Based on a lie

Chapter 4

Enrico Armani

I can't believe she thought I'd leave her alone in this house, with that monster waiting for her. Absolutely not! That would never be an option for me.

I'm not the monster here. It's her father. I don't know why she's thinking so long about coming with me or wanting to keep getting hurt by her father.

She hasn't told me anything about her family yet, but, there's no one at home to help her, so I'm guessing that only her father and she live in this house.

It's probably even worse for her because she didn't tell anyone else. After all, otherwise, she wouldn't be living there.

Maybe she told Jack about it? As far as I know, the two were or are friends. I don't know how long, and it would bother me, but he told me he wanted to move back to America. So the two of them are going to see each other very rarely anyway.

Has he told her about it yet? I don't think so. I'll tell her another time.

Lucia Martínez

"Lucia? I'm talking to you and I'm expecting an answer." he said in his deep voice.

"I don't even need an answer. I'd leave right now and leave your father behind. I don't care what he'd think. He's a monster, Lucia. He doesn't deserve you, and you know that. Maybe you don't want to admit it right now, but it's true. He's just hurting you." he starts to convince me to come with him.

He's right. Why answer if he already knows my answer?

"How long has he been doing this? How many scars have you been carrying around for years? What bumps or bruises does he give you? Did he ever stop hurting you? Have you ever thought about telling anyone?" he paused for a moment so I could get all the questions inside my head.

"How long did you think it would take for someone to find out? Would anyone ever know about this? I know you thought I wouldn't hear you anymore, but you don't have to be afraid for me. Your father should be afraid of me. Quel figlio di puttana." he said angrily. [That son of a bitch.] You can see how he's holding back.

"I know you're just trying to help me, but if I decide to go with you right now and my father finds out, he'll come for me. No matter what the cost. Believe me, I've tried many times." I said with tears in my eyes and a low voice.

"Don't worry, mia cara. You don't have to be afraid. I have enough men watching my villa day and night. If any of them make even the slightest mistake or let your father pass, I'll single-handedly torture him to death." he said in a rough voice.

I didn't know if he meant it, but it didn't sound like a joke. If that was, that means he has guns, and guns mean violence, which means he's just as dangerous as my father.

Shit! Not again. Why does this always have to happen to me?

As always when I push panic or have real crazy fear I have a panic attack ahead. How am I supposed to explain this to him? I can hardly say "Um sorry Enrico I got a panic attack. Don't be surprised. Thank you."

This not only sounds ridiculous, but it also sounds pathetic. No ordinary person gets a panic attack over such little things. This is so embarrassing.

I hope he doesn't notice but he's already noticed there's something wrong with me. He looks at me with these beautiful, questioning eyes.

"Lucia? What's wrong with you? Aren't you all right? Do you need a doctor?" he begins to question me. But I don't know what to answer. I can't breathe. Like every time, I'm losing consciousness.

Everything goes black.

*a few hours later

I wake up with a severe headache on a soft bed. I can only recollect what happened. I look around and realize I don't know this room. I look further and see a man further away from the bed sitting in a chair. He's on his phone and he's wearing a black suit. Just like Enrico's.

Is that Enrico? Did he take me to his house? I thought he was gonna take me to a hospital or something.

Maybe a doctor just came here? How should I know? He just realizes I woke up and I'm staring at him, once again.

"You're awake." he notes. "How are you? Do you have a bad headache? Are you getting enough air? Are you feeling dizzy again? Are you cold? Should I rather close the window?" he pierces me with questions.

"Puhh...I'm fucked up. Yes, I have a bad headache. Yeah, I'm getting plenty of air. No, I'm not dizzy again. No, I'm not cold. It's nice, and no, I don't want you to close the window. Fresh air is always good." I answered all his questions.

"Wait here I'll get you some painkillers. I hope you'll feel better after that." he said. He got up, went into another room, probably the bathroom, and brought a pack with him.

Arrived at my side he gave me the painkillers and went to a bedside table which I had not noticed before. On it is a water bottle and a cup. He fills me with some water in the cup and gives it to me so I can swallow the tablet better.

"Grazie, Enrico." I thanked him. "Where am I? Did you bring me here? Was there a doctor? Why am I lying here? Why did you wait for me to wake up?" I pierced him now with questions.

"You're at my villa. Yeah, I brought you here. Would you rather stay with that bastardo?" he asked me a little angrily. "No, I'd rather not stay with mi padre. Still, I wanted to ask." I defended myself.

"You're lying there because I put you on the bed. After the doctor examined you two hours ago, I stayed here because I didn't know if you'd get scared or have another panic attack if you got up. You don't know your way around here yet, so you could get lost pretty fast. That's one of the reasons I stayed here." he explained.

"Thank you for not leaving me with mi padre." I said softly, as I was afraid of his answer. I don't even know why I'm afraid of that. He tried to talk me out of it anyway.

"Lucia, listen to me carefully." he challenged me. I listened to him, but my head remained lowered. He sat across from me on the bed and took my cheek in his hand and stroked it with his thumb.

Why can't this moment be forever? How can this feeling of security that I've never felt before in my life stay forever? I don't want that feeling to go away. Never.

"Look at me when I talk to you, mia cara." he said more gently. I'm slowly looking into his beautiful eyes.

Why do I always start trembling when he calls me like that? Of course, he noticed it right away. Just like he noticed I'm scared of my father or I'm having a panic attack. He just always knows what's wrong with me, even though he doesn't know anything about me.

He doesn't know what I've been through and survived. Nobody knows except mi padre.

Not even Jack, who's my best friend, knows about this. I never dared to tell him about it.

He gets up, goes to the window, and closes it. He comes back to me, lies down next to me, and takes me in his arms so that I will stop trembling.

When he pushes me slightly to him I also lie down and he pulls me closer to him and holds me tighter in his arms. Like I could run away from him.

I automatically put my hand on his chest, but he doesn't seem to mind.

After a few minutes of silence, I started to talk.

"You don't have to do all this, Enrico. I'm sure I'm giving you enough trouble as it is." I said. I spoke so softly once again, he wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't lying right next to me.

"When are you going to understand that? I brought you here because I care about you and I feel like I have to protect you, Lucia. Ever since we first met, you've never been out of my mind. You're not here to give me trouble. You're not here because I feel sorry for you. You're here because I'm afraid something bad will happen to you again. You're here because I want you to be. That's why I'm offering you the chance to stay with me and not with this figlo di puttana." he said calmly.