CHAPTER THREE

Xavier looked up at the sound of the door opening. He saw his kidnapper walk in with some paper bags. The aroma of food hit his nose and his stomach growled. He had not eaten since yesterday afternoon and he was hungry. He had spent the day staring at the walls of his prison and thinking up different conspiracy theories.

             She got close to him and he grabbed her neck, pushing her to the wall. 

             "I'm really not into that kink, your beautiful face is enough to turn me on." She chuckled. "Now let go of my neck before I get cranky."

                 He was shocked by her attitude but he did not let it faze him. He checked her pockets for a key, but he only found her phone there.

                 "As much as I like you, you have not yet earned the right to touch me." He released her neck but pinned her shoulders to the wall with his hands.

                "Where is the key to this place?"

                "It's a smart lock, it requires my fingerprint to open." She smirked and kicked him in the shin, he released her and moved backwards. She dropped the paper bags on the chair and walked towards him.

                  "You can not escape this place. You will leave only when I say so. Besides, if you were unfortunate to escape, you will be dead within three hours." She caressed his face and held his chin, she pulled him down to her level and looked him in the eyes. "The next time you try something like that, I'll make you bleed and I'll take pleasure in your pain."

            He was scared but he controlled his facial expression and didn't betray his emotion. 

            She freed him and went to sit down on the floor before the chair. Xavier was taken aback by this, he did not expect her to just sit on the concrete floor.

            "Come and eat." She said and took a hamburger from a paper bag.

              He cautiously sat down opposite her and took a hamburger. He watched her eat first to be certain she was not poisoning him, then he took a bite from the hamburger. He ate the hamburger in a ravenous manner and moaned in satisfaction. He took another hamburger and devoured it.

              "There's also hotdogs and fries, if you are interested." She said.

             He nodded and took a bag of fries. He looked at her and noticed she was eating a hotdog. He was staring at the fries and wondering if he should eat it when she dipped her hand in the fries and took a handful. She ate the fries and quirked her left eyebrow at him. He started eating the fries and she stood up. 

                She left the room and he heard the door lock behind her. He wondered what she wanted with him, she had so many opportunities to kill him, but she didn't and that scared him.

*****

        Chiara took two bottles of water from the fridge and her mind went to Xavier's touch. It had felt weird to have his hands on her shoulders, it wasn't bad but it made her uneasy. She felt something move within her, she just didn't know what it was.

           She shaked it off and went to the basement. Xavier seemed surprised to see her back in the room.  

              She gave him a bottle of water and sat down opposite him on the floor.

              "People are going to be looking for me, by now." Xavier said.

             "Who? You have no friends, you only visit your mom once every two weeks and you don't have any other family member." She saw the shock on his face, he did not expect her to know anything about him. She liked having information about people, it gave her a sense of control over them.

             "My supervisor. He sent me on a secret mission and he will be worrying about my whereabouts. Also, I do have friends." He spoke with assurance.

             "Your colleagues don't count as friends, but don't worry, I'll take care of it." She said with a smirk as she thought of what to do. She leaned towards him and pecked him on his right check, then she stood up and left the room.

*****

         

        Chiara walked into the Mariano Corp., a thirty-storey building in beacon hills. It was the headquarters of the Mariano fashion business. The first twenty six floors were rented out to other companies and three floors housed her fashion company. The thirtieth floor was a penthouse owned by Chiara. She stayed there overnight whenever she had a lot of workload.

        She had started the textile industry and fashion company when she was a freshman in college. Convincing her dad to diversify his hotel business had been hard, but it worked. He had agreed when she brought up the idea of laundering money through the textile industry. He gave her money for start up and she gradually built the company. Two years later, she bought the building and rented most of the floors to other businesses while she used the remaining four floors for her business. Four years after she bought the building, the business became a huge success. She had appeared on different magazines and received two awards for her excellence in business. She was a renowned billionaire in the fashion world.

        Her private elevator stopped on the twenty ninth floor. As she walked in, silence descended on the floor as all the staff started working or pretending to work. There was an aura of power and authority that surrounded her as she walked by different offices and cubicle. She visited the office twice in a week on random days and that kept them on their toes. Whenever she visited, everyone stayed on their best behaviors because they were scared of loosing their jobs. On many occasions, she had sacked staff who misbehaved or offended her.

           Her personal assistant ran to her as soon as he spotted her. He was a tall man with lean muscles, he had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Many people described him as good-looking but Chiara did not. All she saw in Max was a timid but intelligent man.

             "Good morning, ma. The meeting with the financial department will start in the next ten minutes. It is taking place in the main conference room." Max held a notebook to his chest and stared at the ground as he spoke.

              She glanced at him and nodded. He had been working for her for three years and he was still scared to look her in the eyes. 

             "Yeah, you sent me an email concerning that. Schedule a meeting with the chief designer for 12pm and get a representative from the marketing team to bring a few male wardrobes to my office." 

              Max nodded and wrote it down in his notebook.

            "I want everything in Nico's size." She pointed at her bodyguard who was a few feet behind her.

           She entered the conference room and everyone stood up. She walked to the seat at the top of the table and sat down. They all sat down and the meeting began. Chiara paid attention to every detail and scrutinized the documents for error. When she was certain everything was in order, she left the meeting abruptly and went for her next meeting.

*****

Most of her day had been spent in various meetings and she was exhausted. She removed her suit jacket as she walked into her office and hung it. She sat down on the couch in the lounge area and massaged her head. She could feel the beginning of a headache.

              A knock on the door interrupted her massage. 

               "Come in." She groaned and turned to see a young lady standing in the doorway.

              She sat up and signalled the lady to enter. The lady walked in with a garment rack of clothes. Two men followed her, wheeling in two more garment racks.

