𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | +𝟏𝟖

𝟥𝟢

—

I close one of my books, feeling like finding one of the men in this castle simply because I'm bored.

I open my door and head down the hallway, knocking on Elijah's door, no answer. I walk further down to Matteo's door and knock, no answer. I head to the other side of the upper floor and knock on Alessandro's door, also no answer.

Where are they?

Confused, I make my way to the stairs, but I stop in my tracks.

More rose petals lead from the bottom of the staircase into the lobby. I head down, following them through the lobby and into the living room. I heard shuffling before I find all three men stood in the centre of the room, each holding a box.

I smiled, "What is this?"

"We just wanted to do something special for you," Elijah said, stood on the far left. I walk over to him as he hands me his box.

"But, why?" I asked.

"Just open them." He said.

I giggled, untying the ribbon at the top. I slid the top of the box off to see a black velvet one inside. I take it out and carefully open it, revealing a diamond necklace with a thin, gold chain. "Oh wow," I awed. "This is beautiful, Elijah."

He grinned and helped me put it on, "It looks pretty on you."

I smiled widely at him, "Thank you so much."

"It's a princess cut diamond," he explained. I blushed. The connection between that and his nickname for me was special, I loved it. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.

Matteo was next and I giggled at his smile, he looked excited.

He handed me the box, a similar size to Elijah's but a bit smaller. I opened it to reveal gold hoop earrings covered in tiny diamonds, along with a set of pearl earrings just beneath them. They were both gorgeous.

Clearly they know I loved gold.

"These are so pretty, Matteo," I awed.

"I wasn't sure which one you'd like more, so I got both," he explained. I reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you," I sincerely spoke.

He held the box for me as I made my way over to Alessandro. He handed me the box, sending me a subtle grin.

I opened it, seeing a gold tennis bracelet, it was so pretty. "This is gorgeous," I said. "Thank you."

Before he said anything, he grabbed ahold of my jaw and tilted my head upward. He leaned down to gave me enough time to pull away if I wanted to, but I only leaned in closer. His lips locked with mine.

This was our first kiss.

His lips felt so soft, I smiled against them and noticed him doing the same before I pulled away.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." He replied.

"Come with me, princess," Elijah held out his hand. I took it, following him into the kitchen.

There laid out was a beautifully made dinner, it looked like thanksgiving. "Oh, wow," I spoke. There were even some rose petals on small, empty parts of the table, along with candles lit. "This is so nice."

I sat down with Matteo on my left, Elijah sat at the end seat of the table, and Alessandro sat across from me. "I wish I was dressed nicely for this," I said.

"You look good," Elijah grinned, his eyes on my pyjamas. I held back a laugh.

As Elijah and Alessandro began to talk about work-related things, I turned to Matteo. "Can you help me put this on?" I gestured to the bracelet Alessandro got me.

"Of course, love," he said, clipping it on. It fit perfectly.

I then removed the dainty hoop earrings I already had on and replaced them with the ones Matteo got me. "Cute?" I asked.

"Very," he said, kissing my cheek.

As we started to eat, I began to think about everything that's happened between us all. From meeting, to speaking, falling for each man, escaping Elliot, and now living together.

I'm so happy.

For years I lived in Elliot's castle under his rules. It felt so captivating, I could barely do anything I wanted.

Here, I felt so cared for.

I felt special.

I turned and hugged Matteo tightly out of the blue, just feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and love that I couldn't help myself. "Marella? Are you okay?" He hugged me back as I nodded into his shoulder.

"I'm just so happy."

"You're so cute, love," he said. He rubbed my back, letting me hold him tight. He turned his head to speak quietly into my ear, "You won't ever have to go back to where you were ever again, I can promise you that. We're with you now, okay?"

I pulled away, nodding at him. He held my face in his hands as he kissed me. 

"Finish eating, pretty girl. We have one more thing for you." He said. My eyebrows raised in surprise.

Obviously, I finished eating quite quickly, too curious to know what Matteo was talking about.

I waited a few minutes for the rest of them to finish too, until they finally told me to follow them.

"In your room," Elijah winked. My room? They must've gotten someone to do something while we ate.

I headed upstairs, the three of them behind me as we made our way to my room. I pushed my bedroom door open to find a small table only a few feet away.

I walked up to it, taking in the sight of a white vase filled with flowers and a small white note on the side.

It was a bouquet filled with lilies, red roses, and lotus'. They looked so pretty.

I admired them before picking up the drawing. I flipped it over, sweet words written on the back that I'll never forget.

"Will you be ours, Marella?"

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆
𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