Melina opens her eyes, and darkness greets her. She sits up on a hard concrete floor where she was laying . Feeling a wall behind her, she rests her back against it. She pulls her knees to her chest and looks around the dark room, wondering where she is. She can tell she’s underground, as the place has no windows. Other than that, she can't say anything about the room.
Her mind drifts and thinks about what Thomas means by doing it the hard way. She’s curious if the rumors about men like him are true. Goosebumps spread out on her skin, as she thought about it. If they are true, things don’t look very good for her.
Thinking about Thomas has her thinking about what her life would be like if she didn't steal his money for James. Melina would’ve had a good life. She would’ve been attending school to get her nursing degree. Melina has a deep love for helping people and wanted to work as a nurse. She would’ve been able to throw it in the faces of those who kept saying she could only get by using her looks.
Melina would be happy because she'd be with Thomas. She sniffs and wipes her cheeks. She wants to fix the past, but she knows there’s nothing she can do.
Recalling the day she met Thomas, a sad smile settles on her face.
(A Year ago)
"James, you told me Justin was the last one. I don't want to do this again," Melina whines, tears pooling in her eyes.
James was her husband, but he forces her to trick men into falling in love with her so they can con them out of their money. Melinda doesn't want to do it, but with James she doesn't have a choice.
"I know I said that, honey, but I promise you this is the last one. After this one, we’ll have all the money we need," James says, caressing her face. His touch causes her to flinch. She forces a smile, hoping he doesn’t notice it.
"Promise?"
"I promise," he says, kissing her forehead.
"Can you show me what he looks like again?" She moves closer to him on the couch. He shows her the picture of the new man he wants her to seduce. Melina smiles as she looks at the handsome man. James is stunning, too, with his blond hair and blue eyes, but this man puts him to shame. The smile on her face drops at the thought of James. She hopes he didn't see her smiling at the man's picture. Her hands unconsciously move to the new scar on her arm, rubbing it as tears fill her eyes.
"His name is Thomas Costanzo. He’s one of the richest men in Italy and the US," James says, his voice dripping with greed.
"How sure are you that the plan will work?"
"Trust me, you are irresistible." James' eyes roam Melina's body. She moves back, feeling a little uncomfortable.
"I don't think I’m that beautiful."
"Trust me, you are." James grabs her hand and places it on his growing bulge. She slowly pulls it away, hoping he doesn't want sex right now. She’s still recovering from last night.
Melina releases the breath she’s holding as James takes the remote and switches on the TV. Their living room is lovely with gray couches facing their smart TV that hangs on the white wall. A beautiful plant sits beside the TV, bringing some color to the room.
James lifts his legs and rests them on the brown coffee table that matches the TV stand. Standing up from the sofa, she walks to the bedroom of the luxury apartment. She wants to get away from him before he changes his mind and demands sex. Their bedroom is beautiful with gray painted walls and vintage art hanging above the king size bed. She lies down on their bed wondering if a day will ever come when she doesn't have to worry about such things. She doesn’t deserve to live in fear.
***
Later that night, James and Melina leave their house for the party Thomas Costanzo is hosting. Melina hopes everything goes as James wants so she suffers no consequences. She smacks her lips together and checks herself in her hand mirror, ensuring she looks perfect. The car pulls up in front of the Costanzo Hotel.
"You look perfect; let's go." James walks out of the car, and she follows behind. He’s wearing a black tux as she wears a sparkling champagne nude tulle gown with shiny handmade embroideries. He grabs her hand, and they walk to the ballroom hand-in-hand.
They walk around greeting a few familiar faces. Melina mainly scans the room for Thomas as they walk around. He’s the host, but surprisingly he’s nowhere to be found. It's been an hour now since they arrived at the party, yet Thomas was nowhere to be found. Feeling a little tired, Melina decides to leave the crowd to go sit down. She doesn't take more than a step before James stops her.
"Where are you going?" he asks, grabbing her hand.
"My feet hurt. I want to sit down for a while." She resists the urge to pull her hand out of his as that will only make him angrier.
"Rest for ten minutes, then come back here." James releases her and turns back to the group.
Melina massages her wrist, hoping a bruise doesn't form by tomorrow. On her way to the sitting area, a friend of hers from high school approaches her.
"Hi Melina," Claire pecks Melina's cheeks and hugs her. Melina isn't surprised to run into Claire here since she moved to LA from Chicago after they graduated high school. Claire is the one who introduced her and James to most of the people they know in LA.
"How're you doing?"
"I am doing well; how're you?"
"I'm—" Melina gets cut short as someone wraps his arm around her waist. Her body becomes ridge as she recognizes his touch. James turns his face away from Claire after giving her a fake smile.
