Untraceable (30 page)

“
Perfettamente,” he
responded, angrily rising from the bed. The call ended.

When she lifted her eyes to meet
Micah’s, his face was ghost white. “Now that we understand each
other a little better,” she began confidently, filling his glass
with champagne, “take off the guns.”

CHAPTER twenty

It had been a full week since the
accident—at least I think it had been a week. I didn’t know for
certain anymore. I spent most of my time weeping, dozing off only
to wake and find that I was still inside of a nightmare. Sharon
arrived at the house on the fourth or fifth day. She wouldn’t come
upstairs. Instead, she ordered Jonathan to gag me and bring me
down. I didn’t understand at first, but then I heard her on the
phone; she was talking to Micah and she was merely keeping me
silent until she would allow me to speak to him. As soon as she
ended the call, she left. I knew she was heading for Hilton Head;
I’d heard her tell Micah that was where she’d meet him.

That same night, I was allowed one
brief moment to see video of Micah’s face and to speak to him
before she ended our conversation. That was days ago and I had no
idea what was happening.

Since the first day I woke in this
house, Jonathan had been my main human contact. I’d heard him many
times telling the others to stay out of the bedroom and to leave me
alone. From the range of voices, I was certain there were now four
men in addition to Jonathan.

Jonathan never said much to me after
what was spoken the day he took me, but from the amount of
arguments I overheard, he evidently didn’t get along with my other
captors. He allowed me a total of five bathroom/stretching breaks a
day, and he brought me three meals a day. I suspected he was the
one preparing the food since they were Italian dishes. I wanted to
refuse. I wanted to find some way to make him regret what he’d
done, but I had to eat. I didn’t want food, but I accepted it with
the knowledge that the baby needed it. I also suspected that he was
either putting something in my food or water to put me out at night
because after my conversation with Micah, he realized I had sleep
issues. Since I last spoke with Micah, I’d been falling asleep each
night.

But tonight was different. He came
into the room before my scheduled break and he was carrying his
phone; he wore a strange expression.

“
We have a problem,”
Jonathan stated as he set the phone down. “It appears your husband
has done something to anger Sharon and now you are supposed to be
punished for his disregard for her rules.”

I stiffened at the mention
of punishment. I was dealing with mafia mentality. Punishment in
their realm could mean many things, but whatever was about to
happen, I knew it would be severe. I didn’t have the strength or
the will left to be brave as my eyes filled with tears. “Do what
you have to, but
please
Jonathan don’t hurt my son,” I begged as the
tears washed down my face.

He pulled the chair next to the bed
and sat for a moment simply studying my face. I could tell he was
on the verge of saying something that was difficult for him. I
braced for the worst, but then he surprised me.

“
I cannot hurt you,
Annalisa,” he whispered. He spoke again, but this time quieter, “I
was sent here to protect you.”

I didn’t know what to say. It seemed
so unbelievable to have heard those words that I started to wonder
if I was hallucinating with my ears.

His demeanor seemed to soften
completely. I knew, for however long it would last, I was dealing
with Jonathan, not Giovanni.

He reached out and gently stroked my
cheek, “But I have to make this look convincing and we do not have
much time; I am going to take most of your clothes off.”

“
NO!” I jolted back to
reality. The man was a professional liar and this had to be some
psychotic sick ruse he was using to undress me. He’d lied to me
about everything else. I was certain that he was testing to see
just how stupid I was, wondering if I’d fall for his tricks, again.
“Don’t touch me! Please, Jonathan, I know what you’re
planning.
I’m begging you; please don’t do
this to me.
”

“
I give you my word of
honor that I will not penetrate you, but we only have a few minutes
left and she is expecting to show your husband your
punishment.”

“
Show him! No, God,
no—don’t do this to me.” I was becoming hysterical at this point.
Micah would snap. He wouldn’t be able to stomach another man taking
me.

Jonathan took my face roughly in his
hand and tightened down on my jaw, “Look at me, Annalisa. Pay
careful attention. That phone is going to ring and when it does she
is expecting to see you cut or mutilated. I cannot do that to you
and I do not have time to fake something without raising the
suspicions of the other men in the house. Your benefactor would
never forgive me. You are going to have to trust me, although I
understand why you do not, but it is too late for that now.” He
grabbed one of the straight-backed chairs by the dresser and wedged
the top of it below the door knob to keep the other men
out.

My heart was beginning to pound and
the room suddenly felt airless.

He turned to face me as his hands
dropped low to unfasten his pants.

I squeezed my eyes shut and began to
tremble; I didn’t want to see his body. Fragments of time passed
like needles gouging into my skin, knowing that at any moment the
nightmare would intensify.

When he touched me, my scream was
instantaneous—but so was his response as his hand covered my
mouth.

“
Do not start screaming
until I am ready,” he stated. “I told them I was supposed to punish
you, but if they think you are nude, they may try to come
in.
You do not want them in the room,
Annalisa
.”

“
No! No! No! Please,” I
begged under his hand. I could feel him tugging off my skirt, but I
couldn’t stop him.

“
I will leave your blouse
on until she calls, then I will attempt to remove it. You can fight
against me, Leese, but do not thrash so much that you injure
yourself or the baby.”

When he grabbed my panties, the only
thing he said was, “I am sorry.”

I was freaking out. This couldn’t be
happening. I closed my eyes again, tighter this time believing if I
could just block everything out, it would all stop, it would all be
over. When I felt his hand touch between my legs, I bit my tongue
to hold in the scream. Yet, even in my panic, I knew something was
wrong; his hand was there, but it wasn’t touching my body. Instead,
something soft was being placed between my legs, and the surprise
of it silenced me.

