Five

Rose

I open my eyes before falling down onto the ground—hitting my arms hard. Groaning, I use both of my palms to try and push my body up as I look around, seeing that I'm in an unfamiliar dark room. My eyes wander around the room until they landed on Elia who is currently standing near the glass window; smoking his cigarette.

My mind goes entirely blank. What happened yesterday? Who injected drug into my neck? I thought. I've had enough of being held like a prisoner. Elia might have saved me from Gonzales but I am never free from anything. Even with Elia, I feel trapped and yet I feel like I've gotten myself involved into something that I shouldn't have.

As I was about to call out his name, he cuts me off by turning around to face me. I watch his every movement as he pushes the curtain slightly; letting some sunlight in. I continue to look up at him and he does the same—not uttering a single word.

''What happened yesterday?'' I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

''I guess it's no longer your concern.'' He replies, exhaling the smoke through his nose, eyeing deeply into my eyes.

No longer my concern? I was involved, for fuck's sake. What kind of drugs is he on now? Does he not remember that I jumped off the freaking mansion because he forced me to and I had to run away as far as I can just because someone was running after me? Does he not remember all of that?

Elia walks towards me, crouching as soon as he's close enough. He runs his thumb on my cheek—earning a sigh from me but I push his hand away, making him look down on the ground, clenching his jaw, ''Look, Elia. Why am I even here anyway? Why did you even pay one million dollars for me? If you think that you own me now, you're wrong.'' I stand up, walking away from him.

I stop walking and I hear him standing on his feet, ''I don't own you, Rose. No one owns you.'' Then, I turn around, feeling unsatisfied myself.

''Then why the fuck am I here?''

He smokes once more, clenching his jaw longer this time, ''Does it even fucking matter?'' I flinch at the tone of his voice but I remain calm, not wanting him to sense my discomfort. ''You should be fucking thankful that I got you out of that shit hole. You shouldn't question why you're fucking here or why the fuck did I pay one million dollars for you.''

I stand still even though our faces are inches apart. My heart starts to beat faster at the sight of him—at the sight that I never get the chance to see until now. Maybe Elis was right, I barely know anything about Elia. Maybe being a gentleman was one of his acts. I really did underestimate him.

From up close, I can smell the cigarette but I'm used to those things. I've smelt worse. He continues to look into my eyes while I look away as much as possible; I couldn't stand this. I couldn't stand being near him. ''I can't be thankful if I don't know the reason.'' I reply, my voice low.

To my surprise, he steps back, ''I didn't even want you here. I shouldn't have brought you here nor wasted my money on you. You should have just stayed where you belong. That would have been easier for both of us, wouldn't it?'' He says.

I try to seek for any lies by staring at his expression but all I see is a cold-hearted Elia. Probably the true Elia. I breathe out, trying to come back to reality—trying to realise that this isn't a freaking fairy tale and I'm not Cinderella, ''Let me go, then.'' I answer.

''No one's holding you back, anyway.'' He replies.

Somehow, I immediately stop breathing all at once but that's just an impression. My heart hurts for a few seconds but I regain my consciousness by smiling slightly at him, ''You see, Elia. I barely know anything about you yet I still think of you as a good guy. I think of you as someone who respects other people and never once would treat them like shit. I guess I judged you too quickly.'' I take a few steps towards him and once we're close enough, I look straight into his brown eyes, ''Who are you, Elia Dominic Morello?''

He leans in so that our noses are touching, ''Are you any better, Rose?''

I bite hard onto the insides of my cheeks, trying to avoid myself from tearing up. For once, I really finally have lost hope on my own. Maybe I'm never worth it. He wouldn't see me as anything else but a fucking prostitute. I was raised and taught to be a prostitute—not a woman who men will desire.

I walk out of the room, not even glancing at what's behind me. I head straight into my room but I stop immediately as soon as I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyebrows furrow as I look into my own eyes before turning away and change into a black shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans.

Like he said, no one is holding me back—so I might as well leave.

Quickly making my way downstairs, I push the doors open before stepping out. I look up at the sky and see that it is starting to darken but I continue to walk—not wanting to waste a single second here. I should have left the first day I got here, I shouldn't have spent time here. I actually thought that I could have found some sort of happiness here.

I thought wrong.

Glancing one last time at the mansion before running down the road—having the need to leave as soon as possible. What confuses me is how Elia suddenly acts. He didn't even smile nor speak as he usual does but he acts like a total asshole. Like a heartless son of a bitch.

