Carlo : Ti salveró amore mio

Chapter 20

ADELAIDE'S POV:

Holy shit holy shit.

I pay attention to the dealer and try not to look at the two people across from me as I know all of Rye's guards are watching me.

Axel leans over to whisper in my ear. "I'm guessing this is Carlo. Or you've just practically chosen your next husband."

He pulls back and I chuckle slightly, I can see Carlo glaring at Axel from beside me. "The first one." I answer Axel.

"Told you so." He winks at me.

"Whatever." I mumble and play with my hands.

I take a quick glance at Carlo and he's staring at me already. He looks tired, he has light bags under his eyes and a little stubble of hair around his face.

The quick glance turns into a long stare until I shake my head.

He might not be real.

It might be like when I talk to my mom. It's just my hallucinations, as Axel says. I shake my head and dig my fists into my temples.

When I open my eyes Giovanni and Carlo are still there and Axel is staring at me worried. I take a deep breath and carry on leaning on my hand.

Paper gets passed to me secretly from Axel and I open it.

Are you okay?

He passes me a pen and I write on it.

They're not real, are they? It's all in my head just like mom.

He reads it and shakes his head. "They're real." He whispers so only I can hear.

Everything sinks in and I become panicked. What if Rye hurts them? How will I tell him about the miscarriage? What if he tells Rye to keep me after he finds out?

A guard walks over to us and grabs my arm forcing me to stand. "I can stand by myself, thanks." I mumble.

He yanks me more and Axel goes to stand up. "He only wants her." The guard says and drags me across the casino without a word.

I jog beside the man and a familiar guy walks past us holding his pinky up slightly. I watch his retreating figure and notice it's Emilio going to Carlo.

I get forced to stand in front of Rye at a different table where most of the men have women in skimpy clothing on their laps.

They all look uncomfortable.

The girls stare at me and I notice that they're basically my age or younger. They all have tears in their eyes as the men rub their hands up and down their thighs.

What the fuck?

"Are you behaving?" Rye mutters to me as he places his cards down on the table.

"On my best behaviour." I answer sarcastically and smile a little.

He slaps my thigh harshly making me step back a little, he grabs my thigh and forces me beside him. He looks up at me and I feel disgusted as his fingers climb higher up my legs and then dig into the top of my thigh.

Tears well up in my eyes but I force them away so he can't see. "Go back to the table." He orders and pushes me away.

I nod my head and pull my dress down feeling all those men's eyes on my body, I wipe under my eyes and flinch when one of the rings I'm wearing scrape across the cut.