Chapter Eleven

Half asleep, I roll over in my bed, my body instinctively going through its almost-awake motions.

My hand stretches out in front of me, expecting the familiar soft touch of my pillow. But this time, it"s different.

Instead of the gentle fabric, my fingers encounter something unexpected. Human hair.

Confused but still in the haze of half-consciousness, I move my hand down, and there"s something solid beneath my touch.

A shoulder. Reality starts to seep through the grogginess as my eyes flicker open suddenly.

My gaze follows the contour of the shoulder, and there she is—Grazia.

What the fuck. How is Grazia in my fucking bed? I slowly open my eyes, the room coming into focus in a disorienting haze.

There"s an unfamiliar scent of vanilla and sandalwood in the air, and the soft glow of candles that should have been put out suggests a different atmosphere.

Confusion settles in as I realize I"m not at home.

Sitting up I look around the room and realize that I am in the beach house, and Grazia is in the bed she's supposed to be in.

Fuck.

The pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. The events of the previous night, the unfamiliar room, and now waking up beside her.

The memories of the night before hit me like a tidal wave, but there's a gap. How did I end up here?

I sit up, a dull ache in my head making it difficult to concentrate.

I must have passed out here.

It's morning already, and my plan was never to stay overnight.

I'm instantly furious at myself. I wasn't supposed to get this close to Grazia. I have a plan to execute and being nice to her isn't part of it.

What is she supposed to tell her brothers when they finally decide to come get her?

That I was soft and gentle with her? That she has me wrapped around her cute little fingers.

I am beyond pissed off.

I get out of bed, ignoring the way the room swims around me as I head to the living room to get the clothing I vaguely remember dropping there.

"Marco?" Grazia calls out. "Where are you?"

"Living room," I snap at her. I steady myself against the wall for a moment, annoyed that I let myself get so drunk last night.

I look over at the couch and scowl. She had her way with me last night, there's no other way to see it.

I let her take control and dammit, I like it. A lot.

"I really don't…" Grazia comes to hover in the doorway. She's naked and I want to shout at my cock to butt out of this when it leaps to life as I look at her.

"No! You stay right there," I tell her, holding up a forestalling hand. "You've made enough of a fool of me already."

"I thought…you seemed to like it," she stammers.

She crosses her arms over her breasts, and I instantly feel bad for making her self-conscious. Then I feel angry that I feel bad.

"You thought that you could just manipulate the situation, change the damn rules? That using your pussy would help you escape this house?"

"It wasn"t about manipulation. You came here, I just worked hard to make it worth the trip. Can"t we just have a moment of fun without the usual chaos?"

"Until your brothers agree to this deal, there won't be any peace for me," I hiss at her. I yank my shirt over my head.

"I didn"t mean for it to be like this. I just wanted..."

"What, Grazia? What did you want?"

She starts to say something, then snaps her mouth shut. A defiant look settles on her pretty face.

"I wanted a break from the constant tension, the fear. Is that too much to ask?"

"You don"t get to decide what"s too much to ask, especially when it involves messing with my head," I spit at her.

"You"re always in control, Marco. What are you talking about? Can"t we have a moment where we"re just... human?"

"Human? This has nothing to do with being human. It"s about trust, Grazia, and right now, I feel used."

She scoffs. "You feel used? What about me?"

I shake my head. I don't want to see that she has a point.

If I'm being honest with myself, I know that I have been using her all along. I don't want to examine that thought too closely though, not right now.

Digging in the drawer, I find a pair of handcuffs that I've used with women before. I take them over to Grazia and drag her back into the bedroom. I handcuff her arm to the headboard.

"What are you doing? Is this some sort of roleplay?"

"Shut up, Grazia. This isn't the first time that a woman has used me like this to avoid the anger of a powerful man. I'm not interested in playing this game again."

She looks at me in shock and confusion. Of course she doesn't know what I'm talking about, but I'm so angry at myself that I don't care.

"Marco, honestly, what the fuck are you talking about?" she asks. She looks up at her handcuffed arm, and then back at me.

Her lip quivers and I hate that the sight makes my heart pinch in my chest.

"There's so much you don't know, and never will," I say to her aggressively.

"Well, that's nothing new for me," she says softly, her tone aching with hurt.

Fury spikes through me. I don't deserve to have her company, to use her body to make myself feel better.

I hate both of us in this moment and know that I'm lashing out at her. But I can't stop myself.

"I know you're just making me like you to help you try to escape. I'm not stupid. But you are, if you thought that this was going to work. You underestimate me, Grazia, and I don't like that at all. I have no problem killing you. Your brothers won't know about it until they've handed me my money and the trade routes, and by then it will be too late."

"Escape? How would I escape you, Marco?"

Her face shows the fear pulsing through her.

"Besides, I'm not an idiot, Marco. I'm in a strange country where I know one person—you! I've seen how isolated this house is. I know that I wouldn't get far before one of the guards watching this place hunts me down and kills me. Why would I use last night as the opportunity to try and escape? That's practically planning a suicide mission!"

My head is pounding, but I know she's right. I shake that thought away.

