Chapter Ten

I finish rinsing out the bathtub in the bathroom I was told to clean and then sit back on my heels.

I run my fingers over the ugly maid's uniform that Enzo gave me and grimace.

I had been bored at my little house in Mexico, and my child had been lonely, but at least I had been able to read books, draw, and go for walks on the beach flanked by my security detail.

Here at the Baldini house, I've been reduced to acting like a servant, cleaning toilets, washing dishes, and helping the head cook make meals.

My son, on the other hand, has been having the time of his life going to school with the Baldini brood and swimming in Enzo's swimming pool. I'm grateful for their kindness to him, but I worry daily that it will come to an end.

If someone had told me that being kidnapped would be so boring, I wouldn't have believed them. As the child of a famous mob family, I had lived in fear of being taken from my family and beaten, or maybe even raped.

I had never considered dying from boredom after being kidnapped.

At first, I had thought that the Baldinis were na?ve to allow me the complete run of the house. I had waited two days before I tried simply walking out the front gate with Mateo.

When we were stopped by the guards, I had regrouped and attempted to hide in one of the cars with Mateo, waiting for someone to leave to run errands. Mateo thought that was a fun game of hide and seek.

While I had been able to get us outside the gates of the house for a few moments, the security team had done their usual search of the vehicle before permitting it to leave the property and we had again been discovered.

After my second escape attempt, once Mateo was back with the other kids, Luca had slapped me around to reinforce his point.

He had reminded me that they would be willing to hurt Mateo if I kept on trying to leave without permission, and so I had stopped trying to escape for the moment.

I understood now why they allowed me to go where I felt like inside the compound. The walls were so heavily fortified that there was no way that I could climb over them, and the razor-sharp wire atop every square inch of the compound surround made getting over the walls incredibly risky, even if I could climb them somehow.

Between the security guards and the walls, the compound was as effective at keeping people in, as it was at keeping people out.

I tried not to let my spirits flag, but it was hard. I hadn't been told anything further about Elio and I was beginning to think that he wasn't going to agree to their demands to give up his trade routes for my safety.

While I knew that he might not care about my life that much, I had hoped that he would care about Mateo's enough to attempt to deal with the Baldinis. Now that it had been two weeks, I was starting to lose hope.

I climb to my feet and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I look wan and my face is pinched with worry.

I haven't been able to eat much. A lump of worry that feels as big as a softball has been lodged in my throat ever since I heard that the Baldinis told Elio that Mateo is his son.

I don't even know if I would feel better if Mateo ended up with his father or not. There's a very real possibility that I might not make it out of this situation alive, so it may not matter if I want Mateo to end up with Elio or not.

I have to admit that I don't really know what kind of parent Elio would be. Certainly, Elio's father was not a shining example of what a dad should be like. I remember him as a cold, handsome man, who treated his son like a sword he was sharpening before battle.

But I had always loved Elio's two brothers. They were kind and gentle with me. I had been heartbroken when I heard that his youngest brother, Gianni, had died trying to iron out a trade deal in Russia.

Elio had been strained for weeks after Gianni's death, but we had never talked about it. He didn't share his feelings with me. I was only fit to share his cock, it seemed.

"Fuck," I mutter to myself, turning away from the mirror. I need to stop thinking in this endless, frustrating loop. It's not making things any easier for me.

"Get cleaned up."

The male voice startled me so much that I gasp, and stumbled back against the sink. I glare at Luca Baldini when I see him standing in the doorway.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I spit at him.

He makes a bemused face. "I don't knock to announce myself to maids."

I sigh and straighten away from the sink. "Why should I get all gussied up? You tired of looking at the sad face of someone who has been kidnapped?"

He laughs lightly. "Nope. I don't give a shit what you look like. You're not my type." He pulls out his phone and glances at it. "I thought you might want to look your best for your visitor."

"Visitor?" I echo numbly. I wonder which Baldini family member he's hoping to have me meet now.

"I thought you'd be more excited," Luca says. He shrugs and turns to leave the room. "Maybe with some imagination La Rosa will be able to pretend that's a sexy maid costume you have on."

"Elio?" I say, coming to life a little. "Elio's coming here?"

