He laughs. “Forgive me, I’m just worried that you’ll offer me a blowjob and tear my cock off with your teeth.”
I sit at the edge of the bed. His words sting even though I know that he's being hyperbolic.
I take a deep breath and roll my eyes. “You are the most paranoid person I’ve ever met.”
“That’s probably true.” He shrugs, holding up his finger. “However, your behavior is strange. Everything has shifted in this castle now that Marco is dead. I could simply drop you off at the airport and send you back home. I could stop forcing your family to pay my family money. You’re intelligent; I’m sure you’ve thought of this. But you haven’t asked. Instead, you flirt with me.”
“I didn’t want to overwhelm you with those questions yesterday. And I thought you made it clear that I am still a prisoner here by having Antonio follow me around. But now that you bring it up, can you take me home? Can you stop taking money from us?”
“I can’t.” He doesn’t hesitate. “It’s about optics, Sofia. If I sent you home or helped your family, it would make me look weak. And that is not something I can afford right now with my new position.” He sighs and walks over to the mirror, checking his appearance quickly before turning back to me with his hand on the bedroom doorknob.
“Fine.” I cross my arms and legs, looking towards the corner of the room to hide the emotion on my face.
I look back towards him and I’m surprised to see him still standing there, his hand still on the door. He’s analyzing me the same way he was before. But he looks more confused. Pained.
Then, before I can open my mouth to say something, he’s out of the bedroom.
I take a few moments to collect myself. I need to stop letting my feelings get the better of me. This is nothing but an intense schoolgirl crush, and I need to get my head in the game and focus on getting out of this place. I take a few deep breaths, throw on some leggings and a sweatshirt and then make my way out of the bedroom, putting my focus on how I can use this new location to my advantage.
I walked around and explored yesterday, and even though we’re on the first floor now, there’s that issue of the cliff where if Icracked a window open, there’s nowhere safe for me to land. And there’s the insane number of guards keeping others out and me stuck in here. He no longer has two to four guards standing outside; it’s a small army. However, despite it being harder for me to escape, this is a much nicer prison.
I head to the kitchen and figure out breakfast first—we have live-in staff that haven’t batted an eye at the change in clientele so figuring out how to get food won’t be difficult.
But I find Elena in the kitchen, picking at a pastry. I pause, knowing that she wanted nothing to do with me yesterday, but I don’t think it was anything personal. She is mourning, and I want to respect her space.
She stops me before I can politely turn around and leave her alone.
“Hello, Sofia.” Her green eyes look me up and down.
“Morning.” I take a seat across from her and grab a croissant and a banana from the baskets in front of her. “How are you?”
She pauses with a piece of pastry before taking a bite. “Confused.”
I nod. “From the tiny amount Alessandro told me about his childhood, that’s not surprising.”
She gasps. “He actually talked to you?”
“I pissed him off enough to rant one evening.” I don’t mention last night; that seems too intimate to share.
“And what did he say?”
“That Marco hated and isolated him, but loved you.”
She looks incredulous. “Loved? Is that what he said?”
I shrug. “I only know that Alessandro was banished from this wing, but you grew up with Marco. I’m assuming he favored you because you were his biological child.”
“That sounds better.”
I peel my banana open and take a bite.
“How are you doing?”
“Part of me is happy he’s dead, and part of me mourns him. Fucked up, isn’t it?”
I shrug. “My barometer for fucked up is different from it was a couple of months ago. I’m not the right person to ask.” She smirks. “Are you angry with Alessandro?”
“It’s complicated, but Alessandro deserved his revenge.”
