Chapter five

Sapphire’s POV

The door closed behind Sophia.

I stood there hoping that maybe all these was just big joke.

My feet was rooted to the marble floor, they refused to move, it felt like I had forgotten how to.

I feel Alessandro’s eyes on me. “You look surprised.” He said still watching me.

I swallowed. “Why?”

“Hmm.” He smirked, stroking his chin gently.

“You didn’t say you were going to keep me.”

A faint smile curved his lips. “I didn’t need to.”

My fingers curled into fists at my sides. “Sophia said this was a negotiation.”

Alessandro rose from his chair slowly, adjusting his cuffs. He looked calm but yet dangerous. With each step he took, I felt a pressure tightening around my chest. I forced my legs to stay still and not to retreat, nlt because I didn’t want to but because there was no where to run to now.

“Negotiations imply equal footing,” he said evenly. “You don’t have that.”

The words cut through like that of a blade.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, my voice barely steady.

He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could smell his cologne; a mixtures of cinnamon mixed with cloves and maybe hibiscus.

“For now?” he said. “Obedience.”

The room felt smaller.

Before I could respond, footsteps approached. The butler from earlier appeared.

“Mr. king?” he said quietly.

“Take her,” Alessandro replied without looking away from me. “Show her where she’ll be staying. Explain the rules.”

Rules.

“Rules?” I stuttered “what do you mean by rules?” I asked almost yelling. “I’m not your possession.”

His gaze hardened, any trace of amusement gone. “Tonight,” he said coolly, “you are and you will be as long as you live under this roof.”

The butler gestured for me to follow. My legs felt heavy as I obeyed. I bowed my head in defeat.

We walked through long corridors lined with portraits. The walls were conveyed with pictures of Alessandro one. No one single picture of a family relative or with friends. There were paintings also.

At the end of a narrow hallway, the butler stopped in front of a door.

“This is your room,” he said.

I stared at it. “That’s it?”

“Yes,” he replied.

Inside was a small bed, a wardrobe, a narrow desk, and a single window overlooking a separate building from the mansion and from my guess, that could be the staff quarters. No art, no luxiry, not like I expected much from him..

“What exactly are the rules?” I asked quietly.

The butler hesitated, then spoke. “You will address Mr. king properly. You will follow instructions without question. You will not leave the estate unless permitted. And you will work.”

“Work?” I echoed.

“Yes,” he said. “You are part of the domestic staff.”

The word staff burned.

Before I could protest, a woman entered carrying folded clothes. She dropped them onto the bed without ceremony.

“Uniform,” she said flatly. “Change. You start now.”

The door shut behind them.

I stared at the clothes.

A black dress. White apron. Plain shoes.

This wasn’t part of the plan, maybe I would have listened to Sophia and kept my mouth of this negotiation.

I changed slowly, my hands trembling as I folded away the clothes I’d arrived in. When I stepped back into the hallway, it was almost empty.

I felt different and I knew that I looked different. The two housekeepers who passed by didn’t even look at me twice, I was no longer the visitor who had arrived in a fancy dress.

I no longer looked like one of the Giovanni twins.

I was assigned work started immediately.

Scrubbing marble floors until my knees ached. Carrying trays heavier than they looked. Standing silently against walls while conversations about power and money floated above my head like I wasn’t even there.

Every time I caught sight of my reflection in polished surfaces, I barely recognized myself.

By midnight, my arms shook from exhaustion.

The workers moved like there hidden cameras everywhere. There were times when I wanted to ask questions, the maids would instinctively turn away from me, like I was an outcast.

When I finally collapsed onto my bed late that night, exhaustion took over me.

But it didn’t last.

A knock on my door jolted me awake.

Before I could respond, the door opened.

Alessandro stepped inside.

“You learn quickly,” he said.

I sat up, clutching the blanket around myself. “Is that supposed to comfort me?”

“No,” he replied. “It’s an observation.”

“What do you want now?” I asked, bitterness seeping into my voice.

“You should understand something,” he said calmly. “This isn’t punishment.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “It feels like it.”

“This,” he continued, “is preparation.”

“For what?”

“For survival.”

I lifted my chin. “Why do I need to live under your roof, why can’t we look for another means to pay you in exchange of my dad’s freedom?”

“There’s no other way” he said slowly.

“…and if I refuse?”

His eyes darkened. “Then your father remains exactly where he is.”

Silence fell between us.

“You will live like the other servants, no one is going to lift a finger on you.” Alessandro said after a moment. “Not unless you go against the rules or take something that doesn’t belong to you. I don’t tolerate stealing.”

He said the last words harshly, a cold shiver ran through my spine.

“No one is going to touch you,” he continued “unless you asked for it.”

“But make no mistake,” he added quietly. “Everything else about your life belongs to me.”

He turned and left, locking the door behind him.

I slid down against the bed, my breath shallow, tears finally spilling free.

Sophia would be back for me, she promised.

But as the unfamiliar ceiling stared back at me, a terrifying thought crept in.

What if she doesn’t?

And worse…

What if Alessandro plans on keeping here forever? What if he plans on never letting me go and what if Sophia already knows about his plans?