I shrank down in my chair as Frano sauntered through the tables to mine, praying my mother wasn’t going to embarrass me as usual.
“Buon giorno, Signora and Signorina Salvi,” he said, making my mother jump.
She turned to him and said hello, her tone curt.
Frano placed a hand on the chair next to mine. “Would my brother and I be able to sit with you? The café is completely full.”
My mother nodded, although it looked like she wanted to tell him to go away.
He thanked her, then went back to his brother, who was putting a cake onto a tray.
I turned to my mother as she sat down. “Please don’t be rude to him.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I should tell that young man to stop coming up to us. I know he’s being polite, but I want nothing to do with his famiglia, especially after that Christo incident.”
“That’s Christo’s fault, not Frano’s, and I’m not seeing Jagger anymore,” I lied, “so there’s no problem.”
“What if Christo sees us sitting with Frano and his brother? And don’t think that I haven’t forgotten about you spying on Frano swimming naked.”
“Mom!” People turned to look at me. I shrank further down into my chair. “I didn’t spy; I didn’t know he was there.”
“Sophia, I can tell when you’re lying, and it’s clear as day that you’re attracted to Frano. I see how you look at him, and I want it to stop.”
“I can’t help it, he’s gorgeous, and it’s not like he’d want me anyway: he’s engaged.”
“I’d doubt that would stop him; he’s the type of man who can’t keep it in his pants.”
“Mom,” I hissed.
“Well, he is, and I don’t like the way he looks at you.”
“How does he look at me?”
“With far too much interest.”
I sat up. “You think he’s interested in me?”
“He’s too old for you, Sophia, so don’t get any ideas, and you would be a fool to get involved with an engaged man.”
I shrank back down in my seat, hating Frano’s fiancé. My gaze moved to Frano as he paid the cashier. He turned and headed for us with his brother.
Frano held his hand out, indicating to Alberto. “Have you met my brother, Signora Salvi?” he asked my mother.
She shook Alberto’s extended hand. “Sì, it’s nice to see you again, Alberto.” She glanced at Frano. “I often see him at church with your father. How come you don’t go?”
“I’m not particularly religious,” Frano answered, adding another reason to the long list of why my mother didn’t like him. She was a God-fearing woman, one who was highly critical of people who didn’t bow down to the church.
“But, I hope you will still be getting married in the church,” she said.
His face soured. “I will get married wherever I’m told. It’s an arranged marriage, so it means nothing to me.”
Her face dropped. “You shouldn’t speak that way, marriage is sacred.”
“It is when you are given the choice of who you want to marry.” His eyes moved to me, freezing me in place. “Don’t you agree, Sophia?”
I nodded.
“Sophia,” my mother snapped. “All marriages are sacred.”
I turned my gaze to her. “But it’s not fair that he’s being made to marry someone he doesn’t love.”
“Life isn’t fair,” she replied. She turned her annoyed gaze to Alberto. “And how about you, Alberto? Have you got a special someone that you would like to marry?”
“Sì, but it cannot work out.” Looking upset, he brought his cake to his lips.
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“The person doesn’t like me.”
“What’s not to like about you? You’re a polite young man who helped settle down your father when he wanted to attack my husband over that horrid dispute. You are a fine son and a fine businessman.”
Alberto sat up straight, a smile gracing his ugly face. I looked over at Frano, who was staring down at his coffee. My mother’s words were a slap in his face with the way she was being so nice to Alberto, yet rude to him. I tapped his foot to make him look at me. He raised his gaze with a question in his eyes. I mouthed, ‘Sorry” getting a smile in reward. I smiled back. He tapped my foot, doing what I had done to him, making my smile widen. I placed my foot on his and pushed down, making him laugh.
My mother’s eyes shot to him. “What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Sophia pulled a funny face at me,” Frano said, moving his foot out from under mine. A second later he ran it up my leg, but without his shoe. I gasped, stunned at what he was doing. He grinned at me, a mischievous twinkle in his eye telling me he was enjoying my reaction.
My mother’s gaze shot to me, making me want to disappear. I could tell she knew something was up, which wasn’t hard to guess considering I was shaking from Frano’s touch.
I jumped up. “I need to go to the ladies,” I said, taking off out of the café. I entered the restroom and went straight to a basin, praying that my mother wasn’t going to lose her temper with Frano.
I splashed water on my face, and looked in the mirror, seeing a plain girl with red-brown hair. But Frano had touched me like a lover would, which meant he must find me attractive. I leaned down and ran a hand up my leg where his foot had brushed against my skin, my body aching for so much more.
The door pushed open, catching my attention. My eyes widened at the sight of Christo Donatelli. I went to scream, but he rushed me, clamping a hand over my mouth. He shoved me into a bathroom stall and closed the door behind us.
He leaned his face down to mine, his expression angry. “I warned you to stay away from the D’Angelos, but you didn’t. So, I warned you again, giving you plenty of reasons why. But what do you do? You run to your daddy, getting him to upset my brother.” He placed a hand around my neck, making my eyes widened. “I should kill you for that as well as for ignoring my orders. I saw Frano out there talking to you, which also means you think you can do whatever the hell you like and get away with it. Well, you can’t. So, this is what will happen if you want me to spare your worthless life. You will NEVER talk to Frano and Jagger again, and if you disobey me a third time, I will take you and teach you a lesson about life and death. Capito?”
