Sinfully Captivated

Chapter 4 - Flavia

My gaze slid continuously through the magnificent villa. At every corner we passed, there was some expensive piece of art. Paintings that belonged in museums. Statues that could just as well have been on display in the Louvre in Paris and, to top it all off, a whole smorgasbord of flowers.

I stopped to inspect a vase. Not one of the white flowers looked damaged or showed signs of wilting.

Involuntarily, I wondered how many employees there were in this house and how long it took to maintain this high standard every day.

"You look like you've never seen anything like this before," Carlotta noted, stepping up beside me. She seemed curious and had quickly covered her initial shock, if only to force me into cooperation.

"Not all families spend their fortunes on material things," I replied stiffly, and continued walking without even knowing where I needed to go.

How was I supposed to feel at home here? I wanted to go home, not be among strangers, when I had just left my prison behind. Had this only happened so that I would stumble straight into the next cage?

"Why is he like that?" I heard myself asking without intending to. I just wanted to understand why Emilio was acting this way. Didn't he understand I wanted nothing more than to return to the safety of my family? But instead of respecting this wish, he pushed me around as if I were nothing more than a puppet that had to function according to his will.

At first, I had felt relief when I recognized his familiar face. But now...

"Who?" Carlotta wanted to know and looked at me inquiringly.

"Your brother. Emilio."

A grin spread across her lips. She swayed her head back and forth before deigning to answer. "Do you really think he's the way he pretends to be at these parties and balls? It's a carefully created facade. When you meet him like this, you think he can't hold a candle to you, but..."

Carlotta interrupted herself and left the sentence unfinished, although I was burning to know what she was going to say.

Waiting, I eyed her from the side, but she silently led me further through the villa until we finally stood in front of a door that she first had to unlock with an app on her smartphone.

So there were also high-tech security standards? Then I could scrap my plan to escape as soon as everyone was asleep.

"I'll run you a bath first, okay? You relax a little while I look for suitable clothes, and then we'll take care of your growling stomach."

I had no choice but to nod and follow her into the adjoining bathroom. Italian marble as far as the eye could see. Not the standard white version, but the one in black, which with golden accents said one thing above all: wealth.

"If this is just the guest bathroom, what do your private baths look like?" I joked nervously while Carlotta turned on the water and added a whole range of bath additives.

She gave me a look that I couldn't interpret. Before she left, she put a stack of towels next to the free-standing tub. "Don't do anything stupid, Flavia. I do not know what happened at Antonio's, and frankly, I don't want to know, but I don't like you walking around here like you just had a bit of a rough night. And I'm sure Emilio doesn't like it either. He's going to have questions ... and if you want to go back home, you're well advised to tell him everything he wants to know. You won't get very far here if you keep up this stubborn attitude."

Speechless, I stared at her. Carlotta de Archard, the woman hardly anyone even knew about, had threatened me between the lines. She didn't look at all like she belonged to one of the most notorious mafia families in all of Italy. On the contrary. She could have been any student at any university in the country.