POV: KATHERINA
I woke up to the sound of the shower running in the bathroom. The room was bright, with sun rays invading through the window.
When I tried to get up, I ached dully, and my eyes fell on my naked body, which had a lot of bruises.
I walked to the mirror on the dressing table, and I flinched when my eyes found my reflection. My hair was a tangled mess, with marks and bruises all over my body.
Some of them were an ugly shade of red, some deep green, and swollen. My eyes were bloodshot, adorned with dark circles beneath.
I couldn’t help the tears that threatened to fall. I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror, and it had only been three days since he kidnapped me.
When the bathroom door opened, I immediately stiffened and watched him walk out with a white towel wrapped around his hips.
He looked at the empty bed and immediately looked around, finding me in front of his dressing table. He relaxed and walked toward me, his eyes roaming my body.
I remembered last night and the way I turned weak in his arms. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted all of me.
Last night, despite breaking my boyfriend’s legs, he managed to fuck my brain, possessing my mind and body.
I felt ashamed, not understanding what was happening to me, what he was doing to me. I quickly stepped away when he approached me.
“You didn’t pull away when I was fucking you on the wall last night. His words ignited a spark in my core, making me clench my thighs together.
He didn’t notice the action and came closer with his predator eyes boring into mine. I stepped back, but within a second, he pulled me roughly toward him and snaked his hand around my waist.
“Don’t touch me, you lowlife!” I hissed, staring into his eyes confidently.
He chuckled evilly, tightening his hold, and brought his face closer to me, trailing his nose in the crook of my neck.
“Good morning, tesoro,” he said dreamily before giving me a soft kiss. “You look beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” I spat. “Why, because you took me against my will and marked my body?”
He looked at me in the mirror and ran his eyes over my bruised body. “If you recall, you gave in to me last night, before and after your punishment for escaping me.
“And you could have the ugliest scars on your body and even put on weight. I don’t care. You’ll still look beautiful to me because you don’t see what I see when I look at you.”
“I didn’t give in. I gave up because no matter what, you would not listen to me.”
“And it did cut the mustard,” he said and released me, heading to his closet.
I ran to the washroom and cried in the shower, missing my family and friends. There was nothing I could do. I was hopeless and helpless.
It had already started to feel like there was no escape from him whatsoever, and the sooner I realized that, the sooner I could get adjusted to him and keep my family alive.
When I walked out of the shower, the room was empty, with Luca’s cologne lingering in the air.
I opened the closet and surprisingly found it stocked with the same clothes I’d found in the other room when I was locked in.
I wore pajamas and went down to the living room. Luca and Rickard were in the kitchen.
I looked around at the perfect living room, my eyes lingering hard on the spot where Chris said, screaming his lungs out, clutching his broken legs.
I feared what else he may have done to him and couldn’t shake the horrible images in my head.
Luca knew Chris wanted to become a football player, and in spite of that, he broke his legs. He not only taught me a lesson; he also ruined his career.
I couldn’t help the void that formed inside of me as my mind reeled with guilt.
I went into the kitchen. Luca looked at me and went back to spreading butter on the toast.
My stomach grumbled since I’d hardly eaten the day before. A part of me wished he would poison or kill me, but the thought of my family still alive out there pushed away those suicidal thoughts.
“Hello, Katherina,” Rickard said.
I ignored him and walked toward the fridge to get a bottle of water. I drank the water and closed the fridge.
Luca called me. He pushed the plate stacked up with buttered toast toward me. When I tried to ignore him too and walk away, he glared at me as if daring me to do so.
Reluctantly, I took the plate. He pointed at the stool next to him, and I sat down and ate my toast, not looking at either of them.
“Right, so Cruz and Emmalyn are in town, and they will be arranging the flight for us to leave tomorrow morning,” Rickard said to Luca.
“Is everything arranged?” Luca asked.
“Yes, it is. The sooner we leave, the better,” Rickard said and drank down his orange juice before getting off the stool.
