Saved: a dark romance

by DD Prince

  “Angel” Ferrano

  Holly

  I hear the key go into the lock. I’m in my reading chair in the corner.

  Alessandro is standing there, dressed in a suit, looking wrecked, like he hasn’t slept. He hasn’t shaved in days. He’s still beautiful. A pain twinges in my chest.

  He shuts the door and stares at me.

  I turn my book upside down on the chair arm and stand up. I try to smile.

  “Your sister and her husband arrive tonight for a visit.”

  My mouth drops open.

  “Behave yourself. You’ll say nothing negative about me. You say nothing about anything you’ve seen or heard since you’ve been here. You misbehave and you put her in danger. Understand?”

  I’m in shock.

  Angie. I get to see Ang. My God.

  “I told you what you are to me now?”

  I nod, hesitantly.

  “Don’t disappoint me. Do everything I tell you to do. That’s your job now. To serve me, my cock. To not disappoint me. Get it?”

  I stare blankly at him.

  He notches an eyebrow.

  “I get it,” I spit.

  He turns to leave.

  “Want me to serve it now?” I snap, sarcastically.

  He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles.

  My God, he’s beautiful when he smiles. I can’t even…

  “You’ll serve it when I tell you to.”

  My eyes narrow into a glare.

  He laughs.

  And his laugh, though snide, changes his face even more.

  “God, you’re handsome.” It comes out of my mouth, uncalculated.

  His expression switches to dark again, darker.

  “When are we getting married?” I try, cheekily.

  He scowls at me and grabs my throat, making me freeze. “Behave yourself.” His hold loosens, but he’s still holding it.

  “I will. You look tired. Let me take care of you tonight. Help you sleep?”

  His eyes narrow and I know he’s thinking ‘brat’.

  I smile, trying to break the ice. He lets go of me.

  I take a step forward.

  “Stop,” he says.

  “Yes sir,” I salute him.

  He rolls his eyes and leaves. My door locks.

  I’m elated.

  Angie!

  I do a little twirl and chew my lip. I can’t believe it. My sister.

  ***

  Maria comes to get me after dinner. I’ve been pacing like crazy and I’ve been deep in my own head, pondering him, thinking about my sister, trying to figure out how best to handle the curveballs that have been thrown at me. I went from a mundane and sheltered existence in the servants’ building to this. I have to try to make sense of my situation so that I use my head and not just sit back and take whatever comes at me. Like I did for two years. I have to be less reckless than I’ve been, too. I’m not playing it very smart.

  Maria walks me to the top of the stairs and gestures for me to go down on my own. Alessandro is standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking impatient, until I start to descend the staircase.

  He watches me come down the stairs and the warmth in his eyes is hitting me right in the chest. I can’t stop smiling at him.

  I’m wearing a sundress with a ruffled halter neck and ballet flats and my hair is loose. I’ve put on a touch of make-up.

  I drop to my knees at his feet and look up at him.

  “Hi,” I beam, smiling, “Is she really coming?”

  “Get up. Don’t pull that shit.”

  I jump up and throw my arms around him and hop up a little. He catches me.

  “Gonna spank me?” I say, too excitedly, wrapping my legs around his waist.

  He rolls his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Angry Face, but I am gonna see Angie. I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again. Thank you!” I kiss him on the mouth quick and he smiles and it’s filled with warmth and something fierce. Like possessiveness.

  His expression suddenly goes so dark my heart skips a beat. He sets me on my feet.

  “She’s really here?”

  “She is. They’re coming down the driveway. When the bell rings, you wait for Maria to answer it. I’ll lead the conversation.”

  “Thank you for letting me see her. I’ve been so… there’s been so many times I worried about her worrying about me. But the truth? What she’s been through. Thank you for letting her see me.”

  “This is for me more than for you, Holly. Behave yourself.”

  “I will. Thank you anyway.” I throw my arms around him and hug him, burying my face in his chest again.

