Page 82 of Doll's Eye

I have a scorned woman I need to tend to.

Chapter forty-one

Alessia

“Get the fuck off me,” I sneer at the two goons escorting me back into my cozy cell. I was allowed to bathe in an actual shower today after who knows how many days. Supervised by a surly Massimo.

He didn’t say a single word the entire time. He showed up with his goons, they escorted me up to the first level to a random bedroom with a bathroom, and Massimo closed us inside. He silently gestured for me to shower as he stood outside of it.

I spin around in a fury, expecting the door to be slammed shut in my face when I almost crush my nose against Massimo’s chest. I jump back as if he’s on fire, unable to bear the proximity. Not a single muscle on him flinches.

His face is still in that permanent glower, and I roll my eyes. “What?” I bite out bitterly and go to lie down on my cot. My ribs and arm are throbbing from moving them around so much to shower and change.

I stare up at the ceiling in agitation as he remains stoic near the door. “Say whatever it is you want to say, De Luca. I’m tired.”The silence is suffocating. Huffing, I turn my head to look at him. His fists are red as they pulsate at his sides. I glare back at him and can see the rage burgeoning. I know he wants to choke the life out of me, and the thought has me squeezing my thighs together and gulping.

I realize what he’s here for and what I am in for. He gave me a few days, probably for his sake, not mine. In fear he might actually kill me.

My chest begins rising and falling with shallow breaths, and his expands with his own labored breathing. The tension boiling. The air too thick to breathe comfortably.

He puts one foot in front of the other with determined steps, and I’m paralyzed. I refuse to show fear when he abruptly pauses only a few feet away from me. Our eyes remain welded, and I swear my heartbeat can be heard as it pounds.

“Get up,” he coldly demands.

My nostrils flare. “Fuck off.”

His joints creak as his fists coil, and they begin to tremor, seconds away from snapping. I’m now shaking, no matter how hard I fight it.

“Up. On. Your. Feet.”

“No.”

My eyes pop when he roughly grips the upper arm of my unbroken one, and I scramble to get my feet under me as he hoists me upwards. My ribs scream as our noses touch, and his grip constricts. He might actually break my other arm.

“This is how it’s going to go, Alessia. You are going to do exactly as I say from here on out, you feel me?” His voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It sounds more animal-like than human.

“What the fuck makes you think I’ll do that?”

“Because you will remain down here until you do.”

“Then so be it.” I remain defiant as I stare back at him.

An eternity passes before he finally cracks. I screech when I’m spun around and slammed against the cement wall. My face slams into it making me see stars and I scream through my teeth out of pain from my broken ribs being crushed under the weight of his body pinning me there.

“Why do you have to be so fucking infuriating?” His lips move against my ear as we both pant in rage.

“I didn’t ask you to bring me here!”

“Well, too fucking bad. You’re here now, and still alive thanks to me. And let me tell you right now, Alessia. You are never leaving. If you ever make it outside of this cell, you’ll be lucky if I ever let you out of my sight for even a fucking second. You are mine, and you will accept it.”

I chuckle. “You are out of your goddamn mind if you think I willeveraccept you again.”

His body goes completely still and I’m pretty sure my heart just stopped beating. His silence is always most threatening. As if the calm before the storm.

I’m flipped back around and grit my teeth when my back is shoved against the wall. “I have broken ribs, you asshole,” I spit through my teeth.

He’s right back in my face with his. “And I am so tempted to break more.” He’s absolutely unhinged, I believe him.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Do it.”