POV: KATHERINA
Becky started coming over often, and I didn’t mind since she was great company. I helped her in planting more plants in the backyard and pruning the creepers as she told me stories of ex-boyfriends.
She was brought up by her aunt and uncle after her parents died when she was young. During junior high, she lost her uncle to cancer, and at the age of eighteen, she lost her aunt to the same disease.
She had to drop out of school and start working. Since her aunt had taught her about plants, being a gardener seemed less horrible than working in a bar with pervs trying to hit on you.
It was evening when I noticed the maids cleaning the other three rooms that were always locked. I peeked into the rooms to notice they were nothing but guest rooms.
One of the maids told me that Luca had asked them to clean them, so I believe he’d invited his criminal friends to stay over. I didn’t care as far as they stayed the fuck away from me.
Otherwise, I might lose my shit and hurt them worse than I hurt Cruz.
Christmas is around the corner, and by this time, I would’ve been helping Mom with the preparations, so everything would go according to plan, but here I am, stuck with Luca.
By now, the snow would’ve started to fall in Bridgehills, with the kids anxiously waiting for the holidays.
Arabella loves playing in the snow, but Mom would always be worried about frostbite and make her wear layers of clothes, resulting in her looking like a snowman while she made one with Dad.
With her extra clothing, she would roll in the snow like a ball. Dad had a hard time keeping her in check because, unlike Mom, he never scolded her. She always got away with her mischief.
Her favorite game was throwing snow on the fire while I roasted marshmallows. She later ran and hid behind Dad, giggling all the while, so I wouldn’t catch her.
How I missed all of that.
I sighed and leaned back on the window. It’s becoming harder to get used to this life, even though I’m getting used to Luca and his ways.
I haven’t submitted myself to him, but I’ve accepted this lifestyle as the only way to keep myself and my parents alive.
Whatever cruelty Luca has shown me is just a fraction of what he is capable of, and I have yet to see his full evilness, but I would not want to provoke him.
I’ve seen that he’s satisfied with me, that I no longer try to escape or defy him all the time. But he also knows that I’m playing my cards close to my chest, though they turn to his favor, mostly.
As hard as it was to be away from my family, it was becoming even harder not to want Luca. It wasn’t just carnal feelings I had in me. If it was, I’d be a whore.
It was more like I was yearning for something from him, something so deep inside him that even if I dug into his flesh with my bare hands, I wouldn’t find it.
But I felt it all the times when he was around me, when he touched me, and even when he looked at me.
He’s becoming more of a mystery than a puzzle, and I don’t really know where all this will take me in the future.
***
Luca let me get out of his house when he noticed I was turning grumpy and gloomy day by day.
The main guard, Victor, was in charge of taking me anywhere I wanted to go, and he followed me like a shadow as I aimlessly wandered Rome. It felt good to be outside.
He didn’t really care that I was spending his illegal money on frivolous things, mostly food. I had fast food since the maids always prepared Italian dishes at home.
I walked down the street aimlessly, tasting the short-term freedom. The weather was humid when we left the house in the morning, and by evening it became cold.
We ended up in a mall, and I bought cosmetics and expensive gowns, even though I knew I had nowhere to wear them. Victor was carrying heavy bags after only a couple of stores.
I ate some ice cream and drank fresh juice, getting sick of Victor being my shadow, even though he was doing only his duty.
When the bags kept piling up, he called a valet and handed them over to him. I brought a lot of snacks and cookies, and Victor awkwardly followed along, pushing a shopping cart.
“Where is the pharmacy?” I asked him.
“Is there a problem, ma’am? Do I need to call the boss?” Victor’s voice was suddenly tense.
“No, Victor. I just want to buy some things. You know…girl products.”
“Y-yeah, this way, please.”
He saw no need to stay behind me in the pharmacy, but he stood at the end of the aisle when I entered the pad and tampon section. He stood there awkwardly, looking everywhere but at me.
Chuckling to myself, I picked up my necessary items before paying for them and leaving the pharmacy.
In spite of eating a lot that morning, I was hungry from all the shopping and asked Victor to take me to a restaurant, and he immediately headed to Morte.
I asked him to take me anywhere Luca didn’t own, but he refused since it was Luca’s order.
Instead of Morte, he brought me to a cozy restaurant situated in a crowded market. It belonged to Luca, and I was sure it was a front for something, though I dared not ask.
With Victor’s enormous physique, the crowd parted before us, and I wasn’t squeezed and jostled.
I had chicken kebab and spaghetti while Victor just had a cup of coffee and kept typing on his phone, probably informing Luca about our whereabouts.
Once I was done, we walked through the crowded market to the parking lot, my eyes looking at the stores and everything around.
I was randomly looking around, not really wanting to buy anything since I already bought a lot of stuff I didn’t even need, just to spend his money.
That’s when I glanced through a restaurant window, and my eyes fell upon a familiar person. I almost thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I could never mistake those ocean eyes.
I choked on my sob that came out suddenly and clasped my hand to my mouth before I could turn into a crying mess.
I didn’t realize I had stopped walking while I tried not to stare at the person and concentrated on my breathing.
“Ma’am, are you all right?” Victor came up in front of me, his hands clutching my shoulders.
“Yes,” I said, giving him a quiet smile. “It’s the crowd. It’s making me breathless. Could you get me some water, please?” I asked.
Victor hesitated when I slumped down on the pavement. But when he saw a lonely tear slip out of my eye, he cursed under his breath, ordered me to stay right there, and disappeared into the crowd.
I remained seated for a few seconds before getting up and sprinting toward the restaurant, not caring that I was pushing the people out of the way.
I pulled the door open, our eyes connected immediately.
