Camila hummed Elena’s favorite tune as she rearranged the picture frames. Elena would play it for her almost every time as a child. It was a habit of hers to reminisce about all the memories she had shared with this family. What else could an old woman do except think about all her experiences? If she was honest with herself, there was almost nothing to do around.
There were a lot of other maids who cleaned and cooked meals. Doing this was helpful, however, it helped her not to worry about anything. It took her mind off her worries, and it was much needed as she was slowly losing her mind every passing day, wondering where Mr. Richardson was… She picked up a picture frame and smiled at it. It was one with Elena in it, posing with a guitar in her hand. She was a...The doors to the mansion pulled open with a very strong force, startling Camila and causing her to let go of the frame in her hand, shattering it into many pieces. She gasped in fright when she saw the mThe last few hours had passed by in a blur. Elena was almost tempted to think it had not happened at all. It did not help that she had passed out for most of it.She struggled to open her eyes as she slowly adjusted to the bright lighting in the room. She had a banging headache that wouldn’t go away. She could hardly collect any sensible thought, let alone explain why she was here and what she was doing here.She sat up with a start. Her eager eyes scanned the unfamiliar room. She stared at the unfamiliar silk sheets. As comfy as they were, this was not her bed, or any bed she had been on for that matter. She stared at the large television opposite her. Silent images showed up on the screen. She stared at her clothes. She still had on the boring t-shirt and grey sweatpants she had put on that morning. She ran her fingers desperately through her head. “What is happening?” She muttered to herself.She leaned toward the side cupboard and began to search for her ph
“No”There was a sudden stillness that filled the room. It was such a simple word yet it meant a lot. Someone had dared challenged Romano’s authority, in open. When Luca heard the word, he was shocked. Even more so when he heard who it came from. He looked up at him, then back at Elena. What in the devil’s name was going on here?Romano was halfway towards his seat when he heard the word. He did not have to turn around to know who it came from. He could feel the sparks flying around the tense room. He was livid with anger and that was putting it lightly. Someone had openly challenged his decision, that someone was Orlando. Regardless of who it was he couldn’t let it go, not when he had done it in front of anyone. His reputation was on the line...Elena spun around to stare at the man who had led her to this dungeon. The man who had plucked her from the safety of her home and had handed her on a platter to this blood-hungry men who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. For a moment there, she
Flashback Scene:Elena stared at the art piece in front of her, her eyes traced every intricate brush stroke, she remembered every single one of it. She looked behind her, it was a slow day at the gallery, there were only a few people around. They were all too preoccupied with the “symphony of light”. She couldn’t blame them, it was a beautiful piece of art from a renowned artist.From the corner of her eyes, she could spot a man walk towards her. She was surprised, he was a good looking man, looking dapper in black silk shirt with a few top buttons opened revealing hard chest. His black hair was slightly overgrown but it only added to his sex appeal. His skin was a bit tan. Looking at his grey eyes were like staring at the sky in a stormy night. She tried to look away hoping he would just pass by. He couldn’t possibly be walking towards her.“Hello” She spun around too sharply, almost bumping into him. He put a hand around her arm to steady her. She looked down on her arm where his f
The lady led her to a room at the far end of the hall. It was as big as her room back at home. Everything was in black or white, sparsely decorated, as if no one was using it. “My name is Merrill, and what’s yours, miss?”“Elena.”Merrill stared at her with sympathy in her eyes. “It is nice to meet you. I do housekeeping for Mr. Orlando, and there are other workers around. I’ll introduce you to them later on if you like…”Elena nodded absentmindedly.“We have never had visitors before, except of course Mr. Sebastian; he comes around regularly. He and Mr. Orlando are good friends. How long will you be staying?”She took a few steps until she was a few inches away from her. “I need you to help me, Merrill. I need to leave the apartment right now. I can’t stay here. I am here against my own will…”Merrill looked past her at the security camera peeking out at the edge of the room. Elena turned around. Merrill pulled away. “I am sorry, I can’t help you,” she said, taking a long look at her.
