Loud Voices
1226 Words
(Aria)
I didn't sleep a wink last night.
The sunlight cast golden beams through the window as the songs of the morning birds brought the world alive but me? I was dead inside.
Between the pounding on the walls, the screams of pleasure and the groans of release coming from the next door, I didn't find the calmness to shut my eyes.
Whoever's room was right next to mine had a beautiful and pleasurable night at my expense.
For a house so luxurious, the walls were really thin and it cost me my sleep or was it the numerous doomsday thoughts coming to my mind.
I groaned in frustration and threw the sheets over my face. I was dressed in a nightdress that I had found in the huge closet in my room.
It was filled with different outfits of my favorite colors but that wasn't the creepy part. They were all in my exact size, down to the underwear.
A blush came to my face when I went through the underwear drawers wondering if Luca had bought these.
Luca.
Yesterday had been intense. From waking up to a red Rose in my apartment to the shooting and then the final argument we had when I blamed him for all the chaos.
How I blamed him for everything that I had happened. I wanted to feel guilty, I wanted to be wrong but the image of him standing over my brother with his gun raised as my brother lay in the pool of his own blood made me defiant.
Luca Moretti wasn't my savior, he was chaos reborn.
A knock on the door interrupted my chain of thoughts.
"Come in," I managed to make out.
The door opened to reveal a young girl probably my age. She was dressed in a maid's attire with her raven black hair neatly packed into a tight bun.
She was dark-colored and beautiful with pointy nose and eyes that looked like they had seen things they would rather not speak of.
"Good morning Miss, my name is Chiara. I work in the kitchens. The Don asked me to call you down for breakfast," she said avoiding my gaze.
I wonder why.
"Umm thank you but I'm not hungry," I replied with a smile.
"The Don had a feeling you would say that so he asked me not to return till you agree to come down for breakfast. He wants to introduce you to other members of the staff,"
I let out a deep sigh. Luca was being unreasonable as there was no need to introduce me to anyone.
I didn't plan to stay here long as I couldn't stay under the same roof as my brother's killer.
"I'll be right down, I just need to freshen up," I replied.
"Alright Miss," Chiara said and turned to leave.
"Wait," I called out stopping her In her tracks.
"Yes Miss?" she asked curiously.
"My name is Aria. It's only polite I tell you mine after you told me yours so please drop the miss, okay?," I said with a smile.
"Okay Miss," she replied and left, leaving me alone with my wandering thoughts once again.
I decided to drag myself out of the bed Eben though I really didn't want to. I needed sleep.
I walked into the bathroom and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
My hair was sticking out in all directions, my eyes had luggage which showed my obvious lack of sleep and my face was puffy from crying all through the night.
I splashed cold water on my face, trying to chase away the exhaustion clinging stubbornly to me. It didn’t help. Nothing could wash away the memories of last night… or the truth I was trying so hard not to acknowledge:
I was trapped.
And Luca wanted to play house.
I brushed my hair into a messy bun and pulled on the least revealing outfit I could find. Everything in the closet seemed too intimate, too carefully chosen. How long had he been watching me to know my exact sizes? My exact preferences?
The thought made a shiver crawl down my spine.
I tied my hair into something close to a ponytail and slipped into a simple dress. Anything to look less like a wreck. As I walked toward the door, I muttered to myself, “Breakfast. Staff introductions. As if this is some Airbnb.”
My nerves buzzed unpleasantly.
I stepped into the hallway and nearly ran into a wall of muscle.
“Watch where you're going slut,” he said in a gruff voice causing me to whip my head around immediately.
“What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?,” I asked slowly almost afraid of how calm I sounded.
The man towering over me wasn’t someone I had seen yesterday. He was tall and easily over six-two with a body built like a brick wall and a jaw lined with a day’s worth of scruff. His skin was a warm caramel shade, his hair cropped close to his head, and his dark eyes carried the kind of coldness that made my stomach twist.
He smirked, leaning slightly toward me like he wanted to intimidate me with his sheer size.
“You heard me the first time, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. The way he said it wasn’t sweet. It dripped with mockery.
I opened my mouth, honestly not sure if I was about to scream, shove him, or cry but he spoke again before I could.
“What? The Don didn’t tell you the rules? You don’t wander around like some lost kitten. This isn’t a hotel. People here don’t trip over their own feet… or other people’s.”
My blood boiled.
“Move,” I hissed.
He chuckled, stepping deliberately slower out of my way, eyes trailing over me like I was something stuck under his boot.
“Relax,” he said with a lazy shrug. “Just checking out the Don’s new… toy.”
I saw red and almost immediately, I landed a slap on his cheek and walked away.
The breakfast table was heaven.
There were freshly baked pastries of every kind……golden croissants brushed with butter, chocolate-filled brioche, almond biscotti, lemon-glazed danishes, and miniature cinnamon rolls swirled to perfection.
Next to them sat a tower of fruits, sliced and arranged like artwork: ruby-red strawberries, mango slices glowing like sunlight, blackberries that looked almost unreal, and grapes still attached to their frosted stems.
A separate section of the table held the savory dishes….fluffy scrambled eggs, a platter of smoked salmon drizzled lightly with olive oil and herbs, crispy bacon arranged in neat rows, roasted tomatoes glistening with seasoning, and perfectly seasoned sausages.
There were cheese boards, too…aged parmesan, creamy burrata, pecorino, mozzarella balls floating in basil-infused oil.
Jugs of fresh juices.,.,orange, pineapple, apple, and something green that looked suspiciously healthy sat near a steaming carafe of coffee and another of herbal teas.
“Hungry?,” I heard Luca say from behind me.
I turned to answer him only to find his arms locked with the most plastic woman I had ever seen. Her face was caked with makeup and her breasts were planning to spill out of her excuse of a blouse.
“Aria, say Hello to my fiancée Alice. Hope we weren't too loud last night, we were celebrating our engagement,”
- Writer
