Neveah Aurora North:

Tiago takes a seat next to Rio and looks our way. 'You must be starving.'

My stomach starts growling at the thought of food and I know Leya feels the same.

I glance around, taking in all the colors playing around the room, thanks to the sun. It's absolutely breathtaking, and if it weren't for the Curzio men in the room, I would've enjoyed being here.

In the middle of the big table, there is a candle holder with exactly five dark red candles. They're scented, making the room smell like cherries.

'Sit down.' Rio demands, before taking another sip from his wine. I wish I just stabbed him earlier.

Because maybe if we did hurt or maybe even killed him today, we could've been back home, on our way home to say the least.

'Chef Claudio made lasagna! It's the best lasagna in the world! You guys should try it!' Tiago exclaims. He seems very excited about the lasagna.

Cataleya and I slowly make our way to the two seats furthest away from the men, which makes Tiago chuckle.

'We don't bite ladies.' Rio lifts his hand and slowly signals us to come closer. Leya gets up and makes her way towards the men and I follow her example.

We don't want a recap from earlier today.

As soon as we're seated a bunch of people with diner plates, enter the room. They're all wearing similar outfits, all black and white.

They serve a plate to everyone and smile at us. It's scary because it looks like all they can do is smile.

'Buon appetito.' They say in unison, before running back to the kitchen or whatever that room is.

The boys nod and start eating their food. It smells delicious, but what if it's poisoned?

I look over at Cataleya, who is sitting at the other side of the table, and shrug. If they're eating it, it might mean that ours isn't poisoned either.

'I promise we're not poisoning you.' Rio says, covering his mouth with his hand, 'So just eat before you starve to death.'

I grab the fork placed on the table and look at the knife. The fact that Rio trusts us with the knife says enough. He doesn't think we'll do it again and to be honest, I don't think we will.

Slowly I move the fork to my mouth, smelling the delicious-looking food for a second, and I smile. This smells like something Tiago's mother used to make.

'It tastes even better than it smells.' Tiago laughs. Our eyes meet and I freeze. This is the second time I'm looking at him directly just because I can.

Why am I doing this to myself?

'So,' I look at my food and look directly at Rio, 'Since we're staying for the long run. How can we finish our study?'

If he thought I was done asking questions, he's wrong. I am far from done.

He nods my way and takes another sip of his wine. 'You can finish your study, I'll call your schools tomorrow to arrange everything.'

I nod and take another bite. It indeed tastes better than it smells.

'Define working for you?' His eyes shoot to Tiago, who sighs. They know that they have to answer all of my questions if they want me to cooperate.

'Since you two are studying hotel management,' His eyes shoot to Cataleya, who's also looking at him. 'You'll work for me in my hotels. Managing the places a little.' Why would he-

'Trust me, Miss North. You won't get full access to everything. I'll still have my own management team to work with.'

I am astounded by the fact that he already knows the answers to all my questions. He knows what he's doing as if he planned this for a long time.

'And you're certain you didn't plan all of this ?' I ask curiously, but they both shake their heads. 'It was an "in the moment" type of thing.' Tiago answers.

'But if we found you,' Rio pointed at me and took another bite, making me wait longer since he needed to finish it before talking, 'Leon would've kidnapped you anyways.'

All Tiago does is smile. He doesn't even deny it.

'What about our apartment and our stuff?' He sighs, getting a slight bit annoyed at my little interrogation.

'You will sell your apartment and all things valuable will be brought here since this is where you'll be staying.' What? I thought that he at least let us stay in another house, as far away from them as possible.

'What is it, Miss North? You thought that I would let you two out of my sight, so you could run again?' I glare his way, trying to look as threatening as possible, but he's more threatening than I'll ever be.

'What about our clothes?' Tiago gulps down his wine. He's already finished eating so he can leave, but he doesn't he simply watches me and Rio.

'Tomorrow you'll meet a friend of mine, Brandon Barsetti.' Barsetti? I recognize that name. Only Barsetti though, not Brandon. 'He'll help you with all the clothes you need.'

'Your personal fashion designer to say the least.' Tiago explains, even though I already got the point.

'Barsetti?' 'Marco's little brother.' Rio sighs again and I notice that his plate is also empty.

Marco Barsetti... The idiot has a brother? 'You might remember him.' I look at Tiago and sigh. Oh, do I remember him...

Rio stands up and looks at us. 'I'm finished, so if you'll excuse me.' He doesn't wait for a response and quickly walks out of the room, leaving the three of us in silence.

Leya and I finish our plates and look at each other from time to time. I was starving and the food tastes absolutely delicious.

'You girls should go to your room to get some rest.' Tiago mutters at us. We look at him and nod since we can't just sit there all the time.

We make our way up the stairs, to our room, and close the door behind us.

'What the fuck was that Neveah?!' Cataleya shouts at me furiously. 'What?'

'You talked to them as if we're actually staying here.' She seems more annoyed than ever, but I don't understand why.

'I simply asked a few questions about our stay.' I walk over to her, but she backs away from me, 'We need to know what's going to happen to us, right?' 'So we're just giving up? We'll just go along with their demands!?'

