Chapter Seven

"Come in." 

Taking in a deep breath I open the heavy doors to his office stepping into the large dark space, the door shutting behind me. Small warm lights line the walls, lighting up seconds of the room.

I should have realised that his personality would be reflected in this room. The walls are black, and the flooring is such a rich dark brown it looks black with this lighting. One side of the room has large bookshelves, while the other appears to house many bottles of alcohol. Multiple glasses lined up on the side. There's also a gigantic black desk in the back of the room with a huge comfy chair that holds Alessandro Vito Lombardi's massive frame, who looks to be engaged in some important work. His hands flitting across numerous pieces of paper before quickly typing on his computer next to him, barely even looking my way. The only sound in the room being the ticking of a clock, and his shuffling.

Deciding to make the first move, I take slow steps forward my footsteps echoing across the wooden floor of the room. His rough fingers continuously typing away on his laptop. I clear my throat, attempting to gain his attention, thinking he had forgotten I was here.

I see his hands pause over his laptop keyboard; his jaw clenched. When he did that, I swear I could hear his teeth grinding.

"What did I say about interrupting me?" Alessandro murmurs through clenched teeth, his face now fixed on me with a scowl.

"You s-said I shouldn't do it a-again?" I squeak out, eager to get out of his office. Alessandro's scowl grows as he stares into my eyes, while I stand there uneasy under his glare. I begin clawing at my fingers again, hoping to divert myself from this situation.

"And what did you just do?" Alessandro asks once more, his hands coming to rest in his lap, as he leans back in his chair, his large chair supporting his muscles. A slight squeaking sound being made from the leather chair.

"I- I i-interrupted." I whisper out. Please let me leave. Please let me leave.

"Yes, Ilaria, you did... What do you think I do to people who disobey me?" He asks again, this time in a harsher tone of voice. My hands begin to tremble slightly. In comparison to me, he appears relaxed. Why do I feel like he's enjoying this?

I shake my head, not trusting my voice in this situation.

"Words Ilaria. I want words." Alessandro replied as he rose from his chair, straightening his suit and tie, his gaze never leaving mine.

"No." I whisper out, glancing down at my feet to avoid his intimidating gaze.

As he goes around his enormous desk, I can hear the sound of his elegant black shoes breaking the silence once more. 

I remain focusing on my shoes as I see his gleaming black expensive shoes come to a halt just in front of me. For a few seconds, the only sound I can hear is my heartbeat in my ears. Before scratching the skin around my nails, I move my hands behind my back so Alessandro can't see them.

As I stand still, I hear movement and notice his hand come up towards my face out of the corner of my eye. As a flashback hits me, I recoil back, pulling away from him just as his fingers come into contact with my chin. When he touched me, his warm calloused fingertips caused tingles to emerge, but I'm not going to let him fool me. 

"Look at me Ilaria." Alessandro said, his hands now clenched at his sides so tightley that I can see his skin turning pure white. A contrast to his tanned skin.

Looking up warily, I try to brace myself for Alessandro's death gaze, but as I lift my head, I'm taken aback by the soft look Alessandro gives me. Is this a trick?

Alessandro's expression goes blank, as if his entire face is devoid of emotion. This guy changes emotions like I stutter. He takes several steps back before exhaling deeply and turning around. I manage to hear him muble something under his breath in what sounds like a different language. His hands run through his thick black hair, then to the papers on the desk, where he picks one up and turns to face me. 

"I need you to sign these documents," he continued, handing them to me to read.

"W-what are t-they?" I stutter and grab the papers from him, looking over some of the information on the page. When I see how much he's paying me while I'm here, my eyes widen.

"Just some paperwork to show your consent to work here." Alessandro said, his hands dipping inside his trouser pockets.

I go over the papers again to make sure I'm not missing anything. I don't need to be tricked into any strange arrangements right now. Especially with Alessandro Vito Lombardi.

"W-what exactly d-does this m-mean?" I point to some information about how long I'll be working here. His head turned to look at the papers, his eyes moving to look over where I was pointing.

"It simply means that you'll be working here for a year, and if you want to terminate the contract before the year is up, well.... you'll be penalised a sum of money to pay me depending on how much you work while here."

That makes sense, I suppose. A bit extreme, but ok. It's a good thing I don't intend to leave just yet. Nodding my head, I peruse the rest of the papers while Alessandro sighs and taps his foot in frustration. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, taking a peak at Alessandro over the papers.

"Just sign the papers Ilaria." 

As we both stare at each other, he puts out a black fountain pen to me, waiting for me to take it. His gleaming silver eyes met mine, which were a dreary green. Taking the pen from him, our fingers brush against each other, warming my hand.

I lean over and place the paper on the table, lingering over the dotted line at the bottom of the page, right next to Alessandro's signature. As I moved the pen closer to the paper, I let the black ink seep into the paper beneath, allowing my hand to take the lead. As soon as I finished, Alessandro seized the papers off the desk and moved around it before opening a drawer with a golden key on the desk. The papers vanished, and the golden key was stuffed into his black suit trouser pockets.

"You'll begin working the following morning. I'm sure you'll want to settle in and get accustomed with the house initially." Alessandro replied as he walked back around his desk and towards his office's double doors.

"Are you coming or not?" 

I swiftly walk to the doors and follow him out and down the long naked corridors once more.

"This is Matteo's room. Bed time for him is at 9pm. If I see him up and about after 9pm there will be consequences." He continued as we walked past Matteo's door and further down the corridor. 

"This is my room. You are not to enter under any circumstances. Do you understand?" He asks, intimidatingly, as he turns to face me. I nod as I watch his expression contort into a scowl. What's up with him?

"What did I say about words Ilaria?" 

"R-right um... y-yes I u-understand." 

He stares at me for a few seconds before responding.

"We'll work on that." He stated this briefly before turning around and strolling down the building's magnificent staircase. The huge windows cast a magnificent rainbow of yellow streaks into the house. Work on what? What does he want me to exactly work on?

"And now for the kitchen. You can cook, if necessary, but I have a maid, so... it won't be necessary." Wow. You really got my hopes up there Alessandro. It's not like you know... I like baking or anything. 

"This here is Maia. She's my maid in this house, she cooks, cleans pretty much everything. But it's your job to look after my son."

A woman in her late forties approaches the counter, wrapping Alessandro in a massive hug with a broad smile on her face. Her shoulder-length strawberry blonde curls swayed as she moved.

"Alessandro my boy. I haven't seen you all day, is this how you treat an old poor woman like me." She chuckled, moving away from Alessandro with a smile.

"You're not old Maia, and I've been busy with certain... guests." Alessandro smiled at her as they both turned to face me. Alessandro now has a blank expression, and Maia has a motherly grin. That's the first time I've ever seen him smile, even if it is only for like a second... and at someone else.

"Well, aren't you a beauty. You must be Matteo's nanny. Ilaria right?" She stated this as she approached me, her arms wrapping me in a motherly hug. 

"Matteo's been non-stop talking about you." Maia chuckled; a soft glittering look in her eye. 

"He's a shy boy Matteo is. He's -" 

A clearing of a throat is heard from Alessandro, stopping Maia from saying whatever she was about to say about Matteo.

"I expect you to settle in. Matteo is home schooled, so he takes lessons every morning at 9 a.m, except on weekends. I expect you to prepare him for it... I'll be at my office if anyone needs me." His tall, large frame moving through the kitchen, leaving Maia and I alone.

"I hope that young man finds something to lighten up his life. Not only his but Matteo's. They've had shadows looming over them long enough."