Gabriella's pov
I was safe. I was safe. I was safe. It was what I tried to tell myself even though I was so unhappy. It's been fourteen days since I've arrived in Los Angeles, and it felt like eternity since I felt I had any form of control over my life.
It felt just like the hospital, but worse. Since I wasn't familiar with my surroundings, I couldn't move around as I pleased. I had a monotonous routine : wake up, eat, get ushered to the garden by the maid, Gretta, eat again, then sleep. I felt locked up.
Matteo on the other hand was like a ghost. It was almost like I had made him up these past few months, and now my reality was struggling to keep up with my fantasy.
I hardly slept, because my nightmares kept me up. The darkness was oppressive, like a physical weight that pressed down on me at all times. But what difference did it make? Day or Night, it was all the same to me. This left me filled with so much panic and anxiety, that I began to create scenarios in my head. I thought about how much of a big mistake this was. I didn't fully know Matteo, and I just let him take me to an entirely different city. What if this wasn't Los Angeles? What if I was somewhere else, and what if Matteo was someone dangerous? I was vulnerable, and he had taken advantage of that. What if this was all a trap?
I stood up, my hands shaking with frustration. I needed to get out of here, I couldn't stay here anymore.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Gretta's voice called out. "Gabriella, breakfast is ready."
When I didn't give a reply, she came into the room, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the walls. "Gabriella, are you okay? You haven't been eating much lately."
Gretta was around my age, and was nice to me. But it always felt more like she did it as a job rather than the goodness of her heart.
"I'm not hungry." I replied, and took a step away from her.
"Are you sure? Do you want me to bring it to your room? I could help you if you want."
"I'm blind, not immobile!" I snapped.
She was clearly taken aback because she paused for a moment before she spoke. "Gabriella.."
"I need to speak to Matteo."
Her voice was calm yet firm. "I believe that's not possible, Matteo is unreachable right now. He went on a business trip this morning, and won't be back today."
I glanced at her, my eyes wide in panic. "Why didn't he tell me? Why would he leave me here alone?"
"Gabriella, are you okay? Do you have a fever?"
She tried to touch me, but I shrugged away. "Don't touch me!"
I clenched my hands to fists. "I am not crazy or sick! And unless Matteo returns, then I won't eat, and don't bother coming to my room until then."
"You can't just starve yourself till he comes back. I could get in trouble for that!"
"Then you better find a way to get him to come back."
She scoffed, here tone incredulous. "You can't just demand the presence of someone like Matteo."
"Who is Matteo? What does he really do? I need you to tell me Gretta, please."
She was quiet for a moment as if weighing her decisions. "Of course, I shouldn't force you to have breakfast. I'll be back to call you for lunch."
She didn't wait for what I had to say before she walked out of the room, leaving me more confused and frustrated than ever.
I ignored the food she brought up to my room during lunch and didn't even bother with dinner.
****
Days passed, and I grew more desperate. I refused the food Gretta kept bringing to my room, and in the process lost some weight. But I couldn't care any less, the only thing that weighed me down was how I felt trapped. I had to find a way out.
"You know you can't just keep refusing food, Gabriella." Gretta said one night. She came up to my room with a tray of pasta and fruits. "I'm going to get in big trouble if Matteo comes back, and finds out you haven't been eating. "
"You still haven't told him I want to see him?" I said, glaring at her.
She sighed. "It's not that easy to reach the man, especially when he goes on his trips."
"It's a phone call away."
She moved further into the room, and placed the tray on my bed. "Please, you need to eat."
I shook my head, regretting it instantly because of the dizziness that came with it. "I'm fine." I whispered.
"I'll leave it here, in case you change your mind." She said, and in no time she was out of the room.
I waited until Greta's footsteps faded away, and the house was silent once again. This was it. I had to get out here.
I slowly got out of bed, my hands outstretched in front of me. I made my way to the window, my fingers tracing the outline of the furniture and the wall. Finally I found the latch, but it was stuck.
"Shit!" I whispered as I struggled with it. After a couple of pulls, it finally swung open, and the rush of the cool night air blew in my face.
"Okay." I said and hoisted myself up onto the windowsill, my hands grasping for the frame. From what I had noticed, my room wasn't that high up, and I was sure not to break my neck. As long as I didn't slip and fall, that is.
I swung my legs over the side, careful not to slip or fall. "I just jump, and run."
It sounded like a stupid idea, but I needed to get out of this room, out of this place. I took a deep breath, and pushed myself out of the window. But as I dropped down, I realized I had misjudged the distance. I fell to the ground all right, but not without a loud crack from my ankles.
