Anastasia
I don’t want Luigi to get into trouble with his family for me. I know the kind of consequences there are for people who betray their families. I don’t want that for Luigi.
I’ve seen a completely different side to the person I thought was nothing more than a good-looking man-child. The problem is that I like it more than I should.
The way he talks and looks at me when he’s explaining something or how he touches my back softly when he wants me to move over. I don’t know how I developed my first impression of him, but I feel like it was totally off, and now something else is developing in my heart for him.
It scares me.
To my father, he’s just a brother-in-law without factoring in his age. He is my stepmom’s older brother. It should bother me, but the more I think of him, the more I think of how he looks under those shirts and pullovers. I find myself scheming ways for us to be together without anyone finding out.
He’s passionate about what he does and good at his job. Better than good. Probably the best.
When he talks about Mateo, our families, or any plan we want to action, he is so serious. He is so professional. It makes me a bit flustered.
I catch him looking at me sometimes when he thinks I’m not paying attention, and there’s a look in his eyes that makes me think he might feel the same way.
It’s been three days together, and I feel like we’ve fallen into step with each other. A comfortable working relationship that I wish bloomed into more.
I’ve always placed a high value on my virginity, honor, and purity, but I think I would hand that all to him on a silver platter if he wanted to take me.
I have to distract myself.
I have to keep busy, but the problem is that we are gathering information, so there isn’t much for me to do. My father hasn’t requested contact yet, which is a blessing. Most of the time, I sit on the sofa and read from Luigi’s collection of books. I’m surprised he likes to read. He’s never mentioned it. My father loves reading, something I learned to love as well.
I set the book down and glance at the time. Day Four, ten in the morning. I look over at Luigi, who is working on his laptop.
“Maybe we should move location,” I comment, desperate to contribute something.
“Hmmm,” Luigi glances over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“You have many of these secret places around the city, right? Don’t you have one near East Harlem?” I ask, sitting straight up and swinging my feet back to the floor.
“I have one that’s closer, but if we’re going to move, it will be tomorrow. We need to be careful where we go and when.” He smiles that gentle smile I’ve come to love.
“Well…” I look around, “do you have another encrypted laptop?
Something I can use to check my social media?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Really? You want to see what your friends are posting?”
“I just want to see what Juanita and them are up to. They might still be my friends on social media.” I give a nervous grin, and he sighs.
He goes into his bedroom and comes back. He sets up the laptop for me on the kitchen table and stands up. “Here, you can use this laptop. Don’t tell anyone where we are, not even a general direction.”
I nod and sit down. Luigi returns to his laptop as I log into my social media account. I scroll through my feed to look through the usual rubbish that gets posted. Passive aggressive quotes and vague status postings, but then I reach a photo Juanita took the night I was out of them.
It’s a photo of just them, most likely before I arrived or after I was taken, and the caption reads: This is too easy xxx
My blood boils. This little rat needs to be put in her place. Once Mateo is dealt with, I’m going to have my father deal with her, as bratty as that sounds.
I see I have some private messages, and I click on the icon to see who is looking for me. There’s a message from Natalia, well, a few messages asking where I am. I scroll to the top and see I have a message from Juanita.
“Luigi, that dumb cow Juanita has messaged me. Can I open it?” I ask.
Luigi gets up and comes over, pulling up a chair next to me so he can see what’s going on. “It’s safe to open. She can’t trace you.”
I hit the message, and instantly my face turns red with anger, and my hands shake. Luigi puts a hand on my leg, a pretty good distraction.
Hey baby girl