Ten

Isabella

Surely there must be a way out of this place. I got to know that the house was surrounded by an estate. There are cameras all over the place, way more sophisticated you wouldn't easily notice one. Dante finally gave me permission out of the house. I spent almost the whole day looking around the house, the compound, and the driveway, everything was exquisite. The mansion is three floors and very wide. I have only been to the wing where my bedroom is. I think I have the right to call it my bedroom since Mr. Possessive has proclaimed eternity together. I never got a look at the place when I arrived. I guess I was on my way to meet Papa.

As I look around the estate, there are two guards dressed all in back suits following me around. This doesn't bother me because I have grown up in this kind of life. This gets me wondering about Diego and Matteo. Did they survive? Dante has never answered my questions and he looks even more determined not to answer any of my questions in the future since talking to him is total insolence.

What happened on Wednesday night has been fresh in my mind ever since. He put me on his knee and spanked me like his daughter. That bastard! And he still has the elegance to claim that he is doing all these shenanigans for my good.

My family has no idea where I am. The family that Dante suspects to be against me. Who the hell does he think he is to make any judgment against any of my family members?

Suddenly, I miss mama. I wish I had agreed to go live here. All this would have never happened. I would have never been attacked and kidnapped.

Mother was right to run away from this crazy life of the mafia. It's dangerous and unpredictable. There is death in every direction you turn to. Criminals collaborate to kill their fellow gangstas, fighting for dominance in their illegal businesses. Dante is part of this circus. And he has the nerve to think that I would believe he is on my side. Well, he may be against Federico but not entirely doing this to save me. He may just be keeping me here just to show Federico That he is the winner and the latter is the loser. Just to show him that he has me and Federico doesn't. All these dirty games, I don't want to be involved.

I am an independent woman with greater ambitions than being kept in this mansion, eating from my kidnapper's plate and worshipping his feet, getting my ass spanked before bed because I know I will never be nearly as obedient as Dante wants me to be.

I want my freedom. I want to get started with my business and lead them on just like my father had envisioned when he decided to entrust me with them in his will. I need to get my life moving. I can't be here. I need to get my way out of here. Talking to Dante as an option has been cancelled out and won't work because well, I have had enough. I don't want another of those sessions or I will turn into something I won't be able to save myself from. Being on his lap is one thing and having his hands on my skin is another. He is rough and that's exactly my flavour. I don't want to discover any more of his sexual personality because it would be a disaster for me. I may never recover from it.

Since I have been allowed to be outside, I head to the farm thereafter. It is a large estate, inherited through four generations so far. The farm workers are very nice to me, which gets me wondering if it is because there is a trail of security behind me or if Dante commanded them to be so. Whatever the reason, l feel comfortable around them. They offered to show me around each of their special roles on the estate farm.

The best part of the farm is the flower garden. It is so beautiful. There is a variety of flowers, but I only manage to learn two new names of the flowers because most of them are foreign breeds. The flowers here are all grown for sale. Only a few are grown for decorating the mansion. I also go through the animal farm which is stalked with horses, sheep, chickens, pigs, and even cows. God! I didn't expect the gangster leader to own a decent farm where he deals in the legal raising and trading of plants and animals. I can only imagine him killing things...

By the time Dominico comes to take me back to the house, it is already dusk.

"Signore Dante wants to see you," he tells me.

Does he know?

I mentally roll my eyes at him.

I enjoyed being on the farm. At least I didn't have to spend my Friday brooding and cursing the master of the house for being a dick-head.

I look like a mess, my flats have enough earth on them, and my sundress is dusty. Next time I will dress right for the occasion.

"Where is he?" I inquire when we enter the house.

"In his office," Dominico responds and then casually starts to walk off.

Office?

"Where is it found?" I don't why I am embarrassed to ask that. Is it because Dominico expected me to know where it is yet I did not? What does he I am here in this house for? A business vacation or his new acquisition?

Suddenly I remember the woman I met a few days ago in this house. The woman he fucked in this house. That twists in me in the wrong way. Why hasn't she been back yet? Is he fucking her outside the house? That should be the proper thing to do. She is not his girlfriend because I would have found out already. I have been here for over two weeks. Besides Dante doesn't look like a lover. Maybe his sexual slave.

This is the crap going on in my head as Dominico leads me through Dante's suite to the door of his office.

"Thanks, Dominico. I will take on from here," I tell him with a small smile. He is the only person in the house that I can smile to and talk to freely. Elvira is also nice but I respect and fear her equally so I don't interact freely with her.

I stand in front of the office door wondering what the hell he is doing in there. I didn't see him the whole of yesterday and today. I don't have any idea what he has been up to this time. The last time I saw him wasn't wonderful. I had been bent over his knees, shamelessly grinding my crotch on his knees and crying out of anger at the same time. I have a twinkle of excitement while I know.

