CHAPTER II

My body went into shock as I was hoisted like a sack of feathers onto the lap of a stranger who was currently stroking my hair like I was a lost pet of his he saw on the streets while the car smoothly navigated the road. The familiar buildings rolled by the windows as though mocking me that they’re the only witnesses to my abduction.

“Caterina,” the man whispered, his breath coated the back of my ear which was enough to bring shivers down my spine. I could feel every inch of his hard chest against my back and the strength of his thighs squeezing me between them. Every breath I took brought my skin to almost touch the prickling stubble on his chin. I didn’t dare move.

“Did you think you could hide from me forever with a bad dye job?” The arm wrapped around my waist tightened. My senses were overwhelmed by his strong masculine scent along with the clean luxurious smell of the car. I thought I was going to pass out any minute now.

I flinched as his fingers traced the line parting my hair. “What did you do to your hair, Caterina?”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I snapped, finally managing to get some words out of my mouth. It’s one thing to kidnap a girl but to address her by another girl’s name was just plain disrespectful.

“Why? Do you prefer a pet name?” He tucked my hair in one side of my ear and I could feel his gaze burn a hole on my cheek.

I squirmed in his arms. “No! Look, you got the wrong girl. My name is —”

“Are you going to keep up this charade or should I gag you?”

I twisted against him, putting more force this time. I wouldn’t put it past a man who picks up girls off the street that he would actually do that. My struggles weren’t even able to loosen his hold on me but surprisingly, he let go. I scooted away until the latch of the car door was digging on my back.

“I really have no idea why you’re taking me. I swear we don’t have a lot of money. My father is just a fisherman!”

His dark eyes darted to the front. “Lower your voice,” he hissed at me. I just realized that we’re not alone. Along with the driver, there was another man in the passenger seat. I caught him staring intently at my face through the rearview mirror but he quickly redirected it somewhere else as though there wasn’t a kidnapping going on in the backseat.

Now that I was not caged in his arms, the face of my abductor became clear to me. I didn’t know what I was expecting but at the same time, it made sense. As I suspected, a stubble peppered his sculpted jawline. The blackness of his eyes has the force to reel people in its depths until they drown in his presence. Those same pools gazed at me with such intimacy that made me uncomfortable. I hadn’t met this man in my entire life.

He must have come from an important event judging from his slicked back hair and expensive suit. He almost looked like a gentleman who doesn’t abduct girls out of nowhere. Still, there was danger radiating off him which was especially magnified by the long scar running along the middle of his right eye, marring the gorgeousness of his face. It’s a constant reminder that this man was unsafe despite what appearance he portrayed.

His eyes narrowed as he took notice of the look I gave at his scar. When he spoke, the gentleness in his voice from earlier disappeared. “It’s been three years but don’t think we have forgotten what your family owed us. I’m just taking what is rightfully mine, finally. So, sit back, be a good girl, and keep your mouth shut till we get home.”

“I told you we don’t have—”

“Do I look like a man who needs money from someone like you? I’m not kidding about gagging and tying you up if you don’t settle the f*ck down.”

The fact that I might never be able to see my father again became increasingly my reality. My blood ran cold. I quickly grabbed the lock on the door and tugged desperately.

“Please! Let me go—”

I heard him heave a deep sigh. He exchanged words in Italian with the man in the passenger seat. As he turned to me, ropes were already in his fists. The thought of being tied up with my voice restricted and brought to a place I knew nothing about sent my body into overdrive and I screamed.

