Chapter 4[Stronzo]

Athena

The box finally stopped moving after 12 hours of being shipped around in Romano’s private jet like a FRIGGING DOLL.

I peep through the holes in the box and I saw Romano's men handing some documents to someone out of my view. I heard them say something like 'enjoy' and then I heard retreating footsteps.

‘Enjoy? What am I, pizza?’

That’s it, am done with this charade.

I kicked the box open and wow this house is fineeee. The floor was made of marble, it had an elegant rug at the center and a beautiful chandelier hanging at the top. There were paintings on the wall. The whole place was a mix of traditional and modern styles, definitely my style.

Forget the house these guys are finer. Gosh, Italian guys are THE hottest on the planet. Maybe being kidnapped wasn’t exactly all that bad. But these guys also look scary as hell.

There was a particular man in front of me, he looked like the boss. Am guessing he’s this friend Romano was talking about. He was tall, had a broad chest, and was well built, Gosh I feel so small right now. He had blue eyes, thin lips, and a sharp jawline that had a little stubble. His jet-black hair was styled to perfection.

He had his hands in the pocket of his pants. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt that hugged his frame perfectly. Damn, this dude looks like he works out ALOT, they all do. I’m Impressed.

Hot guys will be the end of me.

“Are you done?” The handsome-looking guy in front of me spoke.

I was too carried away by the finess around me that I didn’t realize I was gawking. I cleared my throat and composed myself.

“Where am I?” I asked, acting all tough. Yes, he’s hot but I’m not about to flirt with someone that takes humans as collateral.

“My manor” ‘Your manor, I know this is your house'

“Where exactly?”

“Sicily”

“Of course” I knew they’d shipped me off to someplace in Italy. It dawned on me that I was still inside a box so I tried to get out but I looked so fucking ridiculous. One of the men tried to help me but hello, I’m Miss Independent I can get out of the box on my own.

“Can I have a phone?” I asked, no, demanded. The man looked surprised at the way I talked but I didn’t care right now, I was so worried about Sophie and I’m sure she was worried about me too, I just wanted to assure her that I was fine.

“Look, in less than 24 hours I was kidnapped, missed a date with my long-time crush, had The Worst Seafood Risotto, and flew 12 hours in a box all because of this stupid arrangement you have with Romano. Now the last thing you want to do is piss me off. THE PHONE!” I borrowed a little of Sophie’s confidence and a tiny bit of anger and added it with the one I had left and spoke with it. I’ve endured enough bullshit that could last for an entire lifetime in less than 24 hours, and I was getting pissed.

The man looked at the other man who tried to help me out of the box, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Thank you,” I said, sincerely grateful but it didn’t sound like it but I don’t care.

I turned and looked for somewhere more private so I could talk to Sophie, it wasn’t very far from the living room. I didn’t want to wander around and get lost, this house is so frigging huge.

I have a very bad memory but one of the few things I was able to memorize was Sophie's number.

I dialed her number and after a few rings, she finally picked up.

“Sophie? Hello? Are you okay?” I was scared Romano might go back on the agreement, I wanted to make sure she was okay.

“Athena? WHAT THE FUCK BITCH!!! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I AM?! I WAS ABOUT TO FUCKING MOBILIZE THE ENTIRE U.S. POLICE FORCE.” She went into hysteria. She said all that in one breath.

“Breathe Sophie, breathe”

“Where are you? Are you okay?” Sophie asked a little more calmly.

“I’m fine Sophie. I can’t talk right now, I just called to make sure you're safe. Please apologize to Dylan for me”

“Girl, is everything okay? It happened didn’t it.” My silence was enough answer for her.

“Shit! Shit!! Shit!!! What should I do? Should I call Mom? The police?”

“Sophia Eloise Cellario, do you trust me?”

“Of course, you know I do”

“Under no circumstance should you tell Mom or the police about it. I am fine. If mom asks of me, tell her I'm fine. I’ll call you again as soon as I can okay?”

“Okay. Please be safe” I could hear her crying from the other line and it made me cry as well. She knew about Romano and my connection with the mafia, and we both knew this day would come. The day Romano would find me again and I have been preparing for this day ever since I ran away from Romano 10 years ago. Involving the police would only make matters worse, This is mafia business and it should be handled mafia style, I learned that at a very young age.

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too” With that, I ended the call. I wiped the tears from my face and composed myself.

‘You can do this Athena. You’ve been through hell before, you can do it again’ I told myself. If I was going to survive 8 months in this place I need to toughen up, I can't be that scared little girl.

I walked back into the living room and found the men discussing.

“Thank you,” I said and returned the phone to the owner. “Don’t worry, I didn’t call the police” I told the boss, but am sure he’s not worried about that, if he was he wouldn’t have allowed his men to give me his phone.

“Oh, I’m not worried. Have a seat. We’ve not been introduced properly” Told ya.

“Athena Valerio.” I extended my right hand for a shake.

“Luciano Ballarino,” He said as he shook my hand. Oh, fancy name but I need to get straight to the point.

“So Luciano, for this to work, we need to set some boundaries. I am Romano’s collateral but that doesn’t make me your slut. For the eight months that am going to be staying here, you can not touch me or…”

“Or what? You’ll call the police?” The nerve of him to interrupt me like that, cocky jerk

“Oh, I don’t need the police” Something about my response made him smirk.

‘Jerk’

I have my ways of dealing with jerks like him, ways Sophie taught me.

“Don’t worry, I am not the type that touches a woman without her consent” He said and then stood up and moved closer to me, he suddenly bent over catching me off guard. The smell of his strong masculine cologne hitting my nostrils and damn he smells so good. His mouth was almost touching my ear but no skin contact was made.

“They beg me to touch them” His voice suddenly went dangerously low and it made me nervous and excited. Goose bumps broke out on my skin and I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

"Is that all?" He asked with a smug look on his face

"For now," I say tossing my hair to the back. I wanted to seem as confident as I can

"Okay," He said and left.

‘Stronzo’