My eyes trailed upward, to the place he had pointed to. I stiffened. It was a portrait of a woman. With my face. I grabbed my glass and downed it. The alcoholic bite made me wince, but it had the calming effect I had expected. I reached out for the bottle to pour myself another glass. Meanwhile, Massimo continued.
“When my heart stopped, I saw… you. After weeks in a coma, I regained consciousness, and my fitness came back sometime later. As soon as I was able to communicate the image I had before my eyes the whole time, I called an artist to paint the woman I saw in my dreams. He painted you.”
That couldn’t be disputed. It was me in the painting. But… how was that possible?
“I looked for you everywhere. Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. Deep down, I knew someday you’d show up. And here you are. I saw you at the airport, leaving the terminal. At first I wanted to grab you then and there and never let you go again, but that was just too much of a risk. But since then, my people have been keeping an eye on you. Tortuga, the restaurant you ended up in, is my property. But it wasn’t my doing that you went there. It was fate. When you were inside, I just couldn’t resist. I had to talk to you. And then fate intervened again, and you went through that door you shouldn’t have. Providence seems to favor me. The hotel you stayed in is also mine… In part.”
That’s when I realized where the champagne on our table had come from, and why I had felt watched. I wanted to interrupt the man and shower him with a million questions, but I decided to wait.
“You must be mine, too, Laura.”
That was it. I snapped. “I’m not anyone’s property! I’m not a thing to own! And you can’t just have me. Kidnap me and count on me just accepting that,” I hissed.
“I know. That’s why I’ll give you a chance to fall in love with me and stay with me out of your own volition, rather than any compulsion I might impose.”
I snorted with hysterical laughter, and then slowly and calmly rose from the armchair. Massimo didn’t object to that. I walked over to the fireplace, turning my champagne glass in my fingers. I finished the rest and then turned to my captor.
“You’re kidding, right?” I narrowed my eyes, pinning the man with a hateful glare.
“I have a boyfriend who will look for me. I have a family. Friends. I have a life. And I don’t need your goddamn chance at love!” I nearly shouted that out. “So you’ll let me go right now and allow me to return to my world.”
Massimo walked over to the opposite side of the room. He opened a cabinet and took out two envelopes before returning and stopping right next to me. He was close enough for me to smell his scent—an overpowering mix of power, money, and warm, spiced perfume. It made me feel dizzy all over again.
He passed me the first envelope, saying, “Before you open it, I’ll explain what is inside…” I didn’t wait, instead spinning on my heel away from him and ripping the envelope open.
Photos spilled to the floor.
“Oh my God…” I breathed. Then a great sob wracked my body and I collapsed to my knees, hiding my face in my hands.
My heart cramped and my eyes teared up. The photos showed Martin fucking another woman. They had been snapped secretly, but there was no doubt they showed my boyfriend.
“Laura…” Massimo knelt beside me. “I will explain what you’re seeing now, so listen, please. When I tell you to do something, and you decide to do the opposite, it will always… always end up badly for you. Please understand that and stop fighting me. You’ve already lost that battle.”
I raised my teary eyes and looked at him with such uncontrollable hate that he withdrew a bit. I was furious, desperate, ripped to shreds with grief. I didn’t care anymore.
“You know what? Fuck off and die!” I threw the envelope at him and leaped for the door.
Still on his knees, Massimo shot out a hand and grabbed my ankle, pulling me toward him. I toppled to the floor again, slamming into it with my back. He didn’t mind, instead pulling me across the rug until I found myself directly beneath him. Lightning fast, he released my ankle and clasped his hands around my wrists. I thrashed wildly, trying to break free.
“Let me go, you fucker!” I roared, struggling.
He shook me, trying to make me stop fighting, and a gun slipped from beneath his belt, tumbling to the floor. I froze, but Massimo didn’t seem to care at all, instead keeping his eyes focused solely on me. His hands clamped around my wrists harder, like vises. I stopped struggling, growing limp. I was helpless. I cried. His cold eyes pierced me with their icy stare. His eyes trailed down my body, half-naked now. The bathrobe I had on had rolled upward, revealing a lot. Massimo inhaled through his teeth, biting his lower lip. He moved his mouth near mine. I stopped breathing. He was taking in my scent and getting ready to taste me now. His lips touched my cheek and trailed a line across it. He whispered, “I will not do anything without your consent and willingness. Even if I think I already have it, I’ll wait for you to want me, to need me, and to come to me out of your own will. Which doesn’t mean that I don’t want to enter you, deep, and stifle your screams with my tongue.”
Those words, spoken so softly and silently, caused a wave of heat to ripple through my entire body.
“Now stop squirming and listen. I have a hard night ahead of me. The previous ones haven’t been a walk in the park either, and you’re not making it any easier for me. I’m not used to having to tolerate insubordination. I don’t know how to be delicate, but I don’t want to hurt you. So either I strap you to a chair and gag you, or I let you go and you start doing what I say.”
His body was stuck to mine. I could feel each of his perfectly toned muscles working beneath his skin.
He slid his left knee, which had been locked between my legs, higher when I didn’t react to his words. I moaned softly, stifling a scream when he pushed his knee between my thighs and it rubbed against my sensitive skin. My back arched unwillingly as I turned my head away from him. My body only reacted this way when I was aroused. Despite Massimo’s aggression, that was exactly how I felt.
“Don’t provoke me, Laura,” he hissed.
“All right. I’ll be good. Just get off me.”
Gracefully, Massimo stood up and put his gun on the table before taking me by the hands and leading me back to the armchair.
“This way it’ll be a lot easier for the both of us, believe me. So, back to those photos…” he said.
“On your birthday, I witnessed a quarrel between you and your man at the pool. When you left, I knew it was the day I’d bring you into my life. After your man didn’t even move a muscle to stop you when you ran away, I knew he wasn’t worthy of you. I knew he wouldn’t grieve for you too long. When you disappeared, your friends went to lunch as if nothing happened. That’s when my people took your things from your room and left a letter in which you wrote to Martin that you’re leaving him and returning to Poland, moving out of his apartment and disappearing from his life. There’s no possibility that he didn’t read it when he went to his room after lunch. In the evening, when they walked by the reception dressed fashionably and in a great mood, your friends were approached by a staff member who recommended a club to them. It’s called Toro and it’s also my property. This way I could control the situation. When you look through those photos, you’ll see the whole story play out just the way I told you. What happened at the club… well, they drank, had fun, and Martin took an interest in one of the dancers. You saw the rest. The pictures speak for themselves.”