Regretting Decisions

To say Rain was shocked or stunned by Alexander’s words would be an understatement. What was comforting was that she wasn’t the only one shocked by the man’s words.

Both Romeo and Vlad voiced out their shocks and protests in Italian but Alexander didn’t act like he heard anything.

His eyes were still on Rain, his cocked up eyebrow and silence made Rain realize that he wasn’t planning on repeating himself because everyone had heard him clearly.

Nicholas was looking at his sister with widened eyes and then he looked back at Alexander like he was a mad man.

“Xander—”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Nicholas,” his voice dropped dangerously and his eyes narrowed. He suddenly turned his now impatient gaze back to Rain after successfully shutting Nicholas up.

Rain fiddled with her fingers and tried her best to meet his gaze but who was she kidding?

She was scared shitless and she wasn’t sure why and how she got into this position and why a man as dangerous as Alexander would suggest such a thing...To her of all people.

She dared not convince herself that it was because she was drawn to his beauty because even if he said that with his mouth, she wouldn’t believe him. So what exactly made him suggest such a thing?

“I don’t have all day, pretty face...What’s it going to be?”

Rain wasn’t sure if it was because the adrenaline had began to wear off from her body but she could now clearly hear the accent in his voice which was a cruel reminder of where she was.

She was in Italy. She wasn’t in her country, heck! She wasn’t even in her continent but she was here...In front of him, he was so beautiful to look at but yet he scared the shit out of her.

“I...Don’t understand what you mean,” Rain didn’t blame herself for how timid she sounded as she spoke.

Anyone would feel that kneeling in front of such a man whose presence alone put immense pressure on her.

“You’re going too far, Xander!” Nicholas' voice shook from obvious fear but he still spoke up.

Alexander’s gaze shifted back to him and his expression became darker.

“That’s a lot coming from you,” He chuckled darkly and then he took slow steps towards Nicholas, like a predator approaching it’s prey.

He squatted down till he was on Nicholas' eye level and then he smirked…there was no mirth, warmth or humor in it. It was the most scariest smile Rain had ever seen, she swallowed nervously as his face moved closer to her brother’s.

Nicholas' eyes were already staring down which Rain expected, she doubted her brother had enough balls to be able to look into such a man’s eyes...Not with that expression on his face and definitely not when he was that close.

“I’m giving you a way out here, you should take it.” It didn’t sound like he was giving Nicholas the opportunity to decide rather he was telling him that he had no choice.

“Until you’re able to pay me back every single Euro you’ve stolen from me—” he brushed away the stray hairs that were Nicholas' forehead

“Your beautiful sister here will be under me…she will work with me and take on any fucking role I give to her,”

Rain gasped in horror, his lips curled wider but he didn’t stop there.

“That is-until you’re able to afford her freedom.”

Alexander turned to look at Rain, the action startled her and she couldn’t help but feel like he was taking pleasure from her fear.

“I’m-I’m not an object that you can just choose to use as collateral!” Rain said angrily but she couldn’t help but notice just how shaky her voice was. If it were in a different situation, she would probably feel embarrassed. She was an Author best known for her unusual calmness in every situation yet right now…

“Huh. Do you think so too, Nicky?” His tone was laced with sarcasm but it seems to hit the right buttons as Nicholas suddenly looked lost, no...He looked like he was thinking about it, he looked like he was calculating.

Rain knew that look and she didn’t like it one bit!

“I…I…I don’t know,”

“Nicholas!” Rain exclaimed, angered by the resignation she saw on his face. Yes, she was desperate only a few seconds ago and was ready to do anything just so her brother would be safe but this…this was too big a price! Mostly because she didn’t know what she was stepping into and she definitely did not want to find out!

Alexander laughed, he looked like he was enjoying himself. Just another dandy day in a movie theater watching a siblings’ squabble, only that was not the case.

Rain stood with difficulty but she did and it got Alexander’s attention. He also got up and walked up to her. The closer he got, the more her legs shook and she hated it!

He was just a man!

She tried to convince herself, she had been through far worse shit than this but it was just him…his aura, his presence, every fucking thing about him screamed danger, dominance…death.

Next thing she knew, there was a gun in his hand and he lifted it up to her head.

She felt the cold nuzzle of the gun against her , she closed her eyes tightly and prepared for the worst.

This was definitely not how she expected her second day in a foreign country to turn out.

“One wrong move…” She felt his hot breath on her face, his baritone voice sent shivers down her spine.

She didn’t want to open her eyes because she couldn’t meet his gaze again.

“…and I’ll blow up that pretty face of yours.”

Then the nuzzle went lower and lower till it was pressed against her neck and something warm hovered over her lips.

“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

Her legs were shaking and she could no longer hide the fact that she was scared.

Was she going to cry?

She blew out a shaky breath and opened her eyes to look at the man who towered over her small frame. Menacing eyes met hers and his thumb rested on her lips.

Dark brown eyes stared back at her.

“What’s your answer going to be?”

She couldn’t stand on her own two feet, how was she to reply?

She didn’t have a choice… literally.

He made it seem like she had two choices but in reality she only had one choice. It was either that or she would end finding out what being shot felt like.

“ Yes… I’ll do it!”

As she fought back tears, she couldn’t help but think about all that led her up to this moment, if it were up to her, there would be a lot of decisions that she wouldn’t have taken.

Like walking down those stairs, or even getting on that fucking flight with the idea that her brother had grown and finally made an actual respectable life for himself instead…he became a soldier for the Mafia and now she was paying the price for his foolishness yet again!

Once she’d said yes, the gun left her skin and so did the presence of the intimidating man in front of her.

He walked to his torture table and placed the gun down on it. Then he turned around and crossed his arms over his chest, his expression serious, deadly.

“Its time for you to own up to your shit Mio Amico, Nicholas.

I promise not to hurt her too much, just enough to speed you up…hmm?”

He said in a very casual tone and Rain wasn’t sure what scared her the most, the fact that Nicholas nodded in agreement or the fact that Alexander's eyes were on her the entire time he spoke.