“Chris!”
Chris stared at me with surprise, shock, and relief. I was too stunned to do anything, and that’s when I realized he was sitting in a wheelchair.
“What… what happened?”
“He hit him too hard, Kat, which has paralyzed his legs,” Kevin said.
“Oh my God, I can’t—oh Chris!” I broke down and fell on my knees, placing my head on his lap, apologizing profusely, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. All my fault!”
“Shh, it’s all right. Look at me.” He lifted my head up, “I’m all right. I missed you, Kat.” He smiled sadly at me.
“I missed you too, Chris. I miss everything!”
His warm hands held both sides of my face as he leaned down.
“I came for you, baby. I came for you. I’m going to take you away from him, I promise.”
He hurriedly scribbled something on a tissue before giving it to me.
“It’s my number. I want you to call me. I’ll tell you everything,” he said gravely.
“Chris―”
“Kat, please. You need to leave. Your bodyguard has returned.” Kevin’s voice made me jump.
I looked through the window to see Victor with a bottle in his hand, already losing his wits when he didn’t find me.
“How do you know, where―”
“I’ll explain everything, Kat. Please go now,” Chris said.
I stood up and took a water bottle from the table. Pecking Chris on his cheek, I ran out of the Hotel. Victor’s eyes were zooming everywhere, searching for me furiously.
“Victor,” I called out, and his eyes immediately snapped at me. Relief flashed in his eyes but was soon replaced with worry.
“What happened?” His eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and I quickly wiped away the tears from my face.
“I’m fine. I was feeling suffocated. I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I was desperately in need of some water.” I showed the bottle to him.
He muttered a quick apology and took me out of the market, and drove straight to the estate.
Meeting Chris had reawakened the fury I had for Luca, and my mind reeled with guilt.
Once we reached the house, I went straight to the room I shared with Luca and got into the shower. The cold water drenched my clothes and body, and I finally cried.
I’d hoped that nothing like this would happen to Chris. I hoped so fucking much.
If only I had not tried to escape that night and called Chris for help, he wouldn’t have come looking for me, and Luca wouldn’t have done this to him.
I sat down on the cold floor and wrapped my arms around my thighs. This is all my fucking fault. I can’t do this anymore. I’m just not strong enough to deal with this.
If Luca ever learned that Chris was here and I knew about it, he would kill him and hurt my family.
There was no way out of this misery. Luca knew what he was doing all along, and my submission was the only thing that would stop all of this.
Luca had control over me, and I had a certain control over him too. It didn’t matter what he had in store, for once I submitted myself to him, I’d deal with it throughout my life.
But I could not let another person suffer because of my selfishness.
“Tesoro, open the door.” Luca’s voice came from the other side, making me tremble in fear.
I quickly got up from the floor, took the tissue Chris had given me, and hid it among my sanitary pads.
I then turned off the shower and was about to strip off my wet clothes when he pounded on the door again.
“Open the fucking door, Katherina.”
I quickly opened it. He looked pissed off, but when he laid eyes on me, his expression changed, and his furrows eased.
“Hey,” he said softly. “What happened?”
Without waiting for my reply, he went toward my closet and took a nightdress, and came to me.
“What are you, five?” he scolded, touching my cold cheeks before removing the wet clothes from my body.
He rubbed my wet body with a towel before slipping the dress on me.
I stayed quiet and let him, observing him all the while. Once I was dressed, he took my hand and made me sit on the tub, and rubbed my wet hair with a towel.
“Victor told me what happened. I’m going to punish him for taking you there.”
“No,” I said immediately. “It isn’t his fault. I didn’t want to go to Morte.”
He huffed in annoyance but said nothing.
“Come on, let’s have dinner.”
“I didn’t prepare anything,” I said, still not looking at him.
“We’ll just order something,” he said and took me downstairs.
I was quiet, so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear what he was saying.
I wanted to tell him that I was all his and that he should let my family go, but the words got stuck in my throat.
“Katherina.”
I looked at him. His face was calm, but his eyes were irritated.
“Tell me, Katherina, are you hiding something from me?”
His words sent a chill down my spine, but nevertheless, I kept my face neutral, showing no sign of fear.
“No, Luca,” I purposely said his name, knowing much he likes to hear it from me.
“After spending the whole day out, did you convince yourself that you could escape me after all?” He smirked, but the underlying threat in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by me.
“No,” I said and looked away, but his hand gripped my chin and forced me to look at him.
“Your eyes are red, and your attention isn’t on me. Your thoughts are keeping you from me. You’re sad. Tell me what it is,” he ordered.
“It’s nothing, Luca―”
“Tell me.”
“It’s noth―”
He gripped my neck and pushed me down to the couch. Even though he didn’t squeeze, the firm grip was threatening, and his eyes turned cold.
“Tell me.”
“I…” I’m yours. I submit. “I-I miss my family.” I stuttered the wrong words.
Luca’s eyebrows ceased, disappointment flashing across his face. He got off me and sat on the couch.
“Your family’s fine,” he said in a monotone and switched on the TV.
I didn’t say anything further, and he pulled me close to him. I laid my head on his chest and calmed my breathing. We said nothing for a while, just stared at the TV.
“Stop thinking, Katherina,” he said above me, and his finger rubbed my breast, trying to distract me.
I closed my eyes as his hand moved down and pulled up the nightdress. His hand traced on my thigh, and when it was about to slip into my panties, I spoke.
“I’m on my period.”
He pulled his hand away as if it had touched fire. I looked at him to see him scratching his head and avoiding my eyes. The doorbell rang, and he immediately shot up from the couch.
“That must be dinner,” he said and went to answer.