Did I miss him? No. Even though I couldn't stop wondering why he was not going to check up on me, I kept telling myself that he was a very busy man with better things to do. Why should he keep checking on me? I am not a child.

The door opens, startling me.

The person who opens the door looks familiar though I can't put a figure on where I have seen him before.

He is a tall dark man with long silky black hair that falls to his shoulders. I think I have seen him around the house, most probably with Dante.

"Ciao," he says with a charming side smile.

"Ciao," I murmur, bewildered. It's quite intriguing to meet someone charming in my kind of situation. He walks by leaving me there on my own to face the devil myself.

"Isabella, are you still there or do you want me to help you in," I hear the devil's voice booming from the partly open door. I roll my eyes before entering.

He is sitting behind a big mahogany desk in a white shirt, no tie, two buttons undone. His usually neatly combed hair is a mess on his hair, stray strands falling on his face.

God, he looks so hot. No, superheated.

What is wrong with me?

He looks up at me, dark eyes boring through mine.

I look away.

The office is very spacious and modern. Though the desk and the chairs look classic, they have been maintained through the years. There are framed photos hanging on the wall. Men with the same facial features, chiselled jaw and jet-black hair. Must be his ancestors. This is the only part of the house I have seen with framed photos. It must be a very special part of the house.

What about the mothers?

"Isabella, we can do the sightseeing another day," Dante says, sounding impatient.

Okay.

"Have a seat," he offers.

Thank you.

I sit on one of the two seats in front of his desk. Suddenly I feel like his client.

"How are you?" he says, pushing back his chair to get up.

Oh... How am I?

"Answer me, Bella. I am not in the most playful mood tonight," he says while reaching for the windows. He presses a remote and the blinds begin to close slowly. We are both silent as the room slowly goes dim.

What is he going to do that no one in the estate should see?

"Isabella," his voice is as hard as concrete.

"I am not fine," I blurt out.

"Why?" he inquires, switching on the lights, and the whole room looks different. It looks warmer.

He then walks around his desk to where I am sitting.

"You know why, Dante."

"You missed me?" he raises his eyebrows in question.

Maybe.

I try hard not to roll my eyes at him.

"I want to go home," I respond, looking up at him. My voice softens hoping he will hear me out.

"I want to see my family. I want them to know that I am alright. At least let me talk to my best friend. What if they have already pronounced me dead?"

"No, they haven't pronounced you dead yet. They're still looking for you. I wonder why Federico hasn't got the news out that I have you. He would make me look like the enemy and all the attention would be put off him for a moment," he says. He sits at his desk, making sure he is directly in front of me.

"I can't trust you not to make things difficult when u let you talk to your friend. Your family? No. You can't talk to your family yet. Try to reason line with me," he says.

"I promise Rita wouldn't say anything if I told her not to. I can call while you watch," I sound desperate because I am.

Dante breathes in deeply as if giving it a thought.

Please.

"I don't trust that you can not tell her where you are but if you need this so badly then I won't deny you," he says. He picks up his phone from the desk and unlocks it. He hands it to me with the daily pad on the screen. I am about to break into tears, but I surprisingly maintain my composure.

I quickly put in Rita's digits and details. I am praying that it goes through, and when it does, I jump out of my chair and walk away from Dante. I don't want him to think that I am hiding from him but I also don't want his presence to make me uncomfortable on the phone.

"Isabella? Are you alright?" the surprise in her voice is as clear as daylight. I immediately break into tears.

"Isabella?" she sounds frightened. I try not to cry but can't help it.

"Yes, Rita. I am okay, I just missed you so much," I say between sniffs. From the other side of the line, I can tell she is also crying.

"I missed you too, dear. Where are you? Whose phone is this? Everyone is worried about you. We were starting to think you had been killed. God forbid it!" she says, sobbing audibly.

"I am fine, Rita, but you can't tell anyone yet. It doesn't matter where I am now. What matters is that I am alright, okay? Promise you won't tell anyone."

"I promise. But why?"

I am equally as confused as you are, Rita!

"I can't tell you now. It is the only way I can be safe. I will explain everything to you another time. Let's not talk about this. I don't want to cry," I say, rubbing off tears with my thumb.

"Okay, sweetheart."

"Thank you."

"What do you want to talk about? Your boyfriend apparently has another chick. She is Swiss," she says. Straight on point.

"That asshole. I was already over him. He couldn't match my energy in bed. Such a waste of Italian blood," I slowly turn to check out on Dante. He has left the room.

That's so sweet of him to consider giving me some privacy