Erica I spent the rest of the day in the castle, going from one corner to another. It’s huge, the corridors had my feet aching but I was intrigued and the quiet, the smell of dust in most of the empty rooms and sculptures in one room that had looked like it was part of a museum and not to miss the intricate designs on the walls had me going on till the sun set and my stomach grumbled for the fifteenth time to feed it. There were four locked doors that I had encountered. One being the same one that had led to the narrow stairs that I had ascended with Ephraim in the morning, for some reason it was locked now and I really wanted to go upstairs in that corridor with all those windows. I knew for sure that floor belonged to Antonio and he had it locked. Then there were two other rooms on the third floor that were locked. And one that intrigued me most was t

Erica  Dinner was quiet. I was too nervous and wrapped up in my mind to make small talk or to pester Ephraim. And it seemed that he knew I wasn’t one to remain quiet and keep my thoughts to myself because he kept glancing at me. But my mind was on planning my escape. The problem was I would never be able to walk out the front door to make my escape because as it happens apart from the security guards that keep watch during the night, rounding the parameter of the castle, Elijah and one other man stay in the entry hall to keep watch if someone managed to get through the guards stationed outside. So it meant that I would’ve to find another way which was impossible if I remained in that windowless room. The one question I had asked of Ephraim was when Antonio will be back. He had looked surp

Antonio  There were a few things I’d never tolerate. Someone touching what’s mine without my fûcking permission. And after the long meeting I’d had with the cabinets of ministers, I was barely holding my cool and it all evaporated when I found Nikolai sitting in the jet waiting for me in Milan. I should’ve been prepared for it considering he lives here in the city. I have a place too, but I wasn’t fond of people and loud city noises. I only stayed in Milan when I had to attend to business and couldn't go back to the castle. The moment I sat down in one of the executive chairs, Nikolai said, “You have been ignoring my calls.”

Antonio  I stood on the balcony, my eyes fixed unseeing on the hills and valleys around as I smoked on a cigar while a bottle of scotch rested on the small table behind me. I hadn't opened it, preferring cigar, as my mind was still on what Ephraim had told me. I had asked him to reiterate every single detail he had seen and knowing to completely obey me, he had given me all the minute details. And the picture it had painted in my mind still made me fûcking insane to go on a killing spree. I had told my men to stand there and watch it as I executed punishment and lessons for others. What would happen if someone touched what’s mine, and Erica was most definitely mine. I decided it earlier when I had an impromptu and unwanted meeting with Nikolai. Ephraim’s little crush on her didn't b

Antonio  Something happened last night, no, make that two. Two things happened last night. And both of them involved my little captive. First her nightmare. I could only catch whispered pieces of her nightmare, but it was enough to make me realize that they weren’t just because of what happened to her in the forest here on this cliff. My little diavola has her own demons and darkness, which was probably the reason why she was the way she was. Her need for drugs and pain was starting to make sense. But what didn’t make sense to me, was why the auctioneer had called her virgin if she had been a victim to what her nightmares suggested. As much as I had wanted to wake her up and demand who hurt her— which came as a shock t