Chapter 4

Chiara

Alessio and I entered his mansion after listening to his rules.

At that moment I was aware of two things: the mansion was much larger and more luxurious than any of the mansions my father owned in Italy; Alessandro D'Amato must have more money than God.

“This property was built in...”

“I'm not interested in knowing anything about your house,” I said curtly, and Alessandro raised his eyebrows. “I'm not interested in knowing anything about this place; just take me to the dungeon where you plan to lock me up.”

Alessandro looked at his men, and they immediately walked away.

That gesture put me on my guard.

I swallowed saliva but stood my ground firmly.

“Your sharp tongue will always be a delight to me, Chiara,” Alessandro said in a more relaxed tone of voice, the same one he had used with me in the Greco's garden, and I frowned. “You can be sarcastic, direct, and obnoxious if you feel like it, but I warn you of something: get used to this space. If you're smart, you'd get familiar with the house you're going to live in for the rest of your life.”

The veiled threat made me move closer towards Alessandro, and I touched his chest with my finger forcefully and pointed it at him with malice aforethought.

“First, I kill myself before I spend my whole life by your side. I told you, Alessandro D'Amato, I will never be yours,” I told him firmly. “You are the one who must take heed of that warning. You don't know me.”

Alessandro smiled in a way that made me shiver.

From one moment to the next he pushed me against the wall, and I was surprised. I tried to push him away with all my might, but I couldn't move him a millimeter. All Alessandro did was move closer to my neck and sniff him hard.

“When you become defiant, you smell so much better,” Alessandro whispered in a tone of voice so throaty that my skin crawled with goose bumps. “That smell is addictive.”

My heart began to race, and my body heated up.

Alessandro turned away from me quickly, and I looked into his eyes in surprise.

For a second, I saw his eyes turn an unnatural golden color, so I shook my head, and when I refocused, his eyes were a natural gray. 

“Don't you ever come near me like that again, you fucking kidnapper,” I said hesitantly.

Alessandro laughed.

“What did I do?” asked Alessandro mockingly as he raised his hands in derision. “I didn't do anything.”

“I swear on my mother I'll cut your balls off in your sleep!” I said angrily.

“It will be a pleasure to see you try, Chiara,” Alessandro said humorously. “That means you'll feel like crawling into my bed.”

I opened my mouth in surprise at Alessandro's impudence, and just as I was about to respond in the worst way, an older woman, maybe in her 60s, appeared in the living room. She had dark hair with lots of gray, was plump, and smiled in a friendly way.

Seeing her like that, with that peaceful countenance, I remembered my late maternal grandmother.

Don't fall into the trap of condescension, I thought firmly.

“Is she Miss Moretti?” the woman asked in marked English.

“Yes,” Alessandro said to the woman without taking his eyes off me. “Loreta is the housekeeper of this house and will take care of you while I am away. She is a trustworthy person that is important to me, to the point of considering her a mother. If you have any questions or requirements, you can let her know.”

Alessandro's veiled warning not to attack Loreta was not lost on me, so I looked at the woman, and she nodded with a faint smile.

“Can you show me where my room is?” I asked Loreta gently, and she nodded; however, she looked to Alessandro for permission to do so. “Please! I'm not asking for anything out of the ordinary; besides, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Alessandro nodded, and I followed Loreta.

She had me walk to the end of the hall, and I climbed an imperial staircase.

“Let's go to the right; at the end of the hall is your room,” Loreta said. “Alessandro sent us to adapt the room to his liking. We didn't have much time to do it, so if you need anything, just tell me.”

I frowned.

I followed Loreta to the white door at the end of the hallway, and she hurriedly opened it.

When I walked in, for a moment I thought I was looking at my P*******t board.

I opened my mouth in surprise to see that the room was twice the size of the apartment I was renting in Brooklyn. It had a large bed and comfortable armchairs that matched the color of the wood of the bed. There was a small bookcase full of books and an office area with a mini-bar.

Decorations, pictures with quotes from books, and paintings that I liked surrounded everything.

“The lord made us do magic,” Loreta said humorously, and I looked at her with raised eyebrows. “You're going to be fine here; if you need anything, pull the cord next to the bed.”

