Paying Off Her Dad's Best Friend

by Alyse Zaftig

I've just agreed to exchange myself for a man I don't really know. But I guess the die is cast. We're crossing the Rubicon right now.

  Most of my stuff is at school, so I only have enough for a few days at home.

  "Ready, Kelly?"

  Iacopo's eyes are cold as he surveys my room. Yes, I had my dad paint the walls pink when I was five and was too lazy to change it. I have stuffed animals in the corner because they're collectible and I never wanted to get rid of them. I love my bear collection. My furniture was bought when I wanted to be every single Disney princess, so their faces are on everything. There are princess stickers on my bureau.

  "This is the room of a child."

  "A very lazy adult," I counter. "Plus I never cared enough to buy new stuff."

  "Is that a My Little Pony lamp?" He points to the lamp in the corner.

  I cringe inside. "Maybe."

  He walks over and picks it up. He carefully inspects it. It's in perfect condition. I just replace the bulbs once in a while. It used to be an incandescent bulb. Now I have an eco-friendly one in there, one of those cute pigtail bulbs, but it's still the same.

  "You won't have My Little Pony lamps in your new room."

  "About that." I shift my weight to my other foot. "Am I still going to college for this semester?”

  His body is still. He looks at me like he's thinking about it. If my dad already agreed to give me up days ago, I can't imagine that he never thought about me attending school.

  "We'll see," he says. "I'll think about it."

  It infuriates me that he holds my future in his hands. I hope that my dad takes the opportunity to escape so that Iacopo can't find him. Then I'll leave.

  Ironically, leaving and hiding from the Mafia might be worse for my school enrollment than staying with Uncle Iacopo.

  "I told you to pack." He waves a hand at the suitcase next to me. "But you've only packed a single suitcase."

  "Most of my stuff is at school." I pick up my suitcase. "I have enough for a few days. If you want me to move in for more than that and don't want me to stay in school, then I need to go to my room. I don't know how I'll explain this to Camilla."

  Chapter Five

  Driving Her

  Iacopo

  “You won’t have to explain anything to Camilla. I can send movers to your apartment.”

  “Can I still go to class?”

  It’s not really much of a punishment for her father for Kelly to go about her normal daily life like nothing’s wrong. This is revenge. On the other hand, I don’t have plans to ruin her long-term future, just control her near-term future.

  “Not this semester.” And I know that she understands that I don’t have anything more to say about it. She trails behind me, carrying her single suitcase. We get into my car. George is nowhere to be seen.

  My car comes alive. And then I’m driving home the woman who is the collateral for millions of dollars. She looks like she’s sleeping, but I know that she’s not.

  I didn’t know if she would say yes. George is a sneaky bastard. She acted like it was a surprise, but maybe he warned her somehow. I’ve kept an eye on him for the past few days, waiting for Kelly to wander into my grasp. I look at Kelly, her eyes closed, her head resting against the seatbelt.

  She’s always been a beautiful little girl. I guess that she’s a young woman now. I can see that she’s breathing more deeply now. Faking sleep has made her actually fall asleep.

  I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. It’s not easy to turn off the idea that she’s a young girl I need to protect, despite her father’s betrayal. I remember when she was born. I remember when I came to her fifth birthday party. I remember buying her toys every time that I went to George’s house for dinner, especially after his wife was out of the picture. She literally thought I was a superhero, like something out of movies.

  Revenge isn’t about her. It’s about her father.

  I decide now that I’m not going to hurt her. It’ll be enough to cut off contact with her father. His imagination will do the work for me.

  I rub my eyebrow. She’s in school. If I send her back there now, it’ll be easy for her to get in touch with her father, even if I assign a bodyguard. School is out of the question.

  What am I expecting her to do at my house every day? I’ll have to give her some job. I shake my head. Life would be a lot easier if I were as heartless as everyone thinks I am.

  My first step is going to be to put her in a bedroom and tell the movers to come with her. I'll have her withdraw from school tomorrow. The key part is keeping her apart from her father. Even if I treat her well, he'll think the worst.

  If he tries to have her break free of me, I can set up some failsafes. If she leaves my house, alarms will go off.

  She's a good girl, maybe a little wild, but I doubt that she'll just run away on her own. I have to make sure that her father doesn't try to convince her to do anything.

  Then I'm in front of my home. I get out and look at Kelly, who is still asleep in the car. I think about waking her up, but I unbuckle her seatbelt and pull her into my arms. She turns her head to rest against my shoulder and I feel something that I haven't felt in years, a spreading warmth in my chest.

  Her hair smells fresh and clean.

  Her body is soft. I can feel her curves pressed against me, and then I'm suddenly and violently hard. I'd like to take her upstairs to my bed, but I already decided in the car that I'm not an utter bastard.

  Pity.

  I carry her inside. Someone else will take her suitcase in. I need to get the wheels turning to finish her move here, but all I want to do is hold her.

  I walk upstairs and put her in the room next to mine. I pull off her shoes and tuck her into bed. I get into bed beside her. I turn to her. I can see half of her face this way. Her hair spreads on the pillow and conceals part of her face.

