Contract Of The 7th Wife

War

The next one hundred and fifteen seconds were war in my mind. I stood there before the box, staring at the lettering engraved on the card. I immediately shoved the card into my jacket pocket.

Then, I proceeded to open the boxes.

As I traced the locks to study the mechanism, a large hand covered my mouth and pinned me to the wall. I raised my head to look at the human who had taken such a risk to interfere in my business.

He was a tall, heavily built man, completely masked. I was masked too, but something about his touch felt different. His cologne was the one scent that made me question my mission in the Ferraro estate. His aura got me thinking deeply. When he finally pulled his hand off my mouth and reached to pull off my mask, I immediately kicked his boot and stepped aside.

He lunged forward again and handcuffed my hands. "How much are you paid to take this risk, Dana?" he whispered into my ear while I was facing the wall.

"Let go of my hands, you beast," I muttered, kicking my legs backward.

"This level is entirely restricted. If Vincenzo or Riccardo catches you in this vault, you won't survive the night."

Then, he flipped me over. When I looked at his face, he had taken off his mask. This man was Enzo Dominici. He grabbed my waist and pulled me to his chest. At this point, if my heart was playing drums, I am sure his heart could dance to its rhythm. He never took his eyes off my face.

"Dana, I could pick you out from a crowd of a billion even if you were in a polythene bag. I could perceive your scent from miles away. Now, tell me. What exactly is my uncle's pretty wife doing in this forbidden vault at this damn hour?" Enzo pulled me closer. This time, my lips almost brushed his face. The Ferro card fell from my jacket to the floor.

"It might interest you to know that you are trespassing on my boundaries. I am a Ferraro, and you are a Dominici standing on the Ferraro estate. I could sue you for breach of privacy," I muttered, shifting my boots slowly to cover the Ferro card on the floor.

But he flipped me over to the side, taking me a little farther from the card.

"I don't care about boundaries when your life is on the line." Enzo muttered.

As he moved his hand to pull off my mask, I kicked his leg and darted straight to pick the card up off the floor. Enzo jumped and caught me mid-air before I could get a hold of the card. We both fell onto an empty box. My mask fell off, and his lips were almost on mine.

He stared into my soul like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "I told you I could pick you from the crowd even if you were shoved in a polythene bag. Now answer me. What is so important about that card that you ignored all my questions just to get a hold of it?"

"Answer my questions. I'm losing my patience," Enzo muttered, brushing my hair back slowly while keeping his eyes locked on mine.

"The questions you asked have no answers. Now, answer my question. What are you doing in my estate tonight?"

"I came down here to drag you out before the camera loop resets," Enzo muttered.

Before he could finish his statement, I shoved him aside and rushed to pick up the card, but it was no longer there.

"If it's that important to you, then you will answer my questions," Enzo whispered, a sarcastic smile forming on his lips as he walked up beside me.

But then, the smile disappeared the moment he pulled out the card and took a look at it. His face transformed, shifting from a sarcastic smile to a sinister look. Enzo gave me an expression I had never seen before. One would think he was immediately prepared for war.

I took a few steps backward while I adjusted my gear.

"Ferro Group. This is your identity?" Enzo muttered. Before I could say a word, he lunged forward again and pushed me against the wall. "Answer me!" he yelled. "Don't play games with me, Dana. Where did you get this card?" Enzo demanded, his face burning with fury.

"This room. It belonged in this room," I muttered.

Upon hearing that, Enzo immediately let go of me and looked around. It seemed as though the scales had finally fallen from his eyes. Before I could piece together what was happening, Enzo dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out that exact same card.

"I see the Ferro Group owes you a lot, Enzo," I murmured, stepping closer as I took the card from him.

"Fourteen years," Enzo said, moving closer. "I have spent fourteen years looking for a single clue about this mystery group."

"Nothing is given; everything is claimed," I said. "They don't plan on paying back what they owe you, Enzo."

Enzo took another look at me, scanning his eyes all over my body. Then, his gaze locked onto my left wrist. He looked directly at the subtle, military-grade glowing interface of my hidden smart watch. I stared back at him, shoving the card into my pocket.

"So, what are you going…."

Before I could finish my statement, Enzo hushed me. "Shhh..."

"A girl from the slums doesn't possess the clearance to loop Vincenzo’s CCTV. A gutter girl doesn't wear an unindexed, military-grade encrypted terminal on her wrist," Enzo said, while maintaining his gaze.

"You are asking questions that don't belong to you, Enzo," I whispered back. "I am the woman of this estate. If I need any information, I have every right to get it myself."

"Information like the Ferro card? Or rather, information in Vincenzo’s forbidden room?" Enzo muttered. He stepped closer to me as I continued to take a step backward, mapping out the exit.

Suddenly, a tiny red light flashed twice on the bezel of my smart watch.

The ten-minute camera loop was ending. The surveillance monitors in the security shack were about to reset. If the guard saw the live feed of Enzo and me pinned against a pillar in the restricted vault, it would be an immediate death sentence for us both.

"We are out of time," I hissed.

"Who are you, Dana? What is your mission in this estate?"

Before he could utter the next word, I pushed the exit open and ran off, heading back to the main house.