"Didn't you say you were going to sit down? Why the fuck are you here talking to Claire?" James whispers through gritted teeth.
"Claire, could you excuse us? James and I have something private to discuss."
"Sure, see you guys later." Claire walks away from the couple.
"She—" Melina tried to explain that Claire stopped her but James interrupts her again.
"Follow me." James takes hold of her arm and drags her away from the party. She wiggles to get her hand free but fails. James tightens his grip and digs his nails into her wrist.
The color on her face drains away as she sees the ballroom entrance. She struggles harder to get free, digging her heels into the ground.
Suddenly, James lets go of her hand. She turns to face him, wondering why he let go, and sees him looking at someone. She recognizes the person and finds herself staring, too. It’s Thomas. His piercing blue eyes are more beautiful in real life. His long, full eyelashes fan his face when he blinks. His nose is long and pointed. He has a well-defined jaw that's sharp and carved. The one thing that stands out the most on his face is his lips. Melina wets her lips at how beautiful, plump, and light pink they are.
She yelps as James suddenly pushes her to the ground in front of Thomas. She turns to ask James why he did that, but she finds him nowhere to be seen.
"Are you okay?" Thomas asks, his voice deep and husky. He bends down and helps her stand.
"Yes, thank you." She dusts off her dress and hands, wincing as she does.
"It seems you bruised your elbow." Thomas takes her arm, and Melina feels a spark as their skin touches. She pulls her arm back but Thomas pulls it forward and inspects her wound. "You need to get it checked out."
"No, there’s no need for that. It's just a small scrape." Melina drops her arm, wincing again.
"You’re flinching because it hurts. Admit it, I’m right," he smirks, staring at her.
"I guess so."
"Come with me," he takes hold of her hand, and she feels the sparks again. Melina locks eyes with him, and she can tell he feels it too. He stares deep into her eyes. He only looks away when their hands start to feel sticky from sweating, but he doesn't let go.
"Let's go." Thomas walks them toward the exit.
"Where are you taking me?"
"To get your elbow treated."
"Oh."
"What is your name, Bella?" Thomas asks, pressing the elevator button.
"Melina. Melina Davis." They step into the elevator as it opens.
“Hello, Melina Davis. I’m Thomas Costanzo. Nice to meet you." He smiles, staring at her.
"Nice to meet you, too."
Melina looks down at their still joined hands as they stand in the elevator. She wonders why he won't let go. She won't lie, though, she’s happy he hasn't. His hands are warm, and his touch is calming. Melina smiles for the first time tonight and allows herself to enjoy this moment with Thomas Costanzo. She wishes the elevator would never reach stop.
Melina snaps out of her reverie when the lights come on. She covers her eyes to fight the brightness. While adjusting to the light, she feels someone grab her left arm. She turns toward them, wondering who’s holding her and why."Get up," the strange, scary-looking, and bulky man says. He pulls her up and begins to drag her out of the room."Where am I? Where are you taking me? Where’s Thomas?"The man ignores all her questions and drags her into an open area. The place is poorly lit, so Melina can't see much other than the chair the man throws her on. She quickly stands up to run but gets pushed back. He glares at her, warning her to stay sitting. Fearing his gaze, she melts into the chair. She looks around, trying to figure out where he’s brought her or what he plans to do to her."Ouch." Melina looks down at her right hand. Her eyes widen as she realizes he’s using cable ties to strap her hands to the chair. He does the same to her legs."Why are you tying me down?" she asks, tryin
Laying on the cold cement floor in the dark, Melina remembers the day she found out Thomas’s true identity.Six Months agoShe wakes up the day after James stole Thomas’s money, to discover that he’s run away with all the money, leaving her signed divorce papers. She’s happy he divorced her but she wonders why. She picks up her phone to call James, wanting a real explanation when she notices he sent her an email. It’s a video. Playing the video, Melina is horrified by what she sees. It’s the most gruesome thing she’s ever seen in her life. It’s Thomas standing in a bar beating someone. Thomas takes the man’s head, banging it against a table over and over again. Melina cringes as she hears the bone in the man’s nose break and his bloods splash all over Thomas’s face and shirt. He grabs a bottle and breaks it on the man’s head. Glass fills his hair and some gets stuck in his face. Thomas smirks before slamming his head into the table again. The glass slices his face and blood is every
Melina wakes up to the sound of the door opening. She doesn’t remember falling asleep. The same man from last time steps inside and asks her to follow him. They walk out of the room to the room where they tortured her. He asks her to sit in the chair covered in her dried blood. She doesn’t fight him this time, but she cringes as he straps her to the chair."How’re you feeling today, Melina?" Kimberly asks, walking toward her from the stairs. She wears black denim jeans and a jacket with a brown T-shirt. Her black ankle boots click hard against the floor as she approaches Melina. She’s wearing the same red lipstick from yesterday and her pitch black hair is in a rough bun."As you would expect." "Hmm.” Kimberly nods, taking off her jacket."Today, we’re going to do things like yesterday. I’m going to give you three chances to tell me where James or the money is before I make you suffer.""I already told you I don’t know."“I can see you’re still choosing to protect him. No problem, we