  She looks so young and innocent in this bed. I feel something else I haven't felt in years: guilt. She’s just a young girl who was unlucky enough to have a crooked father.

  Can I punish her for the sins of her father?

  Chapter Six

  Mascara

  Kelly

  When I wake up, I can smell Iacopo. I don't open my eyes. I listen. There's definitely somebody breathing in this room. I can hear a chair creak as he shifts his weight.

  I might as well get this over with. I open my eyes.

  I'm not looking at Iacopo.

  There's a guy sitting in a chair next to my bed.

  "Who are you?" I look down and realize that I'm fully clothed. Thank God.

  "My name isn't important," he says in a whisper. "I'm here to deliver a message from your father." "What message?"

  He hands me a cell phone. "Hide this. Don't let Iacopo see it."

  "Who are you? Why are you here?" I’m sitting up and my voice is getting louder.

  But he's already walking out of the room.

  My dad is a fast worker. Well, I guess he already knew what was going to happen for a few days. I look at the phone. There's no way to tell where this came from.

  Is this a weird test from Iacopo? If it really is from my dad, I do need to hide it, though. I go to the nightstand and put it in the very back of the drawer. It's not a sophisticated hiding place, but I don't have a lot of options right now.

  I stretch. In the mirror across from my bed, I have flakes of black mascara on my cheeks. My hair looks like a frizzy mess, like one of those troll dolls gone horribly wrong. I need to wash my face and hope that I have a change of clothes somewhere.

  I walk into the bathroom. There's a huge variety of everything and anything a woman needs. I swallow hard. This room must be where Iacopo keeps his...girlfriends? Women? Prostitutes? I don't know, but it makes me feel like I'm one woman in a long string of them.

  It's hard to think of Iacopo as some kind of Casanova, a Casanova who decided to steal me from my dad. I can feel my heartbeat getting faster as I think about what he could do to me.

 
I have no idea what the future holds. It's a dramatic change in our relationship to be his...

  Captive? Girlfriend? I don't know what to call myself.

  I feel myself. No bruises. No marks. He hasn't hurt me yet. And I'm hoping that he doesn't hurt me. Two days ago, I would've told you that there was no way that Uncle Iacopo would ever do something like this. But that was before I learned about my dad's theft. Now it seems like the regular rules just don't apply.

  I just have to keep my chin up and think about the phone that's hidden away. It's my lifeline, my only connection to my dad.

  My head turns as I hear the door open.

  Chapter Seven

  Filet Mignon

  Iacopo

  Kelly jumps a foot in the air. Her eyes widen as she recognizes me.

  "Uncle Iacopo." I raise one eyebrow. She flushes. "I mean, Iacopo. Right."

  "There are people at your college apartment right now to take your things. We told Camilla that you were unexpectedly given a spot to study abroad, but there's no Internet there."

  She swallows. "Okay."

  I can almost taste how tense she is. If I were a nice man, I'd set her mind at ease.

  I'm not a nice man.

  "Come here."

  She hesitates for a moment. This moment is the beginning of our relationship, whatever it is. And then she gets out of bed and stands in front of me.

  She gasps and tries to jerk back when I put my hand in her hair and curl it into a fist.

  I pull her forward and bend down to speak straight into her delicate little ear. "I expect to be obeyed immediately. I won't be so nice the next time."

  She's breathing in shallow, fast pants. I can see her chest rising and falling so quickly that she's almost hyperventilating. Her nipples are hard. They're sticking out like little diamonds.

  I want to bend down and taste them, but it's not the right time. When I have her in bed, it'll be the right time. And she will beg for it.

  "Are you hungry?"

  "What?"

  "Do you want to eat?"

  She puts a hand on her stomach. "I guess."

  "I had my chef put a meal in the upstairs sitting room. I hope you'll join me." We both know that it's a command, not a suggestion.

  She follows me into the upstairs sitting room. There are two places set. I normally eat a few courses, but I didn't want my household staff to interrupt us. We only have an entrée now. It's just filet mignon and asparagus.

  She sits down in her chair in a movement so graceful that I can't breathe. She puts her napkin in her lap and waits for me to seat myself before she starts.

  I take my own seat. And then the only sound in the room is the sound of forks and knives clattering. She's eating quick, small bites. The filet mignon falls apart almost as soon as it's touched with a steak knife.

  Then both of our plates are empty.

  "May I go?"

  "I thought that we'd talk for a while." I take a sip of my wine. "Try the cider. It's from one of my orchards."

  "I didn't know you owned orchards."

  "There's a lot you don't know about me."

  She drinks the cider. "What's in this? It tastes incredible. So warm and delicious."

  "Drink more."

  I can see her visibly relax when she drinks more. I file it away for future use.

  The mug of cider is empty. She puts it down. Her eyes flick between my plate and hers.

  “So, I guess I should say goodnight?”

  “We’re going to talk about your time here. With me.”

  She flinches, her eyes blinking. “What are you going to do to me?” I can hear a slight quiver in her voice, a little breathiness that says that she’s scared.

  And turned on.

  I drink a little more of my wine. “What do you imagine your life here is going to be like?”

