Chapter 7
LUCIA
Iwas a prisoner here.
I spent the day in my bedroom. I slept a little, then read and slept some more.
Rainey brought me a tray at lunchtime when I told her I wasn’t feeling well, and then another at dinnertime.
I didn’t ask where Salvatore was or what he was doing.
Didn’t know if he’d just come barging in here and demand things from me.
Punish me. Humiliate me. But he never did.
When Rainey came to clear my dinner tray, I finally got up the nerve to ask.
“Is Salvatore home?”
“No, ma’am. He called a little while ago to say he wouldn’t be home tonight.”
So was he spending the night somewhere else? Where? With whom? And why did I care? At least he wouldn’t hurt me, not if he wasn’t here.
But Salvatore didn’t come home the next night either.
Unable to hide in my room any longer, I finally left it late the following morning and gave myself a tour of the house, looking around in the corners, behind plants, for cameras.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find them. He’d said I had free rein of the house apart from his study and bedroom.
Of course, the first thing I did was try his study door but found it locked.
The bedroom, too, was locked, but when I saw the maid slip out of the room, I tried the door. She’d forgotten to lock it behind her.
I looked around to make sure no one was watching and slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind me.
I spent a long moment with my back against it, trying to calm my breathing, knowing if he found out I was in here, that I’d disobeyed, he’d punish me.
And yet I felt like a triumphant, defiant kid who’d taken the piece of candy she wasn’t allowed to have.
I pushed away from the door and looked around.
The room was about twice as large as mine, and the furnishings were all dark wood or metal, the carpet and drapes shades of blue to match his eyes in all his moods.
Leather panels covered the whole of the wall behind the four steel frames of the bed, which was perfectly made, all corners tucked neatly in, since he’d not slept here for two nights now.
The connecting door to my room had a key in the lock. Figured it’d be on his side. Another door led to a bathroom similar to mine, just larger, this one containing black towels and bath accessories, nothing feminine about the space.
The final door opened to a closet. I stepped into it, chuckling at the inch of space between each of the black velvet hangers that contained suits, jackets, and pants on one side, dress shirts sorted by color along another wall, and more casual wear, again, grouped by color and perfectly spaced along the final one.
Three dozen pairs of shoes filled the neat little show racks, and two shelves contained belts.
Ties were rolled on their own cushions, the color coding continuing even there.
The drawers held underwear and socks. Everyday items. Things I for some reason could not associate with the man who owned the house.
I ran a hand over the suits, then dragged them a little, messing up the OCD spacing, thinking it funny for a moment. But then I found myself inhaling deeply. I shook my head and walked back into the bedroom.
It smelled like him in here.
I tentatively touched one of the cool steel posts of the bed as I thought about what I was doing, not feeling quite good about it.
I perched myself on the edge of the bed and told myself I needed to do this.
To break his rules and invade his privacy like he had mine.
To take back some of the power he’d taken from me when he’d made me do what he did.
The surface of the nightstand had just been dusted. I ran a finger over it before opening the drawer and peeking inside. It was empty.
I walked to the other side of the bed. The book lying beside the lamp told me this was the side he slept on.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the drawer open less cautiously this time.
This one wasn’t empty. I reached in and took out a bottle of what I thought was hand cream, but when I read the label, I quickly set it back down.
It was a half-empty container of lubricant.
Digging deeper, I found a row of condoms and behind that, a set of handcuffs.
Voices outside the door had me quickly shoving the things back inside the drawer, and when the door opened, I dropped to the floor and slid underneath the bed.
The women spoke, and I saw the one come inside to pick up the bucket she’d left in the bathroom before walking back out the door. This time, she didn’t forget to lock it behind her.
“Shit!”
I made my way out from under the bed. That was when I saw the leather restraint that hung off the post. Curious, I sat up and pulled it out from behind the cover. I then walked over to the post at the foot and found a similar one, and two more on the other posts.
I grinned. This was a side of Salvatore I hadn’t considered, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I had a bigger problem. I had to get out of his bedroom.
It took me thirty-five minutes to finally pick the lock and get into my own bedroom. Feeling like some sort of thief, I picked up my cell phone, which I’d been charging since it had run down completely. It showed six missed calls. All from Isabella. No texts, but voice mails after each one.
