FOUR: MEETING LIYA

ALEHANDRIA

What kind of man was Leo Ferraro? One minute, he seemed caring, and tell next minute, he was the most cruel, most heartless person I had ever seen. What had I gotten myself into. It was obvious he had stripped me naked and then asked me to make my way alone to my room as a power play, to once again show me how weak and insignificant I was, and how powerful he was.

  My body shook violently as I tried to make my way to my room, and I tried to stifle my sobs. Something told me that my crying was beginning to get on Leo’s nerves, and I dreaded what he was going to do to me if he finally decided to punish me.

 It was easy to find the room he asked me to stay in, but – the room was dark.

   I was scared of the dark.

   I hit at the light switch to turn it on, but the bulb stayed off, and then the one in the hallway went off as well.

   A shiver ran through my body as the nights breeze danced around me. I screamed, and kept screaming. It took a while before I realized I had been calling Leo’s name – and he had not given me the permission.

   I felt powerful arms come around me, holding me from behind so that I could not move. I struggled against him, screaming Leo’s name over and over again till I heard Leo’s voice, sounding very angry.

   “What the fuck is wrong with you Alehandria? Would you be quiet for once.”

   I slumped against him in relief as I found out it was his arms that held me. He reached out his free hand and flicked the light switch, immediately, light flooded my room.

   I had been hitting the wrong switch.

   The light in the hallway had not gone out on its own, I had turned it off in my bid to turn on my room light.

   I turned around and buried my face in Leo’s chest, releasing the last of my pent up tears. I was safe, he was here, I was grateful.

   Leo seemed unmoved by my tears, and when I finally stepped away, his eyes were cold.

   He lifted a brow. “I see you’ve forgotten the rules so soon. Did I just here you calling out to me when I had not spoken to you?”

    A new fear slammed at me that was greater than my fear of the dark. Leo Ferraro could harm me far more than any imaginary monster could – if he wanted to.

   His eyes raked my naked form, taking in everything. “I should take you here, right now, passionately, violently. Maybe then, you’d stop crying at just everything – or maybe I should give you something to cry about.”

   I shook my head as more fresh tears poured. Even though my body craved his touch, I knew I would not survive it if he treated me like his whores. I would simply break – I did not even know how to kiss properly yet.

   And then I thought about what he meant by giving me a real reason to cry. My hands snatched frantically at my tears, trying to stop them.

    Leo shook his head. “Tomorrow, you meet Liya, and then later, I would let you know what your punishment is.”

    The next day, Leo took me to the other part of his mansion, the side that was decorated with children and baby things he had put in place for Liya.

   I could sense deep within me that he had spent so much money on baby things in order to make sure he kept Liya locked out, away in her own side of the house, away from him.

   I remembered how callously he had told me that he had had Liya’s mother killed.

   I tried to still my trembling for fear that it would annoy him. If he could so easily kill off the mother of his baby, what more could he do to me.

   “I would ask her current nanny to out you through on the schedule of how to take care of her,” Leo Sajd from beside me, his voice was cold, and he refused to even look at Liya.

   Liya was sleeping calmly, in her court, totally oblivious to what was going on around her.

   She was a beautiful child. At only five months, I could already tell she was going to grow up very beautifully. She had a whisper of golden curls, and her tiny cherubic face looked so beautiful, my heart melted.

   I could not understand how a father could turn his back on a daughter this beautiful, but then Leo was already known to be heartless.

   I sucked in a shaky breath, trying to steady my hands as I picked Liya up from the arms of her former nanny. I had entered into this contract marriage determined to love my husband, Leo, but the more I got to know Leo, the more I knew he would never love me.

   “Can I spend as much time as I want with Liya,” I asked in a shaky voice. I was already falling in love with the little sleeping beauty.

   Leo merely shrugged. “As long as I don’t want you around, you can stay with her.”

   I thanked him smiling. I was too happy to find out I could be with Liya whenever I wanted, I missed the insinuation in his wanting me around.

   The door opened, and a sturdy woman of middle age entered the Liya’s baby room.

   Ignoring me totally, she turned to face Leo. “Do I resign now boss, or should I train the little lady first?”

    Leo looked amused. “Little lady huh? Her name is Alehandria, and yes. You need to train her for at least one week before you are allowed to leave.”

   He turned then and was gone.

   The nanny’s name was Matilda, and I had not expected to

   The nanny’s name was Matilda, and I had not expected to us to become friends, but as soon as Leo turned and left, she transformed into a very friendly person.

   Matilda chatted away to me about Liya’s daily routine, and then, our conversation entered more darker matters.

   According to Matilda, Leo had broken more women than I had drunk a glass of water. He enjoyed hurting the emotions of women, as if pain gave him joy.

   I swallowed a tiny sob, scared at what I had gotten into because of my father’s bad debt. For a few seconds, I missed my father’s callousness before he died, that was way better than whatever I was going to face at Leo’s hand.

   The door opened suddenly and Leo’s powerful body filled the frame. His face was an expressionless mask, I had no idea if he had heard what we had been discussing – or if hearing it would make him angry. I was not sure about what made him angry anymore.

   Matilda excused herself, scurrying past him, and going out, leaving me alone to face Leo.

  “Alehandria, my Little mouse,” he said calmly. “It’s time for your punishment.”