Page 15 of A Debt to Pay
“Well, okay. Only because I need to figure out this house for my escape plan.” The only problem is we both know the truth, which is that Alessandro will ensure I can never leave.
After the short walk to the other bedroom, Enzo unlocks the door with that stupid scanner, opening it for me. I am grateful that he stays outside because the second I’m alone, I break. My whole life has been derailed in the process of a few days since meeting Alessandro. The guilt of last night overwhelms me. I let a man I hate, a man I’m not married to lie with me. What makes it worse is that I enjoyed it. The weight of his body on top of me, the gentleness of his touch, and the pleasure that pulsed through my body. Tears of defeat stain my face.
I peel myself off the floor to see an outfit out on the bed and my phone light up on the nightstand.
Alessandro:
El helped me pick this out for you to wear on Saturday. Geno is coming into town on Friday and your family is joining us for lunch on Saturday. It’ll be a nice little family reunion for all of us. I expect you to behave. Pack up your things and get them moved into my bedroom by tonight. Your closet is to the right of the bathroom. Since I’m generous, I’ll give you free rein of the house and the property as long as Enzo or myself are with you. Tonight I expect you to be in our bedroom for me to enjoy. Have a nice day. -Alessandro
My heart hurts when I read the part about my family coming here for lunch. What do they think has happened to me? Nonno won’t believe I’ve suddenly fallen in love and am getting married. He has to be raising hell to try and find me. It will be nice to see them, though. I can finally get some answers from my grandparents about what happened all those years ago. On theother hand, meeting Geno makes me nervous. Is Geno as intense as Alessandro?
I inhale deeply, quickly blowing it out to settle my nerves as I pack my things. Maybe if I play Alessandro’s game, I’ll be able to plan my escape. Just because Alessandro saw me in a moment of weakness doesn’t mean I want to stay.
I’ve cleared out the closet of the items El picked and shove the cosmetics, perfumes, and other toiletries into a bag, setting them next to the other things, and groan. Wow, this is a lot of stuff. Who needs all these things? When I knock, Enzo scans and unlocks the door, his face appearing on the other side.
“According to your boss, I need my things moved to his bedroom, or should I say my new cage. Will you help me?”
“Absolutely.” He heads over to where my things are and drags the racks out of the room, leaving me with a couple of small bags.
Less than ten minutes later, everything is stacked in Alessandro’s bedroom and I spend the rest of the day organizing everything into the new closet and bathroom. I’ll play Alessandro’s game for now and maybe by this lunch, I can leave with my family.
Hours later, I miss the sound of the door opening while I’m trying to put everything away. At home, I have a step stool to reach high shelves. Here I’m left with jumping in an attempt to reach high shelves in the closet. Alessandro appears behind me, grabbing the purse, except when I turn around, his normally hard expression is softer as he sets it on the top shelf. “Th-thank you.”
We stand in silence until Alessandro caresses the side of my face with one hand and the other lands on the small of my back. He tilts my chin up as he gently presses his lips to mine. I push him away, the guilt of last night reappearing. “Alessandro, I can’t. We did a terrible thing last night. I went against my beliefs and I can’t do that again. I can’t—”
“Shut up, Luci, or I will shut it for you. Submit to me like you did last night and let me hear those pretty little sounds you make for me when you come. Let me mold your pussy to the shape of my cock.”
And I do. For the second night in a row, I lay with Alessandro, a man who is not my husband. I let him touch me, fuck me, and finish inside me. The humiliation of what we’ve done floods me as I attempt to cry quietly until sleep takes me.
I wake in the morning to the familiar smell of citrus and amber that I’ve started associating with Alessandro, noticing his side of the bed is cold and empty again. I begin my day with the shower of shame, hoping to rinse off his touch from my body. Once I’m done getting ready, Enzo knocks on the door.
“You and Alessandro are having breakfast together. I’m here to escort you downstairs.”
Getting up to follow him, I try to sound cool but end up saying the most awkward thing I could think of. “Well then, take me to your leader. Or whatever.” Enzo chuckles when he turns around, leading me downstairs where Alessandro is waiting for me.
Chapter 14
Alessandro
25 Days Until The Wedding
Imake the call to Aldo from my office, knowing Luci is still asleep in my bed. The remnants of last night are still imprinted in my memory. The ringing stops when a male voice answers the phone.
“Ciao.”
“Ciao. Is this Aldo Bonacci?” I may have kidnapped Luci, but I can at least be polite. I need to get him here without much suspicion.
“Si. Who is calling?” Hesitation fills his voice, but by now he must know Luci is missing and won’t take any chance of missing her call.
“My apologies, how rude. My name is Alessandro. I’m Luci’s fiancé. I don’t mean to—” The man cuts me off, as furious and as passionate as Luci described him that night in the bar.
“Fiancé? Luci has no fiancé! She’s not dating anyone. Who is this? Did you take her? Do you know where she is? Give her back to me this instant.” He switches back and forth from Italian to English and I must say, I’m amused by his reaction. A calmer female voice grabs the phone from Aldo, sending him away to calm down.
“I apologize for my husband. He tends to get fairly—shall we say—expressive. Is Luci safe?” Stella is everything that is missing in Aldo and is probably a great match for him.
“Si. Luci is fine. As I was telling Aldo, I am Alessandro, Luci’s fiancé. I apologize for hiding our relationship, but things have gone fairly quick. The weekend away was spur-of-the-moment. Luci is settled in at our house and we would love it if you, your husband, and your daughter would join us on Saturday for lunch at our place. I can send over the information if that works for you and we can talk all about this in detail then. I’ll plan to see you at noon?”
After a brief pause and another shush to Aldo, who I still hear in the background cursing and yelling in Italian, she responds, “I must admit Alessandro, it’s worrisome to my family that Luci never mentioned she was dating anyone. While we want her to be happy, we also need her to be safe. We will come to your place on Saturday at noon. I would advise you to tread carefully, Alessandro. Can we speak to Luci? I’d like to hear her voice.”