"Arghhh." I cried out in pain, and grabbed my leg. "Fuck!"
Realizing the noise I just made, I clamped my free hand over my mouth. I had to get up, or someone is going to find me. Pursing my lips together, I tried to get up on my feet, but my ankle couldn't bear the weight. My head spun around, and I wished I had at least eaten something before my stupid stunt.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching towards my direction. I had to move!
"Gabriella?" Matteo's smooth voice rang out through the night.
I turned my head towards the sound. "Matteo?"
His footsteps were louder and more urgent. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"I..I"
He was beside me in an instant, his hands gently grasping my arms. "What were you doing? Why are you on the floor?" He squatted down until I could feel his breath on my face. "Were you trying to run away?"
I tried to explain, but he cut me off. "You could have killed yourself! Do you have any idea how high that window is?!"
As he said that, I winced at the pain in my ankle, and that didn't go unnoticed.
"You hurt yourself." He sighed, and gently lifted me up, cradling me in his arms. "Let's get you back inside, and you're going to tell me exactly why you tried to do this."
I ought to feel angry, scared, unsure, but instead, I felt safe. Safe in the arms of a man I hardly knew a thing about.
It was winter break. I could still remember the first drop of snow had settled down on my window pane as I sat and watched. Snow didn't fall much here in Miami, and when it did, it was never for long. Christmas was more beautiful in New York, more lively. I should have stayed back with Jasmine instead of coming here. But what choice did I have, especially after my mother had cried her eyes out over the phone the night before I got here. She was always so good with emotional blackmail."Oh come on, you can't tell me that you're upset about being in your big ass mansion, with a whole bunch of food,and a complete family to spend your Christmas with?" Jasmine said over the phone, I had face timed her the moment I unpacked all my stuff."Don't get me wrong, I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just saying I would rather spend Christmas with you. I hate the fact you're all alone in the apartment on Christmas day." Jasmine was supposed to head home to meet her family in Scotland, but then there wa
How the hell did a gun get to my room?!I pushed my hair back, my eyes never leaving my mother as she cocked the gun. My own mother, who liked to sit in the garden on sunny days, who loved to wear sunflower straw hats, was handling a pistol like it was nothing. "What is that doing in my room? How did that get there? How are you doing this?!" "Don't be silly Gabriella, everywhere in this house is armed incase of something like this." She pulled out another gun, and handed it to me. "You know who your father is. Everyone wants him dead everyday, and if you weren't away so much, you wouldn't be so startled."I scoffed, stunned at the woman standing in front of me. Her mannerism and sweetness had suddenly vanished, replaced with a cold calculative persona. I didn't even notice when she moved closer to me and placed another gun in my hand.I flinched at the feeling of the cold metal on my skin. "I don't…"I got cut off by the sound of more gunshots and loud thuds. I tried to push my mind
A man dressed in all black, with a thick long coat, and a black mask, walked into the living room. "This was almost too easy." He continued, standing in front of my father. "I mean I guess I can call it easy when I've been planning it for 12 years." "You fucking bastard! How dare you come to my home, guns blazing?!" My father rasped, trying to hold on a face of bravery, but his face was so pale, he looked like he'd fall unconscious any second. "Always such an aggressive animal." The man replied. "You'd think that a man like you would be lonely and miserable, maybe that way I'd understand why it was so easy to be the unforgiving cold devil that you are."My father grinned. "So that's what this is? Now this is exactly why I never leave any survivors. Bastards like you always have a way of coming back to bite me in the ass."The man didn't hesitate to punch my father in the face, sending him falling to the ground in fits of bloddy coughs. He stretched out his hands to one of the men w
I was burning. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I couldn't stop the screams. They were my screams, but I couldn't stop them. "Your entire legacy is gone!" The masked man screamed before pulling the trigger, killing both my parents. "No!" I jolted awake, my body screaming in so much pain. My stomach throbbed with a dull ache, like a burn that was eating me up from the inside. My body was too weak to move, and I glanced around the room, but something was off. Why was everywhere so dark? Trying to steady my breathing, I touched my face to be sure I was awake. I was sure I was, and I was sure my eyes were open, so why couldn't I see anything? "Hello?!" I called out, reaching forward to try to grab anything, but all I could feel were the sheets beneath me. "Is someone here?!"I heard the sound of a door opening, and a woman's soothing voice cut through the air. "You're okay." She said, her hand grasping mine.I turned my head towards the voice, desperate to see who was speaki
