Chapter 11: But What Happened to My Clothes?

*Layla*

My stomach churned with anger, fear, and uncertainty. I knew I had to find a way to get the envelope back, to keep its contents out of Marco’s hands if I wanted to be able to get my mother and me away from him. 

But how could I do that without arousing Dante's suspicions?

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Dante's hand slid down to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing over my lips in a gesture of comfort. 

"Don't worry, baby," he murmured, his voice low and soothing. "I am certain it was someone that saw you with me and thought that envelope had something to do with my business. I wish I had sent a body guard with you.”

He kissed my forehead tenderly and reached over to get a glass of water from the bedside table for me to drink. “From now on you will be covered and I won't let him get away with this. I'll find out who did this, I will get your envelope back and I'll make them pay."

I swallowed the cool and refreshing water down quickly, my heart clenching at the fierce protectiveness in his voice.

"I know you will," I whispered, handing the empty glass back. "But Dante, where are my clothes?”

“The doctor needed to examine you so I had one of the maid staff remove them.”

I pushed a smile on my face as the answer he gave rang false in my ears. Was he lying to me? 

But before I could continue, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me, my eyelids growing heavy and my limbs turning to lead. I tried to fight it, tried to force myself to stay awake and alert. But it was no use, the pull of sleep was too strong to resist.

“The doctor left a muscle relaxer to keep you calm and help you sleep. But I did have a question. Why was this in your panties?” 

Dante reached inside of the side table and retrieved the cassette recording my father made with his name on it.

I was too weak to move or even try to answer. Fear and terror gripped me knowing that I would soon be completely defenseless. As I slipped back into unconsciousness, I heard Dante's voice, soft and distant, like a whisper on the wind.

"Sleep now, baby girl," he murmured, his lips brushing against mine in an achingly tender kiss. "You will answer all of my questions soon enough. I promise."

And with those words echoing in my mind, I surrendered to the darkness, letting it carry me away to a place where the terror of my situation couldn't follow.

When I woke up, I found myself still in only my bra and panties, lying on a hard, leather covered table in a room lit up with red light. I quickly realized my hands and ankles were tied together. Dante stood over me in a shirt and slacks with this tie loose around his neck. 

I strained against the restraints, panic clawing at my chest as I frantically searched for a way to escape. Dante’s expression remained unreadable, a mask of calm authority as he observed me with his piercing gaze. The red light seemed to dance around him, making him appear more ominous than ever before.

With a jolt of panic, I struggled against the restraints as I searched for a way to escape the precarious situation I found myself in. 

"Dante, what is this?" I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady.

He didn't answer immediately, instead taking a step closer to where I lay helpless on the table. His hand reached out to caress my cheek, his gaze cold and calculating.

"You've been keeping secrets from me, baby girl," he said softly, his tone betraying no emotion. "I can't have that."

I racked my brain, trying to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. The cassette tape? My father's recording? Had he listened to it?

"Dante, please," I pleaded.

He placed a hand on my inner thigh and trailed up until he was just brushing against the edge of my panties.

I took in a sharp breath as my heart thundered in fear and excitement. 

“I told you to call me Daddy.”

I looked into his darkening eyes and wondered if it was danger or desire that lit the heat in his eyes that burned like hot coals.  

He watched me intensely looking for a reaction, wanting a truth that I knew he might kill me for. My heart broke knowing that the man I was already in love with deserved more than my lies and deceit.  

If it had only been about me, I would have come clean and confessed all. But my mother was in Marco’s clutches and her life depended on me seeing this through. 

I couldn’t give Dante the truth of my initial intentions and motivations. But I could give him the truth of my feelings for him.

His knuckles traced over the thin fabric of my panties and then the other one trailed up my side and over my rib cage until it too was tenderly teasing the lower half of my bra. 

More aching and desire than I knew what to do with filled me. Had my arm been free I would have reached for him. I would have pulled him to me. And had my legs been free I would have wrapped them around him and pressed him to the growing heat between my thighs. 

But I was restrained, bound by rope that became tight as I squirmed beneath his smoldering gaze and feather-light touch.

“Do you want me to stop, baby girl?” 

“No…”

He removed his hand from my bra and brought it to my throat. The fingers of his other hand slipped into the side of my panties and circled the moist skin of my pussy.

He gradually tightened his hand around my throat as softly and slowly a finger slipped in and out of me.

“Never say no to me, baby girl. Do you understand?”

My breathing was shallow as only enough air came in to allow me to exhale two words.

“Yes, Daddy.” 

His hand around my throat loosened and I hungrily sucked in the refreshing air. His hand returned to my bra as his finger worked in and out of me and his thumb circled my throbbing nub. 

“Do you want me to stop, baby girl?”

I bit my lip. I desperately wanted him to continue. How to answer his question without saying no?

His eyes darkened, and a thrill of satisfaction washed over him as I surrendered to his dominance. 

As his fingers continued to explore my pussy, I imagined the love and trust we could have if only I could just tell him the truth. But the fear of losing him and my mother’s safety kept me silent.

His finger continued to dance between my folds, and I could feel the building pleasure coursing through me. Yet, with every stroke, my heart ached with the weight of my secret.

"Last chance, baby girl," he whispered dangerously. "Do you want me to stop?"

I swallowed hard, my throat dry and fingers trembling with a mix of desire and dread. But I had to hold back the truth.

"Please, Daddy, please don't."

A slow, wicked smile played on his lips. 

His fingers moved faster now, his thumb still teasing me until I was on the edge of cumming. "Please," I begged, my voice trembling. "Don't stop."

Dante leaned down and whispered into my ear, "You want me to make you come, don't you?"

I could only nod, my eyes tightly shut as his touch heightened my arousal.

But he suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes in confusion, my body still shaking from the intensity of my pleasure. "Why did you stop, Daddy?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

He leaned in close again. "Because now it's time to ask you about that tape. How and why are you recording me?"

I felt myself blinking several times. He hadn’t listened to the tape. He thought it was a tape of him…” I sighed with relief and smiled looking at him tenderly. 

“I didn’t make that recording,” I replied. “It was in the envelope with my father’s things.”

Dante looked confused and then slightly relieved. 

“Why didn’t you listen to it?” I asked.

“Cassette recorders are hard to come by these days.” He shook his head and chuckled. Then his eyes darkened again. “Your father recorded me?” 

“No… He recorded a message for me… about you…” I slowly confessed.

“What about me? I hardly knew him.”

“That’s what he says,” I told him. 

Dante sighs and looks at me intently. “He had to say more than that if my name was on it.” 

I shrugged. “It wasn’t all about you. He wanted to warn me to be careful. There were more recordings but…” 

“They were stolen,” Dante finished for me. He paused as if trying to think of more questions, before he could, I squirmed my body to remind him of the release I needed. 

He smiled and I could see mischief replace mistrust. “You were trying to hide it from me though, bad girl.” 

He reached over and began to unfasten the ropes that held me captive, a smirk playing on his lips. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to regain control of my body, eagerly awaiting the pleasure that awaited me.