Chapter4
1197 Words
Chapter 4
“Love is a battlefield.”
—Pat Benatar
Annabella's POV
A soft knock on the door woke me up from my dreamless sleep. I stretched as I opened my eyes and realized it was morning already and I had slept without undressing. I stifled a yawn as I walked to the door.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"I'm Cecilia, miss, I brought your breakfast", a soft voice answered meekly.
I opened the door and met a beautiful girl with striking blue eyes and raven black hair, standing at the door with a tray of food in her hand.
"Come in", I opened the door wider.
She came in and dropped the tray on the glass table at the center of the room, then she turned to leave.
"Cecilia", I called her before she could leave.
"Everyone calls me Ceci, miss", she turned back and said.
"Sorry, Ceci.....can you wait for a while? I need to ask you some questions".
"I'm sorry, signora, we have orders not to engage in any form of conversation with you", she bowed her head slightly.
"Orders? From who?" I asked although I knew the answer.
She didn't answer me, instead she turned to leave again.
"Ceci, please wait", she turned to look at me with pity, only for a few seconds though before she finally left, the sound of the door softly clicking in place behind her.
What does this mean? I'm holed up here in a room in the middle of a bunch of murderers and slaves to a Mafia king....not allowed to talk to anyone or leave the room for any reason. Aren't I now a slave myself, my situation is even worse than that of my fellow slaves.
Another knock jolts me out of my internal pity party, this time the knock is harder.
I open the door without asking who it is and I come face to face with the mute man from yesterday.
"How much I help you?" I try to hold my head high.
" Is there anything you need?" He asks without any expression.
"What do you think I would need? You put me here yourself, so think about it, do you think I need anything?"
"I guess you're comfortable then", he turned to leave.
"Wait", I called him back and he paused.
"Why am I here?"
"To be the wife of the king and to bear his children", he replied indifferently.
"Is this how the wives of kings are treated in this place? Locked up in a corner, with nothing to do and no one to talk to", tears pool in my eyes.
"No, but the circumstances are different", he says.
"Why are the circumstances different? Why am I really here?" I was starting to raise my voice.
"Go back in and do as you're told obediently", he turns to leave again.
"Why? I have been obedient all my life, thinking I would escape my father's clutches after marriage but no, I get shipped off into the house of the king of death and yet everyone is still telling me to be obedient", I shouted.
Several heads popped out of their rooms to watch the screaming lady and that was when I realized I really was in the midst of men only. At that moment, the rest of my words died in my throat, because these men weren't looking like men that had reason or humanity left in them, they were the devil's spawns themselves, rough look, cold eyes and permanent scowls.
"That's why you're not allowed to wander around, kindly stay in your room where you'll be safer", mute man says and walks away.
Immediately he leaves, one of the men smiles towards me and I quickly shut my door and even locked it. My chest heaved as I tried to calm myself, the fear I felt inside me couldn't be explained in words, my heart was pumping blood at one million beats per second.
What have I gotten myself into?
I walked to the table and stared down at my now cold breakfast, then I sat on the floor and drew it closer and started to eat it. If I'll be miserable, then I'd rather be miserable with a full stomach, besides the food smelled and looked good. It tasted even better.
~~~
Luca walked into my study with a scowl on his face which is a rare expression because Luca never makes any form of expression. He went towards the bar, took out a bottle of wine and a glass cup.
"Did someone irritate you?" I questioned.
He didn't answer, he simply sipped from his cup.
"You may be my best friend but I am still your king and I demand an answer when I ask a question", my tone took on a low threatening volume. I do not like it when people ignore me, it makes me feel irrelevant and I kill whoever does that, family or foe.
"The girl, it's starting to look like a bad idea to have her here", he finally answers.
"Why?" I took a glass from the bar and poured myself some whiskey as well.
"She may not be as obedient as we thought"
"But you said so yourself, you said she was obedient",I took a sip of my whiskey.
"She still is, but not for long.....I looked into her eyes and I saw years of surprised fire and anger brewing inside her, it wouldn't be good if it is unlocked here", he said, now expressionless as usual.
"Then we tame her, there's nothing to be worried about", I said nonchalantly.
"Our taming measures are extreme, she's just a child", he said with a tone of softness in his voice.
"Did my ears just ring now or I really heard your voice going soft?" He took another sip from his glass.
"You're worried about her? That's a first ", I chuckle in surprise.
"She is innocent", he said.
My chuckles morphed into laughter and then into anger. I banged the table furiously.
"How dare you say that? You know what her father and his fellow traitors did to my father, and your father and this family as a whole....yet you sit here and tell me the girl is innocent, do you think i bloody care about whose innocent or not, she's his f*****g blood, which makes her a traitor to me", i angrily moved a hand through my hair.
"I'm sorry boss, I was wrong, I shouldn't have thought of it like that", he quickly stands at attention.
"Send Xavier up here, I think he'll be better company than you today", I dismiss him.
"Yes boss", he says and leaves after bowing.
I let out an angry sigh and sit on my chair.
Luca never shows weakness and emotions are a form of weakness, especially to him, which makes me wonder if what he says about this girl is true. I know Luca to be very brutal and logical, truly he cares, sometimes, but not this much and not for a stranger. I need to see for myself who this girl is and then I'll know what to actually do with her.
- Writer
