My breathing grew heavier. My heart trembled terribly. All my senses were both alert and dizzy, and I felt so hot. Luca, however, seemed to be lost in his own world.
"It's my first time," I murmured to no one in particular. It wasn't like he cared anyway.
Heat raked through my body and flooded my cheeks when he paused, his hand pausing on its journey beneath my top.
He stared into my eyes wordlessly for a moment. I almost thought I saw a flicker of something warm in his eyes, but it disappeared so quickly that I thought it might have been my hallucination. He let out a huff and buried his face in my neck.
I let out a sound I had never heard before as his teeth sunk into my neck mildly.
Things were happening so fast that it almost felt like I was watching from the sidelines. Tears brimmed in my eyes, but I forced myself to hold it in. It couldn't be that bad, could it?
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, and I wondered if now would be the right time to say it.
He peeled off his shirt after yanking off mine. As he dived down to bury his face in my neck again, I whimpered.
His hand began to slide its way to the hem of my nightie shorts, making my eyes widen. My heart pounded furiously against my chest. Was I truly ready for this?
Before I could help myself, I blurted, "There's a mole in your house." My voice was so low I doubted he heard me.
But when I felt him freeze suddenly, I knew he had. He looked into my eyes with his dark ones. "What did you just say?"
My heart raced at the murderous glint in his eyes. Was he mad at me? Did he think I had made it up to escape this?
"Never mind," I mumbled, avoiding his intense, fiery gaze.
He turned my face back to his harshly. "Answer me now. What did you just say?!" My palms held my face so harshly that I was sure the prints of his grip would be obvious in the morning.
I winced. "I said you have a mole in your house. I saw him speaking with a man at the mafia ball about someone called Ivanov. He had a cobra tattoo on his wrist."
Luca rolled off me like I was a ghost. He had a mad expression in his eyes. "And you're telling me this because?"
I shrugged, pulling the duvet around myself tightly. "Nothing. I just thought you should know. You can ignore me, though, and figure it out later yourself."
I turned my back to him, my heart racing. The bed suddenly felt lighter behind me, and I knew he had gone out to kill someone.
For the rest of the night, my eyes remained open wide, my heart racing as I thought of what had almost happened. This game was becoming more real by the day. How long could I ward him off?
*
My eyes were super heavy with sleep the next morning. Slowly adjusting to my routine Luca Castillo's mansion, I knew that today, breakfast would be in the dining room.
For some reason, Luca hated tardiness to breakfast even though many of the times, he was barely ever there.d
A groan escaped my lips, and I yawned. All I wanted to do was sleep in and dream of the better days back when it was me and mum on the days she wasn't sick.
However, when a loud knock came to my door, I jumped up with a start and rushed to get ready.
The weather was cool, so I decided to just put on a halterneck, body con, kneelength dress.
The food in the mansion still made me feel queasy, but the last thing I wanted was Luca showing it down my throat.
As I settled into a chair in the dining room, my heart raced. The aroma of the meals as they approached the table wafted through the air into my nostrils.
A loud crash sound made me jump, and to my surprise, it was the meal Sofia was bringing in on a tray. I stared at her in confusion.
She looked pale as she stared at me. I wondered if she was still scared of me because of the way I had yelled at her the last time she brought me a meal.
"I'm so sorry," she stammered before disappearing into the kitchen. She soon emerged with a broom and a dustpan.
Her hands trembled as she cleared the broken shards of glass on the floor and packed the water meal.
"Are you alright, Sofia?" I asked, my eyes softening with concern. I didn't want her to be scared of me. She was literally the closest person to a friend that I had in the mansion, and she alone could feed me more trustable information about Luca.
She nodded in a rush, her throat bobbing as she gulped.
"Are you scared of me?" I asked the questions, trying to touch her, but she stepped back.
A glint flashed in her scared eyes, which made me sad and unsettled.
"No. Of course not, ma'am. I just tripped," she stated, but I just could see through her eyes that she was lying.
I didn't press, though, seeing as she wasn't ready to open up.
She disappeared through the unto the kitchen, and I didn't see her again.
I let out a breath. That was it. I had lost a friend and vital informant, I guess.
Another order maid came in with a tray of food, and a feeling of unease settled over me.
"Join me."
She paused in her tracks, looking confused. "Ma'am?"
"Take the first spoon. Join me," I stated plainly, my words coming out harsher than intended.
She paused for a moment, looking at me weirdly before two spoons of the food. That was what I needed to set my mind at ease.
"Thanks. You can leave," I instructed.
She paused, staring at me with what looked like pity before sighing.
"Ma'am, I think you're suspecting the wrong person." She muttered almost inaudibly, disappearing into the kitchen before I could ask any more questions.
My head reeled. What did she mean by that? Did she know who poisoned me?
I ate in silence, but my hands were trembling. Mistakenly, I poured soup on my dress, and a groan escaped my lips.
I rushed to the bathroom to clean up. Catching sight of my reflection in the mirror, my eyes widened.
There, on the nape of my neck, was a puplish-red mark, and it was quite glaring.
A gasp escaped my lips. Luca!