Dark Chemistry

Chapter-14

Natalia's POV :



When I woke up, I was feeling a bit better and we finally arrived in Italy. As soon as the plane landed, Nicolas, Victor and John disappeared outside.

Stephen helped me to get into one of a black Rolls-Royce phantom that was parked in front of the plane with three other vehicles, a yellow Lamborghini Aventador, a red Ferrari F8 and a black R15 bike.

My mouth was hung open, thinking about how rich these criminals were. I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed Nicolas was already inside the car and still tapping on his phone.

He didn't throw a glance at me like I never existed and that relaxed me a bit. Stephen moved to the Lamborghini leaving me alone with Nicolas.

The bulky looking driver asked something in Italian to Nicolas before starting the car. I saw Victor passing our car with his R15 and then John sped up and drove past our car with his red Ferrari before winking at me. I just rolled my eyes at him.

Cold late October breezes hitting my face and ripping inside my nostrils as I opened the glass window of the car. The night sky was clear with a full moon and twinkling stars.

The busy city was illuminating with astonishing colorful lights that automatically formed a smile on my face. I always loved the night sky and colorful lights.

I was never in Italy or any foreign country. But I traveled a lot inside my country with my family. I always wanted to travel throughout the world with my family and best friends when I would get a good job after my graduation from a good university.

But my dreams would always remain a dream for sure because this man who was sitting beside me, destroyed my future, my dreams; my whole life. When I thought about it, the corner of my eyes became wet.

I looked at the fascinating city full of different kinds of people walking, standing, talking and loitering.

"Close the window unless you want to catch a cold." I heard Nicolas's deep voice.

I secretly wiped my eyes and closed the window.

"Are you crying again?"

No asshole, I was laughing.

"No. It's just the lights and cold wind." I murmured.

He just hummed and pulled out his phone from his pants pocket as it started buzzing. He received the call and started talking in Italian so I didn't understand anything.

Half an hour passed and the car stopped in front of a big modern black and white painted mansion that was illuminating inside the dense woods, somewhere far from the locality.

The whole area was fascinatingly calm and beautiful. In front of the mansion there was a large pool, not a swimming pool; it was perfectly decorated with different kinds of lilies, lotus, alpine lotus, water poppy, water forget-me-not, water iris, mash marigold, duckweed, cardinal flower, calla lily and so on.

God this was so perfect!

It was unbelievable to me that I was standing in front of a dreamingly luxurious house which I never expected in my entire life. This kind of mansion belongs to some kind of billionaire, not some criminals. I always believed that criminals live in some narrow apartments of some narrow streets. But they proved me wrong.

"You can take a picture if you want." Nicolas smirked.

"I thought you'd never allow me to use a phone." I rolled my eyes.

"But you're always invited to use my phone to take a picture, sweetheart." A strong male voice spoke from behind.

I turned around and met a blonde, grey eyed and smirking muscular, handsome-looking tattooed man in a grey shirt.

"Thanks but I don't use a stranger's property." I narrowed my eyes.

"But soon I'll be the heart of you." He bowed and grinned before taking my hand for a soft kiss.

I was stunned by his flirting skill.

"Stop this nonsense, Mariano." Nicolas rolled his eyes.

"Nicolas f*****g Ricci, how the f**k did you manage to bring this angelic deer into the lions den?!" He shouted and punched Nicolas's shoulder.

"But what happened on her head?" Mariano frowned.

Nicolas ignored Mariano and placed his hand on my back and led us inside the mansion, making Mariano run behind us. The big black wooden door was open wide as we entered inside the house.

The living room was huge with black and white painted walls, marble floor, big chandelier, book shelves, couches, tables and a fireplace. There was a staircase on the right side and a kitchen to the left side.

There were also four other black wooden doors. Everything was shiny, clean and perfectly designed. Nicolas gestured to a young maid and then started talking to Mariano in Italian. The maid came toward me and gave me a small smile.

"Hello miss. I'm Laura. I think you're tired and need to freshen up. Please come with me." She spoke.

"Yes, please." I smiled tightly.

I was so exhausted and sore. I needed a long bath and a deep sleep right now. I followed Laura upstairs and reached a long beautiful hallway full of paintings and big terracotta flower vases with different kinds of fresh flowers.

My eyes pooped out of their sockets when I entered a grey bedroom. It was massive and it included features of modern furniture, floor-to-celling windows, massive TV, a walk-in closet, a big fluffy bed, small bookshelves on each side of the headboard, nightstands, couches and coffee tables.

The most beautiful thing was the balcony, full of flower plants that bewitched my mind. Laura prepared me a bath and went downstairs. I relaxed my sore and exhausted body in the warm water. Everything was so beautiful in this house and it fascinated me but I missed my family, best friends, neighbor and my own home.

I would never be able to escape this place because I knew nothing about this place. After one hour of crying and thinking about my past life, I finally managed to get out of the jacuzzi and dried myself.

I couldn't wash my hair due to the huge bandage. Wrapping a towel around me, I entered the walk-in closet. It was already full of Nicolas's and my clothes. I grabbed a black silk nightgown and slipped in it. The bed was so soft and comfortable that I quickly fell asleep.

Many moments passed away, then I felt two strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back onto a hard chest. I knew who it was so I didn't bother to scream or shout or jump.

• • •

Two days passed but Nicolas and his friends were nowhere to be seen since the day Nicolas left the house early in the morning. I didn't leave the comfortable luxurious room in these two days, not even for a tour of the house.

