“I know that isn’t good for your family, but do you know what his plan was before he met you?”
“What? Leave me in the dungeon so he can focus on reading and drawing and whatever else he does in that room?”
She snorts. “Exactly. But he didn’t end up doing that, now did he?” She looks at me with curiosity. There’s something about Elena that intimidates the hell out of me. She seems intelligent—one step ahead of everyone. And as a compulsive over-planner, I am so not used to that.
She gets up from the breakfast table, patting my arm as she walks out of the kitchen.
I fill my plate with more food, and look around, wondering if I should ask someone for something more substantial like eggs. My eyes meet a man who has been lingering in the dining room beyond the kitchen. I was so distracted by Elena that I barely paid any attention to him, but now I realize it looks like he’s been pretending to dust and not really working.
“Excuse me?” I ask, but he’s already walking towards me. “Can I get someone to make me an omelet, please?”
He ignores my question and continues taking steps until he’s unusually close. His dark eyes darting behind me, then he looks to make sure no one is following him. Then he smiles down at me.
“Miss Calabrese, I have been waiting so long to have this opportunity.” I panic, wondering what this man’s intentions are and wishing that Elena was still here. “I can relay any message you want to your family.”
Oh.
A sly smile spreads across my face as I try to think about what to tell them.
“Well, you can let them know Alessandro won’t hurt me. He’s given me nothing but empty threats since I moved in with him. In fact…” I think about this for a moment, then commit. “It should be safe for them to stop paying him altogether.”
Fuck him. He could have stopped all of this himself, but now I have to take matters into my own hands. And maybe if they stop paying him, he’ll give up and send me back home.
The only problem is—that thought fills me with a sense of loss and dread.
Chapter 23
Alessandro
Twothingshavehappenedsince I rejected Sofia's advances a little over a week ago: she started acting distant and her family stopped paying mine. Do they not care about her at all? I know I could never harm her for her family’s failures, but they don’t know that.
Antonio stands next to me to help me translate. I should be able to understand them fine enough, but I feel self-conscious only being able to respond using basic sentences and phrases.
I pinch the bridge of my nose as the video call rings, reminding myself that I need to pretend that I don’t care about her well-being for the next few minutes.
I’m greeted by her brother Max’s face alongside a man I haven’t met formally before, but I believe he was at the wedding.
“It has been over a week and no contact, no payment, nothing!” I bark, not bothering with any type of greeting.
Antonio relays the message.
“Oh, that’s a shame.” Max gives me a warm smile that almost seems genuine. What the hell is going on? The man next to him smirks.
“And who the fuck is this?”
“This is my cousin—”
“Nick Marino—”
“He’s the head of our human resources department here to smooth over any disagreements—” Max snickers.
“And Maxy here—”
“Do not call me that in front of this guy!”
Antonio leans close to me. “Are you getting this?”
“Yes… and also no.” I don’t know why they’re acting this way. Where is John Sr.?