“
I do not know if I am
actually this strong, Annalisa.” He stated lifting a small, light
blue piece of folded material to show me what he was doing. “It is
my boxers,” he stated, placing it back between my legs. “Do not
flail your legs too strongly, we do not want her to see this and we
certainly do not want it to slip out from between us.” He pulled
the nearby chair closer to the bed and placed the phone against the
back rest and then carefully climbed between my legs. “I am going
to be on you, but I will not put weight on the baby if I can help
it. Do not be silent when I answer the phone,” he said with a faint
smile. “If this was real, I am sure you would not be.”

But I couldn’t say anything. I was
still in shock that this was happening—or to be more precise, not
happening.

“
You must show you are
against this,” he whispered, and then firmly pressed his pelvis
into mine.

I inhaled at the pressure, but I still
couldn’t react. The phone rang and my head was as void as open
air.

“
Damn it, Annalisa—you are
going to make this difficult for me,” he stated with exasperation,
and then suddenly he was on me, one hand gripping my wrists and the
other groping my breasts. I began to scream and beg for him to get
off me. “Yes, baby, this is what I need from you. Tell me no,” he
begged as his hips began to rhythmically push between my legs. I
could tell his body was aroused and I was certain at any moment the
fabric would move and this would become real as I pled for him to
stop.

The phone was on the second ring when
he lifted his hips and reached over and pressed the screen. Even
through my cries of terror, I could hear Sharon’s voice and I knew
Micah was about to be witness to something he shouldn’t see.
Jonathan had returned to being his unemotional self, his grip
feeling as if it could crush my wrists, his eyes void. I could hear
Micah’s voice and then Sharon’s. Jonathan was arguing with her, and
then he reached over and grabbed the phone.

Suddenly everything slowed and he was
shushing me, telling me it was okay, the call had ended.

I was repeating Micah’s name over and
over. The pain I knew he was experiencing was piercing into my
heart and I was so afraid for him right now.

“
It is okay, Annalisa, we
did it,” Jonathan crooned.

“
Please,” I asked gently
when I understood that he wasn’t preparing to move from between my
legs. “Please get off me and give me back my clothes.”

“
You are very beautiful,”
he responded, giving me a look that hadn’t been there during our
exhibition. His hands were drifting down my arms, sliding over the
fabric of my now open blouse against my ribcage. He lifted my
breasts under my bra as he did. “I am not this strong—indulge me,
Annalisa—I promise you will enjoy it.”

“
You—you gave me your word
of honor, Jonathan,” I stammered. “Please, get up. Whoever sent you
said to keep me safe—raping me is wrong and you know
it.”

“
Kiss me, Annalisa,” he
asked as his face moved toward mine.

“
Is this how you keep your
word? I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from you.” I made
sure my words were filled with bitterness and disappointment. To my
surprise, he stopped advancing.

“
You are right. After
everything you have been through with me, I can understand why you
feel this way. But I can keep my word.” He rose slowly and removed
what he had placed between us. He picked up my underwear and
slipped my feet through them and carefully pulled them
up.

“
If you would unchain me,
I could—”

“
No. I am sorry, but I am
afraid I know a little too much about you, and I do not want you
trying to attack me—especially in your current state.”

I swung my legs slowly over the side
and sat up. He bent down and retrieved my skirt from the floor. He
held it open. I had to rest my hand on his shoulder for balance as
I stepped into it. He pulled it up and straightened it himself as
we stood their only inches apart.

“
Tell me who sent
you—please,” I asked softly. “I’m starting to believe you really
don’t work for Sharon.”

“
I am, how you would say
in English, a loaner. The person who sent me here knew she was up
to something and that it would involve you, so he asked me to work
with her and if things progressed, as they have, I am to be your
protector.”

“
Who sent you?”

“
I cannot tell
you.”

“
The other men, they are
Sharon’s, aren’t they?”

“
Definitely. I did not
expect her to strand us here with them, nor refuse to return my
guns or I would have had you out of here and in New York by
now.”

“
New York?” I suddenly
realized who my benefactor would be, but why he would send someone
to protect me was a mystery. “You work for the Capo dei
Capi?”

Jonathan smiled, “You are a very
intelligent young woman. I never expected you to say
that.”

“
If I was intelligent, I
would have listened to my husband when he told me you were
dangerous and I wouldn’t be here right now. I’m not going to New
York with you.” My eyes were stinging and my throat beginning to
constrict as I suddenly began to feel responsible for what was
taking place.

“
You do not have a choice;
you will go. And, as far as the other, it would not have mattered,
Annalisa. I had to be the one to take you whether you fell for my
stories or not. Her men would have hurt you and I could not allow
that to happen.”

“
Why is he…” I paused,
thinking about what Micah had told me about this man in New York, a
man so dangerous that even Micah was afraid of him. “Why would he
protect me?”

“
Let me just say he is
your very best fan.”

“
Micah—he saved Micah
from… He did that because of me?”

“
Yes. He saved your
husband because of you.”

“
Then he wasn’t going to
make Micah work for him?”

“
No.”

I sat down, almost too quickly, onto
the bed, but my knees were giving out and I was going down anyway.
I was just grateful there was a bed below to catch me.

“
Do not do that!” he
shouted, reaching to slow my descent, but he simply hadn’t been
quick enough. “That is no good for the bambino!”

He was redressing when someone tried
to open the bedroom door. Suddenly, he was all Giovanni as he
knocked the chair away and snatched the door open. I didn’t
understand much of the Italian he was using, but I was pretty sure
it was all cursing.