CHAPTER 7 - ACCEPT

Nico grunted in pain. 

Kara felt his body went rigid and was afraid of the repercussions of her actions. 

To save herself from his wrath, she pushed him away and raced through the main door. 

She opened it, relieved that escape was right at her fingertips.

But when she stepped out, a spotlight focused on her. She was momentarily blinded.   Kara lifted her hand to protect her eyes.  At this time, armed men swarmed around her. 

She was so shocked. She froze in place. 

“Don’t come near me.” She warned them.  

She was surprised when they followed her order. They did not touch her and kept their distance, but they stood in a semi-circle around her, preventing her from going further from the house. 

She thought it was because they feared her, but who was she deluding?  

Kara did not need confirmation. A moment later, she felt Nico’s hands on her shoulders. 

She shuddered when he bent his head, his breath fanning the back of her ears while he spoke in a deadly voice. 

It was so full of venom like he just lost the last ounce of his patience with her.  

“Get back in the house, Ms. Baxter.” 

She bit her lip and ignored him. She would rather die trying to escape than allow this man to cage her in this g*d-forsaken house against his will.  

Shutting him out, she ducked under the spread arms of two black-suited men and was surprised they did not stop her. 

She saw the gate and raced through it. She unlatched the gate and pushed it out, but nothing happened. 

The door won’t budge. 

Then, she heard footsteps. The slow, measured sound of shoe soles alternately hitting the floor created a rhythm that matched the rise and fall of her chest. 

It started slow, but now it was thudding fast and hard. 

Kara felt trapped.  

But she persisted. She pushed harder.  The urgency to flee and get as far away from Nico Bernardi was of prime importance to her. She can not stay here under any circumstances.  

She has to leave.  

“The more you push the door, the harder the locks would cleave through each other.” Came the observation from the man she so desperately wanted to get away from. 

“Come on, Ms. Baxter.  Playtime is over.  The staff needs to rest.” 

The suggestion that she was an errant child on a tantrum rankled.  She viciously ground out her teeth in anger. 

“They are not your staff.  They are your private army.” She said contemptuously, still refusing to turn around and look at him. 

“And so?  Keeping a private army is not endemic to just me.”  Kara’s shoulders stiffened. This was close to admitting that he was a mob boss. 

She bit her lip, her eyes misting. 

“Ms. Baxter, every businessman needs to protect his interests.  The police can not do that for us, so we do it for ourselves.” He was explaining, but Kara won’t buy it. 

She knew he was more than what he played out to be.  

He was a monster cloaked in a business suit and refinement. 

But before she could argue her point, she felt something drop beside her. She looked down and was shocked when she was bent from the waist and hoisted to Nico Bernardi’s shoulders. 

Now, she was hanging upside down like a sack on his broad shoulder.  She thrashed and kicked, all to no avail because Nico Bernardi’s arms clamped her legs. 

“Get your hands off me.  Let me go!”  Kara shrieked, but it fell on deaf ears. 

“Help me! Help me!” She cried out, but nobody came to her rescue.  

Nobody said a word. 

Nico Bernardi’s bodyguards turned a blind eye.  They each averted their gaze. 

“You are so noisy!”  Nico Bernardi grumbled before she was abruptly released.

She thought she would fall and hit her head on the floor. 

Scared s*itless, Kara grasped Nico Bernardi’s waist to keep from falling. She clung to him like a Koala. 

She heard his scornful laugh, and her temper flared. 

“You think this was amusing?” She challenged while she held on to him for dear life. 

She felt nauseate at being carried like a sack with her hair sticking down from her head when at last, he stopped.  

Nico tossed her unceremoniously to the bed.  

The bed bounced with her weight.   Kara dug her heels, propped her elbows and thrust her hips to get him off her, but Nico Bernardi was stronger. He sat on her legs, trapping her. 

In the end, her position forced her to lie on her back with Nico Bernardi hovering over her, his legs straddling her hips. 

She could feel his cr*tch in her lower belly and it alarmed her. 

“What are you doing? Get off me!” She shrieked, afraid that in his anger, he would take her forcibly despite his assurance earlier.  

“Let go!  Get off me!” She screamed, her shrill voice sounded hoarse even to her ears. 

She pummelled him with her hands.   

Nico staggered. He leaned back to keep his balance. His hands clutched the bed covers for support in gritted teeth. 

His expression becoming grim. 

Kara shrank back when he pulled her up. 

Instinctively, she covered her face at about the same time Nico Bernardi’s hands connected to her body.  

He angrily grabbed the balls of her shoulders, and he shook her hard. 

Kara felt like she was losing it. She thrashed on the bed, screaming at the top of her lungs.  

Nico had to slap her.  “Get a grip of yourself, Ms. Baxter!’  He shouted to her face. 

It was like a dousing of ice-cold water to Kara. For a moment, she was blinded by fear, anger, desolation, and mounting frustration about this whole thing. 

