Punishment

We got dressed in our uniforms again, but we changed to sexy lingerie, hers hot pink as her favorite color, and me in a pair of cherry red ones, and while she put on her shoes again, I changed to my knee high black platform boots, raising my skirt higher to look shorter and using my white button-down uniform dress shirt loose above the skirt instead of inside, leaving the top three buttons unbuttoned and the black tie hanging loose around my neck.

Keeping papa's crucifix necklace under the shirt, above my chest going until my waist, near my bellybutton.

When I turned to Bella, she had also raised her skirt up, but her shirt was under it, and her necktie was tied perfectly well, not a button open, but her sleeves were folded until her elbows. Using her signature knee high pink with white socks, and her black shoes tied just as perfect as the rest of her look. But while my hip-length curly-ish wavy hair was loose, hers were on a high ponytail, only some streaks of her golden hair falling at the side of her face. "It worked," she winked at me, mischievously. "And you made sure to go overboard as always. I can't believe you kissed the nun."

I grinned amused, "The things we do for love."

"You kissed the nun," she said again, and when our eyes met, we both burst out laughing again. "You slapped the Priestess," she chuckled.

But before I could even reply, our door burst our open again and we found Priest Ivo standing there, fuming anger and definitely jealousy, followed by the crone. "Franceschini crossed the line, Priest Valcareggi. I caught her myself, fornicating with Noemi Russo, and while Russo stayed quiet and obedient when we came, Franceschini mocked, disrespected, talked back, and assaulted us both. She slapped my face, hurt my wrist, and kissed Nun Rubino."

"Let's not leave out the part where you slapped my face thrice, also grabbed my hair, yelled and cursed at me, and wished for my death," I said grinning and her face reddened with anger.

"I did no," she tried.

"Yes, you did!" Bella hissed at her. "You assaulted her first. It was not the first time you slapped her face, Priestess, and it was the first time she did to you what you did to her. Ain't that in the bible?" She asked more than slightly defiantly. "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you? If you don't wanna get your wrinkled face slapped, don't slap hers."

"I am no pushover," I added, glaring at the Priestess.

"You two should shut up if you don't want to stay grounded under punishment for an entire month," Priest Ivo hissed and we shared a look, a very, very contemplative look. "Don't you dare," he snapped, reading us, better yet, reading Bella. Then his eyes came to mine, "Are you a masochist, Donatella Franceschini?"

I blinked, feeling my cheeks hot, "What?"

"The Priest is a ruthless men in his punishments, you know that, we know that because of what we heard, but you know from experience. Why do you keep doing this when you know what's gonna happen to you?" He frowned as if he truly has no idea. Hasn't he seen the Priest? I mean, damn. "You will get yourself killed if you keep this up, Donatella. And Mauro would come here and personally kill me for his granddaughter's death, and I don't wanna die, got it? So, why don't you stop dragging Isabella here into your chaos and stop getting into trouble altogether? You ain't gonna get your ass expelled out of Scarlatti, Donatella. You're almost graduating, it'll happen in less than two years, can't you behave?"

"What's the fun in that?" I grinned wickedly and while he let out a tired sigh, the Priestess fully cringe in horror.

He just passed a hand over his black hair that's only starting to have some silver strings, which Bella loves a lot. "Dio have mercy on this world, you are worse than Mauro and Valentino together. And your papa was quite hard to surpass, but you definitely beat him to it. I am genuinely scared of what your kids will do in the future."

I tensed up in the same instant, feeling my soul being dragged into that dark place again, holding the urge to bring my hand up to my scar. And when he saw the darkness and chaos in my face, he knew he said the wrong thing, and so did the Priestess who excused herself and left, as if scared I would snap and murder her. Attractive idea, but no.

Bella caressed my back, worried, "Are you okay?"

I felt sick, "As okay as I can be."

Then she glared at him, as if silently scolding him for saying that to me, and he swallowed, "Anyways," he crossed his arms over his broad chest, standing tall around 1.97m, with brow skin and honey eyes, "you have to come to me now. As what she did wasn't as groundbreaking as what you did, as usual, I'll take care of Noemi's punishment, and I'll leave you to be handle by the Priest. You're too troublesome for me to deal with. Your nonno wasn't joking when he told me he couldn't handle you."

"I hate this place," I clenched my jaw.

"Well, you definitely made that clear, Donatella," he mocked.