'I mean, you heard Rio earlier. He'll kill us. Or your mother!' She sighs, but won't let it be. 'He keeps threatening, but what if he doesn't know how to get there?'

'Cataleya... We might as well accept it.' My words shock her, I normally don't give in this quick. But I know that we won't win this fight. The Curzio's are too strong.

'How can you accept this?' Now I'm the one sighing. 'We won't win this.' I say, feeling totally defeated. 'Well, I'm not giving up.'

We stay quiet for a while, neither of us knowing what to say. After a while, she walks towards the dresser on the left side of the room, close to the bathroom.

'I'm going to shower and go to bed.' She mumbles and all I can do is nod.

My throat hurts from all the screaming. I look around the room, trying to find something to drink.

A little table is filled with all types of snacks and drinks, but I don't trust it.

'Do you want something to drink?' I ask, hoping that she'll hear me and answer. 'Sure.'

I slowly make my way down the stairs, trying to not make a sound so that they won't notice I'm lurking around.

When I get to the kitchen, it's completely empty and squicky clean.

I walk over to the cabinets and start my search for some glasses or even water bottles that we can drink from.

'What are you doing?' Tiago's deep voice startles me since it's dark and I didn't see him when I got in.

I turn around to face him and see him leaning against the frame of the door, observing my every move.

'Where are the water bottles?' He stands up straight and smiles at me. 'What do you need those for? You have bottles in your room right?'

I nod and turn back to the cabinets since Tiago doesn't want to help. The sound of movement fills the room, but I don't look at what he's doing. I just search for those water bottles.

'Here.' I turn around to see Tiago holding up two bottles. They're the same brand as the ones in our room, so I don't trust them.

'How do I know you're not poisoning us?' He snorts and sighs deeply. 'Dannazione'

Tiago opens one of the bottles and takes a big gulp, before smiling at me again.

'I would never poison you.' He mumbles before grabbing a new bottle from the highest cabinet. Even if I wanted to grab it myself, I wouldn't be able to reach it without climbing the kitchen counters. 'I would never hurt you.'

'But Rio would.' He smiles and shakes his head.

'I wouldn't let him.' Well, he did... A chuckle leaves my lips and I reach for the bottles in his hand, but he pulls them out of my reach.

'What's so funny?' I sigh, knowing that he won't give me those bottles unless I tell him what happened earlier today. 'He put a gun to my head today. Since we tried to stab him.'

His eyes widen in shock. 'You did what!?'

I simply nod and look at the door, hoping that he woke no one. The last thing I want is for Rio to storm in here and shout at me for not drinking the water he placed in our room.

'You heard me. Now hand me those bottles.' He gives me the bottles, our fingers gracing each other in the process, and smiles.

He takes a big step towards me, almost closing the gap between us, and so do I. I step back until my back meets the cold marble counter.

'What are you-' He inhales intensely and closes his eyes for a second. His broad shoulders make me feel so little. I hate it. He's towering over me and I've never felt so small compared to a man.

'I swear to god Neveah,' Oh no... My heart skips a beat again at the sound of my name coming from his lips, 'Keep looking at me like that... And I'll...' He opens his eyes and locks them to mine.

'You'll what?' He grins, he knew he made me curious and that was exactly what he wanted to do. Just make me curious. 'You'll see.'

Tiago takes a step back and smirks at himself. He wants to play that game?!

'I'll talk to him, see if he's willing to chill.' He mumbles, before walking to the door.

'Tiago?' He slowly turns around and looks at me. Two can play this game Tiago...

I walk over to him, looking at his eyes only, and stop right in front of him. His eyes are focusing on my lips and my lips alone, so I bite my lower lip and smile. Just to annoy him.

'I don't know what you're thinking, but you'll never touch me again.' I say, trying to not stutter because of his stare.

Just as I'm walking past him, to go back to my room, he pulls me back. Within seconds, he's holding my wrists in one of his hands and he has me pushed against the wall. Not hard, but it still hurts since my back is kinda sore from the last time he pushed me against a wall. I grimace, but that doesn't seem to bother him.

'Are you sure about that?' He whispers seductively into my ear. My mouth feels dry all of a sudden and I know that if I don't stop him now, this will only get worse. But I don't want to?

'Yes.' I whisper back and he smiles. 'So you don't want me to touch you?' He slowly trails his fingers up my arms, towards my chest.

My breath hitches in the back of my throat and he notices.

'You don't want me to,' His hand makes his way to my throat, slowly putting pressure on his grip, 'choke you?'

I try breaking free from his hand around my wrists, but he's stronger.

'You don't want me to lick or kiss you?' His lips softly press against my ear. Oh, fuck..

'You don't want me to touch you?' His hand around my wrists loosens and he swiftly slides it under my dress, before pressing it against my core. Now that I'm free, I place my hands on his chest, not knowing what to do.

I should stop him. But I don't want to stop him.

'You don't want me to pleasure you, Neveah?' A soft moan escapes my lips and I can feel him smirking against my ear. His hand keeps the same amount of pressure, making me want to grind my hips against him.

