Resold To The Ruthless Mafia Lord

~11~

~TIANA'S {POV} ~

Before I could start to panic, someone entered the dining room. The guy with the piercing on his lips. The same one I'd seen earlier today.

He cast a long glance my way before looking at Demetri.

"You've got some visitors, Demetri," he said.

"Who?" Demetri asked, the irritation in his voice did not go unnoticed by me.

"The Maverick twins," he replied.

"Ah." A smile broke out on Demetri's face at hearing the name. "I was expecting them to make an appearance at least tomorrow," he muttered.

He waved at the man and said, "Wait for me outside."

The man turned and left without another word. Then I felt Demetri's gaze settle on me again and I faced him.

"It's a shame that our conversation is being cut short like this." He had a slightly disappointed look on his face, causing me to wonder what was so interesting about speaking to me.

"Not to worry. We'll have enough time to talk once I finish my rehabilitation," he said, sliding the iPad back toward me. "Keep that safe, little sparrow."

I nodded in response, my fingers clutching the iPad as I drew it close to my chest.

He smiled, pleased by how cooperative I was, before wheeling his chair away from the table and out of the room.

After speaking with him like that, he suddenly felt less intimidating, but that didn't mean my fear of him had completely evaporated.

[ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 ]

Like the blink of an eye, three weeks had passed since I last saw Demetri or Marcus or even Lydia.

Jacob had come to give me instructions on my third day here, telling me that Demetri didn't want me anywhere near the main house until he returned. That was enough to tell me that my ownership had been transferred to him. Jacob came over at least three times a day to make sure I was alright and wasn't getting bullied by the other people in the house. His presence made sure that everyone kept clear of me.

For these past weeks, I had been making use of the men's bathroom late at night when I was sure everyone was fast asleep. Luckily, no one had caught me so far.

These past weeks had been the most peaceful my life had been for a very long time.

Right now, I sat at the back of the house on a lone bench, taking in the crisp smell of the trees ahead that the wind carried in my direction. The evening sun had shifted, making the building act as an umbrella that shielded me from its remaining rays.

"Good evening."

Someone greeted from behind. I glanced back toward the source of the voice to see a maid standing there with a gentle smile on her face. She waved at me and I waved back, quickly recognizing her. She was the maid who had tried to speak up for me that day I was picked on by the other workers.

"Can I sit with you?" She looked nervous as she asked.

I nodded and her eyes instantly brightened like early Christmas lights as she moved to sit beside me.

"My name is Elizabeth, Lizzy for short," she said with excitement. "What is yours?"

Turning to the side where my iPad was placed, I wrote down my name and handed it to her.

"Nice to meet you, Tiana." She handed my iPad back to me.

Then she looked nervous again, as if carefully turning something over in her mind, her fingers fumbling together like those of a restless child.

"Can we be friends, if you don't mind of course."

I didn't see the harm in having a friend, so I nodded and gave a small smile.

Her eyes sparkled even more. "Really?" she asked, as if making sure I wasn't joking, and this time I scribbled a yes on my iPad.

She pulled me into a tight hug and my eyes widened, not expecting her to hold me like that so suddenly. It took her several long seconds before she finally pulled away.

She began telling me about where she used to work before she started here. Apparently her former employer had tried to sleep with her, and when she refused his advances, he accused her of trying to seduce him and his wife fired her without hearing her side of things.

"I only got this job here four weeks ago and since then I haven't been able to make any friends." Her face fell as she said the last part. "But I'm glad we're friends now."

During my meals over the past weeks, I had observed how everyone always ignored her, just as they ignored me. In my case, it was because Jacob had warned them to stay away from me. But for her, I couldn't help but notice the envious stares and scornful looks the women threw her way whenever she walked into a room. Elizabeth was beautiful after all, her blonde hair and soft features giving her the kind of effortless appeal that made other women uncomfortable and drew the wrong kind of attention from men.

For the men, they had been friendly toward her during my first week here, hovering close and finding small reasons to speak with her. But they had also started to avoid her after those initial days, as if they couldn't get what they wanted and had simply decided to back off.

I scribbled down "I'm glad too" on my iPad and handed it to her.

Her face lifted immediately. "Since we're friends now, you can come over to my room whenever you want. We can go there right now. I still have about forty five minutes before I'll be called to serve dinner at the main mansion."

I didn't see any reason to decline the invitation so I nodded, and we both stood from the bench. She clasped her arm around mine and led me back into the house, the two of us moving through the corridor at an easy pace. But as soon as we stepped inside and made our way toward her room, I spotted Jacob at the far end of the hallway, heading in the direction of my room with a neat stack of folded clothes in his hand.

When he saw me he slowed his steps briefly before picking up his stride again and closing the distance between us.

"G-good evening, Sir," Lizzy said.

He glanced at her briefly without responding to her greeting, his gaze drifting past her and settling on me instead.

"You will be having dinner at the main mansion tonight. Change into this." He handed me the clothes with a straightforward look on his face. "And be quick about it. I'll be outside waiting for you."

He walked away after saying that, not lingering for a moment longer than necessary.

I turned to give Elizabeth an apologetic look and, reading my expression without any difficulty, she waved it off before I could feel too badly about it.

"It's okay. Maybe tomorrow." She had a smile on her face, though it wasn't as bright as the one she'd been wearing moments before. "Hurry up and go change."

We waved at each other as I made my way to my room.