All of a sudden, my legs fail to take it any further so I stop running. I look up once more and see that it is starting to rain but I stand still in the middle of the road—not really knowing where to go. I blink a few times and I realise that a tear manage to glide down my cheek, making me wipe it quickly. What the hell. I mentally curse.

I don't even know where I am.

I start walking again but before I could even start, I turn around to see a car heading towards me, fast. My eyes widen in shock as I turn around—waiting for the impact. To my surprise, I feel someone pushing me down the road before we both fall as I hear him groan in pain. My whole body shakes in fear; most of it comes from the fear of dying.

Looking down, I meet the familiar pair of brown eyes so I quickly push him away as I stand up—holding my strained forearm. I hear him groaning from behind as I continue to walk, ''What the hell were you thinking?'' He asks, out loud but I ignore him.

I keep on walking but he pulls me by the arm, making me groan in pain, ''Fuck off, Elia.''

''Were you trying to fucking kill yourself?'' He continues to pull me roughly.

I roll my eyes in annoyance but he ignores my discomfort. Even though I try to pull my hand away from his grasps, he is indeed stronger than I am, which fails me miserably, ''You need to let go of my arm.'' I push him with my other arm but he won't budge.

''Rose.''

''I wasn't trying to kill myself, okay?! I didn't see the fucking car and killing myself has never crossed my mine so can you please let go of my arm because it fucking hurts!'' I say, loudly which causes him to look at me in surprise. Without me realising, I am already breathing hard, due to the fact that I'm mad.

He let go of my arm slowly and I turn around—not bothered to face him. Ignoring his presence, I continue to walk down the road even though I don't know where my legs will take me but I don't care at the moment. I keep on hearing him calling out my name but like I said, I don't bother.

I sigh deeply as soon as he stops in front of me and starts holding my arm again, ''Where do you think you're going?'' He asks and I pull my arm once more, this time, I push him by the shoulder before walking pass him, but that doesn't stop him.

''Away from you.'' I answer.

''Look—'' He starts to speak but I ignore him. He keeps on trying by walking right next to me, ''—Rose, don't go.'' I stop walking and I look up at him; trying to figure out what the hell is going on in his mind.

Crossing my arms, I start to furrow my brows, ''Are you fucking bipolar, Elia? I'm leaving and nothing in the world can stop me.'' I say, continuing to walk. He keeps on follow behind me—but I hear him sigh, deeply. Just stop following me then, I didn't ask you to come and save the day anyway. I thought to myself.

''Where are you even going? You have nowhere to go. It's not safe.'' He says from behind.

''Oh yeah?'' I turn around for awhile, facing him and see that he's a few feet away from me, ''I guess it's no longer your concern.'' I mockingly say before raising up my middle finger and continue to walk further away from him—but I swear, I saw him looking at me in surprise after giving him the finger.

After awhile, I don't hear his voice again nor do I hear anything coming from behind so I glance back and see that he had left which is good—I guess. A part of me wants him to continue on asking me to stop walking and just go back to the damn mansion but a part of me also want me him to leave and let me be.

''Yeah right, where are you even going, Rose?'' I ask myself, shivering as the cold wind hits my skin, ''You egoistic prick, you should have just gone back and stop walking when he said so! Now he's gone and you're all alone.'' I continue to talk—even though people might see me as insane. Oh wait, there's no one here!

''I'm still here, you know.'' My eyes widen as soon as I hear his voice and I see him behind me. I didn't even see him before, how did he walk so fast? Was he hiding before? I frown as I walk towards him and push him by the neck, earning a chuckle from him, ''You should grip harder, amore.''

Now, he chuckles? Did he went back to get his attitude or something?

''Oh look who's back! It's Mr. Bipolar.'' I pretend to smile widely but honestly, deep inside, I'm thrilled that he's here, ''I've missed you.'' I add, sarcastically and he seems to catch the tone of my voice because he starts to laugh—which calms me down slightly.

He clears his throat. ''So, are you starting to regret your selfish decision to run away?''

I sigh, massaging my temples, ''For your information, Morello, I'm not running away and my decision is not selfish!'' I say, pointing my index finger at him without me even realising.

''You are starting to reveal your selfishness.'' He replies, calmly.

''You know what? Just leave.'' I say, defeatedly. ''Just leave and don't come back or ever show up in front of me again. You're just an annoying little shit who messes around with my head and I don't like that so leave. Look at what's behind you—your road back home so go down that road and don't follow me.'' I shrug, earning a smirk from him.

He's probably getting this as a joke when I see him walking right next to me, ''I can do this all day, amore.''

