Dirty Obsession (Dirty 1)

She smiles as she buckles her seatbelt. “When we get back to your home, will I be able to shower and change? This dress is uncomfortable and dirty.”

I stare at her with wide eyes. I don’t know what she is doing, but she needs to stop. Pretending like she isn’t being kidnapped against her will and about to step into a completely different world where she will be tested in ways she could never imagine is useless. It won’t help anything.

I ignore her and look out the window as we land. She doesn’t understand it, but it’s the last time I will have any freedom either. At least, until this is all over.

* * *

In the backseat of the car, I watch Nina’s eyes as we pull up in front of my house. Her eyes grow just as big and wide with wonderment as they did the first time she entered my house when her class was getting a tour for her art history lesson for the day. I don’t see any fear.

“What is your fascination with my house?”

She blinks rapidly, like I just turned into a monkey or something. “It’s not just a fascination; it’s an obsession. Your house is beautiful. It’s the most beautiful home I’ve ever had the pleasure of stepping foot inside of. It has architecture and history unlike so many homes in America that are just built for convenience. This home was built to be beautiful, just for beauty’s sake. It was spared no expense and has lasted hundreds of years. Through all the changes in the world. What isn’t there to love about it? Don’t tell me you don’t think your home is magical.”

I shake my head and then rub my neck. Nina looks very much like a woman, and for the most part, she acts like it, but she has a long way to go in understanding how things really work.

“I don’t think my home is magical or beautiful. And it’s definitely not something you should obsess over. It was built on the backs of slaves, like most of the world’s greatest buildings were. It served as a dungeon for many. A place of oppression for others. That history you speak so fondly of is nothing more than pain and suffering of other people. It’s nothing to be obsessed over.”

She frowns as she narrows her eyes at me. “It’s also your home, and it carries your family’s history and that of generations of people before you. It also represented hope and love for a lot of people. It represented freedom and a chance at a better life. It gave employment to some. Shelter to others. It was a place of fancy parties and people falling in love. Every place has a negative history. But you can’t focus on the dark without also seeing the light. Everything has two sides.”

When she speaks, I know she isn’t talking about the house anymore. She is talking about me. She thinks I have a light side along with the dark. She’s wrong. I haven’t had a drop of goodness in me in years. It died the day Nina’s life effectively ended. I’ve had a very different mission ever since.

The driver parks the car outside the mansion that holds more secrets than I will ever know. I can see how she finds it beautiful, but she’s just letting her naïveté through.

I step out of the car, and Nina follows. She looks like a mess in her wedding dress that is covered in dirt and filth. Her makeup is smeared all over her face. She looks broken already. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it will make my family think she is weaker than she actually is, and they’ll underestimate her.

I step back into my home that might as well be my own prison cell. That’s what it feels like every time I walk inside, but in a few months, that will all change. I will own everything. I will become the ruler instead of the captive.

I keep walking through hallways and past large rooms that hold beautiful paintings and history that Nina used to stare at like it was perfection when, in fact, they are nothing more than paint and canvas.

“Where are we going?” Nina asks as we wind down hallways and up staircases that she wasn’t privy to on her tour.

“To prove to my father that you are here and to learn the terms of your debt.”

I hear her gasp, but I don’t turn to look at her. I need to turn off my humanity now. If I have a chance at winning this fight, I need to not feel anything. Not her pain, fear, or excitement. Not my own heart racing or even the ache in my shoulder. I need to feel nothing.

I keep walking until I get to the family room in the back of the house. When I gave the tour seven years ago, I only showed the students rooms that were practically never used. I never showed the rooms that actually mattered. The rooms that we actually live in.

I open the double doors and enter the family room where my father is sitting in a large chair by the fireplace, waiting for me.

He cocks his head to one side to look past me to where Nina is standing in the doorway.

He nods his approval at me, and then he stands up and walks toward Nina.

“My beautiful Nina. It is so good of you to finally join us. Let me introduce myself. I’m Enrico Carini. You sat at the dinner table with me once before, but you weren’t really concerned with meeting me at the time. Now, I think you should be very concerned with learning who I am.”

Nina narrows her eyes at my father as she walks proudly into the family room. “No, I’m not particularly concerned with who you are other than learning enough to point you out to the police when I escape. Or, at least, remember your face when I put a bullet between your eyes.”

My father chuckles as he turns to me. “You weren’t lying about this one.”

I nod but don’t react otherwise. Just keep my composure. Get through tonight, and then I will have some freedom.

My father forcefully grabs Nina’s hand. I can see the pain and disgust in her eyes as my father holds on to her arm and guides her over to the table.

She looks to me like I’m going to save her, but I don’t do anything. The sooner she learns that I will do nothing to save her, the better.

“Take a seat, Nina,” Enrico says, pushing her down into a chair at the table.

“This is illegal, you know. You can’t just kidnap me. You will pay for this. My husband won’t stop until he gets me back.”