  He stiffens. And then he takes my shoulders and pries me off him. I’m smiling. And it’s not a fake smile. I mean this. I’m going to fracture this angry shell. I will.

  What will life look like with him as my husband? I don’t know. But I do know that he’s not alone anymore.

  “You’re not alone anymore, Alessandro. You have me.”

  He frowns.

  Everything snaps into place for me suddenly.

  “I’m falling in love with you,” I say, and he freezes.

  “I am. I know I barely know you, and you think it’s a crush, Stockholm Syndrome? But it’s neither. I see underneath the mask. Actions speak louder than words, Alessandro, and words speak loud, too. I hear you. The things you say that you probably don’t mean to say. And after what you’ve done for me, I know you’re someone who deserves love. You say you’re gonna marry me because of who my sister married? You’re doing this because you want to; you just haven’t admitted that to yourself yet. I’m gonna be the best wife you can imagine. I know you live in a horrible dark world and yet you had it in you to save me from a terrible fate when you found out how old I was. I’ve been thankful every single day for that safety. I’m not dark and everything else in your life is dark. I know what you need, Alessandro. And I’m going to give it to you. I’ll be a good girl and do whatever you tell me to do. Except I won’t be dark, too. I’ll just be me. You’re dark but you’re attracted to light. You’ll---” The doorbell rings and he puts his hand over my mouth and glares. I shrug and grab his hand and pull it away but I don’t let go of his hand. He allows this.

  I look straight ahead at the door, smiling, rocking excitedly on the balls of my feet. I feel his eyes burning angrily into the side of my head. I don’t even care. I said what I had to say and it was one of those ‘drop the mic’ moments. I’ve made an impact. Good. Mission accomplished.

  I’m pretending that he’s just as happy as me. I try swinging our arms happily as I’ve still got his hand. His arm stops me mid-motion and he glares at me.

  “You done?” he snaps.

  “Nope!” I’m so giddy I couldn’t hide it if I tried.

  Maria comes down the stairs and opens the front door and I am face to face with Angie. There’s a tall and exceptionally handsome blond guy in a suit beside her, his arm around her.

  My sister looks beautiful. Her long red ringlets, a pair of jeans and a navy blazer, killer high heel boots, and a cool choker necklace with three chains and a heart on it. Her eyes are wet. Her chin is trembling. She’s trembling all over. Even her curls are moving, she’s shaking so hard. She grabs her throat and out comes a giant sob.

  I run to her. We collide and it feels like a dream come true.

  We are both bawling and clinging to one another. I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again. I doubted I would. And this feels so amazing. I’m so happy.

  “Hey Holly. Nice to meet you.” The tall handsome blond guy says.

  I look up at him and smile. He is really gorgeous. And he looks so happy for us.

  “Hi.” I smile.

  “Why don’t we leave these two time to chat?” Alessandro suggests.

  “Not comfortable leavin’ her alone, Romero. No offense,” he says and he no longer looks happy. He looks angry, guarded.

  “None taken. As long as you do not ever refer to me as Romero again
.”

  Um, yikes.

  Angie’s husband lifts his hands in front of him and snickers, “Roger that.”

  “Come,” Alessandro places his hand on my lower back and guides me up the stairs. They follow.

  We go to Alessandro’s room.

  “Go ahead,” he waves to the bedroom, “you girls can go in there. Me and Dario will have a drink. Something to drink, Mrs. Ferrano? Holly?”

  Angie shakes her head, “No thanks.”

  I shake my head.

  “Gotta peek first, man,” Dario says and Alessandro opens his bedroom door and waves ahead. Dario walks through and then, looking satisfied, comes back out to the sitting room. He kisses my sister quick. “Be right here if you need me.”

  She smiles warmly at him and I can’t help but smile, too. She was a sex slave but she’s happy. I can see it. I can’t imagine the unspeakable things she’s endured but looking at him and her, it’s obvious she found her prince.

  The two of us walk into the bedroom. I close the door.

  The bedroom has been completely changed around. It surprises me. The bed was on another wall. The armoire covers the hole that led to my room and the desk was where the armoire used to be.

