Crucified (5 page)

“What did he say?”

“That he never
loved me, that he only pretended to, and that I was nothing more than a job to
him. He was so cruel. And the way he looked at me. It made me feel as though I
took advantage of him, but he was the one who used me.” She wiped her nose. “I
… I did everything for him, looked after him when he was hurt, yet he hates
me.”

“Did he say he
hated you?”

“No, but it was
obvious. He wouldn’t let me touch him, and he kept yelling at me to leave his room.
I was willing to give up my husband for him.”

I removed my arm
from around her shoulders. “
Did
you just say you’re married?”

She nodded.
“Jagger kidnapped me.”

“I’m sorry to hear
that,” I said for her benefit, although I already knew she’d been taken, just
not the married side of things. That was one thing I didn’t do: fuck married
women. They were off limits; the vow of
marriage sacred to me.

She wiped her
eyes. “You train women who have been kidnapped, so how can you be sorry?”

“I don’t kidnap or
mistreat the slaves, especially since I know what it feels like.”

“You were a slave?”
she said, looking surprised.

“No. I was held
for ransom when I was fourteen.”

“Oh … were you
hurt?”

“
S
ì
.
” I pulled off my T-shirt and turned to show her my
back. “If you look closely you will see the scars.”

“I can only see your
tattoos.”

“Touch my back,
you will feel them.”

She ran her
fingers down my back, her touch hesitant. She stopped when she brushed over one
of my scars. She ran her finger over it again, then moved onto my other ones,
my back a minefield of scars. “Are these the reason for your tattoos?” she
asked.

“
S
ì
.
The kidnappers carved my back up out of spite because
my father wouldn’t pay the ransom. If you start from the top left, and move
across and downwards, you will feel a message.”

“What does it
say?”

“That I’m so
worthless, not even my father wanted me to live.” I moved away from her hand.

“That’s the most
horrible thing to do to anyone, let alone a child.”

“But, it’s true,”
I said, although I didn’t understand why I was telling her all this.

“No, it’s not.
You are
not
worthless, Alessandro. Would a worthless
man take the time to try to cheer up a slave? That right there shows you have
an honorable and strong character. And, I’m sure your father must’ve had a good
reason why he didn’t pay. Maybe the police told him not to or he couldn’t
afford it.”

“The mafia doesn’t
get told what to do by the
polizia
, they tell them what to do, and my
father could’ve paid the ransom twice over. Remember he almost bought you for
me?”

She frowned. “Then
why didn’t he pay your kidnappers?”

“He was sending a message
that if any of my
famiglia
were snatched, the kidnappers would get
nothing from him other than hits placed on their heads. He said he did it for
the rest of the
famiglia
so it didn’t happen again.”

“But, your life was
at stake.”

“I am one of ten
children, eight of them boys, which means I’m disposable.”

She stared at me
in horror. “No child is disposable. What about your mother?”

“She never forgave
my father for it. They are still married, but my mother tolerates him, nothing
more, the love gone. My father also blames me for that as well as allowing
myself to be kidnapped.”

“That’s not your
fault.”

“I’m afraid it is.
I didn’t do as I was told. I was supposed to stay with the bodyguards, but I
wanted to see my girlfriend, so I ditched them. The kidnappers jumped me at her
house.” I pushed down the memory of what happened that day, of how they had
murdered my girlfriend and her family because I was in the wrong place at the
wrong time.

“You were a child,
and for your father to not pay: that is just truly horrible. I am so sorry you
had to experience that.”

I frowned. “You
shouldn’t feel sorry for me. Innocent people died because of my selfish actions.”

“You shouldn’t
blame yourself: you were the victim, and it saddens me you were put through
that.”

“It saddens me what’s
happened to you too. Marriage is sacred and Jagger was wrong for breaking it.”

She dropped her
gaze, looking devastated.

“Do you wish to go
back home?” I asked.

“I wish for a lot
of things, but that’s not one of them.”

“Do you miss your
husband?”

She nodded.

“Do you wish to go
back to him?”

“I wish Jagger
didn’t tell me he didn’t love me.”

I frowned. “Forget
about Jagger, you should be more concerned about the man who pledged his life
to you. And where is your ring? Did Jagger take it from you?”

“I gave it to
him.”

“A ring is sacred.
It’s not something you should give away so easily.”

“I did it for
Jagger.”

“But, what about
your husband?”

She burst into
tears, making me feel bad for upsetting her more. Still, I was annoyed that the
D’Angelos had lied about her. They had advertised her as a single woman with a
strong backbone, which was an outright lie, and despite her beauty and sweet
personality, I was glad my father didn’t buy her. If anything, I would sooner
jump into bed with Ghita than Honey, which was NEVER going to happen.

Despite myself, I
wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug, making her stiffen. “I’m just
comforting you; I’m not going to do anything inappropriate now that I know
you’re married.”

She pulled back. “But,
I threw my marriage away for someone who doesn’t even love me. And now I have
nothing. I’m not even allowed to call my family to tell them I’m alright.” What
looked like hope crossed her face. “Can I use your phone to call them?”

“That’s the Don’s
decision to make, not mine.”

“But I don’t want
to be here! Jagger hates me!”

“He’s upset. Maybe
once he calms down, things will blow over. You seemed close to him yesterday,
and he was leaning on you for support.”

