I’m not worried about both my wrists being trapped in his hands. Although I should be. His eyes have darkened. He looks like he’s about to kill someone. And I’m the only one in the room for him to take his anger out on .
“You don’t know who I am,” Arlo says, still holding on to my wrists .
“I know you’re Arlo Carini, basically royalty in this town.” I take a deep breath. “And I know that you want to fuck me .”
He grips my wrists tighter and pulls me toward him until our bodies are pressed together. I can’t breathe. All I can think about is the pain he is inflicting on my wrists. It’s making my head spin. But I kind of like it .
“You have no idea who I am. You, on the other hand, I know exactly who you are .”
I smirk. I doubt it .
“You’re Nina Young. Twenty-something grad student who is majoring in art history because you love it even though it’s going to lead to a dead-end job that pays you nothing. That means, you have family money to make up the difference or are planning on marrying a rich lawyer or doctor as soon as you return to the US. But none of that matters. What matters is that you are a spoiled, rich little girl who gets to come to Italy and will do anything to bang every hot Italian man she can find, so when you return home, you can relive the excitement and adventure instead of dealing with the reality of your pathetic life .”
He loosens his grip just a little on my wrist, and I breathe .
“Your life is perfect. But you’re living in a dream world .”
I open my mouth to tell him that my life is anything but perfect, but Arlo’s eyes shut me up before I even start .
“You don’t know me, and you don’t want to. I ruin women. I destroy them. I mean that literally. Stay away from me, Nina. No, run away. And don’t ever look back.” He says it like he means it. His eyes beg me to stay .
He releases my wrists, but I don’t move. I can’t move. I have so many questions .
Why don’t I want to know him? What does he mean about destroying women? How does he know my name ?
“Go,”
he growls at me when I don’t move .
I turn, startled at his growl, and begin to leave the room. Much slower than I’m sure he wants me to. But I know that I’m not going to get anywhere with him right now .
I will. I’ll get him to fuck me. I’ll get him to obsess about me. Love me. Marry me if I want him to. He can be my last obsession. He’s perfect. He would make the best husband .
I glance back at him when I reach the door. He’s nothing but a hot stranger to me. He was just supposed to be a man giving me and my classmates a tour of his mansion, which is full of history. Nothing more. Definitely not the object of my new obsession .
He smiles smugly at me. He thinks he’s won. That I’ll leave him alone after he scared me. But he’s wrong. He’s just made me more obsessed than ever before .
2
Nina
“A re you sick?” my roommate, Eden, asks .
“Yes,” I answer as I stare into the tiny mirror in the bathroom .
“A stomach bug? Migraine? Hangover? What?” Eden asks .
“Migraine,” I answer, hoping that it will be enough to get her to stop talking .
I love Eden. She is my best friend. I’ve known her my whole life. We do everything together. We are in the same classes. Lived in the same towns. But I regret living with her, even for a few weeks. She is nosy and isn’t afraid to tell me like it is. Even when I don’t want to hear it .
“I’ll get you some Advil,” she says, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor as she walks away from the bathroom door .
I exhale slowly while I glance at my watch. I have to leave in two hours if I want to get to Carini’s party at a decent time. I’ve been anxious about going ever since I overheard some townspeople talking about it last night. I haven’t started getting ready at all. I didn’t bring a fancy dress with me. I’ll have to find something in one of the local shops since I can’t ask Eden to let me borrow a dress of hers. If I do, she will grow suspicious that I’m not really sick. And it takes me hours to get my stick-straight brown hair to curl and resemble anything other than a boring mop of hair .
Eden’s heels start clicking along the old, hard floor that gives and squeaks as she walks across it, making me cringe with each step. She knocks on the bathroom door, and the rattling of the rickety door is enough to drive me insane .
“I couldn’t find the Advil in your purse. Is it in the medicine cabinet?” she asks .