CHAPTER 9

LUCIANO'S POV

Tonight, stars are shining so bright. The sky is peaceful and finally, I can relax now. Analise is back with me in my home.
Without her, this mansion was only a mansion but with her presence it is home. She is my home. Her mere presence is enough to give me peace.
Standing here on the balcony I look behind me at Analise. I drugged her so she doesn't make more fuss tonight.
I don't want to hear her cries when tomorrow we are going to get married. I walk towards her and sit beside her sleeping form on the bed.

I wanted everything to be perfect and beautiful but she brought this on herself.
She escaped me and disrespected me. I will not forgive her. I had let the driver go because he is already an old man.
His son died while working for me last year. He didn't know that he was helping my Queen in escaping. So, I forgave him.
But my Queen will have a surprise tomorrow before the wedding. She has to accept the fact that escaping is not an option.

She has to accept her fate.
She looks so peaceful. Words aren't enough to describe her beauty. In my eyes, she is the prettiest.
Her heart is so pure. She is too naive to be in my world. The world in which every second person is a threat.
In which you can trust no one except family. I only trust Niccolo because he is my childhood friend. His father was my father's, right-hand man.

He is family and can never betray me. I stroke my fingers on Ana's face. She stirs and sleeps again.
I will protect you with my life Tesoro. You have become my obsession. I will never let you leave me.
After kissing her on the forehead I get up and lay beside her. I let sleep come over me with my angel in my arms.

ANALISE'S POV

I try to open my eyes but my eyelids feel heavy. After a lot of trying, I finally open my eyes.
My vision is blurry and my head hurts like it has been struck with a hammer. I can now see clearly as my vision cleared.
I look towards my side to see I am alone. The clock shows 9:00. With great difficulty, I get up. My back hurts.
I move towards the bathroom and start a warm bath. Warm water soothes my muscles.
The pain I am feeling is a clear reminder of yesterday. Tears start to blur everything. I only got one chance to escape and got caught. Now I am again struck with him.

The tattoo of his name taunts me whenever I look at myself in the mirror. It tells me that I am and will always be HIS.
He says he loves me but he does nothing to prove it. He just treats me like a sex toy.
When water starts to get cold, I get up and move towards the closet. With no heart to search for anything I grab a white dress and wear it.
It is a white dress and has embroidery all over it.

As I am back here again, I should maybe accept him.
What is the point of trying when you know that you will never succeed? I fear Luciano a lot. He is too strong that I am no match for him.
My stomach growls. I am hungry I decide to grab some breakfast. Even though this is time for brunch.
I hope Luciano is not at home. I don't want to face him after what happened yesterday.

His mere glance sends chills down my spine. I enter the kitchen and to my bad luck, he is sitting there sipping something from his cup.
"Good morning, Tesoro."
With deep fear, I slowly move towards him and sit on his right. The fear that he will hurt me or Alice is still present.
"Will, you do not greet me, Tesoro?" Luciano asks eyeing me with a playful smile on his face.

"Morning," I answer him meekly.
The maid brings breakfast. The whole table is filled with different dishes. Eggs, pancakes, and whatnot.
"You are looking like an angel today Tesoro. You must eat everything today. As it is needed." I look at him with confusion on my face.
"Today is our wedding night. Do you think I will let you sleep today?" His words were enough to make me choke on my food.

I think I am not hungry anymore.
How can I forget about the wedding? Angry tears start wetting my cheeks. I look at him to see the satisfaction on his face.
Happiness is visible on his face.
With one last hope, I whisper. "I d-don't want to marry you." He looks at me with a bored expression.
"Do you think I fucking care?" He asks with neither a calm nor angry tone. His words made me shut up.

"I have something to show you." He says and hands me his phone. I see it showing a picture.
One look at the picture and I returned it to him. In the picture, a man was sitting in a chair in a very dark place.
A light bulb was illuminated on his body and he was badly bruised. His face is unrecognizable.
This picture brought back bad memories. I start shaking with fear. Tears were already flowing from my eyes.
I tried getting up but he grabbed my wrist and made me sit back. I beg him with my eyes to let me go back into my room.

"Don't you want to know who was this man? Let me tell you. He was the driver who took you to Alice's house." I gasp after hearing his words.
He was an old man. One more person died because of me. I will never forgive myself. My heart was breaking.
"This is time for you to learn that you can never leave me and whoever will help you will end up like him." I continued to cry my heart out.
His words filling my body with horror. After a lot of struggles, he finally left my hand.
"Now go back to the room. Maids will be arriving shortly to get you ready for the wedding. Don't make me kill them just because of your stubbornness." His warning was clear.

He made sure that if I don't cooperate then people will die. With having no option, I return to the room.
Evening
I can't recognize the woman standing in front of me. I am looking like a queen today.
My face is flawless due to the heavy makeup on it. The bruises that he gave me last night are not there anymore.

Makeup has covered them greatly. My eyes look hollow. Why my eyes are looking like this? Haven't I always waited for my wedding day?
Then why I am looking so unhappy today. I have always wanted to marry a beautiful guy who would love me unconditionally.
But not this. I have never wanted a forced wedding. The dress is so beautiful that it makes me wonder if I am even worthy of this.
This is the dress any girl would die to wear at her wedding.

The door opens and in comes a maid to escort me to the devil. I once again look for a chance or a way to escape but find nothing.
Within a minute I am moving towards Luciano on the aisle. He is looking so handsome and dangerous.
Niccolo is standing beside him. When I first met him, I thought he might be different from every mafia man.
I thought he can be my friend but he is no good to anybody present there. He could have killed Alice within a second on Luciano's order.

He also has no humanity.
I reach Luciano and he takes a hold of my hand. The priest looks afraid. With a nod of Luciano, he starts the wedding.
I remember the day when my father used to talk about my wedding. He is not here and I am thankful to God that he is not here.
He would have died seeing me marry this man. Luciano says "I do" and now it is my turn.
I look towards the people sitting here that maybe someone would help me but everyone is looking at Luciano. Their eyes are emotionless.

Suddenly a thought enters my mind. If I refuse, then this wedding will not occur. When I open my mouth to refuse Luciano signals me to watch something behind me.
I look behind me and see Alice with a gun pointed at her head and someone's hand on her face. I look at Luciano horrified.
"You said- You said you wouldn't kill her." I whispered to him trembling. Immediately I leave his hand and start to go towards her but he grabs my waist.
"Say I do or else she will die." Luciano tells me hardly. There is no doubt that he will. The priest asks me again and this time without waiting for a second, I say "I do" defeated.

"Ora puoi baciare la sposa." The priest says and everyone clasps. (Now you may kiss the bride)
I look at Luciano defeated. He comes near and kisses me forcefully taking my breath away.
He bites my lips and strokes my tongue. I put my hands on his chest to push him but to no avail.
He finally breaks the kiss and leaves me. Niccolo hugs him happily. People start cheering. I am sure all are killers here.
Immediately after this, I am dragged with him to the reception. He gave me no chance to meet Alice. He just said that she has been returned home.

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