Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Aurora
Gabriel scares me but this man, George, takes it to a whole other level. Because Gabriel has never laid his hands aggressively onto me. Because, while Gabriel is evil, every so often I’ll catch a tenderness in his eyes I don’t understand.
But George is someone I haven’t spent any time with. I’m not sure what he’ll do to me but judging from the way he’s pulling me against his body and the hardening of his length against my backside, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he wants.
In one quick motion, George throws me onto the ground so hard it knocks the air out of me before he scrambles on top of my body.
“No one is allowed in Gabriel’s room,” he says. “None of us. You’re a naughty girl trying to get in there. Naughty, naughty girl.” He slaps me across the face. The sting makes my eyes water.
“Please, stop! Stop!”
George slaps me again on the other cheek. “Gabriel told us you were his plaything. He won’t mind if I play with you. He’s never minded before.”
I can’t ask George what he means by that as he slaps me again. I try to buck and kick him off me but he’s too strong. He has me pinned down.
“Stop,” I beg. “Just stop!”
It’s then that I hear heavy footsteps rushing towards us and George is wrenched off me. I watch in shock as his body slams against the wall… all because Gabriel picked him up and threw him.
Gabriel is breathing heavy as he glares down at George. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? She is mine. Not yours.”
“But – but – but –,”
“Shut the fuck up and get out of here, George, before I kill you.”
His eyes widen as he scrambles to his feet. “We’re allies. You wouldn’t kill your ally for a plaything like her.”
“I wouldn’t… but for my wife, I would.”
My body tenses. What does Gabriel mean by that?
George scoffs. “Your wife? She’s not your wife.”
“Not yet. But she will be. I can’t have other men, like yourself, putting your hands onto her. You deserve to die for that but I’ll be generous. I’ll let you go just this once. Don’t ever touch Aurora again or if you do, I will kill you.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Gabriel grabs George’s shirt and yanks him close. “Do I look serious enough for you?”
George’s swallow is visible. “Yes.”
“So, then go.” He pushes George down the hallway. With one last glare in my direction, George leaves. Gabriel takes in a deep breath before he turns to me. I scramble to my feet. His expression is cold and dark but then slowly, it turns soft. Gently, he touches my cheek. “Did he hurt you?”
I don’t move, even though I should. The last thing Gabriel can do is touch me gently like this. It’s only going to confuse me more. “He slapped me.”
“That fucker. I should have killed him.” He drops his hand and looks between me and his bedroom door. “What do you think you were doing?”
I don’t say a word.
“Aurora.”
“I was just exploring.”
“I told you to go back to your room.”
“But you also told me I’m allowed to go anywhere in this house.”
“Except for my bedroom. I said that explicitly and yet, here you are, standing in front of the door.”
“I didn’t go in.”
“So then why are you standing here?”
“Because… George found me. He hurt me. He wanted to…”
Gabriel’s eyes tense. “He wanted to rape you, was that it?”
“Yes,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut, wanting to forget what almost just happened.
“You should have just stayed in your room and then none of this would have happened. I should spank you for your disobedience.”
“Then why don’t you?” I snap, opening my eyes to meet his.
He doesn’t give me an answer. “Just go back to your room.”
“No. You said if I was your wife. What did you mean by that?”
“I’m going to make you my wife.” He says it so simply. So plainly as if it’s just another day like any other day.
“Your… wife. But… why?”
“Because I can’t have these other men touching you. If we’re married, they’ll know you’re off limits. So, you will become my wife. That is decided.”
“No. It’s not decided. I don’t want to marry you.”
“You’re my prisoner, Aurora. You don’t get a say anymore.”
I gasp. “Nothing in my life is my own now. That’s what you’re saying. How dare you. You’re evil.”
“We will be bound for life.”
“But why? Why do you want to marry me? You hate me or you wouldn’t treat me like this.”
“I told you: I’m a possessive man. If marrying you prevents others from taking you, then so be it. I will marry you. Now go back to your room.” When I don’t move, he grabs my shoulders. “Or I will carry you back. Either way, go.”
With a gasp, I pull away from him and run back to my room. It takes me a moment given all the twisting and confusing hallways but once I make it back, I slam the door shut and crumble to the floor, crying everything out of me.
My life is not my own anymore. It’s Gabriel’s and he’s making sure I know that.
