Secret Crown

X. Ten

Scarlett Two Days Later

The entire morning, I spent exploring my current captor's house. Was he even a captor at this point? He didn't have me tied or chained; it was more like a house arrest to keep me safe from Luca. My heart still ached from what Simone and Adrián had brought to light about my father. I gave my mom a call after Adrián granted one of his guards permission to let me use the phone to see how she was and to get some answers. Our lives had taken a drastic turn in just a single day. I sat at the edge of the bed, enjoying all the natural light that was coming in from the window above the bed as we talked. "Scar, are you okay?" My mother worriedly asked. "I'm okay, mom. Where are you?"

"These two brothers came and took me to a big white house," she replied. "Scarlett, they introduced themselves as Leonardo and Julian De Leon." She took a deep breath before continuing, "Please don't tell me they are sons of Mateo De Leon."

"They are," I sighed. "What in the heavens are you doing with those men?" She yelled. "You've heard so many stories about them that you know who the hell they are! They are dangerous! Killers!"

"Then why not tell me?" I interrupted, "Why did I have to find out from them about who really murdered my father?"

"Why was I left in the dark about it all? You knew, didn't you? You knew all along while I blindly searched!"

"It was for your own safety, Scar! Your father was murdered by a rival, and then everything fell apart from the inside out. We had nothing! Your father left us nothing but a name that would get us killed."She yelled over the phone.

"You became someone in my life, Scar; that was enough for me. Your father would be furious about you getting involved with the Leons." She cried, "Vicenzo was your father, and he is dead now. He's in the past. We need to put this search to rest." She paused and took a deep breath before she continued, "You can't keep this up, Scar. You're in the belly of the beast."

"It's too late for that, mom; the Leons are our only hope now." I dimly said as tears ran down my cheeks, "Salvatore Romano is after me. Now that very man who killed dad wants me as the future wife of his nephew Luca."

My mother let out a large gasp as she heard that last piece of information. I could feel the fear rolling on her lips. "The Leon's are dangerous, Scar." I had made up my mind already. I tossed the phone on the bed and rolled over in bed. The phone began to vibrate through the silent room as my mother called again. I didn't want to answer it anymore and let it ring to voicemail before handing it back to the guard. After what felt like hours, I fell asleep again. For the first time in years, I was finally getting some much-needed rest out of all the places in Adrián De Leon's house.

With my past in question and my future looking grim, I slept, waiting for the next phase to roll in. It was too late to turn back now.

*********

The following day, I spent time in the bedroom trying to make sense of everything that had happened and come up with a plan. I heard Adrián coming into the house early in the afternoon after having taken off in the middle of the night. He marched right up the stairs and paused right in front of the bedroom door. "Scarlett, you have to eat," he said from the other side of the door.

"I'm not hungry," I said as I lay in bed. That was a lie, though, as my stomach was gnawing at itself with hunger. When I checked his fridge earlier, it wasn't stocked with much, mostly water and energy drinks. He went silent for a brief moment as the doorknob turned. It was of no use to him, though. I had locked the door, so he couldn't get in. Everything then went completely silent once more as he realized that the door was locked. I thought to myself that he'd given up when, all of a sudden, a loud bang came from the door, followed by him making his way inside. He had kicked the door off its hinges with one single blow from the other side. "A friendly reminder, Scar; this is my house," he angrily said. "There are no locked fucken doors for me here." He walked over to the bed where I was lying. "You have to eat," he repeated in a commanding tone. I lay in silence, staring up at the ceiling, trying to act unphased by his temper. He let out a heavy sigh and quickly walked over to the bed, grasped onto my legs, and lifted me off the bed. "You're going to eat, or I'll stick a feeding tube down your throat and force feed you." He threw me over his shoulders, carried me all the way down the stairs towards the kitchen, and sat me down on a stool. I sat in silence, observing him as he brought out different take-out boxes and placed them all in front of me. "Eat," he said in a commanding tone again. "Why do you have to talk like that to everyone?" I asked again.

