My Masters' Nightmare Season 1, Episode 10 Stalked (2 page)

I continued down the road, listening as
their car followed me. I felt like stopping and getting a lift
rather than riding my bike, because the cross-country at school had
left my legs sore. I grimaced at the tightness in my thighs as I
hit the steep hill. Yeah, stuff it; the bodyguards could be of some
use to me today.

Putting my brakes on, I stopped
and
looked
over my shoulder, jerking in surprise. It wasn’t the bodyguards’
car; it was the other black car that had been parked behind them. I
couldn’t see through the window, it was too dark, but it made me
think of the Donatelli since it was an expensive car. They were a
flash family, always showing off their wealth, and right now I was
dead certain that Christo was behind the wheel. I knew I should
take off, but I couldn’t move. My arms and legs were frozen in
fear, while my mind was screaming at me to run.

The car door opened. Christo
got out
, his
intense pale-blue eyes zeroing in on me. He sauntered over to me,
the cocky grin on his face amused. “
Ciao
,
schiava
,” he said, calling me a slave. “What are you doing out
here all alone?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came
out.

He raised his eyebrows. “If I
were your father
, I’d have soldiers protecting you from men like me.” He
pulled out a knife from his belt.

M
y heart stopped as he wiped blood onto his
dark pants. “What did you do?” I croaked out.

He held up the knife. “It doesn’t
matter who you have protecting you, I will always get to you, no
matter what.”

“
You killed my father’s
men?”

He pocketed the
knife
.
“Killing is such a harsh word; I prefer to say that I paved the way
for them to meet their creator.”

Panicked by his words, I
went to take off on
my bicycle. He grabbed my arm and yanked me off it. I screamed, but
he moved too swiftly, clamping a hand over my mouth as my bicycle
crashed to the ground. The door of the cottage we were standing in
front of swung open. A burly man stepped outside, but as soon as he
spotted Christo, he rushed back inside the house, slamming the door
shut.

Christo smiled at me. “You can
scream all you like,
schiava
, but it will do you no good. No one will come to
your rescue, I’m untouchable.” He leaned forward and kissed the
tears rolling down my cheek. I tried to pull away, but he clamped a
hand behind my neck, locking me in place. “You look so scared,” he
said, his lips now glistening from my tears. “You shouldn’t be,
unless you have done something wrong: such as kissing Jagger
D’Angelo. Don’t you remember what I told you I would do if you
didn’t break up with that boy?” He waited for a moment as though he
expected me to answer him, but I couldn’t since his hand was still
clamped over my mouth. “I said I’d kill you,” he answered for me.
He moved his mouth to my ear. “But that would be such a waste, so
I’ll give you one more chance, pretty little
schiava
: break up with the boy or I’ll make
sure
you
won’t be going to God a virgin, unless
Jagger has already taken your
virginity. Has he?”

Now
sobbing, I shook my head.

He
removed his hand from my mouth. “By
the way, your boyfriend isn’t a virgin, but not in the way you
think.”

“
Please let me
go.”

“
Why ever should I do that? The
fun has only begun.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and spun me
around,
causing me to release a startled scream. He stopped,
allowing my feet to touch the ground. “There really is no reason
for you to scream. We were merely dancing.” He let me go, the
freedom bewildering me.

He tapped my lips with a
finger. “Say
arriverderla
,” he said, telling me to say the formal version of
bye.

“
Ar
riverderla
,” I croaked out.

“
Arriverderla
,
what?”

I
stared at him, not knowing what else
he wanted me to say.

“
It’s
‘Ar
riverderla
, master’,” he said.

“
What?”

“
I’m now your master,
schiava
, so you will address me with respect every time you see
me, and if you don’t, I will kill a member of your
famiglia
.”

I stifled a sob with my
hand.

“
There’s no need to be upset,”
he said, “you just need to say what I have instructed you
to.”

“
Ar
riverderla
, master.”

He nodded, looking
satisfied
.
“Good
schiava.
” He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me forward,
kissing me roughly. After what felt like forever, he finally let go
and headed back to his car. He got in and drove forward, stopping
next to me. The window wound down. “
Watch your back,
schiava
; you never know when I might feel the
need to possess a full-time slave, especially a virginal
one.”

He wound the window back up and drove off,
leaving me staring after his car as it disappeared down the road. I
sank to my knees and started sobbing.

A red Alfa Romeo pulled up next to me. The
door opened and Frano stepped out, his face looking concerned. “Are
you alright, Sophia?” he asked, bobbing down.

I shook my head and flung myself at
him, hugging him for dear life.

2

RITA

Frano
was always trying to save me. Like
that day he’d happened along right after Christo had threatened me.
Instead of telling him what Christo had said, I had allowed him to
believe I’d had an accident. In response, he’d helped me up and
carried me to his car, driving me home.

Though,
I wondered what would’ve
happened if Frano had arrived a few minutes earlier. Would
everything be different now? Would he even be alive? Because
back then, I didn’t
think
anyone
could take Christo down. But now Frano was a don—a figure of
authority and respect amongst the
Mafioso
community
.
Regardless, I still didn’t want him to face
Christo and risk losing him. Instead, I was going to take care of
Christo myself, so the bastard didn’t harm another soul.

