Catrina's Pov

We must have been travelling for a couple of hours because I felt strange when I woke up. They must have given me something to inhale that made me pass out. My mouth was still gagged and I was blindfolded. 

The car was no longer moving so I assumed we were in wherever they wanted to take me to. 

Maybe they had the wrong person.

The name Julian St Clair had mentioned earlier - Maria De la Fonte. It sounded like trouble. Maybe they confused me with her. I was going to let them know I was no De la Fonte. I had missed my second shift and I hoped I hadn't lost the job. 

And Bethany. 

I was supposed to see her before going to my second job. 

But here I was, staring into darkness. There was no sound coming from the car. If I had not woken up before the car's engine died, I would have thought I had been thrown somewhere. 

I tried to reach for the blindfold. That was when I realised that I had been cuffed.

“Help!” I muffled.

Then I felt a strong grip around my arm with a sinister chuckle. “You can get help here, young lady,” the voice said. “Especially not from Vincenzo Morano.”

Vincenzo Morano? I had no idea who it was. It was certain that they had the wrong person. 

The hand around my arms pulled out of the car and I landed on rough, stony ground. As though my knees hadn't suffered enough soreness from the cold ground of Madam Rose's restaurant, it had to face these cold, rough stones again. I was lifted, like I was just a piece of paper, and pressed down against a hulk's shoulder. I didn't dare resist, not when his hand was steadily pulling me down.

It's going to be alright. I told myself. All I had to do was explain that I wasn't Maria De la Fonte.

I knew I was in a house the moment the outside’s chill vanished. Even though I was in a captor's home, the warmth I felt made me loosen up. 

“Freshen her up for Vincenzo’s arrival,” I heard the voice too close to my ear. It was the hulk's. 

I was dropped and the blindfold was removed. Leaning in front of me was the hulk. Tall, domineering, and non smiling.

“If you make a mistake here,” he said with a threatening voice. “I'll be the one to end you.” He raised his large hands towards me. “With my bare hands.”

I was shaking my head. 

“You have something to say?”

I nodded. 

He straightened. “Say whatever you want to Vincenzo. My job is to bring you to him.” He turned to a lady that had been standing there all along. “Have her well groomed. You know what Vincenzo likes.”

She bowed curtly and Hulk thumped out. 

The smallish lady - no less younger than I was - walked over to me. She wore a very skimpy dress that made me wonder who she really was. I was too confused at the moment to even look around the house. But the part that I had been dropped in, screamed nothing but exclusive luxury. 

Whoever this Vincenzo Morano was, he was a bastard billionaire. 

“Come with me,” she said. 

She didn't offer a hand of help or try to take the cuff off me. I struggled to stand up, remembering Hulk's threat. I figured it was much better to be alive to explain myself to Vincenzo Morano than die for nothing.

I followed her, struggled through the stairs, and finally, she opened the door to what looked like a maid's quarters. When I stepped in, she shut the door. That was when she looked at me.

“Strip.”

Strip? What the-?

“Didn't you hear me?” She asked, her face burning with anger.

I tried to muffle out that I was cuffed. She glanced at my struggling hands and walked behind me. She must have thought me to be someone who had offended her badly in the past because the way she yanked the cuff off my wrist almost fractured my wrist. I bit into the gag. 

No apologies. 

She walked over to me again.

“Now…strip. I don't want a single filthy thing on you.”

I reluctantly obeyed. Hulk had instructed her to have me changed. This wasn't a flogging ceremony. 

I would get dressed and explain myself to this Vincenzo guy.

I started with my button. 

“Faster! I haven't got all day.”

I unbuttoned quickly, tossing the shirt, and the trousers. 

“Take off everything! I was clear with my instructions.”

Tiny looked like she had a short fuse. Whoever she was, it was best I was in her graces. So, I removed everything on me. She stared at my body for an uncomfortable long minute. She murmured something, then she said, “I've got the perfect dress for you.”

Cold air stung my body while she moved to a large wardrobe. I studied the room. There were over ten, laid bunk beds. 

What was this place?

She returned with a dress and flung it towards me.

“Put this on.”

The dress was bare. Light and revealing. Despite it being clung to my skin, I was shivering. 

“Come over to the mirror,” she said, pointing to a broken standing mirror in a corner. 

My reflection was nothing like me. I looked like a whore preparing for some wild sex. Maybe this Maria De la Fonte that they confused me for, was a whore.

Tiny returned with a bottle of perfume, and without saying anything, spritzed it all over me. I choked into the gag. She pulled me to a seat and got a brush. Her hands weren't merciful. She straightened my hair with a brush and packed my golden, voluminous hair into a bun.

When she was done, a small smile appeared on her face, which frightened me more than her frown.

“You're ready,” she said. “It's time to meet Vincenzo Morano and for your sake, you'd better wear a smile.”