THOMAS Thomas gently places Melina on the bed. He stares at the wounds on her body, and a deep frown appears on his face. Every fiber in his body is boiling with rage. There’s no one on this earth he hates more than her. Betrayal isn’t something he takes lightly, and the fact that it was her makes it ten times worse. Thomas refocuses his thoughts when the doctor knocks on the door. He tells him to come in as he backs away from the bed to give the man room to work. "Make sure she doesn't die," Thomas plans to kill Melina, but not yet. He isn't going to give her the glory of an easy death. By the time he’s done with her, he’ll make sure she regrets the day she met him. "I will, sir," the doctor replies and begins to work on Melina's wounds. Thomas leaves the doctor to work and returns to his bathroom for a shower. He needs to cool down, and he also needs to wash off Melina's blood. Kimberly really did a number on her. He’s surprised Melina lasted as long as she did before she pass
THOMASThomas walks downstairs to his office where Richard is waiting for him. He enters and takes his seat behind the desk."Sorry for asking to see you so late at night, sir, but we have a big problem.""What is it?""Melina isn’t married to James.""What?" Thomas says, looking at Richard as if he has two heads. He's shocked. “How?”"Six months ago, James filed for divorce?""James filed for it? Not Melina?""Yes, sir."Thomas takes a minute to process what Richard just told him. He can't believe Melina’s no longer married to that cunt. It has him wondering if Melina’s telling the truth, but it doesn't change anything, even if she is. Thomas isn’t looking for James to get his money back. He’s going to make James pay for stealing it, whether Melina is divorced or not. She lied to him. Nothing in this world will change the fact that she approached him to steal his money. Her feelings were fake. She was going to pay for making him fall in love with her."You're implying she might be t
Two weeks later… MELINA It's been two weeks since Melina was in the torture room. She’s figured out she’s in Italy as everyone here speaks Italian. By everyone, that includes the maids living in the house where Melina has been recovering for the past two weeks. Leo had brought her to the maid’s quarters, and until today she hadn't stepped out of it. Right now she’s on her way to Thomas' office with the cleaning supplies Linda gave her. She's surprised she'll be cleaning his office and bedroom as she assumed he wouldn't let her anywhere near him. What will he do when he sees her again? In the last few weeks, she and Linda have become good friends. The forty-year-old woman has been good to Melina. Her kindness makes Melina miss her elder sister, Franky. Melina never knew her mother's true identity. The woman walked out on the family when Melina was two years-old. Franky says that's when her father's drinking problem started. Melina didn't suffer what happened when her father was dr
Melina has no idea how long it has been since she arrived at the Costanzo Estate. She doesn't even want to know because it will remind her of how she has no control over her own life. Melina’s thoughts wander to her co-workers as she fiddles with her food, wondering if they called the police the following day after Thomas kidnapped her. She's sure they did and are worried about her. Picturing Jane's face, Melina imagines how worried she will be about her whereabouts. Her spoon goes limp in her cereal bowl as she realizes she may never see Jane, or worse, her sister, again. "What's the matter, dear?" Linda inquires, jolting Melina out of her reverie. She sits beside Melina in the kitchen."Nothing," Melina shakes her head and picks up her spoon again, but doesn't take a bite."You know you can tell me anything.""I know" Melina says, staring at her cereal bowl and fiddling with its contents, looking distracted."Did something happen with Thomas?" Linda is unaware of Melina's exact rel
Melina went about her chores the next morning with a lot on her mind. She waited all night for Thomas to call for her, but he never did. She’s guessing he didn’t return yesterday as Kim presumed, or worse, he’s simply plotting a way to kill her without leaving any evidence. Thinking about it causes her body to shake and a cold shiver to run down her spine. She couldn't sleep all night, terrified of what Thomas would do to her, and she couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand. Knowing it won’t do her any good if they find fault in her work, she decides to distract herself from the thoughts that are clogging her mind by singing. She loved singing when she was younger, and still does. Singing one of her favorite artist’s best songs, Melina begins a mini-show for the chairs and tables. She's singing a song by The Weeknd, Earned it..Melina walks to the back of a chair and places her hands on its edge; if someone were sitting in it, her hands would be on their shoulders. She sways her hips