The door creaked open with an agonizing slowness. I froze, my hand still white-knuckled around the handle. Then he stepped in.
Vincenzo.
He didn't say anything, not even a word. He stood in the doorway of Aunt Olivia's study, his presence swallowing until the room felt half its size. He was dressed in a perfectly three piece suit that caught the dim light, looking every bit the Reaper my nightmares had promised.
"You..." My voice was a brittle shard of glass. Vincenzo didn't even look at me instead, he remained fixed on Aunt Olivia, who sat by the window with a mask of perfect, icy composure.
"An agreement is an agreement,Mrs Williams," Vincenzo said calmly loud, but it carried a vibration that made the floorboards beneath my feet feel unsteady.
"The girl was restless," Olivia replied, her tone dismissive as she set her teacup down. "She's young. She misses the air outside your gates."
Vincenzo's sharp and cold gaze flicked to me, it was utterly unreadable. He didn't say anything, especially why I left. He simply looked toward the hallway and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Two men in charcoal suits that I hadn't even noticed before, they both stepped into the room.
"Portala subito alla villa!," Vincenzo commanded his guard. I couldn't decode what he said but it felt like he wanted me out of here.
( Take her to the mansion now!)
"Wait—" I started, my face flushing with heat. "I'm not done here!". But the guards didn't hesitate and at the same time they didn't move aggressively, but their presence alone felt impossible to fight against them.
"Miss Jennie, please," one of them murmured, his hand hovering near my elbow.
"Don't touch me!" I snarled, jerking my arm away before he could make contact.
"Miss Jennie, please don't make this difficult," the second guard said in a flat, emotionless tone.
"Difficult?" I let out a jagged, bitter laugh. "You fucking drag me out like a prisoner and expect me to cooperate?"
I looked up at Aunt Olivia, desperate…silently begging her to stop all this madness or at least say something.
However, she was looking at me, she was looking at Vincenzo. There was a look in her eyes. I couldn't explain something that looks like respect and fear. I was led out despite my protest,my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.
Just before the heavy door closed behind me, I caught the last part of their conversation.
"This is not what we agreed on, Mr. Ruggiero" Olivia said quietly, her voice sounding older somehow.
"If she ever finds out the real reason her parents were on that road that night—"
"She won't," Vincenzo's voice cut in coldly.
"Because you are going to stay silent".
Then the heavy oak door shut completely, cutting off the rest of the conversation. And whatever truth they seem to hide from me.
**********************
The car door slammed open, my lungs were burning and my long hair was looking so messy across my face but I didn't care. I shoved them away impatiently, too angry to care how I looked. I was practically forced into the back seat of the black Rolls Royce.
The leather was cold beneath my bare legs, The engine purred to life, I looked back at Aunt Olivia's penthouse. The lights in the study were still on, casting a golden glow against the dark trees.
Somewhere in that glow, the two people I thought I knew were trading my life like a commodity.
"She won't find out," Those words were like a physical ache in my chest.
What wouldn't I find out?... That he killed my parents or is there something else I'missing. Oh well.. obviously I must have missed something out, And at this point, I know that there's no one to be trusted, Not even my Aunt.
I leaned my head on the window, the vibration of the car rattling through my skull. My mind was a chaotic storm of images, my mother's beautiful smile, the smell of my father's cologne, and then the fire, the twisted metal.
For years, those nightmares kept haunting me every single night…. until they suddenly stopped after I turned 18.
But now, I wasn't even sure those memories were real anymore or was it probably all lies?
"Miss Jennie?"
I didn't turn immediately because I can't let this evil coconut head of a person see the way my eyes were welling up.
"What?" I snapped, my voice sounding more sharper than usual.
"Your phone, ma'am" Jacopo said, his voice didn't sound like a request but a command.
"W-what?!.…And why should I do that?" I snapped back, my hand tightening around my phone in my pocket.
Jacopo sighed heavily, looking like someone who knew he was in for a very long day dealing with a stubborn woman. And without my permission, he reached over and took the phone from my pocket by force.
I stiffened instantly.
My hand instinctively tightened around the device in my pocket. It was my only link to the world outside his walls.
"Give it back now!" I lunged forward trying to grab it but ignored me and continued driving like nothing happened.
'Ahgnn!' I fell back in the seat with a frustrated groan, looking for something around the car to crush over their heads or a way to drown out my frustrations.
If Vincenzo wanted to strip me of everything, control every part of my life, Fine.
But I refused to let him take my dignity too. That was one thing I would never willingly hand over, Not this lifetime.
Outside the window, the city skyline slowly disappeared behind us, the towering buildings looking like dark tombstones under the moonlight.
Every mile back toward the estate felt like another mile away from myself. Away from Jennie Ann but becoming someone else entirely.
Jennie V. Ruggiero.
The thought alone made me sick. But my tears slowly dried, something colder settled in me.
If they are going to drag me to this twisted game then I have no choice to learn how to play it myself. My thought drifted to Vincenzo's dark gaze on me, how they looked when he commanded me to say his name.
He wanted me defiant? He wanted to hear the spark in my voice? But he had no idea what he had just unleashed. By dragging me in his world won't save his secret. He had just brought the person most likely to destroy him.
I closed my eyes briefly, counting my heartbeats.
One…
…Two…
..Three…
The estate gates appeared in the distance, wrought iron and terrifying. I didn't flinch this time. I sat up straighter as my expression hardened into something colder.
The car slowed at the security checkpoint while the guards outside immediately straightened at our rival.
"We've arrived ma'am," Jacopo muttered, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.
I didn't wait for any of the guard to open the door. I grabbed the handle and stepped out into the freezing air.
The cold bit me on my skin sharply, almost like Vincenzo. But I stare up at the dark mansion towering over me and I realised something.