I ate my meals inside the room which maids brought me without any complaints. Most of the time I spent on the balcony, watering and taking care of flower plants and looking at the dense woods blankly.

I was grateful that there were at least flower plants which would help to keep my mind calm. Today I decided to leave the bedroom for a house tour. Laura left my breakfast and pills on the table placed beside the huge window.

After finishing up, I slipped into a loose lavender sweater because it was cold outside and black jeans. I ate and took my pills then headed downstairs. Amelie had come to the previous night and removed my bandage. This house had more tight securities and scary-looking guards than the jungle's one in my country.

"Do you need anything, miss?" Laura asked.

"No, thanks. I just wanted to have a small tour." I murmured.

"Okay. Let's go. I'll be with you if you need anything." She smiled.

"Okay." I gave her a small smile.

Laura showed me the front area of the house where the beautiful pool was situated. There is a garage on the right side of the building which contains a black Mercedes, an Audi R8 Spyder and a black-blue KTM RC 200 bike.

Laura led me to the backyard of the house. I was stunned when I saw a big lake was flowing across the house.

The cold breezes hit my skin and swayed my free long hair. There was also a swimming pool and a decorated large area. The sun was shining brightly and illuminating the lake's water.

The sky was clear with white cotton candy looking clouds and branches and leaves of the trees were dangling due to spectral wind. It was a mind-blowing view that could hypnotize anyone to dip down in this alluring beauty.

"It is beautiful." I whispered unknowingly.

"Yeah, it is." Laura murmured.

"How long have you been working here, Laura?" I asked.

"Nearly four years." She looked at the lake and answered blankly.

"Oh, that's a lot of time. How old were you then?"

"I was eighteen years old when I came here." For some reason, her voice came as a mere whisper.

"Are you okay?" I placed my palm on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry, miss." She suddenly jolted and smiled awkwardly.

"You can call me Natalia." I smiled softly.

She just nodded and smiled back. We then headed inside the house and Laura gave me a tour of the whole house.

On the first floor, there was a living room, a huge kitchen, two bedrooms, a conference room, a garage entrance and a backyard door. The second floor had four bedrooms including the master bedroom, Nicolas's office room, a big balcony at the end of the hallway and two locked rooms.

Laura said Nicolas didn't allow anyone in those two locked rooms.

On the third floor there were also four bedrooms, a gym, a theater and an indoor swimming pool. The rooftop was so beautiful with many plants and it gives a clear view of the lake.

"Why are there many bedrooms?" I asked Laura.

"Boss's friends and men stay here often for business so he needs these bedrooms."

"Oh."

It was already lunch time so I decided to take lunch downstairs. Three younger maids have already finished cooking and cleaning the kitchen. Two maids came to the dining table with hot delicious foods. They served lasagnenand two other unknown recipes with dessert.

"Is that Italian?" I asked one of the maids who seemed in her early forties.

"Yes, ma'am. This is called Focaccia, this is Bagna Cauda and the dessert is Italian almond tart." She explained.

"You made it all?" I wondered.

"Yeah, I'm the boss's cook." She smiled.

I smiled and nodded before dig in. The foods were so delicious. I could say she had a great skill on cooking.

"It's delicious. No wonder you're great at cooking. Thank you so much.." I searched for her name.

"Rosetta, miss. And you're welcome." She smiled sweetly.

"Nice name and please don't call me miss. It's really awkward because I'm equal to your daughter's age. Please call me Natalia or Talia." I smiled.

"Sure, Natalia. You also have a beautiful name. And you're so pretty." She smiled back.

"Thank you." I chuckled.

"You're always welcome." She smiled widely.

Rosetta seemed very nice with red hair and beautiful silver eyes. She was so pretty. I already started liking her and her presence suddenly reminisced my mother's embodiment.

Tears started coming to the corner of my eyes thinking about my miserable family, but I quickly controlled them. After finishing the delicious foods and dessert, I went to the bedroom.

I decided to take a shower, so I undressed and went inside the bathroom. Filling the tub, I checked the water temperature and when it was perfectly warm, I slipped inside it.

As soon as I permeated into the tub, a cracking sound came from the bedroom. I thought it was some maid who came to clean the room but I was wrong when the bathroom door slowly opened and a bloody Nicolas entered inside the bathroom.

I gasped loudly and my eyes went wide seeing him in that state. Drops of blood were pouring down from his hair, his eyes were bloodshot, white shirt was soaking wet with blood and he was clutching a black knife which was smeared with blood. He was looking like a blood thirsty monster right then.

I can't describe how I was feeling when I saw him slowly approaching the tub. It seemed like he was going to kill me right then. I let out a loud scream but his large bloody hand quickly covered my mouth.

"Don't scream, babygirl. It's me." He mumbled.

His large hand blocked my cries as it came out as a muffling sounds. When I nodded, he let go of me mouth and leaned forward.

"D-don't kill me, Nicolas. Please." I sobbed.

"Shh." He shushed and placed the cold blood smeared knife on my collar bone and started trailing on it. I smelt alcohol in his breath.

"What have you done to me, Natalia?"

"I-I wha―"

"Who are you? A fairy? Or a witch? Or a magician?" He whispered.

"I what?" I frowned, trembling and confused.

Before I could say anything, he suddenly stood up and disappeared outside of the bathroom leaving me confused. My mouth was hung open as I didn't understand anything.