I turn around and run. I hear footsteps behind me a moment before someone catches me around the waist. It’s Enrico, of course. He places me back down in front of the group.
“We said give us a strip tease,” he growls, tearing at one of the sleeves of my dress and ripping it off. I gasp, trying to pull away from him.
“Strip tease, strip tease,” the men chant.
“Stop it!” I scream.
Enrico grabs the end of my dress and rips it away, exposing my legs. They all laugh and cheer. The only one who isn’t is Carlo, but he’s not doing anything to stop the rest of them.
I stumble back, trying to get away.
Enrico laughs as he grips my legs. “Look at these fine legs, gents!” He brings his hand up higher to touch me between my legs, but I kick his chin, which shocks him just enough to back up. “Feisty, are we? You should learn a lesson, Adelina. You’re abiker’s wife now. Which means you belong to all of us. We have a right to touch what Matteo has touched.”
“He hasn’t touched me!” I scream again. “You’re all barbarians. Stop this!”
The men just laugh at me, and I feel like I’m in some twisted nightmare.
“Matteo hasn’t touched you yet?” Enrico smiles darkly. “Then I’ll gladly be the one to do what he couldn’t” He tries touching me between my legs again, but I keep stepping just out of reach. “Stop being like that, baby. Let me touch you.”
“Stop being a tease,” another man says. “Give us what we want.”
“If I dance for you, will you stop trying to touch me?” I ask Enrico.
He backs up. “Sure. Dance. Now.”
I gulp. I have no other choice. I dance a dance I know well. It’s ballet, with long extended arms and legs. But I only dance a few steps before the men boo me again.
“We want a strip tease,” one of them says. “Not whatever gay shit you’re doing right now.”
“It’s ballet,” Jules says.
Enrico snorts. “I don’t give a fuck about ballet. We demand a strip tease!” The men cheer. “So, strip.”
I stand there, feeling utterly humiliated. If Matteo was trying to put me in my place, then he sure has succeeded. I’ll be nice to him if he only lets me go back home. But Matteo still isn’t here. And I’m all alone.
“You’re taking too long,” Enrico growls and reaches forward, tearing the rest of my dress off as I scream. I’m left in my white bra and underwear set when he steps back. I cover my body with my hands. “There. Much better.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Matteo’s voice booms through the room.
Everyone freezes and turns to look at him.
He’s standing in the doorway, seething. I notice he’s shirtless. He has red welts on his chest. Are those scratch marks? Red lipstick covers his lips and neck.
I can’t stand any longer. I crumble to the floor and begin to cry.
CHAPTER 10
Matteo
After Emma and I finish having sex, I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling. She stretches and rakes her dark red nails across my chest, leaving behind red marks.
“That was great,” she murmurs. “I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
At least one of us is happy.
I feel like shit.
When I found out I was getting the chance to be with Adelina, I knew I didn’t want to be with anyone else. But she consistently pushed me away, making it known she wanted nothing to do with me. And then tonight happened. I got carried away and threw her onto the bed, ready to claim her as mine. I convinced myself that if she just got that stick out of her ass, she’d want to be with me.