NICCOLÒ

7. Unspoken Agreements

Cee woke up early the next morning, still dressed in her ballgown. The light, cold winter sun, streaming through the window had woken her up. Grimacing silently, she pulled herself up, her head spinning a little - maybe she had drunk more champagne than she'd realised; she headed to the bathroom. 

Her eyes were swollen, puffy and red, even though she'd forced herself not to cry. Almost being assassinated, or coerced into espionage, was exhausting apparently; her entire body ached. She washed her face with water, scrubbing at her skin as if she could tear it off, as if she could remove the shadow of fear that seemed to always lie just below the surface. 

Dressing in a daze, Cee pulled on a dress - a yellow one - from the cupboard; yellow was her favourite colour, and Caterina's favourite colour too. It wouldn't hurt to have a little extra confidence today - she'd made a promise to Flo that she'd visit Dean, and she had to deliver. 

She slipped out of the room long before Anna arrived with breakfast. It was barely light outside, but that meant barely anyone was around to send her back to her room. Cee snuck down the corridors, tiptoeing down the stairs and darting towards the garden. She had promised Stefano blankets; she was going to deliver.

Cee ran across the lawn, ignoring the cold air; it was almost refreshing, this early, with the clean, crisp breeze and the dew-stained grass. She pulled open the stiff door of her greenhouse, ducking inside to scoop up the blankets she'd managed to obtain (through Luca), before running straight back to the medical wing, hoping that no one had seen her dash across the lawn.

Just as she snuck back inside, she glanced up; a curtain twitched, in one of the windows, but no one yelled out to stop her.

Cee tiptoed through the twisting corridors, towards the medical wing; there were two men, blocking her way, right in front of the entrance. Taking a deep breath, Cee drew herself up to her full height and continued.

"Good morning," Cee said brightly, to the two armed men, standing outside the medical wing. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Miss," one began, exchanging a smirk with the other. "You know you're not allowed in."

"Oh, don't worry about all that," Cee waved her free hand dismissively, "I've sorted everything out with Mr Romano." She touched a hand to the violet gemstone around her neck. "We've come to an agreement."

She was gambling for time here. Maybe her bluff would fall through. The necklace was a sign of protection from the Romanos to others, but perhaps it didn't mean much to the insiders of the Romano family.

The men paused, losing their smirks and looking at each other uncertainly. "Our orders haven't changed, Miss," the one on the left said. Cee blinked, acting surprised.

"There's obviously been a mix-up. I don't want to bother him about something so...trivial. You understand, of course." Cee forced her tone to be polite, pleading rather than terrified. Before they could reply, she beamed. "Excellent! After all, I am volunteering to provide care to his men." She pushed past them without another word.

Her heart raced in her chest as she waited for them to come marching down the corridor after her, but no one called her name and no one stopped her.

A nurse, flipping the pages of a clipboard, walked along the corridor.

"Excuse me!" Cee called. The nurse stopped, looking up. "Oh, it's you, Robin. How are you?"

"Good, thank you, Miss." She nodded her head respectfully. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Dean? Flo's brother?" Robin nodded, pointing down the corridor.

"I didn't think you'd come back, Miss. Room Four."