Chapter 39: A Business Trip

Chapter 39

Anna’s lips were tightly pressed against each other, not daring to respond to his earlier question because it smelled like some sort of trap, and the last thing she wanted to do now was fall into any of his traps.

The look in his eyes, daring her, as if a little slip-up from her was all he needed to have her where he wanted her.

As much as she wanted to say something, dare him because she knew he couldn’t have her—she was no food—she didn’t. This was his territory, and perhaps if they were in her room at the Don’s mansion, she’d have said her thoughts, but not here. 

Her eyes, that had tried to stay on his, now slowly drifted, lowering to stare at his well-toned chest. His strong, muscular arms—and they drifted lower—and she wondered if he was allergic to wearing a shirt and only did so when he was outside his mansion. She instantly tore her eyes away from him.

Her hands turned clammy, but she tried to control it all. She cleared her throat. “I didn’t know you paint,” she said, a flimsy attempt to avert their earlier conversation, and she thanked her lucky stars that the lights glowed red, else he would have noticed her flushed cheeks.

Thankfully, it worked. He backed away from her, and Anna didn’t waste a second longer before getting up from the seat in front of the piano. 

Leone walked around, his eyes falling on some of the paintings in here. He had actually stopped painting after his mother died, and these were old paintings which he had been taking care of. 

He picked up the painting of a rose drawn on it, and for a moment, Anna watched raw emotions flicker in his eyes as he stared at it. For once, she watched him act a bit human, like the painting reminded him of someone. Was it an ex-lover perhaps?

Anna took her lips in, some kind of weird ache in her chest as she thought of it. It only made sense that this psychopath probably had feelings for someone who might’ve broken his heart, or they might’ve separated due to one circumstance or the other.

The look in his eyes held pure love and something else—restrained pain. But why? Why did she care if he loved someone else? She was in love with someone else too, and then there was Domenico, who she would be engaged to.

So she didn’t care. No, it was none of her business if he harbored feelings for someone else. She walked closer to the door. “I should get going now, it’s getting late,” she spoke, but he said nothing, and Anna saw it as her cue to leave. 

She walked out of the room, the ache in her chest increasing more, and Anna simply deduced she needed some rest. She hadn’t gotten enough sleep—why her body was acting funny, why she was feeling weird.

……..

That night, Anna barely caught a wink of sleep, not just because she was scared of seeing her father’s consigliere in her sleep. It was something else.

She kept thinking about everything that had happened up to this point, the mistakes she had made on her own end.

Was she stupid for letting Leone touch her? Clearly. She had let him get close, have his way with her—but why? Had she just been lustfully following her own desires, rather than sticking with the actual fact that nothing good would come out of it?

She liked Rocco—or at least she thought she did. She had cheated on him for no good reason. But that night, she hadn’t only let him touch her to satisfy her own pleasure, her own desires—it was because she felt something. She couldn’t pinpoint it directly, but she did.

Whereas Leone—he had probably seen it as a pastime for him, while she had been foolish enough to make herself available for him, while he harbored feelings for someone else. He had said he liked her, but as usual, he was just pulling the strings of her mental health.

What if she didn’t like Rocco anymore? Would that be valid? Or what if everything that had been going on in life had begun toying with her mentally—why she couldn’t get a grasp of her own emotions, why everything was beginning to not make sense to her? 

Could that be why? But Leone—he was something else, like a dark shadow that constantly kept hovering over her, and for a moment there, she had let her guard down. She had felt safe and secure with him. 

A tear dropped out of her eyes. If only she had someone to talk to. But she had no one—she was all alone. 

At least now it was all clear to her. She had been foolish once, but she wouldn’t let it repeat itself again. The best thing she could do was never let her guard down—stay as far away from him as possible.

……..

“Anna, you’ll be going on a trip with Leone.”

Her eyes widened, her heart racing at the news. She wanted to scream, bang her head on the wall if she could.

Her eyes remained fixed on the Don, who now broke the news to her after their just-concluded breakfast together. 

At this moment, she felt like just hanging herself. The last thing she wanted was this—to be anywhere near him.

How was it possible that this was happening now of all times, when she was trying to keep her distance from him? She wanted to yell out the question why! but her lips remained sealed, reminding her that she was currently in the presence of the Don of the Vicenzo empire.

“You both will be going to Madagascar for a business trip,” the Don continued. “Domenico was supposed to accompany you instead, but he’s currently out of the country.”

The news hit like a flash. Her heart sank as her eyes fell on Leone, who had begun walking towards them.