Sold to Moretti Mafia

Fallon

“But… you said Amelie could go home after this.”

“I thought Timothy would be there, or at least we’d get a lead to find him. We have nothing, and he might come after you to hurt me. He thought I was the one who killed Victoria, that’s why he wanted the tape so badly. He thought he could put me behind bars with it. Now that he has is, he knows it wasn’t me, but I think he still blames me… and fuck, he isn’t wrong. It was my fault she was there that day.”

I lift a hand and touch his cheek. It’s rough beneath my palm. A mere contrast of how different we are. Rough and soft. Dark and light. We shouldn’t be, but we are, and it feels like our fates have already been sealed.

“It’s okay… we will stay until it’s safe.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” he whispers as his lips press against the side of my head. I know he would tie me to the bed and hand-feed me if he had to. The possessive nature in him won’t let me go, so I wonder how this is all going to pan out in the end. Will he let me leave?

“I need to go talk to my sister. Tell her we have to stay here for a while. I don’t know how well she is going to take it, but I’ll try.”

Markus slowly releases me, like he doesn’t want to let go yet. My heart begs me to return to the warmth of his embrace, but this isn’t good for me. Pretending that we could be a couple when we most definitely aren’t. Now would be the time to start putting distance between us, but the thought leaves me even more distraught than I already am.

I’ve just reached the doorway when he says, “If you need anything… I’m here for you, Fallon.”

I peer at him over my shoulder. “Strange how foes become friends.”

His face falls. “You don’t need anything else added to your plate, but if I could… I would… with you, Fallon. It would be with you. And that has nothing to do with your connection to Victoria.”

I know he’s referring to loving me. How he can’t because he gave all his love to the woman I now know is my dead half-sister. I hold back the river of emotions threatening to break the dam and destroy everything in its wake.

“I know,” I whisper and walk out the door before I cry.

It isn’t until I’m halfway down the hall I’m able to force myself to calm by taking slow and steady breaths. The last thing I need is to project my emotions out onto Amelie. None of this is her fault, none of it, and I’m not going to drag her any deeper into it.

The guest bedroom door is ajar, and it creaks as I push it open a bit more. Amelie looks up from where she sits at the edge of the mattress.

She is wearing one of my nightgowns, and even though she’s taken a shower, she doesn’t look any better. I walk into the room and close the door behind me.

She isn’t going to like what I tell her.

“Did you find out when we can go home?” The look of agony on her face makes me want to turn around and walk out of the room.

“I talked to Markus, and until things with Timothy are over and they find him, we both agreed that it’s probably best for us to stay here. Mom and Dad still think you’re in France.” Her face falls, and she looks like she’s going to cry. I would expect it. She’s been too calm, too quiet for someone who has been held captive for the last two months.

“I mean, I really want to go home, but what does it matter?” She shrugs. “I’ve gone from being held captive by someone else to being held captive by my sister.”

Her words sting. “You’re not being held captive. It’s safer here, for both of us. I didn’t go through all the trouble of getting you back just so we could end up in the same situation again.” My voice rises, and I do my best not to scold her, knowing her head isn’t in the right place, but I’m not letting her leave here.From NôvelDrama.Org.

Amelie tilts her head to the side, and her green eyes become luminous. “You like him, don’t you? That’s why you don’t want to leave.”

She’s pulled the rug right out from underneath me. “No. That’s not it. It’s not safe. As soon as it is, we will leave. Markus means nothing to me,” I lie. The words feel like acid on my tongue as I speak them.

“Whatever. I’m tired.” She’s starting to shut down, and still, I want to help her. All of this is my fault-all of it.

“Do you… want to talk about anything? About what happened while you were held captive? I’m here for you, Amelie.”

“I want to sleep,” she answers in a monotone voice.

I let things be and don’t push her any further. “Okay. You can stay in here. If you need anything, I’m right down the hall.”

Amelie doesn’t respond, and I force myself to walk out of the bedroom. Everything feels like it’s falling apart. My entire life is a lie. Everything I’ve come to know, a lie. It’s like I don’t even know who I am anymore.

I head back to the bedroom, and thankfully, Markus isn’t there. Stripping out my clothing, I turn the shower to hot and wait for the bathroom to steam up. I step into the shower, and like a faucet being turned on, everything I’ve been holding in breaks free.

It comes barreling out of me in the form of tears.

My body shakes and trembles, so much so I lean against the tile wall to keep myself upright. I’m in love with a man who can never love me, a man who paid a million dollars for me, a man who is a violent, dangerous criminal.

I’m adopted, my entire life a lie, and the whipped cream on top… I’m the spitting image of my dead half-sister, the only woman that Markus has ever loved.

I’m so caught up in my self-loathing that I don’t notice someone else is in the bathroom until the glass door of the shower slides open, and Markus’s naked physique appears in front of me. I try to pull myself together, but it’s not happening, and all it takes is one look for him to know that I’m shattering.

“I’m here for you, Fallon.” His gravelly voice washes over me, and my nipples harden at the sound.

“I’ve been strong for so long… I’m tired of being strong,” I sob, and he takes me into his arms, holding me to his chest like a piece of glass that’s going to crack right down the middle.

“You don’t have to be strong. I’m here, you can lean on me. Let me be your strength.” His breath tickles my ear, and I shiver.

“You would do that?”

“I care about you, Fallon. Maybe not in the way you want or need to be cared for, but I’ll try my best. I want to help you through your pain, through the secrets that we uncovered. We can be the same without all the bullshit, without the auction or money that I paid for you hanging over our heads, and when this is over… you can leave, if that’s what you want.”

His confession only makes me unleash a new wave of tears, and I suck a ragged breath into my lungs. I knew he would do this, push me away, eventually. He’s giving me an out, letting me leave when he said he never would. Little does he know, I don’t want to leave.

I want to stay forever, but I’m afraid… afraid of what happens when this is all over. Afraid that we may fall apart before we have the chance to become whole.

“I want that. I want you, even if it’s not fully. Whatever you can give me, I’ll take it.” I bury my face into his muscled chest and sink deep into my mind. I think of all that I’ve discovered, how twisted and thorn-filled our lives have become.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that I’ve done all I can do. I’ve saved my sister, and we’re safe here with Markus as long as we stay put.

In the end, that’s all I want. I can’t make Markus love me. The only thing I can do is hope that when the time for me to leave comes… he doesn’t let me go.