“
I won’t allow you to do this,”
Frano snapped, upset that I wanted to get a message to Christo that
I was alive. “
He will finish what he started
.”

I nodded.
“You are right.”

He stopped flailing his arms about. “I
am?” he said, looking surprised I’d agreed with him.

“
Yes, it was a horrible
idea.”

“
O
-kay,” Frano said.

“
Don’t look so surprised.
Sometimes I speak without thinking. You made me see
sense.”

“
I did?”

I laughed at his dumbstruck
expression.

His eyebrows pulled together.
“
Why do you
find this conversation so humorous?”

“
You
’
re making the most adorable facial
expressions; that’s why.”
I took a hold of his handsome face. “But you are
definitely right.” I kissed his lips. “You are totally and utterly
correct,
amore mio
.” I kissed him again.

“
I know,” he muttered
against my lips.

“
And you are very cocky,” I
said, brushing a hand over his crotch.

He grabbed my
wrist
.
“Don’t make me hard.”

I pulled away from his
lips.
“Why
not?”

“
No matter how much I ache to be
inside of you, I can’t right now. I have people to phone and
arrangements to make.”

“
I won’t interfere as long as
you allow me two things.”

He let go of my
wrist
. “What
do you want?”

“
Give me some clothes as well
as
freedom
to roam the house.”

“
I can give you clothes, but I
would prefer that you stay in my room.”

“
Why?”

“
The Landi soldiers are not to
be trusted now. The other women are being watched as
well.”

“
Unlike the other women, I
can defend myself.”

“
It’s still safer if you
stay in here.”

“
How’s that? They can still get
to me, and unless you’re going to stick by my side every second of
the day, there’s no use closeting me away. And it’s not like I’m a
Donatelli; they have no quarrel with me.”

“
True.”

“
That’s because it is. So, fetch
me some clothes and allow me out of your room, because I need to
talk to Honey about why the FBI sent her here.”

He nodded. “That’s a good idea. While I
get the clothes, phone the FBI and tell them to stay away.” He
kissed me again, then left the room.

I
went to his desk and picked up the
phone, dialing the number for my boss. Dan’s secretary answered,
sounding surprised when she heard my voice. She put me through to
Dan, his voice coming over the line a few seconds later.

“
Where are
you
?” he
asked.

“
In
the D’Angelos’ Italian
house.”

“
How are you able to call
me?”

“
The Don left me alone in his
room, which means I can’t talk for long, so I’ll cut to the chase:
Federico is dead, Matt killed him.”

“
Matt’s alive?” Dan said,
sounding shocked, probably already knowing about Federico from
Honey.

“
Yes, and a Donatelli
spy.”

“
He’s what?!”

“
It’
s true; he’s been playing us all for
fools. And why didn’t you tell me about Sarah being a plant?” I
said, using Honey’s real name.

He went quiet.

“
Dan,” I hissed out. “I don’t
have much time on the phone. Understand this: I have tricked Frano
D’Angelo into believing I’m his lover. He trusts me now, but he
won’t if he catches me on his phone talking to you. Now, tell me
why I wasn’t told about Sarah being a plant.”

“
My boss suspected you were the
spy, not Matt. I told him I didn’t think you were, but he wasn’t
convinced, so he told me to have a fake family come in and give you
their sob story about Sarah. I had to convince you to take this job
any way I could. Don’t be angry with me; you still needed to take
the job. I wanted to prove that you weren’t the spy; I just didn’t
expect it was Matt. He ... God, how could he be a
Donatelli?”

“
He’s a very accomplished liar,”
I spat out, still furious with my pretend husband. “I lived with
him and didn’t even suspect a thing. He had the D’Angelos and
Federico fooled too, but that’s not why I’m calling. A war has
broken out amongst the families on the island. Christo Donatelli
has murdered two of Pedro Landi’s daughters with the help of the
Rosso family, and as a result, the Landi have taken up arms. The
D’Angelo house is now under lockdown with the Landi guarding it.
We’re basically prisoners in here, so whatever you do; do not have
anyone approach the house. The Landi are dangerous and extremely
volatile right now.”

“
I kno
w. The plant in the Santini household
informed us about the situation. The agents have been told to
observe only. Here is Julio Rodriquez’s number if you need to
contact him.” He rattled it off. “He’s heading the team on the
island. And if you can, get out of the D’Angelo house and head
straight for Julio. I don’t want you in the middle of a
Mafioso
war. We can take
out the Black Russian another way.”

“
I’m fine; Frano will protect
me. He’s under the delusion I’m someone called Sophia Salvi, an old
lover of his.”

Dan went quiet, making me grit my teeth.
He bloody knew; his silence proof that the FBI had been using me; I
just didn’t know for what purpose.

“
I have heard of
her,” Dan finally
said. “She died seven years ago.”

You
lying son of a bitch!
“Apparently I look
like her,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady.

“
A lucky
coincidence
.”

“
Yes
,” I replied, clenching my fist,
wondering what part he had in the mindfuck the FBI had done on me.
I just wished I could recall everything, because my memory was
still only returning in bits and pieces. Noise came from outside
the room. “I have to go, someone’s coming.” I hung up without a
goodbye, watching as Frano entered. I walked over to him, taking
the clothes out of his arms.