  I sit on the bed.

  “What’s with that guy?” Angie whispers.

  “What’s with him?” I ask, carefully making my face blank.

  Her eyes are shrewd. She’s watching me with suspicion.

  I’m overwhelmingly happy to see her but I have to keep my head together.

  “He says he’s gonna marry you. But what do you want?”

  “To marry him,” I say with confidence.

  “Holl…” she says disapprovingly.

  “Ang…” I parrot in the same way.

  She makes a grumbly groaning sound, like Marge Simpson.

  Some things haven’t really changed in two years. She loves me and she wants to protect me. But I’ve changed a little bit. I can bet she has, too.

  “What? I want to,” I say with a smile. I’m trying too hard, I think. My face is hurting from all the smiling. I want to be real. I want to cry in her arms. I want to ask her a thousand questions but I don’t want any of the answers.

  I want us to curl up and watch cartoons like we always did when we were back in Alaska and not talk about anything ugly. I can’t talk about anything ugly. I can’t fathom any of what she’s been through. I have to play a part here. I don’t want any trouble between her husband and my… Alessandro. I need to find a way to put her mind at ease.

  “Has he threatened you? Told you to pretend that you’re okay with this? If he’s threatened you…” she’s going into Momma-Bear mode.

  “I want to marry him,” I insist.

  “Holly, Dare and his brother can help get you out of here. This place it’s ---”

  I interrupt. I can’t talk about what this place is. I can’t allow myself to go there.

  “I’m fine. I’m even better now that I know you’re okay!”

  She reaches for my arm. “Has he been abusing you, honey?”

  “No Ang. I’m an eighteen-year-old virgin. I’ll be a virgin until my wedding night, I’m guessing. My virginity goes to Alessandro. He’s earned it.”

  “Really?” She looks astounded.

  “Really,” I insist.

  “You love him?” Her eyebrows are all furrowed.

  “Yes.” And I mean it.

  “Does he love you?” she asks.

  My smile falters. She sees my uncertainty before I can hide it.

  “I… don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” she demands.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “If he doesn’t love you madly, deeply, and he is who he is?” she shakes her head. She’s holding her throat again and she’s looking like she’s about to have a panic attack or something. Her hands start to shake. Is she okay? Is she suffering from PTSD? She’s my sister but it’s like she’s switching to and fro between herself and this other meek person.

  “He told me what happened to you. I’m sorry, Angie.”

  She frowns, but she’s snapped out of her daze. “What were you told?”

  “I was told that you did what you did for me. You didn’t have a choice, but you did it for me anyway. That you endured unspeakable things. I’ll never forget. Never. I’m sorry you had to go through it. But it wasn’t for nothing. I’ve been safe. I’ve been okay. Because of Alessandro. He has kept me this way. And maybe you did have something to do with that. Whatever you had to do got me sent here so I’d be safe. You’ve been protecting me since I was little.”

  “But you haven’t been free Holly. He’s kept you here hidden away in a place that… you do know what he does, right?”

  “I don’t wanna talk about what he does. I’ve pieced some of it together. It doesn’t change anything for me.”

  “Honey, he---”

  “Angie, please!” I cut her off. I need to change this track that she’s on or I won’t hold it together. I have to play dirty. Unfortunately.

  “I don’t want to talk about it. Have you talked to Mom?”

  I score a point. And I hate it because I can see that my sister is more than a little bit broken.

  “Have I… have I what?” She glares at me.

  “Mom?” I say innocently. “Does she know about either of us?”

  “Uh… no,” she snaps, and I know my mission is accomplished. I’ve made her forget Alessandro for a minute.

  She hates our mother. She never saw, before my dad died, how well she was doing. She only remembers wasted Mom. Staggering Mom. Cruel Mom who would pick fights with anyone who’d fight. And she always found the fight she wanted with Angie because Ang never backed down, would always argue back.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Dare sent a PI up there to find out what happened to you and she didn’t give a shit about either of us. She’s a junkie and a drunk who doesn’t care about anyone but herself. The last words she said to me were ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish’ and she meant it. I feel the same about her.”

