Chiara
My heart thuds louder in my chest as I see Matteo in the doorway. His grin only makes me more unnerved, just like the glint in his eyes.
What is he up to? Is he going to kill me?
Right behind him, I can see his men. They’re watching me carefully, their hands hovering over their weapons.
I shift a little, but it’s impossible to get comfortable on this old, hard bed when I’m cuffed to the headboard. Even if I wasn’t, there’d be nowhere for me to go.
The room doesn’t have any windows, and I can see another door that leads to a small bathroom, but I doubt I’d find a way to escape there either.
“Do you know why you and them,” his gaze rakes over my stomach, “are still alive? Because I need you for my plan. So you better be useful, or I’m going to kill you.”
I swallow hard. It’s a good thing that he needs me, even though I don’t really want to help him. But it’s not like I have a choice.
Maybe I wouldn’t have cared about my life as much, but I’ll do anything to protect my babies. Anything. They’re the most important thing in my life right now. Everything else comes second.
“Do you understand?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Good.” He smiles again, and then he heads outside.
The door closes, and I hear the lock click.
I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe I don’t know much about Matteo, but I know he’s dangerous. He’s keeping me cuffed just because he wants to.
I can’t imagine he’s worried I’d do something. It’s just about keeping me scared and showing me that my life is in his hands now.
For now, I have to play along. And when the time comes... then I’ll act. All I need is one small chance. I hope I’ll get it.
When a group of Matteo’s men enter the room—four of them—I tense. But one of them uncuffs me and another one places a big black box on the bed next to me.
I rub my wrist as I stare at them, my insides clenching with anxiety because I have no idea what they’re about to do.
They step away from the bed, and Matteo strolls into the room. A smile curves his lips, and I already hate it. I wish I could punch him or just shoot him.
“Open the box,” he says. “Then put the dress on. In the bathroom. And come right back.”
I stare into his eyes, but I can’t tell what he’s thinking or feeling. Why would he want me to wear a dress? What the hell? Are we going somewhere? Has he arranged a meeting with Adriano?
The thought of Adriano makes my chest hurt. If only he were with me right now, and not Matteo.
I want to ask Matteo a billion questions, but I don’t. Even if I asked something, I’m sure he wouldn’t give me a straightforward answer. And I really need to use the bathroom because it’s been too long.
I open the box and pull out a fluffy red dress. It’s weird, but I take it with me to the bathroom. Just as I expected, there are no windows in here either. Not even a mirror. But at least there’s a toilet and a sink.
I splash some water over my face first. What if everything that’s happening somehow affects my babies? I have to stay as strong and calm as possible, but what if I can’t? The whole situation is impossibly stressful.
I place my hand over my stomach, caressing gently.
“You’ll be fine,” I whisper.
Once I’m done and dressed, I take a deep breath before going out and facing Matteo. I can’t think about something happening to me and the babies. I have to believe we’ll get out of here and away from Matteo.
“Come here,” he says as soon as he sees me.
I furrow my brow and start toward him. It’s weird with all his guards watching us, and the dress comes to just above my knees.
“Closer,” Matteo says when I stop.
I move forward, finding myself face-to-face with him. What does he want from me? He pulls something out of the pocket of his pants.
A lipstick?
“Don’t move.” He presses the bright red lipstick to my lips.
My frown deepens.
“Perfect,” he says when he’s done.
What the fuck is wrong with him? What is this?
“Now smile.”
I want to bare my teeth at him, and I would have done it, but if I piss him off, my babies’ lives are in danger. Somehow, I don’t think I’m the key part of his plan. He’s only using me because he knows it will hurt Adriano.
I force my lips into a smile. Matteo steps away and motions to one of the men, who lifts a camera and points it at me.
Is that how Matteo plans to prove to Adriano that he has me and that I’m still alive? But why all the theatrics? The dress? The lipstick?
The guy keeps snapping photos of me as if this is some kind of twisted photo shoot.
“Now I want some with us together.” Matteo strides toward me and winds his arm around my waist, pressing himself close to me.
I flinch and fight the urge to shove him away.
“Smile!” he commands.
The camera guy shakes his head a moment later.
Matteo turns to me, his face serious. “You’re not looking happy enough. Try harder, Chiara.”
Maybe it’s him, and not me, but he doesn’t think about that.
“Smile!”
“Maybe it would be more genuine if you let me out of the room.” I don’t want to stay completely quiet.
“Not going to happen. Let’s get on the bed.” He yanks me with him, and we end up lying on the bed.
The camera keeps clicking as Matteo pulls me to him. I push myself up, but he just grabs my hips and I end up on top of him.
“Kiss me,” he says, his eyes on mine.
“No!” There’s no way I’m kissing him.
“Fine, then pretend like you’re about to do it.”
“What?”
He tugs me forward anyway, and my hair falls down, shielding my face. Before I have a chance to react, he sits up with me still in his arms. Our faces are way too close.
But he’s distracted, and my hands are already pressed against his chest. I lower them to feel for a weapon. If I can get my hands on something, I could use it to force him to let me go. With a knife or a gun pointed at his face, I don’t think he’d let his men risk trying to shoot me.
But the corners of his lips lift up.
He knows. He fucking knows what I’m doing, and he must’ve come here without any weapons. It makes sense. His guys are armed, so he doesn’t have to be. And he knew he was going to be close to me.
“Do we have everything we need?” Matteo asks, shaking me off him as if I’m dirt he’s happy he no longer has to touch.
“Yes, sir,” the guy with the camera says.
“Perfect. Then let’s go.” He glances at me before heading to the door.
I just sit there on the bed, glad that he’s gone. Once everyone’s out and the door is locked, I wipe the lipstick off my lips with the back of my hand.
There’s only one thing that comes to my mind after this sick photo shoot. Matteo is going to send the photos to Adriano. I don’t think Adriano will believe anything is going on between Matteo and me because that would make no sense, but he’ll be worried Matteo is hurting me and using me as his plaything.
I guess Matteo wants to make Adriano as mad as possible, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. I wish I had told Adriano about the babies. Actually, I was going to do it, but then Matteo showed up.
If Adriano thinks something bad is happening to me and if Matteo tells him I’m pregnant, he might do something impulsive. I bite down on my lip. There has to be something I can do to get out of here before it’s too late.
My gaze falls on my hand, which is still red from the lipstick. I’m no longer cuffed, which is good. And maybe I have an idea, but as I look around the room, I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off.
Will Matteo’s men come back to give me some food? I can only hope that they will because I’ll need my energy.