Stripped

Chapter three

8:30am Sunday morning

The sun rays seeping through the loosely shut bind of the window woke Dominique,she rolled over, obviously comfortable with the bed and her sleep. The comfort was too good but she knew something painful came with that comfort.she turned again,this time around she was facing the bedside lamp. She blinked her eyes severally trying to process the information her eyes were feeding her. It dawned on her. This was not her room. Where the hell was she. She sat up quickly in bed,trying to remember where she was. She could not place her hands around it. She looked around for her bag,her phone was in it. “As long as I am not bound hand and foot,there must be a reasonable explanation for this”

“Knock knock”

The door opened to reveal a young lady,dressed like a maid. “Good morning miss fall”

Dominique’s head spun. She knew where she was. Memories of how she ended up in that bed came flooding in,her emotions were in a knot. She remembered how she assured her parents that nothing was going to happen,that nothing was going to go wrong.

“Where are my parents?” she barked,ready to take out her anger on the maid.

The maid said nothing

“Where the hell are my parents?” she questioned again, hurling the table lamp that sat besides her at the maid.

“I am not supposed to speak to you miss fall,I was set to inform you that breakfast is ready” the maid said in a quiet tone

Dominique yelled as you pulled her hair,she had a very bad feeling about her father,she could sense his unease,his worries,....HIS CONSTANT HEART ATTACK. “Get me out of here,I need to speak to my father, who's in charge here,my dad is going to die if I don't speak to him immediately”

A door opened down the hallway and the maid moved aside.The sound of heels and boots coming in contact with the marble tiles did nothing to stop Dominique from expressing her fears,even if it would cost her life. Kate appeared at the door with a smile on her face,a forced smile at that. Her mission was straight and simple, “Get dressed, you're expected to be down in fifteen minutes, you don't want yesterday's event to repeat itself would you?”

What she had earlier was bits and pieces of events but now the events came pouring in

She had arrived at the manor with her parents, she remembered shaking with each step while trying to keep her parents calm. The stillness of the night kept her on edge, everything made her uneasy,the distance of the gate from where she stood,the length of the stairs,the men standing at strategic points,her heart threatening to leave her rib cage with its violent beats. Her parents halted halfway up the stairs in fear and she knew there was no going back. Either they came over peacefully or they went the hard way. A debt they incurred,a debt they had to pay…with her,deep down she wanted to blame her parents,they sold her away,if you bent your head in a certain way and looked at it. She remembered how she sat at the table.

…

10:00 pm Saturday evening

It's been three hours since they sat at the table. Their food lay untouched and grew cold. How could they eat? Everything that happened there gave them the chills,from the occasional door openings to the guards standing around,and the worst part of it all,their host was nowhere to be found. Dominique looked at her father,with his current health condition,it's a miracle he's still conscious.

“I suppose our host must be a busy man” she said to no one in particular,but she ensured her voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone,the guards at least. The hall was huge and she wondered if anyone could hear her cry for help if it came to that, “we will take our leave now” and backed up her seat and helped her parents with theirs. They walked as fast as they could to the door, meeting no resistance from the guards. Getting to the door Dominique helped her parents out. She turned to look behind the house and again and like clockwork she heard a voice. “Leaving already?,my apologies if I kept you waiting”

Chiseled jaw,clear skin, visible stubble.A stunning smile,white pair of teeth,she expected Les from a mafia lord,king, president, whatever it is they are called. Jet black hair and very tall,as he came closer his scent hit her and she swooned. She stared at him over,she temporarily forgot she was meant to be running away. Something about him made her safe but she knew it wasn't possible. She's heard of Rufus Stephano but what greeted her was not what she expected from him. She's been at an event in this same house and she didn't see him. She remembered his scent. The perfume he wore,yet she never set her eyes on him.

A hollow voice called her name and she remembered she was on a mission to escape. She turned to meet a closed door. She was fixated on him and had no idea the door was shut behind her.

