Page 11

11

Rose

Rose

I can’t believe this is happening. The car makes its way through the city streets. I look out at the crowds, wishing I was one of them. Anonymous, forgotten, blending into the background. I would have given anything to be with them. To lose myself among them.

Even with the rain steadily falling, I wouldn’t have minded. I could vanish into the masses, made my way to the bus station or a cab rank, found a way out of the city and back to my old life. If Dino hadn’t shown me the gun he’s got hidden inside his jacket.

It seems to me as I sit in a wedding dress I haven’t chosen that I’m not in charge of my life anymore. It’s something that is happening to me rather than something I am actively controlling. In other circumstances, I might consider my dress beautiful.

It fits me perfectly, not something I would expect for a wedding dress. It’s as if they made it for me. I run my hands over the diamonds sewn into the fabric. It must have cost a fortune. I look across at Dino. He’s staring in front of him, saying nothing.

I run my hand to the door handle as secretly as I can. I give it a turn, but nothing happens. I’m locked in. The window isn’t working either. I could try banging on the blacked out glass, but would anyone notice. Would they even hear over the noise of traffic?

We’re moving steadily along. It’s after morning rush hour and most people due at work are already there. No work for me today. Nothing to do but get swept along the path to misery.

He’s making me marry him. I don’t want to do it. I won’t do it. I can’t do it.

I don’t want to be married to him. He’s a monster. He’s made that clear already.

None of this makes any sense. Why won’t he believe me about the casino chip? He thinks it means I’m the daughter of some big mafia chief. As if my dad could be chief of anything.

He’s got a bad back, takes about half a dozen pills a day for his blood pressure and other things. He collects postcards. He can’t handle yoghurt, it makes his guts play up. Not exactly Capo dei Capi material, is he?

Dino has got it wrong about all of this. I try to tell him as we drive through the streets, but he won’t listen, just keeps calling me a good liar. The more I try to convince him of the truth, the better he thinks I’m honing my lying skills. I can’t win.

I glance across at him again, seeing that thick neck of his, the way his arms make his suit fabric stretch, like he might burst out of it at any moment.

What would that look like?

I don’t like that question. It comes into my head from nowhere and refuses to go away, making me tingle in places that have no right to be responding to the situation. I should be afraid.

Scratch that, I am afraid. I’m not excited by the thought of slipping into his marital bed with only this dress between the two of us.

No panties underneath it, either. That’s not something I’ve ever done before. Gone without underwear.

One big sneeze and my tits will fly out of the top. I try not to breathe too deeply. They’re already heaving up and down and getting wobbled by the bumps in the street surface.

I’m not happy. I’m not thinking about being naked in front of him, the way he looked me up and down. I’m not thinking about the fleeting moment when he touched me while dressing me, the way my nipples pebbled and I felt wetness growing between my legs. It didn’t happen. I refuse to accept that it did.

He’s a cruel man. An absolute bastard, cold to the core. I decide. First chance I get, I’m going to run. There must be a way of getting out of the church. I have to at least try.

The car slows to a stop. I’m getting out of here and going to the police. They’ll help me. Kidnapping is a serious charge. He’s going to jail for this for a very long time and then I can go back to my ordinary life. No demolition of the shelter. No mansion being built. All back to normal.

He climbs out of the car first, walking around to my side to pull my door open. “Out,” he says.

I climb out onto the sidewalk. I look past him. There’s no one to call to for help. “In there,” he says, nodding toward a small side door.

I go through it and I’m in some kind of dressing room attached to the church. A woman in a garish red dress is standing by the sort of chair you get in a hair salon. She smiles at me and picks up a hairbrush. “Let’s get started,” she says.

Dino closes the door to the street and crosses the room. “Don’t be long,” he says. “I’ll be waiting.”

He goes into the church and shuts the door, leaving me alone with the woman. “I’m Marjorie,” she says. “I’m thinking tied up to show off that gorgeous face of yours. What do you think?”

“Please,” I say to her, grabbing her shoulders. “You’ve got to help me.”

“Pre-wedding nerves is it? That’s perfectly normal. Just take several deep breaths and you’ll be fine.”

“No, you don’t understand. He’s insane. He’s kidnapped me. I don’t want to marry him. You’ve got to call the police.”

“Listen, I know you’re nervous, but Dino is a good man. He’ll take care of you.”

“Oh, fuck. You’re on his side, aren’t you?”

I turn and run for the door to the street. She reaches out to stop me, but fear gives me speed. I shove the door with my shoulder and crash outside.