“Hey, Luce. Call me when you get this.”
“Checking in, Luce. You there?”
“Um, I’m feeling like a stalker. You can’t still be mad at me. Hell, you can be whatever you want. Shit, I’d be pissed. Okay, please don’t be mad at me.”
“Fuck.” Effie’s voice in the background, then my sister again. “No, honey, mommy didn’t say a bad word.”
I smiled.
“Lucia, if you don’t call me back right now, I’m getting in my car and driving over there!”
“Fuck. I’m on my way!”
I checked the time of the messages. The last one was from about an hour and a half ago. Which meant she’d be here any minute.
I pocketed the phone and ran out the door. On my way down the stairs, I heard a voice I recognized as Marco’s. I paused on the stairs, listening.
“She’s got a visitor.”
He must have been talking into a phone because I didn’t hear another voice. He mumbled, “Okay, boss,” and hung up.
When I heard his footsteps, I headed down the stairs, noting the room he’d come from. He looked up at me.
“Good afternoon.”
Marco was always around, but at least he stayed out of my way. “Afternoon.”
I heard a car door close and turned toward the front door. From the side window, I spotted my sister taking in the mansion before opening the back door to help Effie out.
“Your sister’s here,” Marco said, reaching the front door ahead of me.
“I can see that.”
“Mr. Benedetti has given his permission for you to see her.” He opened the door, but his comment made me stop and turn to him.
“Really? He’s given his permission?” Asshole.
Marco faced me and was about to say something, but Isabella spoke first.
“Well, it is remote and it is protected,” she said. “I wasn’t sure they were going to open the gates for a minute there.” She came right to me, looked me over from head to toe, and pulled me in for a hug.
I yielded right away, her warmth something I’d missed, something I cherished. It made me feel protected.
“Izzy.” I used the name I used to call her when I was little and couldn’t say her full name. It had stuck. I was the only person who called her that.
She pulled back and looked at me. I wiped at my eyes but apparently not quickly enough because I saw the concern in hers. She glanced at Marco, who stood stupidly watching us.
I hated him.
“Mommy.” Effie tugged on her mom’s skirt. “The gift.”
Her high-pitched voice made me smile. She held up a box. I could see from the torn wrapping that it contained chocolates.
“Why don’t you give it to Aunt Lucia, and explain why the wrapping’s been torn.”
Effie turned to me and offered up the box. “I started to open it for you to help you.”
“Is that really why?” Izzy asked.
I gave Izzy a look. So did Effie.
I bent down to take the box from her, trying to keep a straight face.
“Is this what I think it is? My favorite chocolates?” I asked, picking up an end of the wrapping and peeking inside the torn paper.
“Maybe you can help me get the rest of the wrapping off.” She happily took the box and tore off the gift wrap.
“Yep. They’re my favorite too.” She reluctantly held the box out to me.
“You hold on to it. We should probably eat some, though. What do you think?”
“I definitely think we should eat some!”
I straightened and looked around, noticing how Marco hovered. “Let’s go into the living room.”
With a hand on the top of Effie’s head, I followed him to the spacious room adjoining the dining room. The sun shone bright, and the swimming pool glistened blue just beyond the large patio.
“God, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Izzy asked.
“It is.”
“Did you bring my swimsuit, Mommy?” Effie asked, her attention focused on the pool.
I looked at my sister, who rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t know they had a pool, so no.”
Effie gave her a look, which made me cover my mouth to hide the chuckle.
“How would I know? It’s my first time here,” Izzy protested.
“How about something to drink,” I asked just as Rainey walked in. She smiled warmly, and I introduced everyone.
“What would you like? I have some homemade lemonade maybe for the little one?”
“Actually, for me too,” Izzy said.
“Homemade?”
Rainey nodded.
“Make it three then, please,” I said. Rainey had been my only point of contact over the last couple of days. My world had always been small, but now, it had become miniscule.
Rainey nodded and returned to the kitchen. Marco remained in the room with us. Izzy and I both eyed him while Effie worked on getting the plastic off the box of chocolates.
“Are you just going to stand there?” I asked him.
He looked at me with raised eyebrows.