  I feel bad for that but it’s like she’s the old Angie for a minute, ranting about Mom. I try to talk her around to positive subjects. I ask her about her husband. She tells me he calls her Angel, that he called her that before even finding out her real name and I clutch at my heart because that’s beautiful. Angie’s dad called her Angel and she loved her dad so much.

  After a while, I bring Mom up again just briefly to ask about maybe seeing her sometime in the future. Ang is adamant that it isn’t gonna happen. I push a little and then she changes the subject.

  We talk a bit more, but we manage to avoid the two topics neither of us want to talk about. Our mother. And Alessandro.

  The door opens after a while and Alessandro and Dario are there.

  “Hi,” I say.

  “You’re going with your sister.” Alessandro says and my world tilts again.

  “What?”

  “For now. I’ll be back for you soon.”

  He fiddles with his cufflinks nonchalantly.

  I don’t believe this. He’s sending me away? Why, because he knows I’m right? Because he knows that I’m going to crack that wall he has around his heart? Because I told him I love him and he knows I mean it?

  “Soon? When?” I demand.

  “When it’s time, mi pequeña flor.”

  “Is this a punishment for what I did?” I ask, trying to stop myself from crumbling.

  I’ve been trying so hard to break down that wall. Hugging, telling him I’m falling in love with him, all the games through the mirror. Sneaking into his room. Making him break his mirror yesterday.

  “Go. Spend time with your sister. I’ll see you soon.” He’s trying to be calm. His eyes have a haunted look to them that makes me wonder if Angie’s husband threatened him. I look to Dario. He’s standing there with his arm around my sister, looking at me with concern, not anger, nothing threatening in his body language.

  “Let’s have
them stay here,” I suggest. “So I can spend time with Angie here. Can she stay here?” I look at Dario.

  “Not a good idea, Holly,” Dario shuts me down.

  I feel panic. My sister is looking at me with big eyes.

  “I’m not going. I’m not.” I shake my head adamantly.

  “Pack a small bag. I’ll have more of your things sent.”

  “Alessandro,” I whine. And I sounded like a petulant fifteen-year-old. I can’t help it. I love Ang. Of course I want to spend time with her, but not at the expense of him. I want them both and as twisted as it sounds, I want him more. I feel panic at the idea that I’d leave here. Like I might never see him again. I can’t bear that thought.

  “Will you excuse us?” He takes my hand and we go out, through the sitting room, and then out and to my room.

  Inside, the door shut, he takes me by both shoulders.

  “Be a good girl and go with them.”

  “But, why?”

  “I have some things to take care of. I’ll send for you.”

  “No, you won’t. You’re sending me away because I said I love you. And that scares you. Because you love me, too. So, you think sending me away will help you continue to be this… bad guy. Because I’m changing you.”

  He laughs. He actually laughs like I am hilarious. And it hurts.

  I fold my arms across my chest in anger, but then I’m sobbing. His arms go around me and so I take advantage and I face-plant into his chest.

  “I’ll be sending for you. You’re mine. Do you understand this?” He pries me back, his hands on my shoulders. His eyes are fierce. I hiccup and look up at his face with hope. His grip on my shoulders tightens. Too much. And then he gives me a bit of a shake.

  “Mine! You hear me? Nothing, no one will change that. Ever. Understood?”

  Holy crap.

  His jaw is clenching. His eyes are blazing.

  I nod, my lower lip quivering. But I feel hope at the way he said that. Maybe he doesn’t know what love is, but I have a feeling that this is his version of love.

  “Be good. Be smart. I’ll send for you. Understand? Why is this off?” He pulls the locket from his pocket.

  It must’ve fallen off. I reach for it.

  “Don’t take off this locket. You have a problem, you push it and I come as fast as I can. But I come guns blazing so you push that and people get dead. Don’t fucking play. Got it?”