  “I don’t understand any of this, to be honest. I thought I was going to be…a prisoner or something, but you just served filet mignon.”

  “What if I’m just treating you like this, stroking you with a velvet glove, so that you’re caught unaware?”

  She pushes back from the table and hugs herself. “You could.”

  I can see from her posture that she’s feeling vulnerable, which is the point. The question is how much of a bastard I want to be.

  “You are here to repay your father’s debt to me.” The wine is dry. I savor it. “How do you think that will happen?”

  Her small fists are clenched on the table now. I have the feeling that she wants to spring across the table, and what? Slap me? The idea of a tiny thing like her trying to assault me is hilarious. I smile, which just makes her eyebrows furrow.

  Then she’s shooting to her feet. “I don’t have to stand for this.”

  I take another sip of wine. “Feel free to leave. Your father will be dead by morning.”

  Chapter Eight

  Cat and String

  Kelly

  I feel like Iacopo is toying with me, batting me around like a cat with a piece of string. He’s amused, this fucker. I’m so mad that I’m going to blow.

  I almost wish that he did just tell me that I was going to pay back the debt on my back. At least that would be straightforward. But he isn’t saying that, only asking me what I think will happen.

  And the honest truth? I don’t know. The uncertainty is killing me.

  It’s making me mad. I walk over to Iacopo. “Why don’t we just agree that I’ll repay the debt the way that I thought I would, hmm?”

  I jump into his lap and straddle him. My hands go to the back of his head. I pull him in for a kiss.

  My world is literally being turned upside down now. His mouth is hot and hungry, which I wasn’t expecting. I was just teasing, but he’s pulling my shirt off.

  “Don’t pull a tiger’s tail, Kelly.”

  Then his mouth is on my breast. I still have my bra on, but I’m moaning because I can’t take the heat or the lightning that’s spreading inside of me. I’ve never felt anything like this before.

  He's pushing things off the table. I can hear the clatter of the plates smashing into the floor and the utensils clatter.

  Then the table is bare. He's never stopped kissing my breasts, and now I'm on my back on the table that we were just eating on.

  I don't know if I'm afraid of him or more turned on than I've ever been in my life. Maybe both.

  My bra has a front clasp. He undoes it in a second and pushes my shirt off. Then he's sucking my nipple into his mouth. I cradle the back of his head. It's wrong to feel this way. I don't want to feel the heat of his mouth on me, but it feels so good. I'm a captive.

  It's hard to remember that with his hands so gently cupping my breasts. I squeak when he starts to pinch and roll my nipples.

  "You're sensitive."

  His mouth trails up to my neck, where he bites me savagely. I was wrong before, thinking I'd never been turned on so much. Now I’ve never been turned on more. I can literally feel myself getting wet enough to soak through my panties.

  I can feel his hips moving restlessly against me. He's hard and huge.

  "Would you like me to fuck you here, against the table?"

  His breath is hot against my neck. I feel ashamed but aroused.

  "Silence. Are you saying yes?”

  I can't say anything as he takes the rest of my clothes off. Then he's fully clothed in front of me, still rubbing his completely clothed body against my naked one. I’m glad that there’s fabric over his zipper.

  I tilt my hips, needing friction in the right place. “More,” I pant.

  Then he moves away. He picks up my shirt and puts it back on me. I look at him, my eyes enormous.

  "When we fuck, you're going to beg me for it. You're never going to be able to tell someone that I forced you."

  My heart rate is still elevated from what we just did. I don't understand how I feel. It's just too much to handle.

  Iacopo is walking out of the room, like what just happened
meant nothing to him. My body is a puddle of arousal. He's strolling away like he has nothing to do, nowhere to be. He might as well be whistling.

  I hate him.

  I hunt for my bra, take off my shirt, and put it back on. I get my clothes and hold them in a bundle in one hand. I smell like him. He's all over me. I want to take a shower.

  I go back into my room and get into the shower. The water pressure feels great. The warmth spreads throughout my body as I scrub his touch off of my body. I don't want to remember what just happened, but I look at the water pressure and the handheld shower attachment. I'm still aroused.

  Sitting on the tile shelf, I part my legs. I hope nobody walks in on me. I spread my thighs as far apart as I can get them. Then I'm pointing the heavy spray straight into my core.

  I'm already so keyed up that it's making my muscles spasm right on impact. I imagine Iacopo finishing what we started.

  He yanks open his fly, pressing his erection into me.

  "Please," I ask.

  Then everything is inside of me, stretching me so quickly that it burns. It hurts, but it also feels amazing when he pushes me wide open with his cock.

  "You like this. You love it."

  I can't talk because my entire body is exploding into fiery sparks.

  He pulls out of me, still hard.

  I can't believe what I just thought about. I'm left there, breathing hard. I turn off the water. I can't believe I had a dirty fantasy about my captor. I need to go to bed and forget about everything I just did.

  Chapter Nine

  First Job

  Kelly

  "It's time to wake up."

  I can hear Iacopo's voice. I open my eyes. "Hi," I say breathlessly. He's sitting on my bed, wearing a black suit that clings to him like a lover.