The Mafia Boss's Obsession

CHAPTER EIGHT

Confined within the tacky walls of her room in the orphanage, Madeline waited for something to happen, anything. The anxiety was eating her up, it was so bad that she found it difficult to breathe. Amongst all of the fifteen year olds in the orphanage, she was the one with the most difficult and demanding medical condition, and she had on several occasions overheard some of the orphanage staff talking about just how much they wanted her gone.

‘I don’t think anyone would want to take her’. They’d say like she was some dog up for sale. ‘Who would want a bundle of problems? Her medications are expensive’

She’d hide in a corner pretending she heard nothing of what they had said. and while the other kids associated amongst themselves, she was left out.

‘……says it could be contagious’. She had heard one of them say.

And those words convinced her that people were…..unkind.

Her head jolted up when the locks clicked from outside and the door swung open slowly. Sharon, a skinny elderly woman who happened to be the directress of the orphanage stood there along with two other women who looked rather pleased. Madeline had no love for all three women, and judging from the smug look on their faces she could guess what had happen.

‘Mr. Floyd has agreed to adopt you’. Sharon said rather bluntly. “It has been finalized’.

Three days back, while all the kids had been out playing on the field, Madeline had settled underneath an apple tree reading a book she had read a thousand times, she probably knew the words by heart now. Unbeknownst to her that the lewd gaze of a man old enough to be her father had been set on her for hours, it wasn’t till she looked up from her book that she saw him; a tall man with a bald head and thick eyebrows, and from the look he was giving her she could guess that he didn’t mean well.

She was a fifteen year old, yes, but being quiet and observant had made her much more intelligent than her peers. Mr. Floyd had leaned closer to Sharon and had whispered something to her which caused her eyes to lighten at once, her gaze darted around until they settled on hers, and then she smiled and nodded.

After he had left, Madeline had been informed that Mr. Floyd wished to adopt her, of course she had told them Sharon she didn’t like him and that she didn’t think she would be comfortable around him. Sharon on the other hand had dismissed her, saying she had no right to complain, saying Mr. Floyd was a good man, saying no one except him would settle for her. And then she had been locked up in her room.

Like a blur, Madeline found herself moving out of the orphanage, the very place she had been all her life, one would expect her to feel some sadness while leaving but she felt absolutely nothing, nothing at all.

She had dreaded every second that drew her closer to Mr. Floyd’s house, she sat stiffly in the car as he tried to start up small talks with her. And after a lot of futile attempts, he decided to let her be. And when they finally arrived at his house; a small and shabby apartment which was untidy and thick with a foul smell, Madeline remained at the entrance. For a person who had no family and no home, she probably had no right to be picky, but she couldn’t help it, the entirety of the place scared her.

‘Forgive the mess, my dear, it’s nothing that can’t be fixed’. He had said to her. ‘Come on in, let’s get to work’.

And she had slaved day and night for a full year in that house; her only gratitude being for the fact that he had carried on with her education. All the while his disgusting gaze would linger on her, from when she bent over to do something, to when she would walk down the stairs causing her small and developing breasts to shake ever so slightly, he would watch and watch and watch, he watched until he decided he didn’t just want to watch anymore. And while Madeline showered upstairs, he had snuck into her room and made his way into the bathroom.

And just as she realized she wasn’t alone anymore, he had grabbed her, pinned hands down to keep her from thrashing around, and he had dragged her out of the bathroom with his palm clamped against her mouth. She had struggled and tried hard to get away from him, but of course, she had always been weak. And on the floor in her bedroom he had forcefully taken her, and he had done it over and over again while she cried in pain and begged for him to stop, it seemed as though her cries and struggles fueled him.

And when he was finally done, he had left her on the floor and had gone out to get drunk, and had he not always kept the doors locked, Madeline would have attempted to flee. She lay there for hours, she lay there till she heard the distant sound of keys jingling downstairs, she lay there till she was sure he had passed out on a couch, and then she pulled herself together, threw on the closest piece of clothing she could find, and made her way downstairs, all the while wincing and crying from the pain that shot through her again and again and again.

Knowing she wouldn’t get far even if she tried to run, she went for his phone instead, and while he was out cold on the couch she called the police and informed them of her predicament,

~~

Of course Alvise didn’t miss the fact that she had only toyed around with her food, and he didn’t miss the immensely gloom look on her face, he dared say she look faint, almost as though she was on the verge of a panic attack.

He set his glass down carefully before returning his gaze to her.

“Madeline?”. He said her named guardedly .

She could hear him, or at least she could hear her name being called. But she could hear her heart beating erratically more clearly, she could hear it pounding heavily against her chest as though it were about to explode. She could feel her breaths faltering, she could feel her chest becoming heavy, and she could feel sweat begin to coat her hairline. She tried to catch her breath, she tried to pull herself together, she tried to not lose it here and now.

He pushed his seat back and got up, his gaze remained on her as he made his way around the table. And the very second he placed his hand against her temple t feel her temperature , she gasped and pulled away from his touch sharply ; as though his skin burnt hers.

“Don’t…”. She said breathlessly.