But Cherie was right.
It doesn’t.
Chapter Twenty Four
I don’t know where to go when Mateo’s done with me.
He climbs off the bed, retrieving his gun from the night stand, and gets himself cleaned up and dressed. I don’t move. Dread has swallowed me up. I don’t know where I go from here. What happens to me.
Does he send me back to Vince’s room?
Does Vince really know? What does Vince know?
Oh, God. Vince.
Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I try to turn my feelings back off. I can’t process them right now, I just need… nothingness.
Once he’s finished, Mateo looks as good as he did at the breakfast table, all decked out in his sharp suit. You can’t tell there’s a monster inside him. His hair’s a little more tousled than it was prior to our struggle, but wouldn’t you know, it looks good on him.
Tears form in my eyes again, but I’m not even sure what they’re from.
“You can stay in here if you want,” he offers. “Vince won’t come in here.”
“What did you tell him?” I ask quietly.
“I didn’t tell him anything.”
I sigh tiredly. “What does he know?”
“Enough,” he says simply.
I hesitate, hating the question so much I don’t want to ask, but I ask anyway, because I have to. “What is he… what is he going to do to me?”
“I’m not sure,” he says honestly.
My last vestige of safety, gone.
“I won’t let him kill you,” he says.
I guess I’m supposed to be grateful.
I’m not.
It looks like he’s about to move away from the bed, but he stops, leaning over to look at me. “I know you’re angry right now, hurt, scared, but you should know this doesn’t change anything. Like me or hate me, you will remain loyal to me. You speak a word about anything you shouldn’t, and I will end you.”
I can’t believe he’s making me declare my goddamn allegiance to him moments after raping me, but I give a brief nod. “I know.”
“Good,” he says, taking a step back. “Take all the time you need.”
And with that, Mateo Morelli leaves me, a broken mess, in his goddamn bed.
—
I don’t know how long I remain hidden in his room, but it feels like an eternity.
Eventually, I drag my body from his bed and into his bathroom—his huge, ridiculous fucking bathroom. There’s furniture inside. Who needs furniture in their bathroom? A chaise is angled in front of the tub, like he sits there, watching people bathe. Who would ever even use it? And if for some reason you needed to? There’s a goddamn cushioned window seat along the wall.
I’m disgusted instead of impressed by the excess now. His fucking bathroom is bigger than my mother’s living room—and it’s not even close.
The shower stall is huge, too, and impeccably clean. I’m relieved, because I wind up sitting in the corner under the spray, sobbing.
When all the hot water is gone, I finally pull myself up and get out. I don’t have any clean clothes and I’m too afraid to go to Vince’s room to get any, but none of the maids have come to check on me, so I can’t even ask them to bring me a change.
Finally, I emerge from Mateo’s master suite in the clothes I dressed in this morning, an eternity ago. Terror keeps my steps slow, wondering if Vince is home, if anyone will pass me in the hallway and know where I’m coming from. I can’t help but assume everyone knows, and everyone hates me now.
They all tried to warn me, after all.
Even Mateo knew that.
I find one of the sitting rooms without coming into contact with anyone, so I stop there, thinking maybe I’ll stay. It’s sparsely furnished and not exactly cozy since it’s one of the aggressively untouched, secondary sitting areas, but I don’t know what awaits me where the people are.
I assume Vince is home by now. I don’t know what time it is, but it seems like enough time has passed. Unless he isn’t coming home at all. Maybe he’s abandoning me here with Mateo; maybe he’s too disappointed even to confront me.
I wish I knew what he’d been told. At least then I could try to prepare for it.
Nobody finds me, and after a while I leave the sitting room. The huge house suddenly seems very lonely, and I wonder if it feels this way to everyone else. I’ve been so dazzled by it up until now, but ultimately it’s too big. Even for so many people.
Maria comes down the hall as I meander off to nowhere, pausing when she sees me. It looked like she was in a hurry, so I’m surprised when she stops.
We just stand there, staring at each other.
“There’s an empty room in Francesca’s wing,” she finally says. “I can’t put you there or promise they’ll let you stay, but if you’re looking for somewhere to…”