I turn to go. My stomach growls, and I consider that she might be hungry herself, so before I leave I look over my shoulder and tell her: “Someone will bring you food.”
“I’m not hungry,” she says.
“Youwilleat,” I insist. “Remember, you’re to do as I say.”
She doesn’t answer, biting her lower lip petulantly. The sight is oddly arousing.
“There are clothes in the wardrobe,” I tell her quickly, wanting to leave before I do something I might regret. “Feel free to change at your leisure.”
Her clothes have pretty much dried by now, like my own, so there isn’t really a pressing reason for her to change at the moment.
When she doesn’t answer, I just stare at her, unable to draw my eyes away from that lovely face. I wonder if she tastes the same as that night, so long ago…
“Is there anything else?” she asks sourly.
“Yeah, don’t fucking take that tone with me, not if you know what’s good for you,” I growl.
She starts, eyes widening like a deer in the headlights.
I leave, locking the door behind me. Heading toward my room, I peel off the long-sleeved black henley I’d layered above the T-shirt I wore at the racetrack. The henley grabs the hem of the balaclava and lifts it half off too, so I pull the mask away completely and run a hand through my hair. It feels good to get out of the scratchy, suffocating fabric.
I think about what happened in the room. Once again, I wasn’t actually angrywithher, but rather my reactiontoher. I don’t know why I find it so arousing when she stands up to me.
Maybe it’s because nobody ever does. Not anymore.
Whatever the case, I remind myself of the purpose she serves.
Keep your eye on the prize.
Vengeance is so close now, I can almost taste it.
Just a few more days.
4
Angela
Idon’t think I’ve ever been in so much trouble in my entire life. I need to get the hell out of here. I saw the way he was looking at me from behind that balaclava before he left. Blatantly eye fucking me like that, as if I was some sex toy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hungrily licked his lips whenever I wasn’t looking.
When I broke his trance by asking if there was anything else, he got so angry… I can still see the fury burning in his eyes. The death. I’m lucky he didn’t rape and kill me right then and there. Honestly, I didn’t think my tone wasthatcondescending. Hell, my voice was trembling as I spoke the words.
I guess it serves me right for playing with fire. He did say he wants to kill my father, and maybe my brothers and sister, so he’s not a man to toy with. I should just submit to him and do everything he asks, but I can’t, just can’t. I’m not going to allow him to touch a hair on Papa’s head. I’ll do everything in my power to stop him. Iwillfind a way to escape, and if not, I’ll get a message out to warn Papa. Somehow.
Still, something seems off about that big man. I can’t quite place it. The way he holds himself, his posture when he walks, it’s all somehow vaguely familiar. I know him from somewhere, I’m sure of it. I’m guessing he’s a disgruntled former employee. We’ve had a few of those in the past—I remember one guy who shot up our front gate a few years ago after he was let go. I’m not sure what happened to him, but I suspect either my father or my brothers tracked him down, because he never bothered us again.
And it makes sense that the guy worked for us. He’d have intimate details of our schedule, and know when I was going to be leaving the house. Then again, my trip to the Ippodromo was more of a last minute decision on my father’s part. That meant the kidnappers were watching the house, then. Waiting for the moment to strike. So I don’t know…
I sigh and get up. No point dwelling on it. I’ll never know his identity, not unless I tear off that balaclava of his. Not a good idea—that mask is probably the only thing keeping me alive. He’ll never let me go if I find out the identity of him or the other kidnapper. My father would hunt them down to the ends of the earth. So yeah.
I get up and try the door. Locked, unsurprisingly. I go to the window next. There are no bars, not even a screen. Past the well-spaced grapevines I can see the Tyrrhenian Sea in the distance, its persistent waves splashing against the sandy beach I ran across earlier. So near, yet so far. There are probably a few caves or rock outcrops further down the beach. Places I can hide, if I ever get away. I wonder if it’s really true that he owns the neighboring lands…
I open the outward swinging shutters and glance down. There’s no way to climb the smooth wall to the ground—no other windows, no cracks, no drainpipes, no trellises. The only way down is by jumping, but that’s not something I’d survive.
I crane my neck upwards, wondering if maybe I can attain the rooftop, but the roof is too far to jump to, and the wall between here and there is free of handholds.
I close my eyes and bow my head. There’s no escape. I’m truly and utterly trapped.
I gaze down once more. Leaping to my death is one way out… the final way.
