What do you think Althea would pick? Mercy or Cruelty?🤔
It was exactly like I feared. I could not sleep until pale light pulled through the curtains. My body kept tossing and turning. I didn’t know if I was afraid of dreaming about him again or afraid of what those dreams meant.I stumbled to the bathroom and slapped cold water on my face. My eyes were swollen. I ran my fingers down my neck, across my lips, and shut my eyes. For a second I let myself picture Valerio’s mouth on me, just like in the dream. The thought made my thighs hum.I felt a tingling sensation down my thighs as I grew wet. My fingers inched down towards my clit as I thought to pleasure myself. I thought of his lips and his hardness I felt as I started to circle, faster A knock at the door cut through everything. I froze. Hot blood fled my face. I almost slipped when the knocking came again.Please, not him, I thought.“Who is it?” I managed, my voice thin.“Capo asked me to bring you down for breakfast,” one of the guards said. Marco’s voice. Stiff, careful.I leaned b
His hand closed around my throat before I could draw breath. Not choking. Not meant to hurt. Just firm, a reminder of how small I was next to him. My back hit the cold wall, his chest pressing me flat, the weight of him heavy and hot.“Do you enjoy provoking me, Dolcezza?” His voice was low and rough, the kind of voice that made my bones buzz. He leaned in close. His breath was hot in my ear. “You think feeding my men makes you kind? No.” His tongue dragged slowly along my neck and I shivered, heat folding through me. “It makes you mine.”My knees trembled. His mouth found my collarbone, teeth grazing, a sweet, sharp bite that made me gasp. I grabbed at his shirt, at anything, and he pinned my wrists above my head in one big hand. I could not move. I did not want to.“You belong to me, Althea.” He said it like it was a law. His hands slid under the hem of the shirt I wore… his shirt. My skin prickled where his palms touched. His fingers pushed higher, crossing my hips, pressing betwee
I heard the slam of a door down the hall. Valerio, probably talking business with the guard. For a second, everything felt unreal, like what just happened between us had been a dream. But the warmth still lingered in my fingers. Proof I’d seen a side of Valerio Moretti no one else probably ever had.I shook my head, staring at the piano keys. I let my fingers drag across them before pressing into the opening notes of the Dracula Bach Organ. My chest tightened as the sound filled the room. God, I prayed these walls were soundproof. The last thing I wanted was for him to know.I started playing piano when I was ten. My father had made sure of it after I begged him for lessons. And now I felt guilty for lying to Valerio earlier, pretending I didn’t know how. But the air between us had been too soft, too breakable. I wanted to push it. To see how far I could go. To make him warm up to me. To make him feel… free. And I think it worked, right up until that guard ruined everything.I could s
I was in bed for hours till it was night time and there was still no sign of Valerio.My anger had cooled and i had this urge to go and look for him. I didn’t know why but i thought it was pointless fighting with him.I was close to the door as I sprang out of bed when I remembered. My clothI went to the closet. It was full of his clothes…shirts, jackets, everything too big and sharp. I had a little bit of pride because I thought maybe I was the only woman he’d brought here.I took one of his shirts and pulled it over my head and did my hair into a messy bun. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like Althea…tired, messy, stubborn.The guards weren’t posted outside my door. The corridor was empty. Had he fired them? Did they go out? I hoped not. I told myself I’d ask him later.I was halfway to the kitchen when I heard piano…soft at first, then sure. Someone was playing.I walked towards the sound and came to a room. It was lined with paintings and lit with candles then there
How dare he?I paced the room, barefoot on the cold floor, clutching the hem of his shirt like it might rip if I pulled harder. I had only tried to be kind. To show the guards… the men who bled for him that they were human. And he dragged me, humiliated me, like I’d done something shameful.His words were stuck in my head. Do you enjoy being stared at? Do you like their eyes on you?I bit down on my lip until it hurt. Did he think I was that kind of woman? That I wanted attention?No. He wanted control. He wanted me caged, silent, invisible unless he chose otherwise.I threw myself onto the bed and hugged my knees. My throat burned. The scent of him hung on the shirt, on my skin, and it made the fury coil tighter.I kept thinking about the way his hand had yanked me. Something ugly flared inside me. Not fear. Rage. At being owned. At being treated like a thing to be corrected in front of his men. I had tried to be kind for five minutes, and he acted like I’d committed a crime.I hated
I slept.I didn’t know how or when exactly, but when I woke up, light seeped faintly through the curtains, soft and golden. The bed beside me was empty. My stomach dropped.Valerio was gone.Panic sparked in me before I even thought it through. Where could he have gone this early? Why didn’t he say anything? My eyes darted around the room, searching for some sign that this wasn’t abandonment. Then I saw it on the vanity, a folded note.I scrambled toward it, my heartbeat too fast for something so small.“Out for work.”Simple. Short. Cold. But it was something. At least it meant he hadn’t vanished without a word. At least it meant he was safe enough to leave words behind. I let out a shaky breath. My chest loosened.I freshened up quickly, pulling the shirt he’d left me tighter around my body. When I opened the door, two guards stood stationed like stone pillars on each side.Typical.“Excuse me,” I said carefully, testing if they’d even respond to me.One turned his head slightly.“W