Loreta left me alone in the room, and I couldn't understand how they had suited this space to my liking.

I had a bad feeling.

I went to the bathroom and had everything I liked, from the Korean skin care I wanted to buy to my favorite shampoo. There was absolutely nothing missing that a woman could possibly need.

“This man is insane.”

I took a quick shower and tried to sleep, but insomnia and mistrust prevented it.

I couldn't rest in an unfamiliar place; it was impossible, and I felt trapped.

By the time it was time for lunch, Alessandro came into the room with a tray of food and found me trying to decipher a romance book that was written in Italian. It was the only book that was not in English, and I found it the most curious of all.

“I brought you lunch,” Alessandro said, and I ignored him. “I think you'll like Loreta's food. There's a pasta carbonara, a medium-rare steak with arugula salad, bread, and gelato. I can't eat with you today due to having to go to Palermo.”

Alessandro put food on the table nearby, and I ignored him even though I knew they were my favorite foods.

“After we eat, Loreta can show you all the nooks and crannies of the house and—”

“I don't want to meet my kidnapper's house,” I said angrily, and Alessandro smiled.

“I am a man who gets what he wants, Chiara. And I want you,” Alessandro said, and I laughed sarcastically. “At some point you will understand.”

“I don't want a man like you,” I said briskly.

Alessandro tensed and nodded.

“Well, I see I'll have to give you space to handle your hostility,” Alessandro said, and I scoffed.

“Listen well because you don't seem to understand: I will never be yours!”

He simply shrugged his shoulders. “We'll see, amore mio.”

Alessandro left the room, and I angrily threw a cushion at him.

By the time it got dark, I couldn't stand to be inside the room, so I went downstairs to get to know the house and escape routes a bit with the excuse of looking for more candy. I was surprised to find Loreta in the living room.

“Can you show me the kitchen?” I asked Loreta, and she nodded.

I followed her, and Loreta took me to a place that looked like heaven for any cook.

Everything in there was a mix of traditional cuisine and state-of-the-art appliances. Loreta brought out a box of ice cream, cookies, and syrup. I was surprised that she had everything on hand.

She smiled at me.

“Alessandro wanted to cover everything you need,” Loreta said casually, and I frowned. “I can serve you anything you like.”

“I'll help myself,” I said, and Loreta handed me a cup, a spoon, and an ice cream scoop. “This is my dinner.”

She laughed, and at that moment there was distant howling that made my skin crawl.

“What was that?” I asked in disbelief.

“Wolves,” Loreta said earnestly. “Long ago a breed known as the Sicilian wolf was written off as extinct. Apparently, they dibecome't go extinct, so they roam the forests of Sicily.”

“Aren't wolves from cold climates?”

“They adapt,” Loreta said and looked at me seriously. “There are not only wolves in the woods; there are many creatures that can be dangerous.”

I understood perfectly what she meant, and as if the forest wanted to assure Loreta's words, the howling became much louder.

The next day Alessandro was not at the mansion, and the oppressive silence consumed me.

In the evening, I couldn't help my anxiety and slipped out of the mansion stealthily. I didn't know how much security there was, but I was going to push my luck and was surprised not to see the number of men I had seen when I arrived.

“Something is wrong here,” I whispered under my breath.

I rounded the house and followed the path into the woods and walked as far as I could until I noticed where the wall ended. I felt relief when I saw a small space through which I could climb out.

I plunged into the barely moonlit forest, and it was the biggest mistake of my life.

A giant shadow swooped down on me.

I froze when I realized that this was no ordinary animal.

It was too big, too fast. Its golden eyes glowed with a wild intelligence in the gloom, and it didn't hesitate to growl loudly at me. A gray wolf was inches away from me.

I screamed as loud as my lungs would let me.

And at that moment something happened that changed the world as I knew it. 

The wolf moved away from me and began to shift.

The beast's bones creaked, the skin stretched, and the snout elongated.

Before my horrified eyes, the wolf took on a human form, with sharp claws and a look I recognized. They were Alessandro's intense gray eyes.

Surprise turned to icy terror.

I screamed even louder and to the point of losing consciousness.

It was the worst of my nightmares.