My kidnapper has traces of the same accent.Are they all Italians?
“Am I in Italy?” I press.
He answers none of them.
“What can I call you?” I relent.
“Antonio,” he offers.
“What’s his name?” I push.
He knows exactly who I mean without my having to specify.
Antonio shakes his head. “It would be better if you stopped asking questions.”
“But how will I address people without knowing their names?”
His face softens slightly. “You’ll address everyone as Master and Madam.”
He pities me.My eyes burn.I’m literally a slave here.Self-pity floods my chest; tears spill down my cheeks.
The maid—Nivi—enters. Antonio turns toward her, nods, and leaves.
She dumps a heap of clothes on the floor.
“For you.”
Her accent is different from Antonio’s.
“Get dressed and come with me.”
I nod, wiping my face. I pick a dress from the heap. It doesn’t look worn, but there are deliberate cuts in it, clearly made by scissors.
I glance at Nivi. She’s watching me with a smirk.
“Wear it.” She gestures with her chin.
I nod. “Turn around or leave the room.”
I won’t change in front of her.
She lifts a brow. “No. You’ll change in front of me.”
I frown. She’s clearly bullying me. I swallow my rising frustration and start undressing. There are only two paths forward. Either I ride the wave or let the ocean swallow me. Either I tell myself I’ve stepped into a Cinderella story, or I curl up in a corner and weep because a princess is being treated like a slave. The second option would break me before my family finds me.
I pull off my T-shirt and drop it, then shimmy out of my trousers and set them aside, standing before her in my bra and panties. Nivi stares, stunned. She didn’t expect me to comply.
I pull on the half-sleeved dark blue dress with its off-white trim. The other maids wear matching off-white gloves, though I doubt I’ll get a pair. The hem reaches my knees. The cuts are across my thigh and stomach, revealing my white bra and panties beneath. It’s peak humiliation, but only if I let myself go there.
I’m just wearing a daring dress that happens to show off my pretty lingerie.
“Follow me,” she grits out.
I follow her out barefoot. Shoes, apparently, aren’t part of my uniform.Fantastic. A wonderful opportunity to roam barefoot. There are medicinal benefits, after all.
The first thing I notice outside my room is a sofa.So they do have furniture in this house. Just not for me.
I take in my surroundings. Three more rooms flank mine, and beyond them, a kitchen and sitting area. It feels like its own wing. At the far end of the corridor, a staircase rises. The front opens onto another hallway. To the left, a narrow passage leads to what looks like a room and another corridor beyond. Nivi guides me to the right. We cross a long, open hallway and reach the stairs. She leads me down.