"Like I said, it comes with my job." He responded. "Yeah, I've figured that out; you're the leader of the Leon family. But why do you have to speak like that?" I asked.

"Because you're not from my world," he replied, "you're technically my prisoner."

"That I am," I lowly said. "Cheer up; you're not dead," he replied. "Then why let me live? You said so yourself; I am the daughter of your rival."

"Former-Rival," he added as he sat down and stabbed his fork into a piece of steak with broccoli, "you're important in this little game now."

"How?" I asked.

"It's just a matter of time before Salvatore finds out who you really are, and then he won't stop at nothing to find you." Adrián said as he looked up from his food. "So, I trust that you know what's best for you and that you don't run away and listen to me." He said this as he stuck his fork into his steak again. "We'll, I'm going to need clothes if I'm going to be staying here," I said, looking down at the baggy T-shirt I was wearing and my bare feet with the ugly ankle monitor. "I'll send someone tonight to buy your necessities." He spoke.

We sat in silence for a bit longer, just eating, as his men finished fixing the door upstairs. The doorbell rang throughout the house, followed by an impatient knock at the door. He quickly looked down at what I was wearing. "Go to the room," he ordered sternly. I sighed and put my hand up to my head. "Yes, sir," I said sarcastically. For a small moment, I thought I saw a small smile curl up at the corner of his lips. I grabbed my food and made my way upstairs.

Moments later, there were a couple of footsteps entering the house. I could hear men talking downstairs.

I paced back and forth in the room as I anxiously wondered what they could be talking about. "Could it be about the Romanos? About me? And what ever happened to Jonas?" My curiosity got the best of me as I lightly tread back down the dark stairs. I had to listen in on what was going on; getting anything out of Adrián was harder than watching paint dry. As soon as I turned left, I bumped into a tall man. He grasped on to me by my shoulders and asked, "Are you okay?" He asked as he focused his gray eyes on me. I tried to answer him, but nothing came out of the fear. "Adrián," he called out to the office down past the kitchen. He had long, black, wavy hair and olive-tanned skin. He smiled down at me and said, "I'm Saint Lombardi. You must be Scarlett Catalano, the lost heir."

"My name is Scarlett Rivera," I corrected him.

Adrián walked out of the office and quickly set his heated gaze on Saint and me. "Wait in my office, Saint."

Saint gave me a friendly wave goodbye, saying, "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Rivera. I hope to see more of you soon." He walked away towards the office and closed the double doors.

"What are you doing, Scar?" He asked as he grasped my arm and began leading me back up the stairs. "N-N-Nothing." I stuttered out.

"I can see your every move on my phone," he said as we stopped in front of his bedroom door. "Doesn't the Catalano princess have any manners? You know it's rude to eavesdrop?" He put both hands in front of each side of me, caging me in. "Don't disobey me again," he said, looking down at me with his dark black eyes. "Or I will cut your toes off one by one," he threatened. My knees below me weakened as his sharp facial features were outlined in the faint light. How could a threat come off as something hot? I pressed myself back as far as I could against the bedroom door behind me, but it gave out and opened wide, causing me to fall back into the room, dragging Adrián along with me as I grabbed onto him tight as an anchor. He fell forward with me, causing us both to land on the floor. He wrapped an arm tight under my waist and another one under my head. We were breathing heavily with fright as we tried to compose ourselves. "Are you okay?" He lowly asked.

"I'm fine," I responded as my heart pounded in my chest. He looked down at me, intensely studying my facial features. An unfamiliar heat coursed between us as we lay on the floor. "Ahem!" Saint cleared his throat at the entrance to the bedroom. He put his gun back into his coat pocket. "I'm assuming there's no danger here." He awkwardly asked before walking back towards the stairs.

Adrián lifted himself off of me and helped me rise from the floor. "Stay inside this room. Don't make me tell you again." He said this as he slammed the door shut behind him.

My cheeks were burning red as I tried to calm my breathing. A mixture of fear and curiosity crossed my mind when he was near. I couldn't be the only one who felt it.

I ruffled my curls. "Get a fucking grip, Scar; he's a monster, not a man."