I nodded.
“Buono, schiava,” he said. “Now, go back to your mother and say whatever you have to, to get away from the D’Angelo brothers. I will be watching.”
He let go of my mouth and unlocked the door, then disappeared out of the restroom. I placed my hand to my neck and started to sob. A few seconds later, the restroom door opened. My mother called out to me, her voice sounding scared and worried. I wiped my face and stepped out from the stall.
My mother’s gaze shot to me. “I saw Christo leave the restroom,” she said, racing over to me. “What did he do to you?”
“You have to put a hit on him, you have to,” I sobbed.
“What did he do?!”
“He threatened me because I was talking to Frano. He was also angry that Dad went to his brother. Please don’t tell Dad, he will kill me if Dad finds out. We have to kill Christo.”
“I … I can’t kill someone, Sophia.”
“But, he will kill me!”
“What did Christo say exactly?”
“He won’t touch me again if I stay away from the D’Angelos.”
“Then stay away from them! We’ll walk right out now and go in the opposite direction.”
“I can’t ignore them.”
“You can, and you will, if it means your life.”
I wiped my eyes, my mind going to Frano’s smile. I didn’t want to ignore him; I wanted to be with him.
My mother wrapped her arms around me. “We have to tell your father. He will protect you.”
I shook my head. “No, Christo still attacked me after Dad went to the Donatelli don. I just have to ignore the D’Angelos.”
“Sì, because they have caused us nothing bu
t trouble, so let’s go before they come looking for us.”
She steered me out of the restroom. My eyes went to the café. Frano was talking to his brother, not looking my way. I turned in the opposite direction with my mother, heartbroken that I wouldn’t be allowed to see him again.
5
CAMILA
Jagger pulled out of me and got off the bed. He strode towards Honey, who appeared frozen to the spot. He grabbed her arm and yanked her further into the room, closing the door behind her. He then shoved her against the wall, trapping her with his body. “I told you not to come back to my room,” he growled.
She started crying. “Why Camila?”
“Because unlike you, she makes me hard.”
She raised a hand to her mouth, her crying growing louder. It made me feel like shit, because I actually liked the woman.
I pulled a sheet around me and pushed off the bed. “You don’t have to be cruel, Jagger.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Take that off.”
I froze. “What off?”
“The sheet.”
“Why?”
“Because I told you to.”
“Well, you don’t get to tell me what to do.” I wrapped the sheet tighter around me, not liking the way he was acting.
He pushed away from Honey and stalked towards me, making me back up quickly, the anger on his face taking me by surprise, although it shouldn’t have, because he was unpredictable.
He grabbed the sheet and ripped it as I clung to it, exposing my breasts. “Drop the fucking sheet!”
“No!”
He pushed me onto the bed, making me yell out. Climbing on top of me, he grabbed one of the cuffs and attached it to my right wrist.
“Jagger!” I yelled. “No!”
He stopped, but not because of what I was saying. Honey had launched herself onto his back, screaming at him like she’d lost her mind. He swung around, knocking her to the floor. Looking scared, she scrambled to her feet. She probably thought Jagger had been raping me, and right now I bet he was glaring at her for daring to touch him, the man tensing like a bull ready to charge.
She turned and ran for the door. He bolted after her, knocking her into the wall. She cried out, then was swung around.
He clamped a hand over her mouth. “I was going to help you, but I’m sick of looking at you and your big eyes. I want you gone, Honey, because you make me fucking soft.” He pushed his groin into her. “See, not even a twitch.”
“Jagger! Let her go,” I yelled, upset he was being so cruel. The poor woman was crying her eyes out. I reached towards the bedside cabinet, wanting to grab the key to the cuffs, but the damn thing was just outside of my reach.
He stepped back from Honey. “Kneel in front of me,” he said.
She lowered herself to her knees.
“Take my cock in your mouth and clean Camila off me.”
Honey shook her head, her horrified expression making me want to slap the bastardo. “Jagger, leave her alone!” I yelled.
He ignored me and took a hold of Honey’s hair. “Take my cock inside your mouth.”
She shook her head, then gasped, Jagger no doubt pulling her hair.
“Do as you’re told,” he growled.
She took a hold of his cock.
“Jagger!” I yelled. “Put it in my mouth, I’ll clean it.” He turned to look at me. I licked my upper lip in response. “Bring me your cock, I’ll service you,” I said, wanting to spare Honey, the woman completely distraught.
He focused on my mouth, his eyes glazing over. He let go of Honey’s hair and walked towards me, my gaze locking onto his hardening cock. It looked like I obviously did it for him, something that still surprised me, considering how much of a bastardo he’d been to me.
A second later, I realized my mistake of calling him over as Honey pushed to her feet. “Rita was right!” she yelled. “You were using me! It was you who stole Jagger from me! You’re the reason he doesn’t want me. You were just pretending to want the Don, so you can have my Jagger. Well, once the Don hears of this you will be thrown back into the cell.” She turned to the door and opened it.
