The Darkness Within Us

Chapter 10

Lorenzo clenched his jaw so hard that I was sure he would break his teeth. "You think that I'm such a monster that I'd murder my wife?" He growled. I was confused by his anger. Nothing in his behaviour so far had suggested that I was safe from him, he had drugged me, kidnapped me, told me that he wasn't a good man, and was at that very moment holding me captive. He was a mobster, and likely a murderer, why would I assume that I was safe from his violence?

My lip trembled. "I'm not your wife!"

He prowled towards me. I had to fight the urge to shrink away from him, I wanted nothing more than to take back my words and hide in the bathroom with a door between us. Instead, I raised my chin in defiance and met his eyes. He was so close that I could see the honey streaks in his eyes that contrasted with the darkness filling the rest of his pupils. I fought off a shiver, uncomfortable with our closeness.

His lip curled. "So brave for someone so small." I straightened my spine, trying my hardest to not let him intimidate me. It wasn't working. Lorenzo reached out his hand and ran his thumb over my chin and down my neck. "You are new to this world so I'll give you some leeway but you'll learn, no one defies me. I won't hurt you I can promise you that, but your behaviour will dictate how easy your life is." Gulping, I absorbed his words. Simultaneously, he had promised not to hurt me and threatened me. This man was an enigma that I felt I would never be able to crack.

He began to circle me as if I was his prey and he was about to go in for the kill. I clenched my fists as he stood directly behind me. Lorenzo lent down so close that his lips were practically pressed against my ear. "You may not be my wife yet Anna, but you've been mine since I first laid eyes on you."

Having struck his final blow, he stalked out of the room without a backwards glanse, closing and locking the door behind him. I let out a lung-full of air and finally allowed tears to fall from my eyes. A wave of fatigue hit me. I wasn't sure what the time difference was with New York but I needed to sleep. Maybe it was being told in no uncertain terms that my life as I knew it was over, but my conversation with Lorenzo had taken all the energy from me. I crawled into the oversized bed, sniffling and wiping my wet cheeks with the gown sleeve. I closed my eyes on my new prison and allowed darkness to claim me.

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I woke up to a light knock on the door. Slowly I opened my eyes and immediately tensed as I realised where I was. I quickly gathered my robe which had loosened whilst I slept. Before I could call out to see what Lorenzo wanted, a tall brunette entered. She was a little taller than average and had a warm round face and flawless olive skin. She looked slightly familiar but I couldn't think from where. Another women entered behind her. The second woman was about my height and had a short black bob, she closed the door behind her. I sat up. These women didn't look like threats but you could never know. The first woman walked forward with a kindly smile on her face. "Hi, sorry we didn't mean to scare you. It's Anna right?" I nodded cautiously, she continued. "I'm Sienna, Lorenzo's sister and this is my friend Natalia." That's why she looked familiar, she was his sister. Looking at her smiling face I saw that she even had dimples in the same places as Lorenzo.

I simply nodded at this information, I had many questions but I was too unsure of the situation to ask them. Obviously encouraged by my acknowledgement, Sienna plopped herself onto the end of the bed. "I know this is a really confusing situation for you and I don't know how to make that better, but we bought some basics to help you get settled in." She gestured towards the bags in Natalia's hands.

"I don't want to settle in." I snapped back. Natalia rolled her eyes and put the bags at her feet. "You may not want to but I imagine you want clothes to wear other than that robe and something to brush your teeth with." I nodded sheepishly.