Then I passed out, completely. Thank God.

~~~

I drifted in and out of consciousness. The same gray walls greeted me each time like a never-ending dream. When I tried to lift my eyelids which felt like they weighed a ton, I heard voices but they sounded muffled as though I was underwater.

“—she’s a completely different person.”

A grunt and then the same low voice from earlier spoke up, “That’s f*cking impossible.”

Silence.

“What must be done then?”

I tried processing the stranger’s answer but no matter how hard I tried, the words were gibberish as they reached my ears. My mind was still clearing out the clouds in my head, it seemed.

“Will she be alright for next week?” my abductor asked.

“I advise against it, Mr. Romano. She needs more… fixing-up.”

Mr. Romano… A deep sense of foreboding unfurled in the pit of my stomach.

I could feel the tiredness threatening to swallow me whole but before my body surrendered, a rough hand caressed the side of my face, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake.

“Time is not something at my disposal.” The hand left my face. The same voice spoke up again, “You can go now. I think I made myself clear when I said what’s going to happen to your brain when you tell anyone about this, or do you need more convincing?”

Before the other man could reply, I gave in to the darkness.

When I woke up this time, the fog had finally lifted from my brain. The first clear thought that popped into my head was,

Have I gone to heaven?

Because it certainly felt like it. The foam was so soft against my tired body. I never knew how tired I really was until now. I snuggled deeper into my silken pillows. I’ve never been cozier in my entire life.

I frowned. Something’s not right.

My bed doesn’t have silk sheets.

I shot up from the bed. Not only was the bedsheets silk but also the night gown I was wearing. Someone took my clothes and changed me while I was sleeping.

How long was I asleep?

The room was dark but I could clearly tell that this was not my room. Whosever this was was rich as hell. It’s almost the same size as our entire house. A sliver of light came from the lone lampstand by the windows and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I just noticed the looming figure beside it.

He was sitting on the armchair, watching me with his hawk-like eyes while he nursed a drink in his hand. The white scar on his eye glinted menacingly. The hairs stood up at the back of my neck. This time, it wasn’t because of his mere presence but at the splattered blood decorating his white button-down shirt. If earlier he appeared to be a gentleman, right now he looked like some pirate king gazing at his most prized possession.

My eyes automatically looked for an open wound on his body like any sane person would.

“Don’t worry, it’s not my blood.”

I fought a rising panic deep in my bones. Of course, in his sick world, he would be the hunter and here I was, practically served on a silver platter as his next prey. I gripped the sheets closer to my chest.

“Are you going to kill me?” The words came out of my mouth in a hushed whisper.

A cruel smile danced on his lips. “Now, why would I do that?”

“Then what the hell am I doing here? Where is this?”

“I told you your family owed us a long time ago.”

He had to be lying. We lived a very simple life even before my mother passed away. Men like him have nothing to do with people like us.

“You can’t just kidnap someone and expect them to be okay with it.”

“Yes, I can, especially when your father was the one who offered you as collateral.”

My heart almost stopped at his words. My father who was very protective of me; who at the mere name of a boy sent him into panic. He has closed himself off from the world and limited himself to fishing, woodwork, and anything that would help us survive without the need to interact with people. He tried to make me live a solitary life just like him so no, he would never sell me off just like that.

“My dad would never do that,” I told him, my voice sure.

He shrugged his shoulders as if he already knew that nothing he would say will change my mind. And he’s right. I wouldn’t trust any of his words over my dad’s.

But my father never told me anything.

He started unbuttoning his shirt. The seductive suggestion of the act especially in a room where it’s only the two of us made me blush and I looked away.

“What's next week?” I croaked, remembering his earlier conversation with someone. I knew I was revealing the fact that I eavesdropped but I didn’t care as long as it filled the heavy silence. His heavy footsteps were audible and my body stiffened at being notified of his every movement.

“A wedding,” he simply answered, his low voice seeming far away.

The sound of water running heightened my already spiked up nerves. He returned, not a minute later, wearing nothing but black tracksuit bottoms, a towel draped across his bare shoulder. His black hair covered his forehead, trickling droplets of water on his exposed skin. The darkness did nothing to conceal the deep contours and planes of his pecs and abs. Faint white lines and dark ink painted his olive skin. His hip bone forming the deep V line seemed to shine starkly against the low light as his pants hung low. I gulped down the lump in my throat.

“Whose wedding?” My voice sounded small and pathetic even to my own ears.

He walked over to the bed and braced himself on either side of me so we’re face to face. I put my head down, focusing on my hands clasped tightly on the sheets. I was afraid he'd see through me if I met his burning gaze.

His breath, which smelled lightly of alcohol and mint, fanned my cheeks as he answered,

“Our wedding.”