Till Death do us Together

Chapter 13

~Alex~

In my first week here, I started to believe that whatever was going on in this house was really shady.

I wasn't afraid and though it should have been, my first instinct wasn't to run. I got a sickening feeling that they'd never let me leave on my own accord even if I wanted to.

The air was cold against my toes. Laying on my bed and swinging my legs in the air, I came up with a clear resolution. I was going to stay as long as they kept me here and try to figure out that it was going on.

Leo told me himself he wasn't a good man, and though I'd always sensed it from the beginning I really wanted to find out why.

For now I was mad at him, so when I woke up the next morning I changed into a swimsuit set I'd bought yesterday and robbed his pantry once he left for work. I'd never seen him eat Taki's or gummy bears, so I assumed the junk food was for the rest of the heathens that lived here and had no problem dipping into their stash.

As I stepped out onto the backyard, I winced at the burning of the concrete beneath my bare feet. Sicily in the summer was like living in a hot oven....I couldn't even breathe properly once I entered the sun, so what better thing to do than roast in it?

Sliding on my new shades, I headed to the swimming pool and just had to stop to look at the view, which managed to steal my breath. Living in a tough part of Rome, I'd never seen anything even remotely as beautiful as this.

Ties and tiers of green unfolded in front of my eyes. On one side there were mountains where this house sat on, and on the other was an ocean beneath a cliff drop.

When stepping away from the balcony and heading to the pool I noticed a neon inflatable float standing against the side of a wall, practically the size of a bed and I let out a laugh. Some men.

I'd pay big bucks to see one of the brutes living here floating on this thing.

I picked it up and dragged it onto Leo's pool, groaning with how heavy it was. Once it landed on the water I climbed on and exhaled, listening to the pool water sway and splash with the movement.

Oh this was nice. As I laid back and plugged in my earphones, I vowed not to do anything all day.

The naked sun burned my skin. The float drifted around the enormous pool, and I didn't even realise when I'd fallen asleep until a man spoke.

"Alex."

My eyes shot open to see Cade standing staring at me. The sky was a dusty blue now and the sun had long gone. As I turned on my phone screen, my jaw dropped.

10pm already?

"Having fun there?"

"Wanna join? Promise I won't splash you."

He ran his palm over his jaw, and when he set it down the joke was over and a grave expression formed took over him. "Leonardo will be home soon. If you're not in your room by then he'll-"

"He'll what?" I asked. "Hurt me? Spank me?" A pout formed on my face as Cade rubbed his temple. "I'd like to see anyone try."

"You're about as scary as a puppy."

I slid my sunglasses down. "And so are you."

A muscle in his jaw tensed and he raised a finger my way. "If you're not in bed in five minutes, Leonardo will come here and-"