I did not sleep well at all.
After I first got in bed, I relived that moment over and over –
Every second of Dario grabbing me, kissing me, taking me –
Every touch, every taste, every sensation.
My thoughts eventually turned to worse things.
Like how it would feel if he pulled my dress up past my thighs, the silk sliding across my skin…
How it would feel if he touched me between my legs, which throbbed hot and wet and full of lust.
Over and over again, I forbid myself from thinking such things…
And over and over again, the thoughts still intruded.
I tossed and turned for hours before sleep finally came –
And even then I had no relief.
In my dreams, he came to me over and over.
Sometimes gentle…
Sometimes a brute.
Either he would slide my negligee off me…
Or he would rip it to shreds.
He would gently make love to me…
Or take me like an animal, frenzied and wild.
And every time he did, I cried out as he entered me –
Hating him –
And wanting him even more –
Until I woke in the morning, my sheets tangled around me.
I rolled over onto my side and felt immense shame.
A mafioso had forced himself upon me, and all I could do was quiver and want more.
Every sermon I had ever listened to, every warning about lust came flooding back into my brain.
I felt like I was in danger of going to hell for my desires.
This was no ordinary man I was fantasizing about.
He was a criminal.
A thug.
A murderer.
A mafia don.
The fact that I wanted him against my will…
The fact that my body responded so powerfully to his touch, betraying me…
What did that say about my soul?
I felt tainted by sin…
And for the first time since I had begun scheming, I wanted to go to church not just to escape the grounds and contact my father, but to unburden my soul and ask for forgiveness.
I was in danger of hellfire for the feelings that Dario Rosolini inspired in me…
And I would do anything to be rid of those feelings once and for all.
I dressed quickly, not in the silk dress he had given me, but in one of the dresses I had brought from home.
I knew he would not allow me to leave.
My mind kept returning to my mistake with the telephone yesterday. I knew I would have to gather more information if I wanted to escape the grounds.
But how?
…Cat.
Caterina would tell me what I needed to know. I was sure of it.
I made my way down to the kitchen. It was early enough that the house was barely stirring. I walked quietly, not wanting to encounter anyone – least of all Dario.
I entered the kitchen, but no one was there.
However, there were signs that Cat was nearby.
There were sliced strawberries on a cutting board…
And fresh dough set aside to be kneaded.
Plus her cell phone sat on a nearby counter. It was unlocked, like she had been looking at it before she disappeared.
I glanced around the kitchen. She didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby.
She might know that I wasn’t allowed to use my own phone… so I figured Ask forgiveness, not permission was the best policy.
I hastily grabbed the phone, opened Google Maps, and typed in Church near me.
The map zoomed in to a tiny village. I pinched the screen to shrink it, so I could figure out where I was in relation to the town –
But no matter how much I zoomed out, there was no sign of the Rosolinis’ mansion. Just an empty green space.
I frowned as I tried to figure it out –
And then suddenly I heard a muffled cry, like someone sobbing into a pillow.
It was coming from inside the pantry, just ten feet away.
The wooden door was almost completely closed… but there was a tiny crack.
There were muted cries coming from within…
But it didn’t sound sad.
It sounded…
Passionate.
I closed Google maps, replaced the phone on the counter, and slowly crept to the door, my heart thudding in my chest.
Then I peered through the crack in the almost-closed door.
What I saw shocked me –
And aroused me almost as much as Dario kissing me the night before.
Inside the pantry, Valentino was making love to Cat.
Well… to be honest…
They were not ‘making love.’
I blushed and crossed myself guiltily as I said the words silently in my head:
They’re fucking.
Oh God, were they fucking.
Cat was pressed against the wall, her dress hiked up around her waist.
Valentino stood in front of her.
His pants were pulled down slightly below his ass, and Cat’s legs were clamped around his waist.
His shirt covered his upper body, but his ass – his bare, beautiful, perfect ass – thrust back and forth, driving himself forward between Cat’s open legs.
There was a wet slapping sound of skin on skin…
And Cat clawed at his back with her nails.
I could see her face over his shoulder.
Her eyes were closed, and her expression was caught somewhere between pain and ecstasy.
I don’t think she was frowning because of actual pain –
But because she was trying to hold back the screams of pleasure every time Valentino thrust deep inside her.
Every time his beautiful ass rocked forward, her entire body jolted –
And a tiny, high-pitched uh – uh – uh – UH escaped her throat.
Sometimes she bit his shoulder or his neck to stop herself from screaming.
And his hands… his big, strong hands… grabbed at her ass, holding her up in the air effortlessly like a doll, as he had his way with her.
I stood there in absolute shock.
I knew how sex worked –
But I had never seen it.
Not videos on the internet, nor watching anyone do it before.
And it was the most beautiful – the most arousing – the most astounding thing I had ever seen in my life.
I was wetter than ever before…
Even more turned on than last night when Dario kissed me…
Even more than my dreams of him ravishing me.
All I could do was stand there, hypnotized, and watch as Valentino fucked her like a beast.
Suddenly Cat’s cries began to increase in pitch and urgency –
And she pressed her face into his shoulder and gave one long, muffled scream.