Rufus walked to her and examined her, Dominique had no idea if she should be disgusted or scared.

“You must be my payment” he uttered. “Good bargain if I must add”

Dominique scoffed.His voice might be enough to get her in her knees but she was noy having this man talk to her like that.

She stared at him over taking brief steps to cover the gap between them,irregardless of her shaking knees,and said “Aren't you too young to be a mafia lord?,or are you some rich kid playing doll house”

Rufus laughed,he laughed loudly unlocking a new ick in her.

“thirty two” he said

Dominique rolled her eyes,and turned to tug at l the door handle.

“I am thirty two,make no mistake”

“And I need to get out of here with my family. Dinner was delightful and I'd love to stay but …”

“Then stay”

“But I can't,my parents,the bakery,”

“We can work on that”

“But I can't”

“Your parents are on their way home,they'll be safe,take my word for it. I'll be watching over them,they'll be taken care of,just pay off your debt and you'll be free to go”

Dominique sighed and bent her headband and walked past Rufus. In one swift move she had his head between her hand and her bossoms.in one quick movement,the guards pulled their gun and aimed at Rufus. He signaled them to put their guns away.

“Are you certain you're the Mafia lord, because,” she chuckled, “you seem easy to take out”. She tightened her grip on him. “Tell your men to open the door”

“A funny maid you'll turn out to be,good attack,bad stance” he laughed “unconscious girl say what”

“Huh,” she muttered.

…

That was the last thing she remembered. Embarrassed, she got up from bed and asked what she was going to wear. “I came here with nothing remember” was her excuse

Kate went down the hall and came back with a black gown designed with white lace. “Get to work,it's time for breakfast and you'll be working the table.

Dominique stared at the clothes thrown to her and looked back up to find Kate leaving the room, leaving Her and the maid alone. When she was certain that Kate was out of earshot Dominique opened the windows widely and stared at the open

“You know it's not that bad,demanding maybe ,but not as bad as one would think when working for a mafia. You need to be trustworthy enough to be let outside in order to visit your family but asides that it's still wonderful here, demanding but not bad” the comforting voice came from the maid. Dominique, who had been sobbing, looked up at the maid and sniffled. “I'd like to be alone, I'll be out soon.

All the maid heard was tears behind the shut door. “Quite depressing” she muttered as she walked away.

Dominique got to work immediately she got her s**t together. Working swiftly from the kitchen to the table. She was a fast learner and made no mistakes even on her first day. Rufus ate alone so she didn't have the chance to see him throughout the day. She went about dusting one art piece or a potted plant. Time went fast that day,soon it was night time. Dominique Got called to the table after working the kitchen all afternoon. She had to set the table alone.

She took the candles and set them on the table. Setting appetizers next she picked up the match to light the candles, adjusting the table cloth she felt a sharp burning pain on her hip. Turning only to discover the lace on her dress on fire alone with the table cloth. She had accidentally knocked down a candle and it caught her lace. Setting it on fire. She tried what she could to put it out but fear got the best of her as the flames kept growing. She felt the heat eat into her skin. She tried putting it out but the embers from her burning clothes kept falling all over, setting everything it touched on fire. She looked around for a fire alarm,anything to alert the other maids. The room was thick with smoke and Dominique passed out. Just before she lost consciousness she heard someone shouting

“Who left her alone to set the table?”

…

Dominique came around in her room,only difference was it looked like a clinic. Placing her hands on her bandaged hip where she was burned, Dominique winced in pain and sat up.

Two other maids,one of them being the first maid she met earlier rushed in. Kate walked in behind them and dropped a bag on the bed

“Leave us alone” she ordered”and shut the door behind you”

The maids scurried out as they had when they came in earlier.

“I give you one single task, something simple and what did you do ??”