She massaged her stinging cheek with her palm when she came to her senses. 

“You are becoming more of a liability than an asset, Ms. Baxter. Please, do not test my patience so much.  You wouldn’t like it when I get angry.” He warned.

Then, he shoved her away. 

Kara scuttled like a frightened rabbit. She went as far away from him as possible and curved into a ball, finding comfort in the crack between the edge of the bedboard and the nightstand. 

She crossed her arms around her torso, her legs curled with her knees raised. She turned fearful eyes at him. 

“Are you going to kill me?” She almost choked on the words. 

 Suddenly, she was more afraid of the prospect of dying than of staying in this h*ll-hole. 

Nico Bernardi cocked his brows.  “What do you think?”  His eyes were expressionless, but Kara felt her body recoil in fear. 

Then, he patted her cheek.  He picked the hair that clung to her wet cheeks and brushed her silky strands with his fingers. 

“If you will listen to me and do as I say, I promise not to hurt you again, Ms. Baxter.”  

Her vision blurred.  

“You will not kill me?” She hiccuped.  

“No. But you have to behave.  Don’t try to fight me on this, and nothing bad will happen to you.”  

Tears left her eyes to flow down her cheeks. 

Kara finally accepted it to herself.   There is nothing else to do but to accept her fate. 

She took a deep breath and nodded.  

“Okay.” 

Nico left her side. He went to the bathroom, and when he returned, he was holding a bath towel.  

“Wipe your face with this.”  He instructed. 

Kara took the towel and pressed its downy comfort to her cheeks.  She was still sniffing. 

When she finished, Nico Bernardi took the towel and put it away. 

“Rest. Tomorrow, we have something to do.” 

“What?” Her curiosity piqued, she asked.

Nico stopped. 

“We will return to Club Roman.” He replied after a while. 

Kara’s eyes grew round. 

“Are you going to bring me back?”  The wheels of her brain rolled. If Nico Bernardi were to return her, the Club would have to refund him. 

Then, what would become of her?

“Will I be sold to another patron of the Club?” She asked.

It never occurred to her that Club Roman implements a Lemon Law for all the women it auctioned where buyers can have a chance to return the goods if they don’t find it suited to their taste. Just like a defective car. 

She finds it difficult to breathe. What would happen to her if Nico would return her and get a refund? Will the organizers of the Club kill her, like what Kate Ash insinuated?

So many conjectures.  All painting an even uglier picture of her future. 

Nico watched the byplay of emotions on her face.  

He wanted to toy with her, but he figured, given her state of mind and the stress level she was in, it would only take a thread to make her snap. 

He almost pitied her.

Kara Baxter had no idea what hit her.  She was so unprepared of the many ev*ls that lurked in every corner of this world.  

The least he could do was to get her for himself.  At least, she would have a better trade with him than with anyone else. 

“I am not going back.” Her forceful voice cut into his thoughts. 

Nico took a deep breath.  

Kara Baxter is one testy girl.  If their circumstances were different... Nico did not want to dwell on it. 

“You do not have a choice on the matter Ms. Baxter. Club Roman imposed this rule when they started conducting their charity events.  You have to come back so I can assure them that I am happy with my purchase.”  He said, stressing the word happy, without smiling. 

“And you are not going to get a refund?” She asked.

She was so nervous for his answer. She grabbed her hands together and twisted the fingers. 

He looked hard on her.  He wanted her to sweat inside, but he figured she was emotionally drained already.  

He nodded.  “Then, do not give me any reason to get a refund.”  He told her, cutting the conversation between them. 

“Rest and be ready for tomorrow. “ he told her before opening the door to her room. 

But then he stopped abruptly as if he had forgotten something. 

Kara slid inside the comforter. She lifted her head when she saw him stop in his tracks. 

“What is it?” She asked, yawning. Her green eyes barely obscured when her eyelids were half-closed. 

Nico Bernardi felt his expression softened.  Kara Baxter looked like a child. So innocent and so beautiful!

“You can skip breakfast.  I know you are tired.”  Kara bit her lip and smiled wanly. 

Nico Bernardi knew he was being easy on her but could not help it. 

She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“But that is just for tomorrow. The succeeding mornings at seven sharp, I require you to be present for breakfast.  That is the rule here at the Castiliogne Villa.” He sounded stern, but he stopped when he saw her slumped back on the bed with her eyes closed. 

Nico shook his head and left. 

He proceeded to his room next door and called Bruno.

“Did you find anything about Rebecca?” He was direct to the point. 

When Bruno answered in the negative, he dropped the call and sighed wearily on his bed. 

“Rebecca.”  His lips uttered her name.  He felt stuck and powerless. 

He closed his eyes, trying to picture Rebecca, but all that his mind conjured was that little minx in the other room with the same green eyes and red bow lips that haunted him for a while.