Jagger took off after her, both of them disappearing out the door. Jagger yelled at her, then Honey screamed, followed by a bang.
Now panicked, I stretched for that key, grunting as my fingertips brushed it. I stretched more, the pull on my arm painful, but I managed to get a hold of it. I quickly unlocked the cuff, and jumped off the bed. I picked up Jagger’s pants and pulled them on, my ones lying cut up on the floor, Jagger having completely destroyed them. Once the drawstring was done up, I grabbed a T-shirt off a cabinet and slipped it on, then raced out of the room, finding Jagger at the top of the staircase. He was looking down at a motionless Honey, who was sprawled out across the landing with her eyes closed. A Landi soldier was kneeling beside her, talking into a radio, asking for help. On either side of me, people were appearing from their bedrooms, both Frano and Alessandro racing over. Alessandro let out a dismayed shout, then ran down the staircase to Honey, yelling at the guard to back off as though it was the man’s fault. The soldier started talking to Alessandro, settling him down.
Frano turned to Jagger, not even blinking at his nudity. “What happened?”
“She fell down the staircase.”
“I can see that, but why?”
“Because I didn’t give a fuck about her and told her so.”
“You said you would help her.”
“I was sick of her showing up in my room. I yelled at her, so she ran and fell. End of story.” He turned and headed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
In turn, Frano descended the staircase, going to Alessandro’s side.
Another door opened a few down from me. A blonde woman with a bandage across her nose stepped out. Pure unadulterated hatred raced through my body as I recognized Bianca D’Angelo, the woman who was responsible for both my father’s and oldest brother’s deaths. I rushed at her, wanting to kill the murdering troia. The woman let out a startled cry as I bashed into her, taking her down. I started punching her, letting loose all of my pent up rage, not only over the deaths of my father and brother, but also my sister’s. Too many people I loved had been taken from me, and right now Bianca was going to be the one who would pay for it.
Someone grabbed my hair from behind and wrench my head back, making me scream out in pain. A second later, an arm locked around my neck and yanked me off Bianca. Before I could do a thing, the person pushed me face first into the floor and ground a knee against my back, making me scream louder.
“I could snap your neck in a second, bitch,” a female voice said, making me realize my attacker was Rita. “And if you touch Bianca again, I will do it.” She pushed off me as Frano shouted at her.
I turned around and stared up at Rita from the floor. She glared down at me with such hatred I knew in that moment she was capable of killing me. The woman was no longer FBI, but pure mafioso. Her attention moved to Frano as he helped me up.
“What the hell is wrong with all you women?!” he snapped.
“Camila attacked Bianca.” Rita turned to help a bleeding Bianca get to her feet. The blonde murderess was crying, but not enough in my opinion.
I went for Bianca again, knowing that Rita couldn’t hurt me with Frano here, but to my surprise she did. I let out a startled yelp as Rita grabbed my shoulders and shoved me face first into the wall. She put a hand to my neck, making me scream out to Frano, terrified she was going to snap my neck like she’d said.
“Rita!” Frano grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from me.
I turned around and put my hands to my throat. “She was going to kill me,” I coughed, the woman’s handprints no doubt coloring my skin.
“Without a doubt,” Rita snarled.
Frano wrapped his arms around her, stopping her from attacking me again. “Just calm down.”
Rita’s furious eyes remained on me. “I warned her not to touch Bianca.”
>
I pointed at Bianca. “She murdered my father and brother. I want her out of this house. Now!”
“Not happening, Camila,” Frano said.
I focused on him. “Did you not hear me? She murdered my famiglia!”
“I heard you, but she is part of my famiglia.” He let go of Rita and moved up to me, putting his face in front of mine. “Which you are not—yet,” he whispered. “And I’m getting sick of hearing you make demands, especially when your life is hanging on the line.”
I glared at him, aware of the guard further down the corridor as well as the other one helping Honey. The woman was now moaning, obviously not dead. “Let’s talk about this in a room, not out here.”
Frano reached out and opened the door on my right. He placed a hand on my back and pushed me inside. Rita followed us into the room, closing the door behind us.
“I need to speak to Frano alone,” I snapped at her.
She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. “Fuck you, it’s not happening.”
“Then don’t interfere.” I refocused on Frano. “And if you want my money, then I suggest you keep me alive, because I know you are lying to me, Frano.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Everything.” I threw a glare at Rita. “And right now, I’m not willing to pretend anymore. I thought I was able to until Jagger taught me a lesson on what I can and cannot have.”
Frano frowned. “What lesson?”
“He told me you were playing me, that I was your pretend fiancé, and it’s pretty obvious that you love Rita, or whatever the hell her name is.”
His jaw clenched.
“You should thank him,” I said. “I understand you lied to keep me alive, as well as to get my famiglia’s money. But you lied to Pedro Landi. Even though he’s your friend, a lie like that can damage your relationship significantly, and with the death of his daughters he won’t be the same rational man you’re used to.”
My Masters' Nightmare Season 1, Episode 10 Stalked Page 5
