Page 6 of Captive in His Castle (The Martinelli Wedding #1)
Chapter Three
D ante sensed the change in Callie’s mood the moment she joined him in the reception room. The ball of angst and fury had calmed, and when she met his stare after a long glass of freshly made lemonade, knowingness rang out of the large eyes.
He gave a smile of equal knowing. “You have planned your escape?”
She tapped the end of her long, thin nose.
“You believe me now that no harm will come to you?”
“I wouldn’t believe you if you told me the grass was green.”
“Then you will have to take it on trust that you will see Sunday above ground and not buried amongst the grapevines.”
“Wherever I am on Sunday, it won’t be here.”
“I would beg to differ, but I can see it would be a waste of my breath.” If Callie thought she could simply walk out of the estate, then she would learn the error of her ways the hard way. “Ready to be shown to your room?”
She shrugged as if she couldn’t care less.
“Take a moment to orientate yourself. Only the East Wing of the castle is currently inhabited, but it is easy for the uninitiated to get lost, and I’m afraid maps are not provided.”
“I’ve a good sense of direction.”
“ Eccellente . You will need it when you attempt your escape.”
He led her through the high, arched door into another reception room and then came to a stop in a third.
“This is the Leopold room,” he told her.
“This is the hub of the East Wing. That door there is the main entrance for guests who arrive by car, that one there leads to the dining rooms and kitchens.” He then indicated another, much shorter door than the rest, “That door takes you down to the dungeons. You are welcome to explore them; they are perfectly safe.”
She took a hasty step back.
He laughed. “I have kept a few of the cells intact for historical purposes, but the rest has been converted into a wine cellar for my personal use. The exterior of the entire castle has been renovated and made safe, but only the interior renovations of the East Wing… including the dungeons… and the archive vaults and business quarters, have been completed. Much of the rest of it has been untouched for centuries. You can explore any area of the grounds that you wish, but when it comes to the castle itself, I must insist, for your own safety, that you keep to the living quarters of the East Wing.”
“If you gave a flying monkey for my safety, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me.”
“I thought we’d already established that I haven’t kidnapped you, merely abducted you?”
For that, he received another death stare and a, “Oh yes, silly me.”
He wondered if she realised the way she’d just folded her arms had pushed her breasts up, and decided it best not to mention it, considering he was already close enough to death as it was from her glares .
They were incredible breasts though, as full as the hips and bottom squeezed into those tight jeans were curvy.
If he was a gambling man… okay, he was a gambling man, just not in the traditional betting sense…
he’d put his money on them being one hundred per cent natural, which was a rarity in his world.
He knew women who’d paid fortunes for breasts and bottoms the shape of Callie’s.
In fact, the only part of her he would gamble his hard-earned cash on being unnatural was the colour of her hair.
Never minding her profile picture, the lightness of her eyebrows indicated a natural blonde, and he wondered why she’d added colour to hair so many women in his world spent hours of their lives in salons trying to create for their own tresses.
“The sleeping quarters are up here,” he said, heading off up the wide, curving staircase he’d spent a fortune having faithfully recreated to replicate the original.
When they reached the galleried overhang, Dante stood at the oak balustrade and gazed down at the Leopold room from the new vantage point.
“If you find yourself losing your bearings – and I know you say you have a good sense of direction, but trust me, the whole castle is a warren of secret rooms and hidden spaces – this is what you need to find to orientate yourself. You will not be able to leave the East Wing’s confines as doors leading elsewhere into the castle are kept locked, but the East Wing is its own warren and easy to get lost in. ”
Callie, her back pressed against the cold galley wall, was trying very hard to maintain a nonchalant, unimpressed face, but in truth, the castle’s interior was as incredible as its exterior.
All of Dante’s renovations and the furniture and furnishings, although with a modern twist, were sympathetic to its history, bringing that history to life to such an extent that she could almost see Leopold Medici gliding through its rooms. The paintings that hung on the walls…
surely they weren’t originals? Callie loved nothing more than spending her we ekends drifting through museums and art galleries – The National Portrait Gallery was her favourite – and the castle’s paintings were every bit as magnificent as those old masters that so enthralled her.
People would pay a fortune to stay just one night in this place, and this wing was but a tiny fraction of the whole thing.
All this couldn’t be for just one man, surely, which made her wonder for the first time if Dante had a woman in his life.
Of course he did, she dismissed, dismissing too, the strange squidgy feeling low in her abdomen at the thought.
For all she knew, he might even be married.
The lack of a wedding ring meant nothing.
A man like him probably had half a dozen women on the go at the same time.
No doubt they all knew he was an irredeemable bastard, but this magnificent castle and his undoubted wealth were all the incentives needed to not care.
He turned around and, before she could turn her stare away, captured her in his dark gaze. “You like it, don’t you,” he stated. “My castle.”
She shrugged. “It’s all right. Shame about its owner.”
His gorgeous face creased before a deep rumble of laughter burst out of him. “Stay here long enough, and maybe you will learn that I’m not all bad.”
“I’m quite sure I could stay here for a decade and still find you repulsive.”
A dark eyebrow rose and gave a wiggle. “Repulsive? How cutting.”
“If I’ve hurt your feelings, then please be assured of my most insincere apologies.”
Dante stared at her in wonder. “ Mio Dio , you are magnificent .” He brought his face closer, gazing into the large eyes that were currently grey and marvelled at the dark stain of colour slashing her high cheekbones.
“I could be tempted to say to hell with returning to Accardiano and all my groomsman duties, and just stay here with you until it is time to set you free.”
“Or you could just set me free now and save yourself a lengthy prison sentence?”
“I’ll risk it.” Dropping a wink, he sauntered past her and through the arched entrance into the sleeping quarters.
The walls of this corridor were lined with the ancestral portraits he’d had restored and which would be given a final home once all the castle’s renovations were complete.
He sensed Callie itching to stop to look at them but, true to form, she made not a single comment nor allowed her face to show any appreciation.
He came to a stop at the end of the corridor and opened the door to his left. “Your room.”
She crossed the threshold and gasped.
Enjoying her reaction, he leaned against the doorway and folded his arms. “A satisfactory prison cell for you?”
She didn’t answer; simply walked to the centre of the room and slowly turned around to take it all in.
“I will leave you to make yourself at home and freshen up for dinner,” he told her. “Your maid will be with you shortly.”
She cleared her throat before she met his stare. “A maid?”
“But of course.” He made a tutting sound. “How can you immerse yourself in the full experience of living in a castle without your own maid?”
A flash of amusement danced in the large eyes, only a flash but a marked contrast to all the other looks he’d been on the receiving end of from her.
“Anything you need, Geppa can arrange it for you… with the exception of a telephone, of course.”
The death stare returned.
He laughed. “I will see you at dinner.”
Callie looked at the small dining table in the corner of her room. “I think I’ll have my dinner in here, thanks. ”
“And deprive me of your scintillating company?” He shook his head with another tut.
“I’m afraid instructions will be given that any food consumed by your good self while I’m in residence has to be consumed with me.
” Flashing her a grin, he strolled out of the room, whistling the same blasted tune of earlier.
Suddenly all alone, the sound of silence rang as loudly in Callie’s ears as the thunder of her heartbeats, and it took a long while before she was capable of taking a proper breath.
So much had happened in the ten hours since that awful screaming match with Georgia, and to now find herself in this bedroom… it was like she’d been plunged into a gothic fairytale with the nightmarish twist of the handsome prince being the villain of the story.