“Bye, Katherina,” Rickard said, and I looked up at him. He gave me a quick smile and walked away, Luca following him.
I jumped, hearing that Luca would be leaving tomorrow.
“I’ll be back in the evening. Get ready. I’m taking you out,” said Luca.
I nodded my head.
“And I’m leaving the door open. Feel free to leave me if you want” He shrugged casually and left the house.
I stared at his fucking back, my teeth grinding.
***
“Seriously, Kat? Even a baby kicks better than you,” he said, giggling at me. I took the ball from the floor and threw it at him, hoping it would smack his face, but as always, he caught it.
With my nose in the air, I turned around and started walking out of the field, ignoring his calls from behind me.
“Oh c’mon!” He grabbed me from behind, making me squeal and hold on to him. He chuckled, gripping my waist firmly.
“Don’t be such a grump,” he said, pinching my nose in the process.
“Ouch! That hurts you, idiot!” I smacked his arm and withdrew myself from his grasp.
“Please, just this once, I swear I won’t tease you again,” he requested, holding the white and black ball at arm’s length, indicating me to take it.
“No, you always make fun of me,” I said, stomping my foot on the grass.
“I won’t this time,” he said,
I grunted in annoyance, taking the ball from his hand, which made him smirk in triumph.
He jogged back to the goalpost and stood ready as always. I sighed. Knowing I won’t be able to score.
“Not like that. Like this.” He showed me how to stand. I imitated his action, like always, “Now, kick as hard as you can.”
I rolled my eyes, making him shrug, give me a look that said, “I don’t give a shit,” and wait for me to kick.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could feel the air brushing my skin. It wasn’t too windy. Just a moderate air current.
I opened my eyes and looked down. Aiming for the ball that was in front of me, I took a step back.
Concentrate, Kat.
Letting loose, I swung my leg with all my force, making the ball fly up in the air in Chris’s direction.
I started grinning when I saw the ball flying with much more force than the previous ones. My grin faded when I noticed where it was going.
Chris, who was ready to catch the ball this time, stopped and folded his arms on his chest. His eyes shifted to me and the ball that wasn’t flying anywhere close to the goalpost.
It landed in the corner of the field.
“I’m not doing this anymore, Chris,” I said tiredly and sat down, watching him shake his head and walk toward me.
He sat down next to me, and stretched his legs. I lay down on the field, resting my head on his lap.
“You are good. You just need to make a little effort,” he said, caressing my hair as I watched the clear blue sky above.
“I don’t understand why you play this. Your sport is football. This is soccer.”
“I need to be fit, Kat. I even play basketball and cricket.”
“All you need is wrestling to stay fit because your football completely consists of tackling and fighting to snatch the damn ball from the opponent.”
Chris chuckled above me. “Wrestling is good too. I might consider it in the coming years.”
I hummed in response. I don’t really care if he wants to learn wrestling, but I am pretty sure I can’t watch him fight bloody with some wrestler.
Next year, by this time, we will leave town for college. Isabella wants to go to Paris to study fashion, and Anna wants to go to London for journalism.
Chris is leaving for Canada, having already decided to go to the University of Alberta for his future career in football.
With rich parents, and money, he can get in even without a scholarship, but Chris wants to work his way toward success in every aspect of his life.
He loves his life every much and wouldn’t care what others say.
I’m the only one who will leave for Old Petervilles, a town situated past Bridgehills. It’s eight hours away and the closest I can be to my family.
“I was wondering what happens once we’re done with college.”
“Come with me, simple,” he said.
“Simple? From which angle do you think it’s simple?” I asked.
“Simple from a lot of angles. You anyway need to get out of this small town, Kat. You have dreams, a lot of dreams, more than I do.
“The only thing that’s holding you back is your family, especially Arabella,” he stated.
“What? What does Ara have to do with this?” I asked, confusion lacing my features.
“She’s five. You’re the one who takes care of her. You love her so much you can’t be away from er.
