Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5— Present time

The car came to a halt in front of a large mansion. The driver got out and rushed to open the Adrian side of the door.

Adrian got out without looking at her. She didn't need the invitation to know what to do. Elena opened her own door; she stood on the gravelly ground.

The sight of a very magnificent house welcomed my view. She stood in awe, mesmerized by the sight of how beautiful the house was.

“Are you going to come in or do you want them to get you a bed, so that you'll be comfortable looking at the house well,” Adrian suggested.

“Hmmm.” Elena jolted to reality.

They strode into the house.

“Welcome boss.” A tall man, with tattoos covering his whole hand.

“Thank you Henry, Martha, attend to this young lady, show her to the guest room, and by tomorrow morning I want the third room in the east wing cleared then move her there by morning..” He gave out the orders to Martha.

A woman appeared. Older, gray hair pulled tight. She looked at Elena once. Found her wanting.

“Henry and the guys should follow me to the office,” he said, moving with efficiency, strolling toward the stairs that led to the office.

“Excuse me, Mr Adrian.”Elena's voice cracked and she hated it.

Adrian stopped on the third stair. Turned his head. Not his body. Just his head.

“Yes, young lady, how may I assist you?” “Sorry, to disturb you sir, but I need to see my younger brother, he is all alone in the house, and I need to know if he is okay, please just let me have my phone to call and check up on him.” Elena pleaded desperately with tears in her eyes.

“What part of being sold do you not understand, little miss beauty in distress, and about your phone, I'll send someone to help you get it back for the club.” “About your younger brother, he has been taken care of, if you had cared so much for him in the first instance, you could have run and never felt curious to look into other people’s matters,” Adrian said.

“Just go to bed and stop stressing me out, you be thankful I find you attractive or you would be dead by now, if it were to be another lady in your situation.” He said, making his way up the stairs.

She watched him leave the living area with his boys or what would she call them associates.

“Miss, come with me please.” Martha led her through the room to the guest room

“Make yourself comfortable, we will transfer you out of this room by tomorrow morning, Clothes are in the closet," Martha said from the doorway. "Toiletries in the bath and a bell by the bed, in case you need help with anything."

Then she was gone, and the door clicked.

Elena waited for a locking sound, but none came. She walked towards the door, opened it six inches. Empty hallway. No guard. She closed it. Locked it from the inside.

She sat on the bed. Her hands shook. She pressed them between her knees. Stared at the window, nothing in view but the Black ocean.

Mateo, all alone, waking up tomorrow without her. Trying to call her phone and all he was getting was voicemail.

Elena lay down on top of the covers, still in the black dress, in shoes that led her into these problems, she stared at the ceiling and waited for morning.

She couldn’t sleep, she tried to but a lot was on her mind preventing her from sleeping.

At 3 AM she gave up.

The house was cold, silent, She sat up, feet on the floor, listened, Nothing, no voices, no footsteps, just her own heartbeat from the fear of whatever she was afraid of.

She unlocked the door. She opened it. The hallway was lit by sconces, She walked barefoot, marble freezing, past closed doors, past windows showing the cliff.

She didn't know where she was going. She was moving because stopping meant accepting, and she wasn't ready to accept.

Double doors at the end. Dark wood. She pushed one open.

It was a library. strange “a library at a mafia's house.” She thought to herself. Books from floor to ceiling.

A desk by the window, and on the desk, a gun.

Black. Matte. Close enough to grab.

Elena stared at it, she’d never held a gun, her father hated them, a rare principle in a man who gambled away every other.

She reached for it.

"Don't."

The voice came from behind her. Elena spun around, her heart hammering, and her hand still reaching out for the gun.

Adrian stood at the doorway, no shoes, dark pants, dark sweater. Different without the suit, and looked kind of different, maybe younger, or older, she couldn't tell.

He walked toward her, Elena backed up until her hip hit the desk, She couldn't move and couldn’t breathe.

He stopped in front of her, close enough to touch her, but he didn’t touch her, he quietly reached past her, picked up the gun, and checked the chamber.

The click was loud in the quiet, he set it down again, closer to him this time around and farther from her.

"Sit," he said.

Elena didn't move. Couldn't.

"I said sit."

She sat, the chair was leather, cold through her dress. Her hands shook in her lap. She couldn't hide it.

Adrian sat on the edge of the desk, looking down at her. His eyes caught the lamplight.

"You're afraid," he said. Not a question.

Elena didn't answer. Her throat was closed.

"Good." He reached behind him and picked up a book from the desk. "Fear keeps you alive. Stupidity gets you dead, You're not stupid, Elena. I watched you at the auction. You didn't cry. You didn't beg. You stood there like a person who still believes she has choices."

He leaned closer. Elena flinched. He saw it. Didn't stop.

"You don't have choices," he said. Quiet. Almost gentle. "Not yet. Maybe not ever. But you have one thing that matters." "You have my interest. For now." He continued.

He set the book down and walked towards the door.

"Your mother's bills will be paid by nine AM. Your brother is in a safe location. Proof tomorrow." He stopped in the doorway, didn't turn around. "Lock your door tonight. Or don't. But if I find you in this room again, I'll chain you to the bed, and fuck you still can’t stand up or have the ability to wander around.” With that, he left. Footsteps fading down the hallway.

Elena sat in the chair and shook. Her teeth chattered, She pressed her hands to her mouth to stop the sound. It didn't stop.

Chain her to the bed and fuck her, not like she hasn’t had sex before but someone telling her that with no filter was what made her fear for her life.

She stood on legs that barely held her, and walked to the door, closed it behind her, walked down the hallway, past the closed doors, into her room.

Immediately she entered and locked the door. Backed away from it. Sat on the bed.

Stared at the window. Black ocean. Nothing.

She didn't sleep. She didn't cry. She sat there and shook until morning.