Orlando’s plans to have a quiet breakfast were short-lived when Luca pulled up a chair and sat across from him. “Orlando…”He had left home earlier without having any breakfast because Elena wouldn’t stop pestering him. He had driven up to his favorite coffee shop to have a nice breakfast alone, away from everyone else, and it was going great up until now… “Luca.”Luca looked around. It was a plain old shop, with a few people seated. Their table was to the side, overlooking the street. It was not the kind of place Luca would come to, and he was not expecting to find Orlando there either, but the man was weird…“What an eventful evening we had last night…”“Hmm.”Luca looked around. There were many questions at the tip of his tongue, but Orlando couldn’t make it any clearer that he was uninterested.A waitress walked up to him. “What would you like, sir?” She reminded him of his nana. “Emm…”He glanced at Orlando. “I will
Elena had to be held down by two security men before she could calm down. She just wanted to go home.Everything was moving so fast; it was hard to even comprehend. As the hours went by as she sat in her bedroom, with two security men on each side, reality slowly dawned on her.She was a captive to a mysterious man in the mafia, and her life as she knew it had ended. She wiped frantically at her eyes to stop the tears. She couldn’t afford to dwell on it. She had to find a way back home somehow; she had to find her way to Camila and reach out to her father. “Can I use the bathroom, please?” It was the first words she had spoken after a while.The men did not budge.“Really? I need to go. Are you going to prevent me from doing that?”One of them hesitantly gave her a nod of approval. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying; her hair was ruffled, there were streaks of tear stains on her cheeks. She felt
***The passenger door of his car opened up, and Sebastian Marconi hopped in. “It has been ages, man!” he said in excitement.According to Sebastian, ages was two weeks ago. He had known him for a long time, and in all these years, they had become best friends. “It has been two weeks, Sebastian.” his tone was flat, but he was excited to see him.Sebastian cackled loudly. He was a member of the mafia. Despite being the heir and son of one of the founding families, he had kept his dealings with them at a minimum. He was merely an associate; he ran a few errands for them, and because of his affiliations with the high and mighty, both criminal and non-criminals, he was privy to certain information which he gave to the family.He began driving. “Where were you this time around?”“Seychelles,” he announced. “A country in East Africa,” he leaned backward. “It was superb; the white sand beaches were amazing, and the resort I stayed at…” He sighed in s
Orlando appreciated the silence as he drove her down to the family house. She was pretty shook by him shouting at her, and the increase of security guarding her door. He couldn’t care about that, he loved that she was quiet. He parked his car, and got out before letting her out.She had forlorn expression on her face. He led her through the doors of the hotel, he waved at the receptionist and not long after they were in the elevator. He could have sworn the ride lasted longer than it should. He was acutely aware of her standing in front of him, the soft sound of her breathing, his eyes fixated on her nape. He looked away and adjusted his tie, it had been a busy week.The elevator doors opened and he waited a bit, trying to keep even the slightest distance between them. She stopped and turned around to look at him. Of course, she did not know where she was going. He extended a hand out to her but she did not budge. He did not react.He walked ahead of her, the s
They walked around the store picking out a few items from the shelf; the basket was half full. When they got to the snack bar, he went wild. He threw in every snack he could lay his hand on, from sour to too sweet. She stopped protesting a long time ago because it was futile. He picked out a random jean short, two big t-shirts. Then he went to the underwear section; he stared at the underwear on display on the mannequin and then back at her. At that point, she was convinced there couldn’t be any day more embarrassing than today was. Her face was flushed; she avoided eye contact. He glanced at her and then back at the mannequin. He grabbed a few of them and then pulled her toward the bathroom. He whispered to Andre and handed him the rest of the other items. Andre nodded and walked away, and then they were finally alone.“Thank you,” she said to him as she extended a hand to take the items she needed from him, but he was still holding on. She glanced at the sign that said la
Elena jumped up in fright as the doors flung open. Orlando rushed in, worry etched on his features. His eyes scanned her body repeatedly.“Are you okay?” he asked as he closed the distance between them.She was taken aback, she merely nodded.He didn’t look convinced as he took in her appearance again. “What is the matter? The security guy at your door came to me…” He trailed off.“I…” She began playing with her fingers and avoided his gaze. “I…, I got my period,” she blurted out and averted her gaze. Her cheeks burned from embarrassment.It took him a moment to understand what she meant. He let out an inaudible sigh. The urgency with which the man had relayed the message, even interrupting a private meeting he was having with Don Russo, had caused him to panic. Well, he couldn’t blame him, he had put him in a chokehold over an open window, twenty stories high and threatened him to make sure Elena had what she needed at all times.
