Bound by Temptation | 18+

Natalia

May 11, 2019

A loud knock echoes through my bedroom, waking me from my sleep. I then hear the twist of the knob, and the creak of the door as it opens. "Natalia, get your ass up!" Matteo shouts, I hear his steps as he walks towards me. I pull the covers over my head to avoid the sun beaming through my white curtains.

"Not right now." I turn my body to face away from Matteo. I start to close my eyes, but then a pillow hits me in the face. I sigh, turning my neck up to look at him. "Just five more minutes."

"Dad's the one who sent me in here." He says, looking at me knowingly.  If Papi wants something he gets it. "Vincent's on the way, get up." I sigh, throwing the blanket off and getting out of the bed.

Right.

Vincent, my fiancé.

"I'm up. Now you can leave." I stare at Matteo, he narrows his eyes.

"Are you actually going to stay up, or are you going to go back to sleep after I leave." He looks at me with a smirk, his eyebrow raised. I roll my eyes and walk into my closet where I kept an outfit out after packing.

"I'll be down in a minute." He walks out of the room and down the hall, I lock the door after him.

"Put my things in the car." I order Joseph, our security guard. He nods and walks past me to my room.It's time to put on my game face and get this over with. "Oh great, you're awake." Papi piped as I approached him and my husband to be.

"Yes, I've been up since Matteo's intrusion." I nod, my lips forming into a line. Last night Papi mentioned there was a reason behind this charade, but has not yet to say what the reason is. I have always put trust into my family, so I will do that now. I only wish it wasn't so hard sometimes.

"Where's Mamá?"

"Out picking some roses for you to take." He smiles a genuine smile. The smile I haven't seen in a few days. I stare at him, his next words stabbing me in the chest. "Something to make you feel at home while accompanying Vincent." I haven't felt weak like this in three years.

Mama walks through the front door holding a bouquet of coral roses and night tulips. "Bebé, here you are." She walks towards me handing over the bouquet.

They're beautiful.

"Thank you, Mama." I kiss her on the cheek, giving her a small smile when I pull back. Everything is going to work out fine, I keep telling myself. Joseph comes and goes putting my belongings in the car. I turn to face Vincent, "I'm going to say goodbye to everyone, then meet you in the car."

My first stop is the study, where I saw Rafael reading when I was making my way downstairs. "Knock knock." I say, walking through the door. When I completely enter he looks up from the book he was reading, 'Emma by Jane Austen'. I let the small laugh escape me.

For as long as I've known Charlotte she has been a sucker for romance novels. So when Rafael and her became friends, she corrupted him. "Still reading romance novels?" I ask, a bit of amusement in my tone.

"Very much, yes." He places a piece of paper into the page he was reading and closes the book. "Did you need something?" His question is asked with an annoyed tone.

"I'm leaving. The man of the hour is outside waiting." I direct my thumb over my shoulder. His eyebrows furrow and he stands.

"Already?" I nod as a reply to his question. He comes closer and pulls me into a hug. When he steps back, he has an unreadable expression on his face. "Charlotte and I plan on moving back, not into the house, but to San Francisco. So I want you to visit, I don't care what that guy says, come visit." He looks at me with a stern expression.