“Oh fuck – oh fuck – oh FUCK – ” Valentino grunted into her hair.
Suddenly he thrust hard and deep inside her –
And both of them held onto each other like they were dying.
Finally he pulled his face away from her hair and they began to kiss… tenderly, passionately…
But he still held onto her, her bare ass cupped in his huge hands…
His body still pressing against her.
I couldn’t watch anymore.
I was going crazy from lust, and I couldn’t bear it.
All I could think of was wanting to be in Cat’s place…
But with Dario pressing me against the wall and his bare ass thrusting his manhood inside me.
I stumbled away from the door and out of the kitchen –
Right into the path of Filomena.
“Oh!” she exclaimed as I staggered into the hallway. “Are you alright, child?”
I stared at her like she was an alien.
I knew I couldn’t let her go in the kitchen – I couldn’t let Cat get caught –
But I had to do something about the overwhelming lust in my body –
The shame that I had watched a terrible sin.
Even worse, that I wanted to do it myself.
“I need to go to church,” I mumbled. “I need to go to confession.”
She smiled and nodded primly. “Good. I can ask one of the drivers to take you. There is a village close by – ”
“No,” I interrupted.
She looked surprised. “Why not?”
I winched. “Dario won’t let me off the estate.”
She scowled. “Of course not… why would a murderer allow an innocent to do that which God commands?”
I realized I had an ally, and I grabbed her hands as I beseeched her. “Is there another way off the grounds? A way to get to the church?”
Filomena looked around her as though afraid someone might hear her. Then she turned back to me and nodded. “Yes… but I can’t take you there. I can meet you there, but I can’t take you.”
“What? Why?”
“Just trust me.”
She told me to go to the west wing, past the chapel, and to a doorway at the far end of the corridor. I would know it because there was a fleur-de-lis – a lily of the field emblem – carved into the wood.
Once I got there, I was to knock. If there was no answer, I was to wait a minute and knock again, then keep knocking every 60 seconds until I got an answer.
“Go,” she whispered. “I’ll see you there.”
I did as she said and walked down the hallway, unsure why she had sent me off alone.
When I found the door, I knocked once. No answer.
I counted to 60 and knocked again –
And this time, the door swung open.
I entered the room to find a small, cramped hallway. Filomena was there and beckoned me inside.
After I entered, she quickly shut the door behind me.
“This is part of the servants’ passageways,” Filomena explained. “They were used for centuries so servants could come and go without bothering the masters of the house. I was shown them when I began work here, but they also told me there is a way off the property if we were ever attacked.”
I didn’t have to ask who might attack the estate because I already knew:
Other mafiosos.
“Why couldn’t you bring me here yourself?” I asked.
“Because the Rosolinis have eyes everywhere… and they’d kill me if they knew I brought you here.”
I wanted to protest that they wouldn’t… but the words died in my throat. I feared she was right.
Filomena led me down the small corridor to another door and opened it. There was nothing but yawning black until she hit a light switch. Suddenly, dozens of light bulbs spaced every 20 feet lit up a stone passageway stretching off into infinity.
“Follow the passageway,” Filomena said. “It ends with an iron door that locks from the inside. Once closed, it will not open again. You will find yourself in a field. Go straight ahead through the forest, and you will eventually reach a wall. Travel left along the wall until you find a break in the stones, and you’ll see a small town on the other side. There is a church in the town where you can say confession.”
Suddenly she grasped my hands.
“My child… I beg you, take this opportunity to escape. This is a house of murder and sin… leave it and never come back.”
“What about you?” I asked. “What will they do when they find out I’m gone?”
“They’ll never suspect me,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
She smiled sadly and shook her head. “I’m an old woman. There is no place for me out there. I would die in misery. But you – you still have a chance. Go, before they realize you are gone.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She kissed my forehead. “May God bless you.”
Then she turned back and closed the door behind me.
I stood there for a moment, overwhelmed by fear –
And then joy exploded through my body.
I was free!
I ran down the stone passageway as fast as I could, guided by the dim lightbulbs strung along the ceiling.
I finally reached the end of the corridor and found the iron door she had mentioned.
It took all my strength to turn the handle. It shrieked – but the door opened.
Stone steps led up to a dense canopy of underbrush. Daylight peeked through tiny gaps in the vines.
I held the heavy door open and remembered Filomena’s words:
Once closed, it will not open again.
Once I let go of the door, my choice was final.
Fear raced through me –
But I thought of Dario in the chapel and what he had said:
I will do whatever else I LIKE with you… and TO you. I will make you my whore… and when the time comes, you will beg me to take you.
I thought of what I had seen in the pantry – Cat and Valentino coupling in the shadows –
And though I wanted it, I knew my soul was in danger.
If I stayed, I knew Dario would pursue me…
And I knew that I would eventually give in.
I let go of the door.
It swung closed behind me and latched with a metallic CLANK.
I tried the handle to be sure –
Locked.
The die was cast. There was no way but forward.
I fought through the vines and shrubs into the daylight, and left the Rosolinis – and Dario – behind…
…forever.