It’s not easy to run in a dress like this, so I hitch it up above my knees, kicking my heels off and sprinting as fast as I can into the rain. I can hear voices yelling behind me, but I don’t look back.

I reach the curb and leap off it, jumping over a puddle. I can’t wipe my eyes as I’m holding my dress up so I blink away the rain that’s running down my face.

All I want is to get away. I’m concentrating so hard on sprinting that I don’t see the van until it’s too late.

The side door is open, and hands are reaching out to grab me, pulling me inside. I fight off the hands, thinking it’s Dino’s men, but then I see the face I least want to see in the entire world.

“Hello again,” Ricardo says as the van races off down the street. “Miss me?”

He reaches across and shoves the front of my wedding dress down to expose my tits. “They belong to me now,” he says with a grin as I fight to get the dress back into place.

I’m surrounded by men. They grab my arms, holding me in place so I can’t fight or run. The van is still tearing along the road, taking a bend at such speed I’m flung forward, landing on Ricardo’s lap.

He holds me to him, and I get a smell of him. It’s so bad I retch. He shoves me back into my place, staring at my chest as he does so. “They can stay out for now,” he says. “Let the men see what belongs to me. Reckon I might have to send some photos to Dino. Show him what he’s missing out on.”

“Let me go!” I scream, fighting to free myself.

He sighs. “Gag her. I don’t want to listen to that whine.”

I slam my head from side to side, but it’s no use. They don’t just gag me.

They shove a bag over my head and tie my hands and feet together, leaving me unable to right myself when the van takes another turn.

I fall to the floor, ending up on my back, trying to get free. They attach another rope to my wrist bonds, hogtying me to my own feet.

I can’t believe I ran from one situation and ended up in a worse one. “You’ve probably heard some rumors about me,” Ricardo says, grabbing my tits with both hands and squeezing them painfully. “They’re all true.” He tugs my nipples and giggles. “So you better behave.”

The van slows, and we go down a ramp. I’m guessing it’s an underground parking lot. We come to a stop and I’m dragged out, carried into an elevator that rises for what seems like forever.

I’m carried out and along for a minute before I’m dumped on a carpeted floor. The bag is left on my head and a door slams shut. I’m alone.

Or so I think.

I hear Ricardo whispering in my ear a moment later. “I can’t fuck you until we’re married,” he’s saying. “But that’ll make it all the sweeter. You’ve never been fucked by a guy like me. I will make you scream, little girl. You’ll have things in that tight ass of yours like you’ve never imagined. I’ll cut you if you try to fight me. I’ve had women beg me for death when I get going and nothing gets me harder than fear, so you stay afraid and we’ll get on fine.”

He squeezes my tits again and then laughs. “Until our wedding night, my darling.” Then I hear the door open and close and I’m finally alone.

I try to sit upright, but I can hardly move. I wriggle sideways until I reach a wall, but just doing that has exhausted me. For the first time, I wish Dino was with me. He’d save me. I know he would. Look what happened last time.

I want to believe he’ll come for me, but that will only get me back where I was. I think to myself I would say yes to marrying him if it meant getting out of this.

I cry into the bag, sobbing as I wonder what the hell has got me here. I’m trussed up, gagged. My chest hurts from where he groped me, and I’ve no idea where I am or what’s going to happen next.

I’ve no idea how long I’m left here like this. All I know is that after a while, I need to pee. That’s the only way I can mark the passage of time, the increasing pain in my bladder. My throat is dry too. The room is too warm and I’m sweating in my dress.

I get into a sitting position, crawling around the room, trying to find a door to escape or anything that I could use to untie myself. There’s nothing.

The room is empty. The door is locked. I collapse to the floor again. I’m not going anywhere until someone comes to let me out.

I scrape my head back and forth until I get the bag off. I look around me. Plain white walls. No windows. More of a cell than a room. Black carpet under my feet.

The door is metal and reinforced. A single camera in the corner pointing directly at me. Bare lightbulb above my head. If that goes out, I won’t be able to see a thing.

Terror seeps into my bones. I regret running from the wedding. Dino warned me. It was him or Ricardo. Looks like I’ve chosen Ricardo and I feel I really fucked up here. I have made a terrible decision. All I can do is hope that Dino will save me. But does he even know where I am?

I look down at myself. I really need to pee, and if no one comes soon, I’m going to be even more of a mess than I already am.

I close my eyes and pray. Pray that someone will save me. I cry again. The gag tastes bad and I can’t swallow properly. I keep praying.

Maybe, just maybe, the big guy upstairs will listen and send help. If he does, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to him.