He came again. More times than I could count, and everytime he did, he always brought some kind of token. Flowers, junk food the hospital would never allow. It was almost like he was baiting me, trying to get me to lower my guard, trying to get me to trust him. But I couldn't, not him, not anyone, not ever.He never stayed too long either, thirty minutes at most. It was enough for me to get info that he let me gain. His name was Matteo Morandi, didn't sound like a name I've heard before, but I was never good with remembering. He owned properties, car stores, and my father had been an acquaintance with his father. He had lent him some money once when his business was going under. Since Matteo's father died, he placed it upon himself to pay my father back. He was a mysterious man, who kept things about himself vague."Why did you save me?" I asked. I didn't know how long it has been since I was here, and I didn't care either. I felt hollow, empty…"You keep asking me a question that I
"What the fuck are you doing, Carlos?!" Matteo's voice boomed. He let go of my hair, causing me to fall to the ground. "She attacked me, and then tried to run!"I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering, panicking, trying to push away the horrors."I told you not to hurt her!" Matteo yelled, his tone icy. "Why the fuck would you grab her like some doll?!""My head feels like shit, and I'm the one bleeding!" He protested.He hurried to my side, and I immediately flinched at his touch. "It's okay." He soothed, his voice a total contrast of what it was a second ago. "I'm not going to hurt you, Gabriella."I whimpered, tightening my arm around myself. I curled up into a ball, my hands clutching at my head, as if I could physically hold back the painful memories that were flooding my mind.Suddenly a warm weight settled around my shoulders. Matteo's suit jacket, I realized, as the scent of the cologne enveloped me. His hands closed around my wrists, gentle but firm, and he pulled me into
Matteo's povWhat the fuck was I doing? Saving the daughter of Gabriel Russo, faking her death, and then taking her with me to my home in Los Angeles. All of these are like ingredients to a disaster that was going to blow up in my face in the future. I looked over at her, and saw she was already sound asleep. Her brows were furrowed together as if she was having a bad nightmare. I'm not surprised, because things like what happened to her, stays in your mind forever. There was no fixing it. My eyes trailed to the burn scars on her neck, and I felt the ripple of rage run through me. The time spent with Gabriella, made me realize she wasn't a bad person, she was the direct opposite of Gabriel, but yet she still had to suffer for his sins. "Great." I muttered as I looked away. "You had one mission, Matteo, but instead you had to save the girl."I leaned back in my seat, and sighed. I was already too deep in this to turn back now. Gabriella stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She looked
Gabriella's povI was safe. I was safe. I was safe. It was what I tried to tell myself even though I was so unhappy. It's been fourteen days since I've arrived in Los Angeles, and it felt like eternity since I felt I had any form of control over my life. It felt just like the hospital, but worse. Since I wasn't familiar with my surroundings, I couldn't move around as I pleased. I had a monotonous routine : wake up, eat, get ushered to the garden by the maid, Gretta, eat again, then sleep. I felt locked up.Matteo on the other hand was like a ghost. It was almost like I had made him up these past few months, and now my reality was struggling to keep up with my fantasy.I hardly slept, because my nightmares kept me up. The darkness was oppressive, like a physical weight that pressed down on me at all times. But what difference did it make? Day or Night, it was all the same to me. This left me filled with so much panic and anxiety, that I began to create scenarios in my head. I thought
Matteo's povWhat the fuck was I doing? Saving the daughter of Gabriel Russo, faking her death, and then taking her with me to my home in Los Angeles. All of these are like ingredients to a disaster that was going to blow up in my face in the future. I looked over at her, and saw she was already sound asleep. Her brows were furrowed together as if she was having a bad nightmare. I'm not surprised, because things like what happened to her, stays in your mind forever. There was no fixing it. My eyes trailed to the burn scars on her neck, and I felt the ripple of rage run through me. The time spent with Gabriella, made me realize she wasn't a bad person, she was the direct opposite of Gabriel, but yet she still had to suffer for his sins. "Great." I muttered as I looked away. "You had one mission, Matteo, but instead you had to save the girl."I leaned back in my seat, and sighed. I was already too deep in this to turn back now. Gabriella stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She looked
"What the fuck are you doing, Carlos?!" Matteo's voice boomed. He let go of my hair, causing me to fall to the ground. "She attacked me, and then tried to run!"I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering, panicking, trying to push away the horrors."I told you not to hurt her!" Matteo yelled, his tone icy. "Why the fuck would you grab her like some doll?!""My head feels like shit, and I'm the one bleeding!" He protested.He hurried to my side, and I immediately flinched at his touch. "It's okay." He soothed, his voice a total contrast of what it was a second ago. "I'm not going to hurt you, Gabriella."I whimpered, tightening my arm around myself. I curled up into a ball, my hands clutching at my head, as if I could physically hold back the painful memories that were flooding my mind.Suddenly a warm weight settled around my shoulders. Matteo's suit jacket, I realized, as the scent of the cologne enveloped me. His hands closed around my wrists, gentle but firm, and he pulled me into
