Sal unties my wrists, and as I sit up, I bite my lip instead of moaning from the pain as I rub my arms and wriggle my legs to get the circulation going.
“I have pain killers in my car if you need some. I guess I slammed you pretty good last night.”
“Hmm, anti-inflammatories would be great,” I murmur without admitting my back is killing me and he may have actually hurt my jaw.
As I stand, I feel light-headed, and my knees feel like ricotta cheese. I struggle to regain my balance as pain shoots up my spine and my lower back muscles spasm causing me to double over.
I take a deep breath and try to stay lucid.
Sal wraps an arm around me to help me and Matteo grabs my on the other side as we make our way up the steps. Matteo’s body is rigid, and Sal’s tightens as if he’s on guard.
We’re so close right now that I feel the warmth of his body through his suit and find myself thinking thoughts that would make a Catholic girl blush. My mind shifts to thinking about what he looks like with nothing on and standing this close to me.
After being in the dark for so long, the afternoon sun is blinding at first but after they adjust I can make out a barn in the distance. The fresh air feels good on my face, and I take a deep breath hoping it will make me feel better.
Sal puts me in his car and zip-ties my ankles tighter. He’s clearly a man who doesn’t take chances.
It feels good to sit upright and the plush leather seat feels like heaven compared to the old mattress that was as thin as a slice of stale bread.
He tugs on my seatbelt and puts the shoulder straps around me, making it failsafe. But as he does so, his hand brushes my sensitive nipples, and they harden with desire.
He recoils as if he touched a hot stove jerking his hand away. But it’s too late, my pussy, like my nipples, ache for his touch and I find myself frustrated in ways that are new to me. So, this must be what they call sexual frustration.
Fuck.
Fuck, and fuck me.
Of all my conquests in battle, I have to find the one that turns me on now? The most dangerous endeavor of my life?
I need to stay focused. Now that we have an arrangement, I feel like I have a future. Maybe out of my failed attempt to kill Sal, I have found something that I can do and do well. If I pull this off, I can command a higher price for my services in the future. Maybe I can get enough money together to buy the girls’ release.
One thing I know for sure is, six months from now, I’ll be free of my obligations to Sal, and no man will ever touch me, unless I want it.
10
Sal
Idrive through the rolling hills of central Italy in my Maserati heading home while Francesca stares out the window in a trance.
She’s a million miles away and yet I still want to know what she’s thinking. She mentioned something about ‘where is Sophia when she attacked me, but I thought better of grilling her over it.
And to be honest, I have no idea what she’s talking about, which made me think she might be delusional at first. Although her grasp on me was one of survival.
She’s not an easy person to read, but she must be hungry. I’m starving. She’s just too hardheaded to ask for anything. God forbid the woman should need a man for anything is the vibe I’m getting.
We’re heading to my estate because there’s no point taking her anywhere else, she already knows where I live. I’m not worried about having her under the same roof because I don’t think she has what it takes to kill. She could have ended me last night, and she hesitated. Hesitation that could have cost her own life.
“Oh, I forgot,” I say, opening the glove box and pulling out a bottle of pills. Holding the steering wheel with one hand, I extract two pills and push them past her lips.
She pulls away. “Relax, it’s just ibuprofen, you need to get it in your system.”
She swallows the pills without any water. That tells me she’s in serious pain but too stubborn to admit it. She’s not only stubborn. She’s tough.
And feisty.
Definitely not like any woman I’ve ever met, and I’m sure I wouldn’t want to meet another one like her. Then I remember that Juliet is her half-sister, but they definitely have a different temperament.
She says nothing and I can’t imagine it’s easy to feel unwanted by the people who are supposed to love her unconditionally.