“Also, even when your mother gets big jobs for a lot of money, she hardly makes enough for you guys and your Dad.”
I released a deep sigh. He chuckled before continuing.
“By the time you finish your masters, Ara will be ten, and your family can move out, selling your home. You could live your life and also help your family financially and be with Ara at all times.”
“How do you know Ara is so important to me?” I asked.
“I know how you think, baby” He smiled gently and placed a kiss on my forehead.
I woke up to the television’s noise. I remember the memory like it happened just yesterday.
In spite of trying hard to push away the happy memories I had in my past life, my mind wouldn’t cooperate, and I ended up remembering all of them.
Switching off the television, I looked at the wall clock and made my way upstairs to his room.
After a relaxing bath in the Jacuzzi, the Epsom salt soothing my tired muscles and bruises, I wore comfortable clothes, covering the marks on my body.
When Luca arrived, he looked at my attire and placed a kiss on my cheek before grabbing my hand and leading me to his car. Once we were buckled in, he took off under the cloudy sky.
The whole ride was silent. No one spoke a word. He acted as if there was no one sitting beside him. I welcomed the silence with open arms, feeling a lot better than ever.
When the car stopped in front of a restaurant, we got down, and Luca held my hand before we walked in like we were the most loving couple.
A part of me wanted to scream for help from the crowded restaurant who could easily outnumber Luca but waking up Luca’s monster is never a good decision.
He spotted his friends and walked over to them. I recognized Rickard, and the man and woman who were seated across from him must be Cruz and Emmalyn, from the conversation I’d heard earlier that morning.
Cruz has tattoos on his face, and some of them are visible through the open buttons in his shirt front. He looks a lot scarier than Luca, and absentmindedly, my hand tightened in Luca’s.
The girl beside him also looked similar to him, covered in ink. She had cat eyes sparkling under the restaurant’s lights, and when they fell upon me, she gave me a knowing grin.
“Cruz, Emmalyn,” Luca addressed them and sat down on the empty seat, motioning me to sit next to him.
Cruz’s eyes fell upon me, and he gave me a sinister smirk, which sent jolts of shiver down my spine. He looked so fucking scary.
I looked down at my hands, already suffering from capturing Luca’s eye. The last thing I wanted now was attention, though it’s never my intention.
“She’s the reason you want to leave town tomorrow?” asked Cruz, his voice deep and rough.
“Sheriff Newman would’ve got confirmation from Christopher that Luca is alive. He was specially appointed to deal with Luca’s case and came all the way to Bangkok to finish him.
“Bridgehills is a small town. It would make things easy for him,” Rickard explained.
“You blew up your identity for a whore. Are you crazy?” Cruz snapped at Luca. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Let’s order,” Luca stated calmly to Rickard, ignoring Cruz, who was staring down at him and me.
Once the waiter left after taking our orders, Rickard spoke again, “Before we go home, we need to head to London for some unfinished business.”
“Emmalyn and I are on it. We’ll take care of it,” Cruz said immediately.
“No, Luca will handle it. It should be him,” Rickard refused Cruz.
“He has already exposed himself to Sheriff Newman,” Emmalyn spoke for the first time. “London is big news. He can’t be known. Oh, the horror when the world learns he’s still alive.”
“No one will know, Emm,” Luca replied softly, and the waiter appeared with our food, silencing their talk.
I looked at the food in front of me. It was brownish purple, and I feared it was a baby octopus. I took the fork and poked it, unaware that Luca was watching me.
“You better fucking eat it before I fuck your ass on this table,” he hissed in my ear, making me tear the food and put a chunk of it in my mouth.
It tasted delicious—nothing like its appearance. Luca went back to his food when he saw me eating.
The rest of the conversation was in Italian, and even though I understood some of the words, it wasn’t enough for me to put them together and understand the sentences.
I ate little, losing my appetite, and Luca seemed to let it slide. No one tried to make any conversation with me, and I was fine with that.
