Page 94 of Isle of Seduction

The weeks after my abduction, I go through the motions on autopilot. I get up, shower and dress in luxurious fabrics that mould my body. Andrea and I drive twice a day to the hospital to see Nico who stays there for a week before we move him to a guest room in the cottage. Being unable to move from his bed on his own for seven days was traumatic for him. In the cottage, the familiarity settled his nervous and violent energy.

When I get to the Rouge construction site, it’s with an escort of three men following me around as soon as I step outside my home. Nico calls me about every two hours to check up on me, which drives me half mad, but I can’t refuse him anything.

I come home to eat whatever Andrea’s prepared for dinner and sleep like the dead.

I know Lana couldn’t sleep after her own ordeal, now months ago.

She texts me often and I ignore her most of the time. I’ve never ignored her, but all I can do is put a foot in front of the other, unfeeling and hollow. And she’s preparing her own wedding, which I don’t have the energy to help her with. The guilt gnaws at me, but every day, I get a text from her.

Almost always the same.

Lana

I love you. I’m here for you. When you are ready.

Me

Heart emoji

Andrea is back to watching me sleep rather than sleeping in bed with me. I might be getting ten hours per night, but my husband is holding onto sanity by forgoing sleep altogether to protect me. He even set up his own office at Rouge, with me.

The first floor is done, and the office is the first room I decorated and finished. Thick soft black carpets line the floor and the wallpapers with intricate designs of threads of gold and red give the space a mysterious aura. But to me, it feels safe. I had the main door reinforced to be fully bullet-proof, just like the one-way window that overlooks the main floor underneath.

So we spend our days taking care of Nico and Catalina, focusing on our small circle, and working towards our goals, never apart from each other. Me, opening this sanctuary and temple of pleasure. Him, forming stronger alliances with the most prominent families in the British underground. He’s finally coming to terms with loving the darkness and thriving in it.

Our last missing piece is Addams, but with the club opening tomorrow, we’re going to lure him with the promises of young people. I’m already circulating rumours that you can get with minors at Rouge.

“The club is coming together beautifully, sweetheart,” Andrea says one day while overlooking the team set down the lacquered dark wooden floor I chose for the dancefloor. “I’m so proud of you.”

My smile is soft, but doesn’t touch my eyes. Not much does lately.

“Thank you. Opening night tomorrow is all ready and set. Did you invite your new friends?” I ask, referring to the Russians and Sicilians.

Most families see Misha Petrov’s actions in their territories as unwise. They’re not noble by any means but he didn’t respect them enough to offer them a cut, or at least ask if he could trade in their territories.

That’s where Andrea’s political genius shines. In the deals made in the dark, the alliances promised across a poker table. There’s a code in the mafia. Petrov spat on it. We’re hoping that will be his downfall, and every soon.

“Yes, sweetheart. This is bigger than us and we’ll need all the power we can to stop him.”

I nod. I find myself not able to give a shit. The numbness inside my chest feels cold. All the little movements I do all throughout the day give the illusion that I’m fine. When I pour my attention over contracts, budgets and CVs for the new staff, I can pretend Louis didn’t happen. I can pretend I’m a living, breathing creature even though I know deep down I’m just a walking corpse.

Andrea is so stealthy, I don’t hear him until his finger curls under my chin. I look up at him from my place on the velvet couch, and the pain in the whiskey eyes I love so much is almost too much to bear. “You need help, guerrieritta.”

“No, I’m almost done.” I motion to move and return to my paperwork when his grip on my chin tightens.

“I meant you. I want you to talk to Lana’s doctor.”

“I’m not talking to a shrink,” I say indignantly, the first signs of my fire spreading through me since that day. My reaction brings a tiny smile to Andrea’s lips, a spark of amusement that makes me want to throttle him.

“I’m not asking, guerrieritta. You will obey me.” His voice is low, sending a tremor through my spine. Another first since that day. It feels like so long ago since I felt my body sing for him. I want more. I need more.

“Fuck you, Andrea. I’m not your toy.” I push his hand away and get up to leave, but he takes hold of my waist and moves my body like I weigh nothing, pressing my stomach to the designer desk I ordered for myself with a firm hand behind my neck.

The tension I didn’t realise I was holding in my shoulders dissolves and I almost moan at the sensation of the rough wood rubbing against my cheek. Andrea’s breath fans across my neck.

“You agreed to be my toy the moment you let me into that tight cunt of yours, guerrieritta. But you can fight me if that makes you feel better.”

He always knows when I need to fight. After weeks of inertia, it’s now all I want to do. All thanks to the man holding me captive with his body.