               "Good afternoon, ma. I am Sarah from the marketing department and this is the spring collection for last year and this year." She pointed at the garment racks.

              "Call Nico in." Chiara said.

            Sarah left the room and came back in with Nico. Nico was a tall buff guy, with broad shoulders, thick muscular thighs and big arms. He had the same body build as Xavier and was about the same height.

              "Test that shirt and see if it fits you." Chiara pointed at a beige button down shirt.

           Nico stripped off his jacket and shirt and wore the beige button down shirt. Sarah stared at him wide eyed while he buttoned the shirt. She was looking at him like he was the last drop of water in a desert. Chiara was unaffected by his naked torso, she had trained with men since she was young, so seeing men half naked was nothing strange to her and she had never felt an attraction to a man until Xavier.

            Chiara stood up and assessed the shirt. She touched the shirt and checked the seams. It was fit but too tight, the buttons were straining to hold the shirt and the seams were stretched.

               "Remove it." She picked up a long sleeve t-shirt and threw it at him.

              "Wear this one." The t-shirt was a perfect fit.

              "Sarah, get me button down shirts in his size." Chiara said and checked out the other clothes. There were sweatshirts, hoodies, polo shirts, chinos, jeans, suit pants, denim jackets, leather jackets and coats. 

              She made Nico try out a few more clothes to ascertain they were the right size. Sarah returned with another rack of button down shirts, Nico tested one and it was a perfect fit.

                "Thank you so much, Nico. You can take all the samples that you tested." He hesitated but she glared at him and he packed them.

                  "You may leave." She said to Nico and waited till he was gone before she turned to Sarah. "Sarah, I need boxers, singlets and briefs in his size. Be fast with that and get a suitcase to pack the clothes."

*****

     Chiara felt something strange as she checked out different shoes. She had stopped by the mall on her way home to purchase some shoes for Xavier. Thoughts of Xavier filled her head as she browsed the shelves, she thought about the danger she was risking by letting him stay alive but she couldn't bear the thought of him dead. It was really weird considering she had killed so many people before without batting an eye, but when it came to Xavier, something stopped her, like an invisible force within her.

          She bought loafers, sneakers, clogs, leather slippers, flip flops, moccasin slippers, sandals and boots. She was not sure of his size, so she did a rough guess. She imagined how they will look on him and she smiled.

       When she was done with the shopping, she ordered takeout in a Chinese restaurant.

        The traffic was light, so she arrived home within forty minutes. One of her bodyguards carried the suitcase and shopping bags into the house and she directed him to place it in front of a bedroom upstairs. She put the takeout in the kitchen and went to bath.

*****

        After her bath, she felt refreshed. She unlocked the bedroom adjoining hers and placed the suitcase and shopping bags there. She arranged them with care in the closet and laid new bedsheets on the bed.                 

         The room was clean, though she had never used it. She had instructed the maids to clean every room in the house regularly regardless of their usage. She checked the bathroom and realized she had not gotten toiletries for him. She went to her bedroom, took two towels, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, bathing soap, loofah and shaving cream and carried them to the adjoining bedroom where she arranged them in the bathroom. She examined the room to be certain everything was in order.

         When she was okay with the room, she went down to the basement. Xavier was lying down on the bed when she entered. He didn't bother to look at her, he just stared at the ceiling.

               "Well, someone seems chipper today." She said with a sarcastic tone.

               "Captivation fails to provide me joy." He replied and glared at her.

              "Great! I've got something that might excite you." He turned to her with a questioning look on his face.

               "Get up and follow me. Try not to irk me." She said and walked over to the door. She unlocked it and gestured for him to climb the stairs. When they got to the top of the stairs, she unlocked the second door and walked out. 

               Xavier followed her with extra caution and he looked at the house in admiration as they went to the grand staircase.

               "Where are we?" He stopped walking and asked.

               "My house." 

            They went up two flights of stairs and took the hallway on the left and walked past many doors. They continued walking until they arrived at a big wooden door. Chiara unlocked the door and walked in, Xavier followed her with hesitant steps. 

              "This is your bedroom, I'll give you the tour of the house tomorrow." She observed his reaction with care, he was amazed by the splendor of the room. He walked towards the bathroom and went inside. About five minutes later, he came out. She observed him and he seemed overwhelmed with the bedroom. He went inside the closet and came out some minutes later. She assumed he was testing the clothes.

             "Are those for me?" He folded his hands on his chest, standing in the doorway of the closet.

                She stared at him for a while before she answered. "Yes, they should all fit you well." 

             "Why?" He gave her a suspicious look which surprised her, but she quickly masked her reaction. She did not want him to think he had any effect on her.

               "I assumed you were tired of sleeping in that dingy room and peeing in a bucket. But if you prefer that, I'll gladly return you." She said with a blank expression. 

He visibly shuddered then replied. "Thank you. It's a lovely room." 

               "Alright, come closer." He looked at her but remained rooted at the same spot. "Anytime now." She said in a firm voice and he walked towards her. She showed him the touchpad on the wall and inputted his fingerprints.

              "Your fingerprint is now saved on the system, so you can lock it or unlock it as you wish." She could feel his gaze on her face, so she turned to look at him. He gazed at her blatantly which made her curious, she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. She ignored it and continued her explanation. "After the tour tomorrow, I'll grant you access to the library, gym and living room. Every other room is out of limits to you. Don't bother trying to escape, you don't have access to any of the doors that lead outside the house." 

            She opened the door and turned to leave the room but stopped. "Take a bath and change your clothes. When you are done, go downstairs and turn to your right, down the hallway, turn left and you will find the kitchen. Meet me there." She said and left the room.

          Xavier stared at her disappearing figure in confusion.

*****