pass it, but I can’t afford to disappoint the man I had fallen in love with.
Going into the room, I quickly make my way to the glass door and open it. The smell of fresh grass and the chirping of birds welcomes me as I close the sliding door behind me. My shoes quietly tap down the stairs before making contact with the short green grass.
I know he can’t hear me from the front of the cabin, but I feel that I’m committing a crime with this secrecy.
I’m not and he didn’t say that I couldn’t explore outside, so he can’t be mad at me without a reason.
Of course, he can. He’s the owner of the cabin, the bodyguard that volunteered to protect me but I’m still going to pay him regardless of what he says, and he’s the one who knows what kind of things roam behind these beautiful trees.
I’ll be quick. It’s just a look to see if I was seeing things.
It’s a long walk until I find a sturdy bridge that connects both sides of the dry land. I square my shoulders and pass the bridge without any incident and make another quick walk to the spot that would allow me to see across the lake to the cabin.
It’s a massive place and it had gotten smaller from the distance, but it’s still clear to see if someone was in the room where I was playing. I look down and I don’t see any disturbance on the grass or any indication that someone was here.
I sigh a breath of relief to know that I was simply too wounded-up.
“What are you doing?”
I squeal in shock, my heart lunging against my ribs as a significant amount of adrenaline takes over the pumping of my pulse. I spin around, eyes wide with panic and fear as I prepare for danger.
My thinking is to flee like a bat out of the cave, but then I see that it’s only Vito. His arm crosses over his thick chest, shoulders bulging and a glare heavily imposing on his gorgeous eyes.
“W-what?” I sputter, my ears ringing with one of the crickets in the bushes.
“What are you doing?” he repeats the question as he drops his arms.
I clear my throat, patting my chest to stop the erratic heartbeat. “I… I wanted to see something.”
He wants an explanation as he steps closer, blocking my view of the dense trees behind him and invading my thoughts with the distance.
“See what?”
I look down at the grass and turn my head to the cabin. I am ready to just pull something out of my ass to let this embarrassing paranoia die, but his scorching hand cups my face and turns me to look at him.
My neck strains at his height and I grimace lightly while I try to find relief from the aching. Vito keeps a clutching grip on my jawline and neck with a sense of déjà vu washing over me from yesterday.
“I thought I saw something from the room,” I blurt out.
Lying to him would prove to be futile as he seems to know when I’m lying. Sometimes I would hide the truth from Cyrus about eating or getting enough sleep, and he doesn”t notice the lies.
Or he just let it go because he knows I’ll make up for the lost sleep and lack of food later.
Dealing with Vito is a bit different; more complicated and certainly requires a bit more sophistication than an unpretentious lie.
“What did you see?” His thumb press down on my cheek and pain explode under the skin.
“I’m not sure!” I squeak out, hands coming up to his wrist to stop his strength from shattering my jaw.
“I just saw him briefly.” I sigh in relief as Vito drops his hand.
“Him?” he questions, gray eyes narrowing in wariness.
“Yeah,” I say as I clear my throat. “I probably just imagined him.”
“What did he look like?”
I find every detail from my memories, seeking the best choice of words without offending Vito because I really thought, for a very brief moment, that he was the man on the other side.
“He… was just standing there and he was too far for me to get a better look.”
He’s not having it. My nonsense of an excuse stays in the air as I fidget under his penetrative gaze.
“And?” Vito’s voice becomes dark and impatient.
“He was wearing all black.” My words are clumsy and suspiciously jumbled together as nervousness creeps up my flushed cheeks.
Vito doesn’t look down on his body like any normal human instinct would demand him to do. His eyes move to the ground where I had been looking, and the grayness in his eyes flickers dully as his chest rises with a breath of silence.
I try to gauge his thoughts by any inkling of emotions on his face, but he’s closed off and calculatingly stern as he turns his attention back to me.
