Into the unknown

Chapter 8.

Valentino flew out of his seat like a vampire. Before I even had time to blink, he had Mr wanna-be-big-man held against the wall by this throat. A long vein was visible on his neck, so prominent that it looked like it would pop out from under the skin. His jaw clenched and unclenched several times, showing off his perfectly sculpted jawline. I was jealous. Jealous of Valentino for his perfectly defined face structure, and Mr wanna-be-big-man for being held by the throat like that, by Valentino.

His fingertips shook against the man's neck, showing the amount of anger that was being generated through his hand. If he squeezed any harder, he would have broken the guy's neck. My jealously dissolved a little. As much as I would have loved to see this guy being treated with the same amount of disrespect he had shown towards me, a part of me felt pity for him, seeing how scared he was by Valentino.

"Don't you ever, EVER, touch a woman like that again." Valentino sneered in the man's ear. There were a few spurts of saliva that left his lips as he emphasised the word ever, showing just how much he meant what he said, and how much anger the words portrayed. He then pulled his hand away and the man, dropping him straight down to the floor with a loud bang. The man scrambled to his feet and scurried out of the room, almost tripping over his own feet, twice. My eyes were on Valentino's back, which heaved up and down a few times, showing his deep breathing.

"And you." He spun his body around, eyes immediately landing on me. "Get up."

I felt like I was little girl who had done something wrong and was now at the mercy of her parents. At his harsh tone, I pushed myself up off the floor, my head was tilted down looking at my bare feet. Why was I acting someone who had done something wrong? It wasn't my fault I was being kept here and decided to do some exploring. At the realisation that I wasn't in the wrong, I lifted my head high, staring directing into his eyes. If I wasn't so irritated by his manner, there was a chance I could have lost myself in them. But I was stronger than that. His facial expression softened a little when he saw that I wasn't as scared as he wanted me to be.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, all traces of anger having left him.

"Oh, you know." I carelessly shrugged.  "Just taking a walk around my new accommodation."

He rolled his eyes, slightly amused and slightly taken back by my remark. "Well don't get too comfortable."

"Why not?" I pressed, taking a seat on the same sofa as the older gentleman, leaving quite a distance between us. "Who knows how long you're going to keep me locked up here."

He followed my actions and took his seat back on the opposite sofa. His legs were open wide and he rested his elbows on his knees, his back slumped forward, so that his head was hanging upright between his legs as he looked at me.

"Carry on like this and I'll murder you before you get to leave." He threatened playfully, but deep within his words, I knew there was a small amount if truth to them.

It was possible that he had had fantasies about killing me and would continue to do so. But when it really came down to swiping the knife blade across my throat, or whatever other ways he knew how to kill, he would not be able to commit to the crime. Deep in my heart, I knew that. I knew that my living life was not in any danger around him. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave this place so soon. Although I was scared and on edge at times, it was nothing compared to being around Darren and having to deal with his unpredictable and unexpected mood swings. Here, I had at least one person who I felt had my back, Cristian, and I had also experienced Valentino's soft side earlier on today.

"Put me out of my misery." I replied. Half of me meant what I said and the other half regretted it. As much as I felt privileged to be living and breathing, whilst other people couldn't, sometimes I did think dying would be a better option than suffering at the hands of Darren and a mum who always seemed to, mentally, be somewhere else.