“I heard the tale of your epic failure…” Romano poured two glasses of whisky. “I am surprised you got out of that situation without Orlando having your head.” Sebastian took the glass from him. “I hope it stays that way,” his tone was threatening. Romano raised his hands in surrender. “I won’t say a word. What happened with the men you sent?” “I took care of it,” he exhaled and leaned backward on his chair. “I regret sending out the men to his home.” Romano took a sip from his glass. “You couldn’t help it, Sebastian. You need the art as much as I do, maybe even more. You have never been the type to overlook things like this…” “It wasn’t about the art.” Romano chuckled. “Pray tell then, what was it about?” His jaw ticked as he glared at him. “I wanted to show him he was reckless…” Romano shook his head. “Don’t sweat it, Sebastian. You’re not convincing anybody.” He
When she walked into her room that morning, she did not know what she was expecting to see, but she definitely was not expecting her room to be redecorated into a mini art station. The space near the tall glass windows overlooking the garden had a lot of items. There were canvas pieces of different sizes, arranged side by side. In a large cup holder, there were a variety of different brushes, including small detail brushes and flat brushes. There was a stool and a chair. A small apron was neatly folded and laid out on the stool. There were different buckets and palettes of paint; it was hard to identify which was which in one glance. There was a stack of sketchbooks and pencils on the tables and lots of other things she did not even realize she needed.Her hands went over her mouth as her lips curved into a wide smile. She chuckled lightly. It reminded her of old times. The first time her father went shopping for art supplies on her behalf. He had gotten all these random th
Orlando rubbed his eyes as he descended the stairs. Sebastian was in the living room, talking to two men. They tipped their heads at him and walked away carrying large duffel bags. “Sebastian, I told you I was going to handle this.”“The same way you handled the threat on Elena’s family,” Sebastian scoffed. “I don’t consider it handling when you divert all the troubles to your direction.”“What else would you have me do? They wouldn’t relent.”Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t know, anything else that’s not suicidal!” he snapped.Orlando sighed and plopped down on the chair.“Why do you even care so much?” Sebastian asked as he walked up to him. “Walk me through your thought process with this? What is your end game? What are you hoping to get out of this? What does this get you in the end?”He genuinely thought hard about those questions but he had no ready sensible answer to give Sebastian. “I don’t know…”“You’re going to g
Elena leaned back and burst into loud laughter. It didn't matter that they had been talking for hours, they never ran out of things to say. Camilla sat with them for a while until she began to doze off on the couch.She watched with a big smile on her face as Imani tried to help her to her room. She had protested, and after so much back and forth, Imani agreed to let her rest on the couch as long as she was comfortable. At first, Camilla was actively contributing to their conversation, then it turned to one-word replies, and later on, she was just staring at them. It didn't matter that she had assured her that it was okay to fall asleep.Camilla battled with sleep, it was like she wanted to watch over her, with a fear that as soon as she shut her eyes, she would go away. Elena had given up on trying to convince her to sleep. It didn't take long afterward she fell asleep on the couch. Imani moved away a bit but not too far away from Camilla. They were catc
Orlando opened his drawer and pulled out his burner. He dialed a number and put the phone in between his ear and shoulders as it rang. He continued rummaging through the drawers and pulled out a black latex gloves, putting them on.As soon as the line clicked. He spoke into the receiver. “Sebastian…”“What is it Orlando?” Sebastian asked, his voice tinged with seriousness. He knew Orlando wouldn’t call him on this line unless there was an emergency. “So I might need you to speed up the delivery of my shipment.”Sebastian was on alert. “Why is that?”Orlando exhaled and massaged his temples. “I don’t have much time. Can you just..."“If you’re not going to divulge, I will enlist the help of the family.”“Okay fine” Orlando cut him off. “My house was attacked and I just need…”“Wait…what?”Orlando resumed massaging his temples. “Yes. I will be needing a lot of the shipment.”
He rushed into the house, brandishing a gun in front of him, and pulled her behind him. He inputted the security code at the entrance. As the door opened up, he saw Merrill at the entrance. She rushed towards him, tears gushing out of her eyes. “They attacked the security men at the entrance, there was a lot of gunfire…” He pulled her into a hug. Merrill buried her head in his chest and began sobbing. They stayed that way for a while. Elena was terrified. She was with him when the call came in. The house had been shot up. The thought terrified her; those gunshots had been for her. They had come after her. One of the security guards walked in. He was a tall, burly man with bloodstains on his face and clothes. “What happened?” “They somehow managed to breach through the gates unnoticed,” the large man explained. “They came in a black van with no license plates. They took the men at the gates unaware…” “Any casualties?” Orlando cut in. “Three of our men were shot, Blake, Gun
Orlando was anything but calm as soon as he walked out of the door. He paced from one end to the other, then halted. He loosened his tie. Despite the strong air conditioning, he felt sweaty. He hated this feeling, the vulnerability he felt, why did he care so much. It was just a light interrogation, nothing could go wrong, nothing could go wrong, he chanted in his head, yet his fears wouldn’t go away. He decided to occupy himself.He went down to the lounge, soft sultry music playing in the background. The place reeked of booze and sex.The light was dim, but he could make out the few people dancing on the dance floor. He walked up to the bartender, who left the other guests he was attending to and handed him a drink. He murmured his thanks, took a sip of his drink as he took in the length and breadth of the room. There were silhouettes of people in the background going at it. It was wild, maybe this was what he needed. One wild night to purge himself of whatever it was