''Do you not understand English, Elia? Leave. Just go away and leave.'' I point down the road where we both came from—starting to feel annoyed by the fact that he's following but hey, this is what I want right? I can't give in because it might drop my ego but I don't know how it'll end!

Elia sighs and I take a closer look at him—even from afar, I can see the thickness of his eyelashes, ''Rose. We can just forget whatever happened earlier and walk back. Let's not walk any further. I know you want me to stop you from walking away and this is what I'm trying to do. I'm sorry for saying that I didn't even want you here because honestly, I want you here. I paid one million dollars because I want you here. You want to know why I paid it for you instead of other girls? Because I want you. There's no simple explanation to why I did what I did but I have no single regret of it.''

I am left astonished by his words, probably because no one has ever said anything like that to me. He could just lie off whatever he said and I would end up falling for it because I'm not an expert in this. I'm not an expert in something that has anything to do with feelings.

Before I can utter a single word, I start hearing a car coming from behind so I turn around to see a black Land Rover heading towards us in a fast pace. To my surprise, Elia starts pulling my hand as soon as we hear gunshots. I let out a scream as I hear the shooting coming closer but Elia pushes me into his car—quickly entering next.

He starts the engine and turns around, driving fast towards the other direction.

''You need to start telling me what the hell is going on!'' I say, loudly towards him but he just continue to press the gas pedal—ignoring my outburst. ''You can't say that this is no longer my fucking concern because I could have fucking died back there, Elia!'' I add.

Elia changes the gear before heading down to a different road which leads us to a highway. I let out another scream as I hear another gunshot—which causes Elia to quickly move the car to the left and continuing to pass through each car that is blocking our way.

''This is not okay.'' I mutter under my breath.

''Calm down.'' I hear him say and I can only roll my eyes at him.

''Calm down? You're asking me to calm down?! How the hell am I supposed to calm down if someone is shooting at us and we're driving in a very very fast pace? This is really not okay, Elia! You need to tell me what the hell is going on or—'' I stop talking, ''—I don't even know anymore.'' I groan.

He presses the brakes which causes my body to move forward but he stops me from hitting my head against the dashboard by using his hand to block. I close my eyes, keeping quiet, hoping that as soon as I open them, everything will go back to normal. But wait a minute, nothing was ever normal in the first place!

''I did something, okay.'' He starts talking and I look left, waiting for him to continue as he keeps on looking at the rear-view mirror, ''I—I committed treason to my old gang members.''

''Gang members?'' I frown, ''Wh—who are you?''

He looks at me for a second, ''I stole their money and ran away. You can say that I put myself in danger because I really did. Apparently, they found out about it and now they want to kill me.'' He says, casually.

''You're with the mafia.'' I mutter under my breath as soon as realisation hits me—I start to massage my temples once more, calming myself down.

''Congratulazion, we have a winner.'' He says, sarcastically. ''Took you awhile to find out but hey, it's better late than never, right?''

I look at him in disbelief before eyeing his whole body—to look for any sign that he's in a gang. I see that he's wearing a metal ring which is just a plain one so that doesn't explain anything; but I continue to look and see that he has a tattoo at his wrist, some sort of code, ''That explains it. Last night, you knew about it, didn't you?''

''No, I didn't. They came unexpectedly. I wouldn't know what they had planned.''

''How much?'' I suddenly ask, wanting to know if this is actually a big case. Honestly, he's got guts for stealing from his gang members. No one in his right mind would steal from a freaking mafia, that is insane.

''Ten million euros.'' He replies, nodding his head as my jaw drops to the ground. Ten million euros? That could support my entire lifetime and I wouldn't be complaining about money. ''I don't know why I did it but I guess I needed some sort of adventure in my life.''

Rolling my eyes, ''By stealing ten million euros would bring adventure in your life?'' I ask, sarcastically before leaning back on the seat—turning around to see if the car is still following us. Fortunately, they aren't. I exhale, full of relief, ''They're gone.'' I mutter.

Elia look up at the rear-view mirror again, ''That's odd—'' Just before he could finish his sentence, my eyes widen at the sight in front of us before we both hit the car up front—causing Elia and I to move forward towards the airbag but I hit my head to the side, making me see the darkness immediately.

I keep on hearing noises—more like voices. Blinking a few times, I see Elia's eyes are tightly shut as blood keeps on flowing down from his head. It also took me awhile to realise that we're upside down. Just like that, I start to close my eyes and every noise that I hear disappears due to the fact that I can't bear the pain anymore.