“It was an accident I swear” Dominique defended,” it could have happened to anyone”

“But it happened to you,I see what you're trying to do,” She slapped Dominique across the face “you're trying to escape,and I'm sorry to burst your bubble,self harm won't get you out of this,and if you think you can try to harm Rufus,” she chuckled “I'm sure you know how it turned out the last time”

Dominique who was still dazed by the slap had her hands pressed against her face,she had mixed feelings of rage and fear and was lost in thoughts,there was nothing she could do about it. She wondered how things would have turned out if she had stayed back home with her parents. Hee parents. She had been so occupied she didn't even think of them, she knew they werd not having it easy. Being used as payment for a debt was one thing,but being used to settle a debt to a mafia was another.

“I am speaking to you girl, don't be rude”another slap grazed her face with this words. She had not heard Kate speak. She looked up and tried to respond as calmly as possible “I'm sorry ma'am,I didn't hear you”

Kate smiled,”that's more like it,take that” she said pointing to the dress in the in bag she dropped earlier. “The maids will be here to help you,Rufus wants to see you,Get ready. You have fifteen minutes” she walked to the door and turned back,”and try not to set this one fire too”.

…

“He has the strongest arms,too bad Kate won't let any of us get close to him. She said it's bad for business” The maid who Dominique came to know as Sarah said.

“Seriously” Dominique asked, obviously enjoying the company, “how come I've never met him before”

“He's barely around,and when he is , he's always around Rufus,but one day I saw while I was out picking fresh apples, a good rope jumper I must say,he saw me and smiled,I nearly took the risk and spoke to him if Kate wasn't watching me like a hawk,if I know better I'd say she likes Zoro, what's not to like”

Dominique giggles brought Sarah back to the present,”is anything the matter miss”

“No, nothing at all,just funny how Kate is against any of you relating with this Zoro,a funny way to go about it if you like someone if you ask me”

“All done” Sarah said as she stared at the mirror, “how do you like your hair miss?” she asked Dominique

“This is wonderful,thank you,” She got up and gave Sarah a hug.

“You have to be in your way now miss,we don't want to keep missing Kate waiting”

“Yeah, right”

“That won't be necessary,I'll take her to Rufus”

Sarah gasped and Dominique turned to see why. True to her words,she left no detail out while describing Zoro’s looks.She knew who was standing at the door almost immediately with the description Sarah gave .Rufus’s body guard was a hot looking man. With his hair neatly cut and his chiseled jaw,to his cute lips and piercing eyes. His stature was moderately buff. Not too little,not too much. She just stood there and looked at Sarah who had her mouth slightly open.

She cleared her throat and faked a cough, she walked towards the man at the door,stretched her hand dieba shake and said “Dominique fall,you must be Zoro”

“Yes,I am. We must be on our way now,we're running late”

“I must go now” Sarah said as she inched towards the door, trying too hard to avoid body contact with Zoro

“Hi, Sarah is it” Zoro said.

Sarah mumbled inaudibly and rushed out the room.

“That went well” Dominique said under her breath,”shall we” she said to Zoro.

As he led her down the stairs,she realised that she awkwardly felt at ease here,she hated the facet that she was getting used to the place where she was the maid and payment to a man. She had only met once.

They walked out the front door and the chauffeur pulled up in front of them. Rufus was already waiting for her and as she got closer,he stretched out his hand. She walked past him with her nose in the air. She got to the car door and it opened automatically, about to get in she got pulled back my Rufus who whispered in her ear.

“You nearly burnt down my dinning room and killed yourself,the least you could do is accept my hand for saving your life and taking you out”

She smiled and leaned into him,”you were going to kill me anyway if this debt wasn't painful in one way or the other,you should have let me die,” standing upright again she said, “I suppose you made a reservation somewhere for this pity dinner,why dont we hurry”

" I own you,you were never yours, you are mine, you always have been, I decide if you die or if you live,now be a good girl and give me no trouble tonight”

Dominique scoffed and got into the car as drove off.

…

“There's a email of his current location on your computer as we speak right now,do with that Information what you will. Don't bother asking who I am,and don't attempt to reach me,you won't be able to after now”