I fucked up, allowing my dick to lead me and I've ended up giving her the chance to trick me.

Not again, though.

Everyone around me wants to use my skills without giving me a chance to succeed. I'm not letting another Baldini trick me.

I walk out of the room and fetch my phone from the kitchen counter. My stomach turns when I see I left the beach house and my car keys next to it.

If Grazia had not fallen asleep, she would have had a perfect getaway car, handed right to her.

Taking my phone back to the bedroom, I put it on the video function and stand in front of the bed, placing Grazia, who is naked and handcuffed to the headboard, in the middle of the screen.

"Talk to your brothers. Tell them to hurry the fuck up before things get messy in here," I demand. She looks at me, confused. "Speak!"

"Okay, okay. Luca, Enzo…please hurry the fuck up and sort this situation out. Marco wants this deal to happen. I'm fine, not hurt…"

"For now," I add from behind the camera.

"But please do as he says. I want to come home. Please give him what he is asking for. I can't stay here any longer. Please."

I see a tear slip from her eye. I can't tell if it's real, but either way, it works perfectly for this video.

"Good," I tell her.

"Will you let me go? Take me out of these handcuffs?" she asks.

"No." I pace the room, my anger even greater than it was yesterday.

I admit to myself that I should probably handcuff myself to the bed and not Grazia. I'm the one with no self-control.

Today is the day Luca has promised me they will finally agree or disagree with my requests.

I can't take the stress of having this woman in this house much longer.

When I tire of pacing the room I find myself sitting on the edge of a chair near the bed. I save the video and send it over to her brothers.

Using my personal phone in this instance might be a mistake, but I am tired of this situation now, and I need things to speed up.

I rub my temples, trying to shake off the exhaustion that"s settling in.

The room is quiet, and all I can think about is the slow progress with the Baldini brothers on the deal.

It"s getting on my nerves. Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees, taking a moment to collect my thoughts.

The untouched glass of alcohol on the table catches my eye, but I resist the urge for a drink.

The time ticks away. Each second passing feels like a reminder of this chance slipping away.

Frustration builds in me as I ponder my next move in this waiting game.

With a heavy sigh, I try to clear my mind, but the weariness lingers.

The room stays quiet, and I can"t shake the feeling that I'm running out of time.

At first, I wonder if I should go back to my house.

But I'm too exhausted and hungover to drive. Maybe the idea of having a driver actually does make sense, in cases like this, at least.

Instead, I leave Grazia to cry and I go to the living room, glad that I thought to add a sleeper couch in this room.

I pull it out and lie down, calmer at the thought that Grazia is tied up and cannot try any more of her sneaky little plans on me.

I wake up with a start, but this time I know I'm meant to be on this sleeper couch.

I've had odd dreams, and it takes me a while to focus my attention on what woke me up.

The room is quiet, and I can't hear Grazia.

The beach house has a relaxing feel to it. I should sleep here more often.

I pick up my phone to check the time and see that I have a text message.

>> Marco, if you hurt her, we will make sure you experience ten times the pain. We are busy making arrangements, and we have asked you to be a little more patient with us. You took us by surprise, you cannot expect us to arrange these things so quickly.

It's from the Baldinis. Good.

They got the message, and they're scared, otherwise they would never have replied.

I am not worried about their threats, but I don't bother to reply to them.

All I want is for this whole thing to speed up.

I've never been a very patient man.

Having Grazia to play with has made it easier to wait for them, but it's getting too dangerous now.

I need her to be out of this house, and for this deal to finally make it past the talking stage.

And fuck them for telling me what I can and cannot expect.

The whole point is that this is what I do expect from them, and in return, I will not hurt or kill their sister.

I thought my terms were quite clear, and yet they seem to have a whole different idea of what we are doing here.

They are the ones who should be rushing to make sure that this doesn't go badly. I have nothing to lose in this situation.

They seem to forget that.

My phone notifications go off again, and I see that they have, at least, sent through most of the money.

At least they are making some progress. And now I can afford to keep things running, taking away at least some of the stress that I am under.

I decide not to reply to them.

Let their worry move them forward. Silence from me might help that.

I stand up and walk into the bedroom where my captive is still locked up. Grazia has fallen asleep, and I'm not sure how she managed to do that.

The way her arm is positioned looks uncomfortable, but she's done this to herself.

I can't feel bad for her, she'll use that against me.

I can't believe that I was as stupid as to leave my keys to the car on the counter, and I won't be forgiving myself anytime soon.

All the Baldinis are all skating on very thin ice right now.

I refuse to contemplate too closely why she didn't try to just drive away. I don't want to know what that means, either.

I just want to be angry. It's easy being angry.

I look out at the beach. It's good weather, and if Grazia hadn't screwed herself over, I might have been tempted to allow her to go for another walk.

That's off the table now.

She looks so innocent while she's sleeping, but I've seen her sneaky side, and I will no longer allow her the power to trick me into being kind to her.

The sex is good, amazing, actually. But I can't let her manipulate me and possibly ruin my plans.

I should not have given in to temptation.

I leave the house to go for a walk, sure that once I'm back, she will be awake. Then I'll need to figure out what to do with her.