Then he grabbed Bella by her forearm and told me to follow them to his office in the southwestern tower, and as we got there he ordered Bella to stay sat there and wait for him, then he left with me to the northeastern tower where Dante's office is.

"Do you have feelings for Isabella, Donatella?" He asked me.

I couldn't help chuckling, "I know about what's going on between you two, zio. She had the idea so she could go to you, by doing something that would be considered vile enough to get her to be punished for the whole weekend," his eyes widened and his cheeks blushed. "Bella is just my best friend, I'll do anything for her, even being thrown to be punished by the Priest for a weekend so she can be with you. I had to do it in a way you wouldn't be responsible for punishing me, so she can be alone with you."

His jaw dropped, "Since when,"

"I told her to make a move on you," I rolled my eyes. "I had more than enough of her talking about her forbidden crush on you all the time we were alone. So, I know before you knew."

"Fuck. Don't you find it,"

"Unholy and forbidden?" I grinned. "I don't give a shit, zio. I think everyone should stop holding their desires and just act on it. We only have one life, we shouldn't be prohibiting ourselves from living, when we don't know what tomorrow has for us."

"Well, that's a way of seeing," he chuckled anxiously. "I'm sorry you are getting punished just so we could he together. You're really more of a good friend than I ever thought you could be."

"Bella is the sister I never had," I winked. "Don't mind it, just make her happy the way only you can, yeah? I'm cheering for you."

"Even if I'm older?"

"I would be a hypocrite if I judged you two for that, when I much prefer older people. I'm not a hypocrite," I stared at my hands. "Neither am I a psychopath, by the way."

"I never thought you were a psychopath, Donatella," he told me.

"That's what everyone thinks," I chuckled self-deprecatingly.

He said nothing for the rest of our way, and I grew more and more anxious the closer I got from the northeastern tower, which is solely owned by the headmaster, all the floors in it. And it off limits for everyone else but parents and the worse of the sinners. Me.

"I'm sorry, Donatella, but I have to tell everything you did to him.'

Bitch, that's exactly why I did all of that. "I can live with everything I do, zio. I don't regret a word I said or an action I took. I'm not as impulsive as people take me for, I do everything consciously and because I want. The Priest already knows that, so, you can be honest. Just do your work. Like my nonno told me before I came to Scarlatti, if I wanna be treated like a grown up, I need to deal with the consequences of my actions like one."

"Hah, that's what his father used to tell us," he mocked. "Seems like he learned it and passed it down."

"Being a delinquent is in the genes of the firstborns of my familie, apparently," I chuckled anxiously. "Nonno's papa, nonno, papa, and me."

"And even then, you're still the worse," he purred.

"I prefer the term charming," I grinned mischievously as we got to the last set of stairs in front of Dante's office, in front of his double doors.

I missed him. The last time I saw him was back in June 17th.

It's October 7th now.

Priest Ivo knocked on it three times, "Come in," he spoke in that deep, raspy, breathy low-pitched voice that always spread shiver down my spine. He opened the door, keeping me behind him, and we walked inside, then the doors closed on their own with a ominous sound. "Hah," he scoffed as his eyes laid on me, instantly darkening, "I'm Surprised it took almost a week for you to be sent here, Donatella Arianna Di Angelini Franceschini."

"Priest Calandrelli," I said, looked down at my hands, feeling my face heating up.

"What did she do this time, Priest Ivo?" He required.

He swallowed, "Miss Franceschini was caught skipping religion classes with her best friend, Miss Russo, in her dorm, with the doors locked. Priestess Ardizzone and the Nuns Rubino and Marchini noted her missing and went to her dorm, using the spare key they unlocked their door, only to find Miss Franceschini and Miss Russo interlocked in forbidden fornication while naked, in Miss Russo's bed."

Dante's eyes widened and he clenched his jaw, deadly glare turning to me, as he clenched his fists so hard his knuckles paled. "What?" He all but demanded in the most dangerous tone I've ever heard on him, that only got me craving more for him.

Ivo tensed up, "Nun Marchini fainted at the forbidden sight, a sight that angered the Pristess enough that she lost her temper and apparently slapped Miss Franceschini's cheeks three times, as well as grabbed her by her hair and said harmful things to her, such as wishing for her death. I don't know exactly how it all had happened because I was not there, Priest Calandrelli, but it seems like Miss Franceschini was offended by Nun Rubino for what she was doing with Miss Russo, then she pushed the Priestess away and kissed Nun Rubino in the lips, who ran away crying."

His jaw dropped in horror, "She kissed the Nun?"