She went still,
her expression brightening. “That’s true. He turned to me and let me hold him,
so he might have just said those things because he was upset.” She leaned in
and hugged me. “Thank you so much, you’re much nicer than I thought you were.”

“I’m a very nice
person for a slave trainer.”

She pulled back
and looked at me, her expression telling me she wasn’t sure whether to take
what I said as a joke or not. But, it was a joke, because I didn’t think I was
a nice person, hell, I was a bastard, but this woman was sweet—despite being an
adulterer. Still, I didn’t have a right to judge her, considering I fucked any
woman who didn’t have a ring on, regardless of whether they had a boyfriend or
not. And then there were the slaves; I had no idea whether they were married or
single, because none of them had ever spoken of a husband. Though, I didn’t
tend to pry into their past; I just told them what I expected of them and what
their future masters would expect.

“Um…” Honey
said, “…about tonight.”

“Yeah,” I said, my
mind going to her sleeping in my bed.

“Do I still have to
sleep in the same bed as you?”

“No, I’m not interested
in seducing a married woman.”

Her face saddened.

“Why are you
saddened by my words?” I asked. “I thought you would be relieved.”

“It’s not that,
you keep reminding me of my husband.”

You shouldn’t need
reminding
. “Do you still love
him?” I said instead.

She nodded.

“Do you want to be
with Jagger more or your husband?”

She wiped her
eyes. “I wish I could say my husband, but it’s Jagger.”

“Then wait until
Jagger calms down and go to him.” I frowned, remembering Jagger getting his
suitcase out. “Actually, don’t wait too long, because he mentioned wanting to
go to New York.”

She sat up
straight. “
New York? That’s where
I was taken from. Maybe I can go back with Jagger.”

“Then ask him. It’s
worth a try.”

She nodded,
looking ecstatic.

I took a hold of
her hand and kissed it. “If I don’t see you again, it was nice meeting you.”

She smiled at me as
I let go of her hand. “You too, despite our first rocky meeting.”

“
S
ì
.
I apologize for that; I get carried away sometimes when I see a beautiful
lady.”
I pushed to my feet. “Anyway, I shall
take my leave now. I’m afraid I have work to do, plus I’m sure you will have a
lot to think about.”

“Yes, and thank
you, Alessandro, you are truly a lovely man.”

“As you are a
lovely
signora
.” I bowed, then left the room, closing the door behind
me. I nodded at the guard, then headed down the passage, stopping as another
Landi guard helped an injured woman up the staircase. She had bandages covering
most of her face, only her blonde hair, pretty mouth, and pained eyes visible.
She stopped just before the top and looked up at me.

I held out my hand.
“I am Alessandro Santini. And you are?”

“Bianca D’Angelo,”
she said, looking at my hand.

I retracted it,
just noticing her hands were wrapped in bandages. “What happened to you?”

“I married Alberto
D’Angelo,” she said, her words enough to tell me he had caused her injuries.
First Jagger, now this woman—Frano had been right to kill his brother.

I moved my gaze to
the solider helping her. “I will assist her to her room.”

“That’s not
necessary,” Bianca said. “I will see myself to my own room.” She took the
remaining step and limped past me.

I followed her.

She stopped and turned
around. “Why are you following me?”

“A lady should
have the door opened for her.”

She stared at me, appearing
surprised.

“Which is your
room?” I asked, breaking the silence.

She pointed to the
one two doors down. I walked over to it and opened the door.

She entered,
stopping almost instantly. “I can’t stay in here,” she said, turning to leave. She
hobbled past me, heading in the direction of my room. She went to open my door.

I followed her. “That’s
my room.”

“
Mi dispiace
,”
she apologized, moving to the next one.

I ran in front of
her and opened the door, getting a nod in reward. She walked in, sitting down
on the bed.

“May I get you
anything?” I asked.

“I’m thirsty.
Would you be so kind as to get me an orange juice?”

“
Certo
.” I
turned and left the room, taking to the staircase. Camila and her sisters were
chatting with Frano, who was sitting across the dining-room table from them, appearing
uncomfortable. Andriena looked up as I neared them. She patted the chair next
to her. “Sit with me, Alessandro.”

“Sorry, I must get
Lady Bianca a drink.”

“Lady?” she said.

“
S
ì
, she is the lady of the house,” I said, purposely looking at
Camila, “
which means she
deserves my respect.”

Camila glared at
me. Frano covered his mouth, looking like he was hiding a smirk.

I looked back at Andriena
and gave her a bow. “I will see you later,
bella donna
,” I said, taking
my leave. I headed into the kitchen, finding the old cook and her daughter-in-law
washing dishes.

“Maria and Giulietta,
so nice to see you.” I put my arms around their shoulders and gave them a kiss each
on the cheek, making the younger one giggle. The older one pushed my arm off.
“No touching, Romeo,” she said, with a smile, giving my ass a pat.

“How can I not
touch such beautiful ladies? It would be an insult to my manhood.”

She laughed, the
woman’s old face crinkling. “What do you want, Romeo?”

“A glass of orange
juice for Bianca.”

Her face soured.
“You shouldn’t give that woman anything.”

“Why
not?
She has been severely beaten and needs help.”

“She deserved
everything she got, she tried to kill Alberto.”

My face dropped. “How
can you say that, Maria? That poor woman is covered in bandages after that
monster attacked her. And, haven’t you heard about what he did to Jagger?”