At one point, I sat just in my chair, staring at the wall. I was deep in my thoughts, and was shaken by Luca getting out of his chair.
I got up too, seeing the plates empty, except for mine. The rest of them stood up too, ready to leave.
Luca bid goodbye to his friends, and Rick smiled at me politely. I quickly averted my eyes and followed Luca to his car. Rickard got in his car, and Cruz and Emmalyn got onto a bike.
Cruz gave me a scary smile before speeding out of the parking lot, the engine roaring over the wet roads.
It was drizzling outside when I rolled down the window, welcoming the cool breeze. Luca started the engine and drove toward his house.
I couldn’t help but hope that he wouldn’t drag me with him tomorrow or that Sheriff Newman would find him before then.
All of a sudden, his hand clutched my thigh. I saw him concentrating on the road, so I tried to move it away, but his grip tightened and held me in place.
His hand was warm as it moved up. When his finger brushed my crotch, I sucked in a deep breath.
He quickly slipped his hand inside my panties, and his finger started rubbing my clit furiously.
I should hate this. I should hate his touch, but I can’t. He was right when he said that a twisted part of me craves him even though it’s wrong.
I am no saint, and I hate him for everything he did to me, but when he touches me, there is nothing I can do to stop him. I don’t want to stop him either.
It’s fucking sick, and it makes me guilty and ashamed of myself.
“Luca, no.” I lied because I didn’t want him to know that I enjoy this as much as he knows I do.
Without a second thought, I removed his hand from my panties and pushed it away, immediately missing the touch. He slammed on the brakes, making the seatbelt dig into me.
“Next time you do that, I will break your hand,” came his calm voice.
He didn’t look at me. Instead, he stared at the road ahead, but his tight grip on the steering wheel was anything but calm.
I nodded my head obediently, and he started the engine and drove off faster than before.
When we reached his house, I got changed and came out of the washroom to see him wearing nothing but boxers. He looked at me in the mirror, his eyes wandering down my body.
“Strip,” he said.
My head snapped in his direction. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Strip,” he said, still looking at me in the mirror. Anger surged in me as I recalled last night’s events. I stood my ground.
“No,” I said and turned to walk away from him.
All of a sudden, I was shoved against the wall. My reflexes worked quicker this time, and I caught myself with both palms on the walls. I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
Just breathe, Kat. Just breathe.
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Katherina,” he hissed in my ear, trying to control his rage.
He took a step back and stood with his arms folded, waiting for me. My hand went behind me and pulled the zipper down.
I removed my arms from the sleeves, letting the cloth fall to the ground. Then came my bra and then my underwear. I stood still with my eyes closed, breathing heavily.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
I slowly turned with my head down and eyes still closed. His arm wrapped around my bare waist, his hot breath fanning my face.
He walked backward, taking me with him. My eyes snapped open when I was pulled along and fell hard on his chest.
He smirked at me before reaching toward the headboard and placing his head on the pillow.
“It took all my control to keep from ripping your clothes off and fucking you on that restaurant table,” he whispered.
I kept quiet, ignoring the sensation rising inside me by watching the lotus tattoo on his neck.
He pulled me still higher by my hips so that I was looking straight into his cold eyes. The impact made me rub my chest against his.
I didn’t look away. Instead, I tried to find anything in his eyes other than lust and coldness, but he was amazing at masking his emotions. That is, if he had any.
His hands started to trail along my bare back, from the sides of my breasts to my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh.
“I love the feel of your skin on mine,” he said and flipped me over so that I was underneath his huge frame.
His head dipped into the crook of my neck and nuzzled the soft flesh.
“Be ready at five in the morning. Pack all your clothes and everything that’s necessary,” he said, caressing the length of my neck with his nose.
“Why?” My voice came out as a mere whisper even though I already knew the answer.
There goes my hope, down the fucking drain. I actually thought he’d leave for good. What the fuck was I thinking?
“Don’t question me.” He grunted in annoyance and pinched my hip.
“Okay.”