But the thought of another woman other than my little Petal warming my bed leaves a bitter taste in my mouth like fucking acid.

After the dinner and emptying bottles of wine, I have private words with a few of the men about the changes to the business, the land, and even the security measures.

I’m exhausted by the end of the night. After they left, Enzo kept reminding me to think about the marriage, so I kicked him out.

The main house is quiet without the usual songs my little Petal blasts around just to dance and keep moving. Salli nods in my direction, asking me if I need anything.

“No, thank you, Salli. Good night.”

She gives me a quizzical glance, and I swear she’s about to say something but she pulls back at the last second, nods and leaves.

I know what she’s thinking about, she must’ve witnessed Petal’s attempts to escape, or the extracurricular activities that come after that. While Salli is loyal to the family, she won’t stay still if she thinks Petal would hurt me.

And for that same fucking reason, the girl upstairs needs to stop trying to leave. She’s wasting her time and mine and will probably end up making more enemies than friends around here.

It doesn’t matter how much I protect her, if the locals dislike her, they’ll never take her side.

Enzo already hates her, and will keep plotting to get rid of her. Not that I’ll let him, but still.

I remove my jacket as I step into the room. It’s dark and smells of her.

Strawberry and some lilac shit.

I inhale deeply as I kick my shoes away and lie behind her. She’s on her side, fast asleep, and with the sheet to her waist, revealing her bare shoulders, the curve of her throat and the black hair that falls down her back like a camouflage.

I place a kiss on the hollow of her throat and she moans softly, pushing back against me.

“Stop fighting me, Pet.” I wrap a hand around her neck and the other around her waist as my leg cages hers. “You’re already mine.”

The sooner she realizes there’s no way out, the better.

The longer she fights, the harder I’ll break her, and deep inside me, I don’t want to break her, not in that sense anyway.

I don’t want to break her fight and spirit and even her naive fucking innocence.

I don’t want to think of her as Georgina Costa, the daughter of the man who slaughtered my family.

She’s Petal. Just my little Petal.

All I want is to hold her like this, to have her sleep in my arms and feel...peace.

8

Georgina

My plan to escape is moving slowly but surely.

I’ve managed to convince Jasper that I’m bored and therefore, he lets me out with Salli when she goes out to get groceries from the delivery trucks. We’re not allowed to leave the farm, and there are countless guards, but it’s still my chance to observe everyone around.

Since that meeting Jasper had a week or so ago; the house is buzzing with men and workers who Salli mentioned work at the winery or at the olive fields.

I learned that the Vitallio mansion is far away from the nearest town, so when I escape, I need to arrange for a car to get there.

Since I don’t speak the language, I’ll find a problem in communicating with the locals. Besides, even if I learn Italian, Salli says the Sicilian dialect is completely different from the other regions in Italy so I need to keep that in mind if I learn from textbooks.

Francesco, Salli’s grandson, has been teaching me small words like how to say hello and goodbye and the name of some foods and the cats. I’m starting to learn some verbs, but the gender part of the grammar throws me off which makes Francesco laugh at me.

Jasper said he can teach me if I want, but I would rather die than take his help. Besides, he said he will only teach me if I take it in the ass and stay still as he fucks my mouth. While the offer is a little tempting — okay, a lot, I don’t want him to pick up on my plan.

He’s too intuitive and I really want to have the first step in this.

I can’t win against him no matter what I try. He always comes up with something unpredictable that shuffles all my cards, but not now.

This time, I’ll be the one who wins. My captor won’t have the last word in this. He doesn’t get to steal my life, my freedom, and even stop me from seeing the only family member I have left.

I hate Jasper. That’s the only feeling I’m allowed to feel around him, not whatever chaotic emotions go through me whenever he touches me or takes me slow and unhurried as if he’s relearning my body.

Today, instead of having dinner in the dining room or in the bedroom, Salli tells me Jasper is waiting for me outside.

I pull my hair in a ponytail and wear a sweater over my dress because it gets chilly here in the evenings. Jasper got me an entire wardrobe of clothes that he can easily rip off me. He says I don’t need underwear when he’s around and he’s proven it every time he’s in my surroundings.

As much as I want to go back to Chicago, I can’t deny how clear and clean the air here is. It’s like I’ve been cleansing my lungs and detoxing since the day I arrived.

The moment I step out of the patio, I stop, my lips parting. There’s a table in the middle filled with all sorts of Italian food that’s started to grow on me. Or maybe it’s because Salli cooks the most delicious meals I’ve had in my life.

Jasper stands there, pouring wine into glasses. He’s only in his dark blue shirt with the cuffs rolled to his elbows, showing his strong, veiny forearms.

“Jas?” I walk into the patio. “What is this?”

“There you are.” He leans over and places a kiss to my temple.

I freeze, my heart skipping a beat. No. This is wrong.

He can’t keep doing this.

He can’t confuse me with gentle sex and then set up some romantic dinner as if we’re dating or something.

I push away from him, my defenses building all at once. It’s enough that I haven’t been able to properly focus on my escape plan because he keeps distracting me, I don’t need a romantic dinner and temple kisses to add to the mix.

“Why are you doing this, Jasper?”

“Doing what? Feeding you?”

“No! This, the dinner, the wine, all of it. I don’t want it.”

His jaw ticks, but he raises a brow. “You don’t want to eat?”

“I don’t want you to act as if nothing is wrong, as if you didn’t take me against my will. You’re my captor, not my damn lover.”

He’s silent for a second and if it weren’t for the slight narrowing of his eyes, I would think he didn’t hear me.

The time crawls by and I resist the urge to fidget. There’s something about the way he watches me that turns me into a self-conscious fool.

It’s like he can reach inside me and freeze me with those icy blue eyes.

He goes back to pouring wine. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Go sit on your chair, Pet.”

“I will not sit in my chair. I won’t be obedient and compliant like a lamb led to slaughter.” My temper flares and I reach for the nearest object which happens to be a knife — fitting — and point it at him.

Jasper sets the bottle of wine on the table and faces me. He doesn’t seem affected that I’m holding a knife and that if I take one step, I’ll be aiming it at his throat.