A Penny For Your Tears

Eight

It was weird, being alone in the house at night. Luca would have never allowed it, he insisted on being with me at all times or at least someone he trusted, either Matteo or Lorenzo. Even the rare times I was allowed to be with friends, he had someone placed outside the building. Luca was constantly paranoid that his mafia activities would take me away from him, he didn't realize that he was the one slowly killing me. I laid in bed expecting to hear the evening news through the floor, as I would were my grandparents here or banging of pans in the kitchen. But no, there was nothing because I was alone. I tossed and turned and tried to lay in every position possible but sleep refused to come. I sat up, running my hands through my hair with a heavy sigh before throwing away my duvet, and headed downstairs. I grabbed a quick glass of water and stroked Arie as he slept softly in his pen. As I made my way back to my room, I heard a creaking sound coming from the back door. I stopped dead in my tracks, my breathing increasing and becoming more incoherent, millions of different thoughts coursed through my brain, all of them coming to the same conclusion; Luca. I heard the noise again, and this time I didn't hesitate. I grabbed an umbrella and ran to my room, locking the door behind me. I breathed heavily, as I stared at the door, the umbrella raised and ready to attack.

"He will not get you, he will not get you." I mumbled under my breath as I tried to console myself.

"Who won't get you?" A voice questioned from behind me and I turned around quickly, the umbrella coming down to hit the intruder. He was able to grab it before it hit his face, pulling it from my grasp, throwing it aside. He took a step a forward, out of the shadows and my eyes widened in fear when I saw who it was; Elias.

"Olivia, is that how you welcome all your guests?" He chastised smugly, his notorious smirk appearing on his face.

"How did you get in here?" I breathed, then anger filled my mind. "You can't just waltz into people's houses, that's illegal actually."Elias laughed, casually sitting on my bed with his arms stretched out behind him to support his weight.

"Darling, this perhaps is the least illegal thing I've ever done." He said as his eyes wandered around the room. I furrowed my brows in confusion and asked;

"What do you mean?" He smirked, happy to have won my attention. He stood up and walked by me towards my bookshelf where I had placed some pictures from home.

"I mean, if you think breaking and entering is the worst thing I've ever done, then you've got something coming your way." He spoke casually as he inspected a picture of my mom and I. I stormed over to him and grabbed the picture, holding it against my chest as if it were a baby.

"I'd like you to leave now." I commanded, though it came out as a frail whisper. Not even loud enough to scare a child.

"No." Elias answered stubbornly, kicking off his shoes and jumping onto my bed. "Let's watch a film."

"What do you want from me?" I questioned softly, I lifted my eyes from the floor to look into his own. Hoping to see something, I didn't know what I was hoping to see, just something. Instead, I was met with a cold,hard gaze. So sharp, I felt it was piercing my skin and peering into my soul. It made me shudder and my grip on the framed photograph tightened.

"I don't want anything from you." He began, getting up from the bed and slowly making his way towards me. His socks clad feet lightly tapping against the wooden floor but it didn't make him any less intimidating. In fact it made me even more petrified. I was stuck alone, in a house, in a foreign country with a man I had only met once and who had just openly admitted he frequently participated in illegal endeavors, to say I was petrified was an understatement. "I just find you interesting." He circled around me, his eyes invading every part of my body. "I find it interesting, that you'd leave New York to live here. In a small village, where everybody knows everybody. You could be in Bali, Paris, Amsterdam or even London but you chose to come here, why?" He stopped walking and remained behind me, I could feel his breath on my neck and they sent shudders down my spine.