09| In his arms

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Pardon the way that I stare

There's nothin' else to compare ~

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Everything made sense to Jessica at once. She felt she was right as always cause why would Daniel marry some lowlife bearing no significance, no worth? Also, not to forget Mili's father was involved in murdering his mum, everyone at the Romano's was aware of it.

Her face lit up with possible things she could do with this golden piece of information.

"So, when will he let you go from all these?" Jessica asked curiously even though she knew a man like Daniel would not hesitate to just discard someone like Mili after his goal was achieved but she just wanted to poke Mili's tranquillity.

"I-I don't know," Mili truthfully confessed. Her question arose a sense of doubt in Miliani, would there be an end to this coerced setup when Daniel himself would set her free?

"You should ask him," Jessica suggested in her casual tone to which Miliani feebly nodded.

While soothing her ankle with the ice pack, Mili noticed the area of the sprain had started to swell up poorly. Her eyes filled with concern, at first she did not realise that the sprain would turn out this bad.

Jessica took her time observing the renovated decorations around the hall as it was quite different in taste than before.

"You know what, Jovanno, my bother's near your age. I'll introduce you to him. You guys will surely make a pair of good friends," she sweetly smiled at Mili before getting up and plaining the wrinkles of her dress as she was about to take her leave.

"Wait, you didn't have anything, Jess. Let me-" Miliani made an effort to stand on her feet but the sharp, excruciating pain jolted from her leg through her entire body forcing her to take Jessica's support.

But after that derogatory incident at the Lorenzo's, Jess was determined to not have anything in Mili's presence until the tables finally turned to her. "Don't bother yourself much, Mili. I'll get going,"

A maid named, Willa brought Mili a pain relief spray and then wrapped her ankle with an elastic bandage carefully. Mili's face lost all its colour when she informed that Daniel was waiting for her at the parking lot. Willa helped Mili with her long hair, fixed the only dress she was wearing and then assisted her to Daniel's car supporting her body against her own.

Daniel, seated in the driver's seat, rolled down his car's window as they approached nearer with great difficulty.

"She has sprained her ankle and needs constant support, signore. May I come along?" Willa asked on Miliani's behalf but Daniel dropped her request saying he would take care of it. Miliani was about to pull the back door when Willa opened the front door for her.

Mili while being seated on the passenger's seat bit on her lower lip observing Daniel moving his unreadable eyes away from her pale face. Tension ran through her mind contemplating how she messed up today's lessons also. That harsh lady, Claudia must have complained today also, that might be the reason Daniel did not allow Willa to tag along. Will he punish me by making me walk on my own - the fear churned within Mili but she remained silent as Daniel swiftly drifted out of the parking lot.

Mili noticed that Daniel always prefers to drive himself rather than assign a driver like the others. On the other day when she just arrived in Italy, she had been too intimidated to even glance at Daniel's level, keeping her eyes fixed on the roads passing by the side window. But today, her innocently intrigued eyes refused to leave the charming sight beside.

His hand gripped the steering wheel and rolled it occasionally with a relaxed confidence, sometimes palming the steering wheel nonchalantly showcasing his strong fingers and the way, Daniel was focusing on the busy road with relaxed precision, held a depth that seemed to draw her in without her realising.

The enormous Romano's estate was quite far away from the heart of the city and all the way along Mili could not help but notice the occasional flicker of light from the road highlighting the chiselled lines of his jaw and the subtle shadow of his stubble. Mili's lips parted a little in amusement when Daniel reversed park the car, keeping his other hand on the passenger seat and glancing into the rare mirror. But she moved her eyes haphazardly when a slightly teasing smile crept through his lips.

After parking the car outside a large building complex, Daniel got out of the car without saying a word to her. As Mili tried pulling the door to her side, she found it locked. A moment later, Daniel unlocked it and pulled the door open for her. Just as she was about to swing her uninjured leg out to steady herself, Daniel swiftly reached beneath her thighs and drew her closer. He wrapped one arm around her legs and secured the other around her back, fluidly lifting her into his brawny arms, cradling her in princess style.

She felt flustered being carried up like a child which did not seem to bother Daniel at all. As the security guards rushed to close the car's door for them, Mili felt even more flustered staying in that position, her embarrassment grew, knowing she was being watched like this. Her thoughts raced imagining the huge building must be full of strangers who would give her stares and whispers if she entered just like that.

"Put me down," Mili urged in her soft voice and then thrashed her legs in the air out of defiance as he stayed unbothered but immediately squinted her eyes shut as another sharp pain hit her injured leg.

Surprisingly when Daniel stepped inside the building, Mili found it almost empty with no people inside except a bunch of security guards. She silently thanked God for sparing her from the embarrassment she had anticipated, oblivious to the fact that Daniel had reserved the whole place just for taking her for some shopping. Relieved, she enveloped her arms around Daniel's neck as he approached the escalators with an injured Mili in his arms. He casually carried her all the way to the third floor, where they arrived at a high-end luxury fashion store.

Daniel placed her on a cosy sofa, at the centre of the lavishly furnished opulent room. Almost immediately, an elegant woman, seemingly in her late twenties, rushed over, her face lighting up with excitement as she threw her arms around Daniel. He responded resting a hand on her back as she squeezed her body onto his, her enthusiasm was unmistakable.

Suddenly, the cold air harshly struck Mili's body due to the absence of the warmth of Daniel's recent embrace. The arms that were just tightly encircled around her seemed to be misplaced somewhere else, leaving the girl feeling unexpectedly exposed and alone.