010

Caterina.

If I was being honest with myself, I had spent... two, three, four days... in this hellhole without any member or that silly Alessandro doing anything about it.

Was this what my life had come to?

A series of carefully moving through the estate, keeping my steps quiet as I approached the narrowed path I had noticed earlier.

Blondie must not have mentioned it to Luca because it was exactly like I had left it. Tucked away, half hidden behind thick ivy and a line of perfectly sculpted hedges.

My best shot at slipping out unseen.

Of course, the guards were still stationed out, but they all had blind spots, small ones. Spots that I had been watching long enough to know when they looked away.

My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm. I could do this. I had to do this.

Tip.

Toe.

Tip.

Toe.

Tip...

I heard something.

A low murmur of sorts, a hushed conversation that the wind carried. No, no, no. Who was having their conversation time during my escape time?

It was coming from just beyond the hedges. Maybe if I crept closer and stick to the sides... no, that wouldn't work. My pulse was hammering so hard that it was almost hard to focus.

That's when I saw them.

Why was I even surprised? It seemed like my luck always seemed to run out whenever I was almost there. And he was the one I was always running into.

He loved his pleasures.

Luca stood with his back against a stone pillar, his hands lazily trailing over a woman's hips. She was dark-haired, curvier than the blond one, and dressed in a sleek black slip dress that left little to the imagination.

Glad to know Luca did not have some sort of type.

I didn't recognize anything about her, though. But I noticed something immediately.

She knew him.

With the way she leaned in as Luca pressed his lips against her neck, her fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt. When she spoke, she had the kind of voice that belonged in a podcast.

"You're always like this when you're restless."

I stiffened.

My stomach twisted with irritation as I watched them. This woman, even with as much as Blondie wanted to continue being daft, wasn't some meaningless conquest that Luca had dragged back to his estate.

A woman who knew him well enough to read his mood, well enough to say things with certainty.

If anything, Blondie was the other woman.

Maybe...

No. This doesn't concern me.

Why did he do this here? Why couldn’t he keep his escapades confined to his damn bedroom? Why force people to witness it?

I gritted my teeth, ready to pull away, to ignore it and focus on my escape even with the ninety-nine percent of failing. But then the woman spoke again.

"And what about the girl?"

Girl!!

The woman’s fingers slid up to Luca’s collar, toying with the fabric. "The one you’re keeping upstairs. What are you going to do with her?"

Luca chuckled, his lips barely pulling away from the curve of her jaw. "The auction is tonight."

Panic clawed at my throat.

Auction?

The woman hummed. "So, you’ll take her there, see who’s willing to pay for a good time, and bring her back?"

Luca’s fingers trailed along the woman’s spine as he responded, his voice casual. "At least I’ll make my money back."

My body went cold.

For a moment, I thought I had misheard. That I had misunderstood.

But the way Luca said it–so dismissively, so easily, as if I was nothing more than an object to be bartered–sent a sharp, unrelenting panic flooding through my veins.

I was being sold.

I had almost stepped forward, almost confronted him right then and there, but I stopped myself at the last second.

No. Not here. Not now.

I was too exposed and extremely vulnerable. I needed time to think, to plan.

I turned on the heel and walked away, my heart pounding so violently I could hear it in my ears. To the extent that I barely noticed the path I took back to my room or care if Luca had seen me.

Everything took a shape I did not understand, blurring into some sort of haze my mind consumed with the sheer weight of what I had just heard.

Auction?

He wanted to sell me.

Alessandro never came for me.

By the time I reached the stupid room he had given to me, I was shaking. I needed to get out. Now.

But before I could even think of the next move, the door swung open.

Luca.

When had the sky turned dark?

He stepped in,calm, unbothered, as if this were just another night. In his hand, he held a dress–a shimmering black gown that he tossed onto the chair with an air of finality.

“Get dressed,” he said.

I didn't move. Didn't even blink.

Maybe he was a figment of my imagination. Maybe I was so scared that I had conjured the devil himself.

When he didn't leave after a few minutes, I pried my lips open so whisper the word, "No."

Luca narrowed his eyes at me, but he didn't look surprised. He must have seen me then.

"I wasn’t asking."

I lifted my chin, forcing steel into her voice. "I don't care. I'm not going anywhere with you."

A flicker of amusement passed through my eyes before it was quickly replaced with something much darker. I took a slow step forward.

"Get dressed," he repeated, his voice lower this time. "Or you lose something precious to you."

Panic clawed at my throat.

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

Luca didn’t answer.

Instead, he turned, stepping back toward the door. And then, without another word, he shut it behind him.

A loud click echoed through the room.

The lock.

Panic surged through me.

I ran to the door, twisting the handle, pounding my fists against the wood.

"Let me out!" I screamed.

Silence.

My breath came in short, uneven gasps as I banged on the door again, harder this time.

"Luca, you bastard, open the door!"

Still nothing.

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes. Frustration, terror, and fury swirling into a single overwhelming storm inside my chest.

"LUCA!" I screamed again, hitting the door until my fists ached, until my voice cracked, until my knees gave out, and I crumpled to the floor.

Helpless.

And there, in that suffocating darkness of my room, I finally let the tears fall.