A fairytale without name (Rose and Marco)

Chapter 44

Rose

After a long pause and his continuous encouragement to go on, I started talking again.

"Well, I had everything ready but I couldn't find you. I tried to call you a couple of times but you were busy, I guess. I called Jay too but he didn't pick up either. I got scared. I thought that maybe something bad had happened to you." His hand started caressing my cheek and I welcomed the soothing sensation. He kept telling me that I didn't have to worry about him and he would take care of me too. It might be crazy but I felt safe with him. Although I knew what he was involved in and what his father was capable of, I couldn't help but believe in his words. He wouldn't let anything happen to me.

"The doorbell rang and at first I thought it was you. I ran towards the door, excited to tell you everything I had been thinking but my happiness quickly turned to fear when two unknown men appeared. One of them asked me to let him in. He knew my name and I thought it was someone you had sent." His eyes never left mine and his hand was now squeezing mine as if he was sensing my struggle to tell the truth. No. I couldn't do it. I couldn't tell him his father was behind this. "The man must have been following me for a long time, because he knew everything. Details not just stuff you can find with a simple search. He warned me to stay away from you. I refused of course and told him that I would have to talk to you in person. He threatened my parents and as much as I would like to believe that it was an empty threat, a video of them exiting our house and heading to the theater was the only proof I needed. He gave me a deadline of two hours to disappear and make sure I couldn't be found."

Marco's hand left mine and anger was written all over his face. "You should have gone to Stefano's. He would have taken care of you until I was back. I'm sorry you couldn't reach me but there was no way I would let anything bad happen to you or your parents. You know that, right? Why didn't you wait for me Rose? Who was the man? I'll deal with him immediately." His demanding tone scared me and I felt my hands trembling. I saw him kneeling in front of me and resting his head on mine, he apologized for raising his voice. "I want you to trust me Rose. Don't ever make a decision like this without telling me first. Now tell me who the man was." Wiping my tears, he kept asking me for a name. Shaking my head I said I didn't know the man, that I didn't remember him telling his name.

"Try harder Rose. I need a name. What about the other man? You said there were two of them. Did they touch you? What about the money? Did he try to pay you in order to leave me? It doesn't make sense Rose. If the people that came to your apartment were enemies of mine, they would have tried to use you against me, threaten to hurt you in exchange for money or my cooperation. Tell me the truth Rose." Who was I kidding? There was no way I could keep lying to him. He could see right through me and on top of that he must have dealt with similar situations in the past. How naïve was I to think that I could keep this from him? I had to answer his questions one by one and maybe let him figure this out by himself.

"The other man seemed familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen him before. He didn't enter the apartment but stayed outside the front door instead. He escorted me to the bus terminal, paid for my ticket and advised me to do as I was told. He was nice to me and reassured me that nothing would happen to my parents if I stayed away for a while and followed the rules. Before I got in the bus, he even apologized and told me that he couldn't do otherwise." My mouth felt dry and I thought that I started having trouble breathing properly. My hands were sweating and my heartbeat was accelerating. I could hear Marco's voice but I couldn't see him. My eyes were blurry and seconds before I passed out, I managed to whisper something to him.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in bed. The room was quiet and when I called Marco's name, there was no answer. I panicked thinking that I might have said something more and I couldn't remember it. I tried to get up from the bed but I got dizzy and sat up slowly instead. A glass of water was placed on the nightstand and I was grateful. It felt like an oasis in the middle of the desert at the time. Why had this have to happen again? Why couldn't I be normal like everyone else? I was stressed and scared but I should have been able to control my reactions better by now. The door opened and instead of Marco, it was Thomas the one that entered carrying a trey with food.