When I wake up in the morning, I’m confronted by the sight of wedding dresses. Three wedding dresses are hanging on the wall, all in pristine condition. I shudder at the thought of someone coming in here at night to do this while I was asleep.
Each wedding dress is different from the other.
One is traditional – more of a princess style with a large skirt and a tight bodice and long sleeves.
The second is a silk gown with no lace. Simple and no frills.
The third gown is covered with lace and has a mermaid style flare out skirt.
Each dress is beautiful but I hate them all.
Gabriel wants to marry me to ‘protect’ me as he claims but I don’t believe that. He just wants to marry me to control me even more. I have nothing to offer a man like him. No money, no power, no family connections. I am just… me.
I can’t do this. It was one thing to be his prisoner but to be his wife? Will he expect certain things of me? He already thinks he owns my body but he hasn’t truly touched me. Just when he placed his hand between my legs. But he never moved his hand. Just kept it there.
Will Gabriel do more to me if we’re married? Surely. I can’t be raped every day of my life. I’ll die.
I cannot marry Gabriel. I need to see my father again. I need to tell him what’s happening before it’s too late.
Maybe he and I can find a way to run away together. We don’t have the money but I’m willing to go into debt to get out of the country. If it means escaping Gabriel.
I change into one of the summer dresses in the closet – there’s no pants, I notice. Only skirts and dresses like the little doll Gabriel wants me to be. I have too much self-respect to marry Gabriel. I have to fight.
The house is quiet after last night’s party. Everyone left. Now it’s just me, Gabriel, and the staff.
Right now, there’s no one guarding the front door. This is my chance.
I don’t hesitate to swing the door open and run outside. The fresh air tastes like freedom as I run and run as fast as I can away from the mansion. The road is decorated with trees on other side. I keep to the trees in case Gabriel comes out searching for me.
It takes me over an hour but I finally make it back to my home. The rundown little cottage. It may be small and ugly compared to Gabriel’s mansion but my father and I made a lot of good memories here. There’s love in these walls.
I rush inside the house to find it quiet and dark. Going into my father’s room, I find him curled into a ball, looking close to death. His skin is gaunt and his lips are cracked. Is he killing himself without me here?
“Dad?” I whisper.
His eyes crack open and they widen when they see me. “Aurora? You’re here? This is a dream.”
“No, it’s not a dream. I’m really here. I’m really here.” I wrap my arms around him, feeling how frail he is. “Have you lost weight? Have you been eating?”
“I’ve kept to this bed. Life is not worth living when I don’t have you in it. Aurora, I lost you.”
“But I’m here now and we have to leave. Right now.”
“And go where? Where will we go that Gabriel will never find us?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Surely once we’re out of the country, he won’t care. But we have to leave before he finds us here. He wants to marry me, Dad.”
His already stiff body turns stiffer. “What?”
“He wants to marry me. If he does that, I’ll be bound to him forever. We’ll never see each other again. I can’t do that. I need you in my life. So let’s go. Now. Any little money we have left. We leave Italy. We get out and start somewhere new.”
Before he can give me an answer, a loud bang comes from the front room. Heavy footsteps sound on the floor until Gabriel appears in the doorway.
“I knew I’d find you here,” he growls. Grabbing my arms, he tears me away from my dad. “I warned you, Aurora. I told you I’d kill your dad if you ran.” He pulls a gun out of his jacket and aims it at my dad’s head.
“No!” I scream, running in front of the barrel.
“If you shoot him, you’ll have to shoot me too.
I will not let you kill my dad. I… I will marry you.
Right now. I will marry you right now if you don’t kill my father.
I will not put up a fight. I will be yours…
forever.” The words taste sour on my tongue.
Gabriel tilts his head to the side, gazing at me. “You’re a surprise, Aurora. Always so selfless when it comes to your father. How are you capable of it? Your bravery. Most people would never get between me and a gun and my target. And yet, you do it without any hesitation.”
“To save my father’s life, I would do anything. But you have to promise to let me see him.”
He scoffs. “Why would I do that? I don’t give a fuck about your father’s life. I only care about you.”
“You don’t care about me. Doing this to another person is not care. It’s not love.”
“Whoever spoke of love? Love is a weakness. Love only gets people hurt. You are mine, Aurora, but it’s not out of love. It’s possession. You are mine because I say so.”