I bang on the door a few times and then stop, breathing out some fuming breaths.
Goddammit. I let her trick me into this.
I grumble to myself and stare up at the cameras, wondering who’s watching me. With those in place, I won’t ever feel safe here. But I don’t think I’ll have a choice in the matter. I’m stuck here now, and I know they’re watching my every move, waiting for me to try something.
Sucking in a breath, I walk back to the bathroom and shut the door behind me, then check for cameras. There doesn’t seem to be any, so I guess this is the only safe space I have.
Sighing, I sink down to the floor against the door. Anger makes me stomp the wood behind me, to no avail. I’m not going to fucking cry these tears she’s waiting for me to cry.
I didn’t cry for Marcello, and I damn well won’t for that woman I used to call “mother.”
The warm water fills the room with steam, the bath calling to me. So I get up, strip down, and sink into the water, forcing myself to put off whatever rage I have boiling inside and focus on the only thing I can do—wait.
Harper
Curled up in bed, I toss and turn, my restless body unable to calm after the recent flood of information. Even though I’m in a warm and cozy bed, it feels like I’m lost in the shadow, unable to focus on finding some peace or at least catch some sleep.
It doesn’t help that I’m stuck in this room, either, but I was going to wait until tomorrow to tackle that problem.
I haven’t had a good night's sleep in ages, and now that I’m finally in an actual comfy bed, I should be happy to get some, especially not knowing what’s in store for me.
Yet the more I twist around, the more confused I get, as the blanket reminds me of a snake wrapping around my neck, choking me alive.
I want to scream, but for some reason, my mouth refuses to open.
That’s when I feel it …
The hand covering my mouth.
I gasp as a warm breath hovers close to my ear. “Hello, Kitten.”
Marcello?
How is that even possible?
I didn’t see or hear anyone come in.
My eyes go up to the window, but that too has a lock with the key missing.
“How—?”
He places a finger on my lips and shushes me. “It doesn’t matter.” His hand snakes around my waist, pulling me closer. “What matters is that I’m here.”
The warmth of his hand is something I’ve missed more than anything, more than I dared to admit, even to myself. Feeling it on my skin right this very second as it slithers underneath my shirt makes me wish I never left his side.
He knows just how to touch me, how to make me forget, how to make me beg.
And I bite my lip as his mouth lands on my shoulder, his teeth sinking into my flesh.
“Fuck,” I murmur, but my voice is so quiet that it’s barely audible.
“You’re mine, Kitten,” Marcello groans against my heated skin while he palms a handful of my breasts and squeezes them hard. “All of you.”
I can’t help but moan in delight at his touch, whimpering from the sheer force of his body against mine. Right now, I don’t even care that I should hate him for what he’s done, that I ran because of him … that he’s here in this very room without telling me how or why.
I don’t care … as long as he keeps touching me, kissing me, chasing me. Making me his.
His lips roam my skin, my back, my neck, every nook and cranny of my body that I once thought belonged to no one. And I know I should fight; I know I should push him away. But as my hands try to find his body, he suddenly pulls his hands out of my shirt and locks my wrists in place.
“Don’t fucking move,” he growls.
His words should anger me, frighten me.
Instead, they make me even more excited. Aroused.
I’m like a girl addicted to the exhilarating rush of being captured. Taken. Owned.
It’s so wrong … yet…
“Say you’re mine,” Marcello whispers into my ear, pushing himself up against me with a rock-hard cock. “Say it out loud, Kitten, and I might save you twice.”
My lips part. “I’m yours. Only yours.”
Why do I give in so easily?
What’s the matter with me?
I’m trapped in my fake mother’s house with the man who stole me away from my entire life.
I should … I should …
Suddenly, he lunges over me, one hand still clenched firmly around my wrists, the other clutching my chin, and before I know it, his lips land on mine.
The sudden passion in his kisses has me overwhelmed, and my eyes burst open.
His lips vanish.
Along with his eyes.
His face.
And his body.
I blink a couple of times, unsure what just happened or where he’s gone. Sweat drops roll down my forehead, my body soaking wet as I sit up straight in the bed. Sunlight bursts through the window, making me squeeze my eyes together.
Was he … even really here?
Or was it just my imagination?
A dream so real I swear I could taste him on my tongue?
I touch my lips, and a shiver courses down my spine. I look around the room but find no trace of Marcello, no scattered clothes, no unlocked doors, nothing.
It’s like he was never really here.
I sigh out loud and throw the blanket off, but as I clench my legs together, the wetness there catches me off guard, and I pause.
It was just a dream. A delicious, sultry, sinful dream I wish could’ve been reality, but a dream nonetheless. And I must remember that.
I get up and rub my eyes, forcing myself to move past my own deliriously lusty mind. There’s no point in lingering on old desires. I need to focus on the here and now. On being locked in my mother’s house.
I put on my shoes and grab a glass from the sink, filling it with water to drink so I can clear my mind and get to work.
There must be some way to get out of here.
First, I check the door, but after wriggling the knob a couple of times, I know it’s no use. It’s locked from the outside, and guards are probably littered around the house, waiting for me to do something I’ll regret.
No, there has to be another way.
Maybe asking would help.
“Hello?” I call out, then wait, but there’s no reply. “Can someone hear me? I’d like to leave now.”
I wait for a few minutes. No response.
I knock on the door. “Hello? Is anyone out there?” I ask. “Please let me out. I’d like to talk with my mother.”
I wait for a few more minutes. Nothing happens.
Of course this wasn’t going to work. Why did I even think of trying?
Sighing, I close my eyes as panic begins to flood my veins.
No, stop it, Harper. No panicking. Not here. Not now. You’ve trained for this all your life. You can do this.
I nod to myself and walk away from the door. Next battle plan. Search the room for anything I can use to my advantage. A rope, a wire, a hidden key … even a hairpin will do.
I search under the dusty bed, behind the bath, in the closet, and inside each drawer. I even look for hidden bottoms, but there’s none to be found. But as my hands linger underneath the desk, I feel something stuck to the wood.
I go to my knees as my eyes follow my fingers. Something is wedged between two planks of wood, but I felt it. With both hands, I pry it out of there, and it drops to the floor.