NFTMB)Chapter 52
Victoria
(Man Down)
I blinked twice to fully grasp the surroundings I was in and to fully ascertain the surprising fact that I was still alive.
I made it through.
It wasn’t one of those cliche or stereotypical days where someone wakes up to sunlight flooding the bedroom and stuff like that.
No.
This was Alessandro’s bed I woke up in and inside his room was where I was. He must definitely hate the light since his room was blackened out to such a shocking extent.
Alessandro
The very thought of his name sent scary shivers down my spine. I almost felt numb as an aftereffect of what I experienced for hours since yesterday evening.
It was another day now. His side of the bed was empty and cold, signaling that he had been out of bed for a while now. Possibly, while I slept.
Memories of yesterday flooded right back into my brain as I gripped the duvet closer to my body and shuddered at how much of an animal Alessandro truly was.
I would rather die than go down that horrifying road with him again.
He made sure to suck the last ounce of strength out of my body even though I begged and pleaded with him to stop countless times.
Last night has officially got to be the worst night of my life.
If not for fear of what he could do to me in anger and also the fear of going back into those handcuffs, why would I agree to have sex with a lunatic like him.
I’m just glad I made it out alive and in one piece even though at some point I feared I wouldn’t.
Alessandro didn’t seem to run out of energy as I completely lost count of how many times he had dragged my body to places I never knew.
I just hope my baby is okay.
While I was slipping in and out of consciousness I remember him saying something along the lines of, “You have pleased me very well”.
I’m glad I did. So now he can hold onto that memory because that will be the last time I will have sex with a maniac like Alessandro.
I threw the comforter off my naked body and cringed at the new array of designs Alessandro designed my body with.
Planting my legs on the floor, I held on to my waist and back in general, which strangely hurt a lot for reasons that I don’t know.
I sat up straight and hissed in pain at the soreness in my body.
From my peripheral view, I caught sight of a neatly folded piece of paper safely tucked away on the nightstand.
What’s that?
Without thinking I stood up on my feet instantly with only one goal in mind which was to reach the damned letter and know its contents.
In my curious state I had forgotten what condition my body was in as I immediately propelled my body to forced mobility which didn’t end well.
I stood up way too fast and way too soon which had me tumbling down and landing on my face.
That was nature’s own cruel way of reminding me of my present physical predicament.
I held my forehead as I groaned in pain before angrily stretching my hand and grabbing the note with irritation.
My sweet pregnant Victoria,
“A perfectly placed letter in a place I made sure you can’t reach without tripping.
If this letter actually made it to your hand then I’m sure you must have hit the floor first.
A pat on the back to myself for a job well done actually.
You aren’t such a bore as I initially concluded and as a reward for proving me wrong, I’ll be getting you a gift. Something to show you how pleased I am.
Have something to eat and replenish your lost energy.
We will be working on your stamina when I return.
P. S I will have your torn lingerie replaced soon.
Your husband.
I crushed the tormenting piece of paper tightly in my hands as I gritted my teeth in anger.
The realization hit me like a million bricks.
He didn’t plan on stopping and he didn’t plan on letting me go.
At least not now.
I gathered my strength and pulled myself up from the ground to wash up myself and any traces of himself that Alessandro might have left and begin my day with enough breakfast before Alessandro returns.
Having sex with him on an empty stomach would only result in my death and I didn’t want to die now.
My phone dinged to alert me of a message.
It was from Leonard, he wanted to inform me that he would officially be back in New York by tomorrow and that he was free to meet up.
I wonder if Alessandro would allow me to meet up with him.
I quickly texted an excited response to him telling him that I would be meeting him tomorrow.
As I pressed send and sent out the message, the heavy weight of guilt quickly attacked me as I told myself that it was by faith that I had sent that somewhat lying response.
I had faith that I would meet him tomorrow and that’s what made me take that step to send the message.
I got up slowly from the floor, dropping the bedsheets I had wrapped around myself as I hopped into the shower and had a very relaxing bath.
I put my still very wet blond hair into a ponytail and picked out my outfit which consisted of a sweater and leggings.
Looking at my outfit in the mirror I concluded it was the perfect disguise.
I walked downstairs to find the entire hateful Rossi clan having breakfast.
Well except, Valentino and maybe Bianca.
Valentino is friendly and kind and very warm and accommodating. The exact opposite of Alessandro, his brother.
The Matriarch of the Rossi looked at me with expectant eyes as I went to sit beside Valentino at the dining table.