A sudden rush of predatory gleam shoots through the pair of gray eyes, but it’s gone the next second as a bird’s chirping noise pierces through the trees.
“I probably imagined it,” I say with a hand coming behind my head and fluffing my hair.
The nervous gesture doesn’t escape his keen eyes. “I don’t want you to walk around without me.”
If agreeing with him means that he’s not angry at me for putting myself in danger because the person I saw could very well be the stalker, then I would gladly nod my head off.
“Let’s go.” He waits for me to start moving to find his place beside me.
We talk in silence and let the tranquility of the beautiful trees rustle with the wind. I should leave it at that, but my mind needs closure on the weird experience.
“There wasn’t something there, right?” I ask with a strong hesitation in the answer that I might not want to hear.
“No,” he replies nonchalantly.
It’s as if a boulder had rolled off my shoulders, I could breathe easily and see a lot more clearly now. The adrenaline is still coursing through my blood, but it’s settling down with his calming presence beside me.
When I peer at him through the corner of my eyes, he had his head turned to the compacted tree lines. The side of his face reflects a foul snarl and a menacing glare, the veins on his neck thickening under his skin as he contemplates something while staring very insistently into the trees.
“Is something wrong?” I ask him.
His head turns back to me as we walk across the bridge. “No.”
“Okay…” I trail off unbelievingly, but I don’t have anything to prove that he’s lying. My gut tells me that he knows something, but Vito always looks like he’s in deep thought.
We return to the cabin without other interruptions. He leaves me in the cabin to do my own thing while he stays outside to fix the generator. I want to watch him work because it’s just so attractive to see Vito concentrate on something as complicated as a heating generator.
Or is that a car engine?
I don’t know and I don’t particularly care, I just like it when he uses his hands.
My cheeks burst up in flames as the heat licks my cheeks. I spin around and stiffly walk away from the door, and I pat my heart to keep it calm. My legs are weak and the tingling between my thighs grows insistently with a lick of pleasure crawling up my spine as my panties scrape against my pussy.
How can a virgin like me who just have music in my head be thinking of dirty things that Vito can do to me?
I shake my head vigorously and barge into the violin room with a thunderous pulse in my ears. I furrow my eyebrows at this foreign room, and I tilt my head at the vacant space.
Some of the small puncture holes on the walls tell me that something was hanging there, but this room doesn’t have a smidgen of dust. I don’t remember seeing this room when I was exploring.
An abrupt thought occurs like a wildfire spreading on my skin, the revelation draws upon me with dread as I could hear the warning being repeated in my head with Vito’s voice.
This is the room that I was forbidden from coming in.
Oh, God. I need to leave this room before he finds out that I have been in there without his permission even if it’s on accident. Even though this room hasn’t been locked, it’s still my fault that I came in.
I whirl around and am ready to make a run for it when I see Vito at the door. Eyes of a predatory animal that glows with morally gray intentions, lips tight with cynical accusations reaching the tip of his tongue, and the posture of a disappointed man.
It’s what I see, but it’s not what he says.
“Come on out, Fia.”
My body moves on its own with an imaginary tail between my legs. I prepare for the verbal reprimand that I know will come to destroy my confidence.
The clicking of the door startles me as he lets me dwell in the silence that weighs too heavily. He wants me to feel guilty and I don’t blame him for wanting to teach me a lesson, but I rather he yells at me than ignore me.
“My home, my rules.”
I flinch, shrinking back into my shoulders as I tug on the edge of my shirt.
I remember vaguely hearing that tone in my sleep. I didn’t know if it was real or not, but I had done something so utterly humiliating in my half-asleep phase that I refuse to even think about it.
Now, it’s different. He’s forcing me back into that mindset with or without regard to my mentality.
“Say sorry, now.”
The beginning of a psychological shift and the changing dynamics between us starts with my answer to his unbreakable command.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Please let the be a dream or let a whole open up to swallow me down six feet into the dirt.
“Good girl.”