By the time I managed to get to sleep, my entire body was drained. Between the stress of Gabriel and trying to figure out everything for this job, I could barely function. When I did manage to slip to dream land, it was filled with nightmares of him. Massimo's face morphed into his and everything in dream changed. I was that little girl again looking up at his intimidating face, of Ștefan. Waking up in a sweat, I ran my hands over my face and took a deep breath in, letting it out shakily. I didn't have time to finish calming myself down before my phone began to vibrate on my nightstand.
Picking it up I pressed the green button and put it to my ear. "Yeah?"
"Get dressed in workout clothes and meet me in the gym in the guest house." Massimo's deep voice came over the line.
I furrowed my brows and rubbed at my eyes. "I just woke up."
"Good morning, neonata."'
Smiling, I threw my covers off my body and strolled to the balcony, eyeing the guest house. "You're not here already, are you?"
He chuckled quietly and I could hear the sound of his hand rubbing against his facial hair. "No, not yet. I'll give you a few hours to wake up fully."
"Oh, you're too kind."
"Three hours, Cosmina. Don't make me come get you out of the house."
"If you even think about that you'd change your mind when you came in. I'll distract you." I whispered into the phone, turning to lean my lower back against the railing.
"Don't tempt me."
It was the last thing he said before hanging up the phone. I smirked and shook my head, pushing away from the balcony to stroll to the bathroom for a shower. Between my late night and nightmares, I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep.
After getting undressed, I stepped into the steaming shower and braced my hands against the marble wall, allowing for the hot water to wash over my nude body. It didn't matter how hard I pushed the memories away, they continued to try and break through the box I had successfully contained them in for so long.
Flashback
"Is this her?"
My eyes turned away from the floor to the adults speaking and I toyed with my fingers nervously. Mama had mentioned going to see family, but I didn't recognize anyone. No one from pictures was here and I started to get nervous.
"Cosmina, go say hello." My father gave my shoulder a slight push.
I stumbled slightly over my feet and glanced at him before looking at the tall man in front of me. His hair was darker, longer than most and had slight waves to it. As I stepped closer and craned my neck to look up at him, he smiled slightly and crouched down in front of me, holding his hand out.
"I'm Ștefan, Mina. It's a pleasure to meet you."
I looked from his outstretched hand to his face and slowly put my smaller hand in his to shake.
"What do you say Cosmina?"
"It's nice to meet you, sir."
His smile spread further over his face and he chuckled. "You don't have to call me sir. Just call me Ștefan." He paused, bracing his elbows against his upper thighs and laced his fingers together. "Do you know why you're here?"
Glancing over my shoulder at my parents, I shook my head. "I thought we were going to see family, but I don't know anyone here."
"You will though. In time, little one. How old are you?"
YOU ARE READING
Dark Sensations
RomanceI was one of the most wanted people in the world, always one step ahead of Interpol. My crimes weren't heinous, I just stole things and damn if I wasn't good at it. I belonged to no family anymore and my services were sold to the highest bidder. I d...