We said our good mornings as he passed me one of those very warm smiles as he passed me the apples.
“How are you feeling, Victoria?”
I looked at Alessandro’s mother as she pursed her blood red lips at me looking at my eyes that held an emotion that I couldn’t explain.
I was very close to unleashing my horrible side at her and decorating her with the very colorful words that Alessandro had unintentionally filled my entire vocabulary, system and soul with.
Alessandro. The very fear of him even though he wasn’t here kept me grounded and prevented me from berating the woman who gave him life for raising such a horrible man.
“I’m fine, thank you”. I responded calmly as Valentino gave me a reassuring smile.
“That’s good to know. And the baby?”
“My baby is doing fine”. I say while clutching my slightly protruding belly.
“It’s not just your baby, Victoria. It’s our baby. That’s my brother’s child and a Rossi. I hope you don’t want me to lecture you on how you became pregnant with that child”
Niccolo isn’t exactly nice like Valentino was and neither was he as friendly as Valentino but seeing him lash out at me for a simple statement that did not even concern him was a very shocking sight.
“Excuse me?”
“Niccolo, that’s enough”
He looked at his mother before painfully stabbing his fork into his plate as his girlfriend sat rigid beside him. She wasn’t even eating her food.
I just noticed that she has been quiet since I walked in.
“My apologies on behalf of Niccolo, he is under a lot of stress”
If he is under pressure he should lash out at his girlfriend, not me.
I already have one Rossi brother on my neck and literally on my body, I can’t deal with another.
I looked at him to see him with jaw locked and eyes dark as he ate in a robotic manner.
“Eat your food, Jasmine!”. He said out of the blue but still focusing on his food.
“I’m not hungry”. Jasmine said in the smallest voice I have ever heard from her.
Her body language was very rigid and totally unlike the vivacious and annoying bully I had originally met.
“Eat!”. Niccolo commanded once more. It almost sounded as if he was holding back from lashing out at her.
I watched between the two of them with renewed interest as I and everyone on the table could tell that something was wrong between these two.
Elena and Bianca along with Niccolo ate their food like there was nothing happening.
The calm atmosphere in the dining room was suddenly disrupted by the heavy disturbance of expensive chinaware hitting the ground.
I’m sure everyone’s attention was now on Jasmine as Bianca let her fork slip from her hand and drop to her plate.
“Get the maid to clean that up and get you a new plate, Jasmine. Don’t test me”.
I’m very surprised at the sudden change in Niccolo’s behavior and overall countenance.
This was a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn from the smiling man who arrived a week ago. Was he bipolar?
“No, I don’t want your food!”. She said in anger standing up from her seat she pointed a finger at all of us serially.
“You’re all animals! You’re all heartless and cold-blooded killers! How can you even eat knowing that one of you killed a man in cold blood while the rest of you cover up his crime and act like nothing happened!”
My ears perked up like that of a dog as I became very very interested in what she was talking about.
Someone died? I didn’t know.
Who died?
“Sit down and keep your mouth shut, Jasmine!”.
Niccolo pulled her down to her seat with one hand as he continued eating while she cried her eyes out for whoever she lost.
“Amara!”
Immediately Niccolo called out her name, she came running out in a white sundress as her long black hair was braided into a loose french plait that flopped, dangled and swayed from side to side anytime she moved.
Bet she got all dressed up for my husband. Too bad he doesn’t have his eyes on her for now.
“Sir?”
“Clean up this mess immediately and get a new plate for Jasmine”
“Yes, sir”
“Oh and get me a bottle of alcohol, Amara. I need something heavy”. Bianca said
“Isn’t it way too early for that, Bianca?”. Her mother asked her as she slowly clasped her hands together and leaned her elbows on the table.
As all these were happening at the table, I slowly leaned into Valentino and whispered.
“Any idea what happened?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you later”
That was the only thing I needed to hear to go back to how I was. He would give me the details later since obviously they wanted to shut Jasmine up.
“I need that if I’m to deal with all this noise this morning”.
“Noise, Bianca?! You call Alessandro shooting a young man in the chest and watching him bleed out in your living room noise?! You stood there! You stood there holding the other man he shot down while Gabriel took his last breath! Am I supposed to just forget it and sweep it under the rug like you all are doing now?!”
A very loud tearing sound was heard in the dining room before anyone could speak or even before Jasmine could speak.
I watched the impact of Niccolo’s slap send Jasmine straight to the floor.
“Nic!”
“I told you to shut up, didn’t I?”