He came again. More times than I could count, and everytime he did, he always brought some kind of token. Flowers, junk food the hospital would never allow. It was almost like he was baiting me, trying to get me to lower my guard, trying to get me to trust him. But I couldn't, not him, not anyone, not ever.He never stayed too long either, thirty minutes at most. It was enough for me to get info that he let me gain. His name was Matteo Morandi, didn't sound like a name I've heard before, but I was never good with remembering. He owned properties, car stores, and my father had been an acquaintance with his father. He had lent him some money once when his business was going under. Since Matteo's father died, he placed it upon himself to pay my father back. He was a mysterious man, who kept things about himself vague."Why did you save me?" I asked. I didn't know how long it has been since I was here, and I didn't care either. I felt hollow, empty…"You keep asking me a question that I
I was burning. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I couldn't stop the screams. They were my screams, but I couldn't stop them. "Your entire legacy is gone!" The masked man screamed before pulling the trigger, killing both my parents. "No!" I jolted awake, my body screaming in so much pain. My stomach throbbed with a dull ache, like a burn that was eating me up from the inside. My body was too weak to move, and I glanced around the room, but something was off. Why was everywhere so dark? Trying to steady my breathing, I touched my face to be sure I was awake. I was sure I was, and I was sure my eyes were open, so why couldn't I see anything? "Hello?!" I called out, reaching forward to try to grab anything, but all I could feel were the sheets beneath me. "Is someone here?!"I heard the sound of a door opening, and a woman's soothing voice cut through the air. "You're okay." She said, her hand grasping mine.I turned my head towards the voice, desperate to see who was speaki
A man dressed in all black, with a thick long coat, and a black mask, walked into the living room. "This was almost too easy." He continued, standing in front of my father. "I mean I guess I can call it easy when I've been planning it for 12 years." "You fucking bastard! How dare you come to my home, guns blazing?!" My father rasped, trying to hold on a face of bravery, but his face was so pale, he looked like he'd fall unconscious any second. "Always such an aggressive animal." The man replied. "You'd think that a man like you would be lonely and miserable, maybe that way I'd understand why it was so easy to be the unforgiving cold devil that you are."My father grinned. "So that's what this is? Now this is exactly why I never leave any survivors. Bastards like you always have a way of coming back to bite me in the ass."The man didn't hesitate to punch my father in the face, sending him falling to the ground in fits of bloddy coughs. He stretched out his hands to one of the men w
How the hell did a gun get to my room?!I pushed my hair back, my eyes never leaving my mother as she cocked the gun. My own mother, who liked to sit in the garden on sunny days, who loved to wear sunflower straw hats, was handling a pistol like it was nothing. "What is that doing in my room? How did that get there? How are you doing this?!" "Don't be silly Gabriella, everywhere in this house is armed incase of something like this." She pulled out another gun, and handed it to me. "You know who your father is. Everyone wants him dead everyday, and if you weren't away so much, you wouldn't be so startled."I scoffed, stunned at the woman standing in front of me. Her mannerism and sweetness had suddenly vanished, replaced with a cold calculative persona. I didn't even notice when she moved closer to me and placed another gun in my hand.I flinched at the feeling of the cold metal on my skin. "I don't…"I got cut off by the sound of more gunshots and loud thuds. I tried to push my mind
It was winter break. I could still remember the first drop of snow had settled down on my window pane as I sat and watched. Snow didn't fall much here in Miami, and when it did, it was never for long. Christmas was more beautiful in New York, more lively. I should have stayed back with Jasmine instead of coming here. But what choice did I have, especially after my mother had cried her eyes out over the phone the night before I got here. She was always so good with emotional blackmail."Oh come on, you can't tell me that you're upset about being in your big ass mansion, with a whole bunch of food,and a complete family to spend your Christmas with?" Jasmine said over the phone, I had face timed her the moment I unpacked all my stuff."Don't get me wrong, I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just saying I would rather spend Christmas with you. I hate the fact you're all alone in the apartment on Christmas day." Jasmine was supposed to head home to meet her family in Scotland, but then there wa