Luca grins like a predator at my interest. "Yes. Should be here in about fifteen minutes."

I curse Luca roundly in Spanish, calling him every name in the book as I glare at him. I slip by him in the doorway, and hurry toward my room to make myself presentable.

"You forgot to call me a motherfucker!" he shouts after me in Spanish, and I hunch my shoulders. I forgot that he speaks fluent Spanish. However, he deserved all of the insults I just hurled at him and more.

I yank open the door to my room and turn on the shower. I pin my hair up on top of my head and hop in.

I'm suddenly grateful that Enzo brought me a bunch of his sister's clothing to borrow. Up until now, I had felt rather annoyed about having to wear her clothing, but now I was grateful to have anything other than the scratchy maid's uniform to wear to see Elio.

As I put on lipstick and brush out my hair in front of the mirror, I rehearse what I want to say to Elio. I don't know why he tried to come to get me from Mexico, not really. However, it gives me some hope that he was still invested enough to track me down and try to get me to leave with him.

I have no desire to marry Elio, but maybe I can appeal to him to save Mateo from this situation. Elio has never once shared his plans or thoughts with me, but maybe, just maybe, I can use my kidnapping as a means to trick him into being willing to see things my way.

I look at myself in the mirror and draw in a deep breath. I have never been good at subterfuge.

I am naturally a very direct person and I hate lies, both hearing them and telling them. I know it's foolish that I feel this way, given the kind of family that I grew up in, but it's the truth.

However, the time for being honorable is long past.

My son and I are not going to get out of this mess by being honest with the men who are using us to get what they want. It's time for me to beat them at their own game.

Suddenly, there is a loud knocking at my bedroom door. It makes me jump, and I press a hand to my racing heart. I'm going to age years living in this house where everyone is constantly sneaking up on me with demands that I don't want to give in to.

"Yes?" I call out, leaning against the sink and trying to slow my breathing.

"Your visitor is here."

The voice is Luca's and I grit my teeth. I really hate him. Elio has a reputation for being a very bad man, but Luca is much worse. There is an air of insanity hanging over Luca at all times that makes my skin crawl.

I have no idea what Emelia sees in him. For me, his handsome face would never be enough to make up for the ugly thing inside of him.

"I see," I manage to get out. I had hoped that we wouldn't have to meet in my bedroom. It makes me feel like a call girl but without the benefit of getting paid.

If I am being honest, I also don't trust myself around Elio so close to a bed. We have always had a habit of falling into bed to avoid the ugly things in life and there is nothing uglier than what I am going through right now.

I leave the little bathroom and lean against the wall facing the door. I refuse to sit down and make myself even smaller than Elio. I close my eyes and clench my trembling hands behind my back.

"Let him in," I call, pleased that my voice sounds strong and firm.

There's a little pause, and then the door swings open. The light in the hall frames Elio, making him look like some kind of fallen angel coming to take me away to heaven or hell.

My heart stutters in my chest as I watch him enter the room and close the door firmly in Luca's face.

"Bastard," he hisses quietly as he shuts the door and I nearly chuckle in reply. It's nice to know that he hates Luca as much as I do.

Elio turns to face me, his dark eyes meeting mine and I freeze like a rabbit being stalked by a predator. Despite my fear, my pussy is instantly wet. I hate myself for being so susceptible to him, even now, but I know that I can use my undying attraction to him as a weapon to get my way.

I steel myself, trying not to let him see right through me for once in my life.

"How is it that I still want to fuck you senseless after all these years?" Elio says to me. He has halted just inside the room, and his eyes wander to the neatly-made bed before returning to my face.

I let a little smile curve my lips. "You just want me because you can't have me."

"I can't have you?" he says back to me, stalking closer. "Since when has that been the case?"

He prowls closer to me and I manage not to flinch or move away. He regards me for a moment from his greater height, something hot and questing in his eyes, before he reaches out abruptly and cups my pussy in his slender, beautiful hand.

I gasp. I can't help it.

I wonder if he can feel my arousal through the dark leggings that I slipped on for this meeting.

"The rest of you might think that's true, but she knows it's not," he whispers to me, massaging his fingers gently over my hungry, wet pussy.

My eyes flutter closed.

This is going to be so much more difficult than I had thought it would be.