I inhale slowly and deep, leaning against the trunk, letting the deep breaths calm my ire, my embarrassment at being used as a pawn.I thought I could turn the tables, have him fall for me, or at least desire me and tell me what I wanted to learn.That he would care enough to keep his bet, to free my family of this debt.But I wasn’t the one pushing for marriage, it was him.Yet, he’s still with her, the blonde goddess of the Gallini family.My fucking life.
But nothing went as intended, too captivated by that magnanimous smile that he kept, I thought only for me, the way he protected me and drove me over the edge, time after time.A tear falls down my face.How am I ever supposed to explain this to my family.What will Desiree’s family do in retaliation to my family if they ever find out I’ve slept with her fiancée.Just thinking the word fiancée, even silently, makes me cringe with abhorrence.
Massimo’s voice yells in the distance.“Sophia!Come out.It’s not safe in the woods at this time of night.”
I let the tears slide down my cheek, pressing myself further into the trunk of the old oak, hoping to cleanse my emotions before I have to face the rest of what I must do.But first, I have to avoid Massimo at all costs because he’s not going to see me like this.No, the next time our eyes connect, he’ll see the Cassone enemy, face to face.
“Sophia!”he growls, stalking through the underbrush.Sounds of crackling twigs emit from the forest floor as boots stomp them in their haste to spread out and find me, until they dissipate into the distance, finally leaving me a little room to breathe.
Only when they are in the distance do I dare make a sound, hitting the roots from the tree to break off first one heel and then the other, keeping both as I begin to quietly and cautiously make my way through the forest and toward the wall that they believe will keep me in this prison.
My father allowed them to take me, didn’t send men to get me, and Massimo made a deal that he didn’t have the right to make, or intend to keep.That’s pretty clear now.If anyone is going to save me, it’s up to me.I have to be the one to save myself and make a life for Anna.
A loud voice closing in fast causes my heart to race.I slip beneath a bush growing low to the ground, pulling my legs in and curling them almost to my chest, all while trying not to make a sound.“She didn’t just fucking vanish!Fucking find her!”Massimo growls as a stampede of boots trample leaves and brush all around me while I pray that they will keep going on their way.
I wait a long time.They didn’t see me, and they were almost right on top of me, making this the safest place to be, at least for a while.When it’s darker, I make my move, slipping from beneath my temporary sanctuary to the next bush, and then the next, staying low and quiet, heading toward the fence that’s the furthest away from anyone standing at the entrance gates.
They may have cameras or security alarms, but I don’t give a fuck what they see as long as I can scale that thing and get to the other side, then all I have to do is run.And nobody I know runs faster than me.For me, running is like a religion, ten miles would be nothing if I weren’t in these shoes, but still, I’ll give them a run for their money.They won’t catch me; that’s for damn sure.I just have to get past this clearing to that gate and pull myself over the top.
I watch for a few moments from the edge of the forest, scanning the distance between me and that gate, wishing it were mowed and not densely covered with branches and leaves impeding my view, but there is no time to waste.I need to make it out of here during the night, because by day, they will find me for sure.
I inhale a deep breath and inch my way forward, using tree branches for cover, until they run out and there’s much more open distance ahead.A slight shift in the shadows alerts me to a guard, standing by a tree.This is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be.
I duck back into the cover of the forest and make my way through the dense brush until I can see him in front of me.Now I have the upper hand, and plan to use it well.If he planned to capture me, he shouldn’t be alone.I close the distance as stealthily as a cat, tiny little well-placed steps to avoid even the slightest crackle of leaves or branches until I reach the bastard who is in my way.
I place the blunt end of my heel against his back.“Don’t move or I’ll shoot.I have nothing to lose at this point, big guy.”I grab the gun tucked into the back of his waistband, not expecting him to spin around and flail, elbowing me in the eye.My head spins and I see black for a split second, but that’s all I need to put a round into his shoulder, sending him reeling to the ground in agony and pain.“Stay down and you live, come after me and you die.”
Then I run, closing the distance fast, getting to the edge of the fence, looking upward.Shoes will never work.I’m going to need the grip of my feet to balance me up these straight narrow bars while pulling myself up.I kick off my shoes and tuck the gun and heels in the bra lining of my dress, push against the bars with my feet, and pull myself up to the next crossbar, and then do it again until I can reach the top, dropping over the large fence as lights flash and alarms blare around the perimeter and I race like hell across the street and into the dense forest.
Free of the monsters on the other side of that gate, but not from the ones who roam in the night.I stand by a tree, not giving myself long, but enough time to catch my breath, and enough energy to begin my run toward the city.I glance upward in the distance, knowing his estate is about ten miles out of town, an easy run on the main highway with a pair of shoes, but not so much without any covering for my feet and sticks, rock, and pinecones on the forest floor.
Still, I have to move, or I’m going to be caught.I slide the gun out of my bra, thankful that at least Massimo had a guard I could take at the perimeter.If a deer jumps out at me, I’ll gladly step aside and let him by, but it’s the coyotes and bobcats I won’t see coming until they pounce on me like a monster in the night.Those, I might have to take out.Survival of the fittest when you’re walking the forest floor and I am determined as hell that it will be me.
The thought of getting torn in two by the gnashing teeth of a wild animal spurs me forward a little faster, weaving in and out of the brush, pushing it aside as I make my way towards the city that I know and love, and hopefully to the trail and highway that should be just on the other side of those trees in the distance if my recollection serves me correctly.
A crunch behind me causes me to stop in my tracks, and then not knowing what it is spurs me into action, a flat out run, damn the splinters and torn feet because getting ripped to shreds by a gaping mouth hungry for its next meal would be far worse.A tree root sends me into the air, landing me on my belly while gasping for air.
And then I hear a sound and turn quickly, trying to get my gun pointing into the air at the shadow coming out of the trees.He pounces like the monster he is, taking my gun arm to the ground, a knee between my legs as he holds my torso still to wrestle the gun from my unwilling hands.“Let me go!”I scream.
“Shh ...kitten.I told you, if you run, I’ll always chase you.”
“Tell your father I fled, that you couldn’t find me.Let me go back to my life,” I plead.
He strokes a finger down my cheeks and touches the skin around my eye before caressing it carefully with his finger.“You’re bleeding.What happened, kitten?”
“Get off of me, Massimo, and let me go.You’ve had your fun at my expense.Somehow, we’ll find the money to pay the debt, but I don’t want to stay with you.”
His arms are like bands of fucking steel and they tighten around me.“Desiree is not my fiancée.”
I find it hard to speak.I heard his father.“I don’t fucking care.”
“You’re a little liar, kitten.A jealous little kitten with tremendously vicious claws.”
“Which I intend to use on you if you don’t get off of me, Massimo Roselli!”
His weight is heavy but not as heavy as if he weren’t holding himself above me so as not to crush me.Small fucking favor though it is.His eyes meet mine, holding my eyes captured with that powerful gaze.“You’re going to hear me out, and we’re going to stay here until you do.”
I avert my eyes with effort, looking out to the forest floor and beyond him.“Talk all you want, Massimo.You being engaged, it changes everything.I’m not that person.Those promises of commitment and vows, they fucking mean something.Well, if you’re not a monster they do.It’s my fault.I always knew who you really were.I mean all the tabloids and whispers from the soldiers about you couldn’t be that far off, right?”
