Elsa
We drive out of the garage and he turns his head to look at me, a silent question in his eyes. I sigh.
“I am spending the night in Rita’s apartment. You can just drop me there. I don’t feel like going home at all to safe Rosa. I would rather sleep alone in Rita’s apartment. I have a spare key. This is why I need my own apartment where I can just go home at any time and not be answerable to anyone.
Ten minutes later, we arrived.
“Thank you,” I say, grabbing the handle, but the door doesn’t budge.
“I’ll walk you to the door. I’d like to be sure you’ve arrived safely.”
We take the elevator up. I really need to be alone by now.
“We are here,” I say, pushing the key into the lock. “Thank you for your help. I’ll manage on my own now.”
Sergio doesn’t want to hear it. As soon as I open the door, he tries slipping inside with me.
“What the fuck are you doing? Don’t you get it? I don’t want you around anymore!” I growl, stopping at the door. “You said what you wanted. Now leave me alone. Bye.”
I try closing the door, but Sergio’s strong hands stopped me.
“I missed you. Let me in,” he says.
I let the door go, withdraw inside, and switch the light on.
“Sergio, goddamn it, I’ll call security!” I yell.
“I am sure the lady is clear she doesn’t want you here,” a familiar voice sounds from behind Sergio My heart skips. We both turn to find Marcello standing in the corridor, his face grim. Holy fuck. Sergio makes a walk to him. I wouldn’t do that if I were him.
“And who the fuck are you?” he asks, lifting his chin. Compared to Marcello’s manly appearance, Sergio has a rogue boyish appearance that makes him look younger than he actually is.
Marcello doesn’t respond. He just stands still, his hands thrust in his pants pockets. Fuck he looks so hot!
Sergio finally gets face-to-face with him.
“Are you dumb? Or did you just not hear me?” Sergio goes on to push him.
“I will make this simple for you because I don’t want her to pass out seeing your head dislodged from your body. If you have some little respect for your life, you will run out of here so fast that I won’t be able to catch you,” Marcello’s voice is calm, as if talking to a kid. Sergio, rubs his face, clearly insulted.
” You stronzo!” he curses, trying to throw a punch at his face but he catches it mid-air. What happens next is a rush of testosterone of two men fighting over me, yet I stand there looking on like a cabbage. Next thing I know, Sergio’s lip is bleeding as well as his nose. It is most possibly broken. Marcello has his big hands wrapped around his throat, choking him to death.
“Stop it! Let him go for Christ’s sake! Don’t kill him,” I start pleading for Sergio’s life. Marcello lets him go after a minute as if he was considering otherwise.
Sergio staggers away.
“Fuck you!” he curses holding his neck as if to feel if it is still there.
“Sergio, go away.” As if that is what he has been waiting for, he staggers away to the elevator. I sigh, having survived witnessing a murder.
As soon as he leaves, Marcello turns around and faces me. I am not sure if this is really happening. Fear and anger struggle for dominance with happiness and relief in my head. He is s here, alive and well! For a long while, we stand like that, staring at each other. The tension between us is unbearable.
“Where the fuck have you been!?” I bellow. suddenly, slapping Marcello in the face, hard. “Do you have an idea, you goddamn egomaniac, what I’ve been through? Do you think I love fainting out of fear every fucking day? How could you leave me like that? Jesus!”
Resigned and exhausted, I collapse to the floor, my back sliding down the wall.
“You look breathtaking, dolcezza,” he says, trying to lift me in his arms. “That hair…”
“Don’t touch me! You won’t touch me ever again if you don’t explain yourself to me right now!”
My screaming made Marcello stand straighter. He looms over me, looking more beautiful than I remember. He is s wearing dark pants and a dark long-sleeved shirt, emphasizing his perfectly toned body. Even now, furious at him, I can’t not notice how extremely attractive he is s. I know he is a wild animal, ready to pounce, and that the attack will come anytime now.
I am not wrong. Marcello bends over and grabs me by the arms, standing me up, and slips his hand under my belly, throwing me over his shoulder, so I dangle head-down from his back.
My resistance and screaming won’t do me any good, so I just surrender, waiting for his next move. He goes through the door to the bedroom and throws me on the bed, quickly pressing his body to mine, blocking any movement I might have tried.
“You met with him? Why? You know that I’ll kill this man only to make him stop seeing you?”
I keep quiet. I don’t want to open my mouth, knowing that if I do, I will say more than I want. It is s late. I am tired and hungry, and this whole situation is s simply too much.
“I’m talking to you, Elsa.”
“I hear you, but I don’t want to talk to you,” I say quietly.
“That’s even better. The last thing I’m in a mood for is difficult conversations,” Marcello replies, and brutally pushes his tongue into my mouth.
I want to shove him away, but as soon as I feel his taste and his scent, all the days spent without him flash before my eyes. What I could remember above all was the sadness and the pain.
“Sixteen,” I whispered without breaking the kiss.
Marcello stopped and looked at me quizzically.
“Sixteen,” I repeat. “That’s how many days you owe me, don Marcello.”
He smiled and ripped his shirt off with one fluid move. The dim light coming from the living room illuminates his naked chest, revealing fresh wounds, some still with bandages on them.
Oh.