I bury my head against his chest and try to catch my breath. This man knows how to fucking play me and I hate it. But I don't want him to stop.

We stand there for a few seconds, his hand pressed against my core and me breathing like crazy against his hard chest. Oh god... He takes a deep breath and pulls back his hand, before stepping back. Almost making me fall forward since I was relying on his chest.

'You don't want me to, so I won't' He smirks. And just like that, he walks into the hall. Leaving me horny for no fucking reason.

Goddamnit! I told myself. No, I promised myself to never go back to him. It was too dangerous.

Yet here I stand, longing for his touch, wishing that he finished what we started, filled with desire. Fuck..

My grip around the bottles tightens as I make my way back to our room. Cataleya is already done showering and is wearing an oversized shirt.

It's definitely from one of the Curzio's.

'You okay?' She asks a little worried. I bet it's because I'm breathing like crazy and my cheeks are burning. 'I'm fine.'

I throw one of the bottles on the bed and take another deep breath. 'I'm going to shower.'

She nods and walks towards the windows, taking in the gorgeous view again.

I hope that the shower will help me with all of this, that it will diminish the feeling Tiago gave me.

As soon as the warm water hits my skin, my soul calms down. It's so relaxing that I almost forget about the past twenty-four hours.

I let my hand trail down my chest, the same way Tiago did, and take a deep breath. My heart starts racing again and I hate it.

If I don't watch out for him, I'll be back to needing him every second of the day. I'll be back to doing everything and giving everything for him. I'll be back to having a target on my back and that's the last thing I want.

After the shower, I wrap a towel around my chest. Cataleya already grabbed some clothes for me to wear and I put them on.

The shirt smells like Tiago, so I know it's his. He did that shit on purpose.

'You okay Veah?' I look at my best friend. If I won't be careful, she'll be the one to pay. I myself have nothing to lose, but she does. She has her mother, her grandparents, her everything.

She's all I have. I won't risk her life just because my heart thinks that I'll go back to Tiago. I won't.

'Mhm, just tired.' I fake yawn and climb into the big soft bed. 'Let's get some sleep okay?'

She smiles at me and gets in as well. 'Sorry I freaked out.'

'It's fine.' I wave it away and roll over, so I can face her. 'You're right anyway.'

'What?' 'We can't give up that easily. So we will keep finding a way to get the fuck out of here.' I say before laying on my back and looking at the ceiling.

'Good to know.' She laughed, before doing the same. 'Goodnight Leya.'

'Goodnight Neveah.' My eyes start to feel heavy and within two minutes I'm off to dreamland.

The next morning I wake up to an empty bed. I have more space to roll around and simply stretch out until I almost fall out of bed. Wait?

I didn't have that much room when I went to sleep, so what changed? Where is Cataleya?

'Cataleya!?' I jump out of bed, into the bathroom, and see her brushing her teeth. She's still wearing the oversized shirt but has a pair of grey sweatpants underneath it now.

'I'm okay! I didn't want to wake you up.' She explains smiling at me through the mirror. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her to death. 'Don't ever do that again!'

She chuckles and nods at the same time since I probably look like a crazy person.

We get ready for today, brushing our teeth, doing our hair, making us look a little presentable while still wearing the same clothes we slept in. The only thing different is that we're wearing pants now.

Cataleya has a pair of grey sweatpants and I have black shorts that fall to my ankles since it's at least four sizes too big.

Just as we're about to walk out of the room, someone knocks on the door. Leya opens the door and looks at the elder woman from yesterday.

'Goodmorning Miss Velez,' She chimes and looks at me, 'Miss North.' 'Goodmorning.'

'Master Curzio requested your presence for breakfast.' We sigh and look at the elder lady. I feel bad for her. She has to work for these two assholes that can't even get their own guest to come downstairs.

'Can we ask you something?' Leya asks and the older lady nods. 'What's your name?'

'Manuela Leonetti, Miss Velez.' So she's Manuela? 'You can call us by our first names, right Neveah?' I nod and smile at the older lady. I feel like we're the ones who should call her Miss Leonetti out of respect, not the other way around.

'Oh, okay. Sorry if I disrespected you.' Suddenly she sounds a little worried. 'Oh no, it's not a problem at all.' I quickly say and she smiles at us again.

'We'll be down in a few.' Manuela nods and walks back into the hall. I glance at Leya, who simply shakes her head in disbelieve.

'She's not made for this.' I shrug because there is not a lot we can do about it. Even though she's old, she does it with a smile. She has probably worked for the Curzio's her entire life.

'We should go downstairs before they come to get us.' I joke, knowing they probably would.

Cataleya nods and walks towards the dining room. I follow her and notice that the room is empty.

Manuela walks out of the door, that leads to the kitchen, and smiles at us. 'Masters won't be joining you this morning, they had some business to attend but they'll be back soon.'

We nod and take a seat. The table is filled with all types of food, just like the morning when I got breakfast for the both of us.

I sit across from Leya again and smile at her. This time we won't hesitate to eat, since we haven't died from last night's food yet.

Just as we're about to finish the food, we hear the front door open and a few deep voices. Four different deep voices.

'You'll enjoy it, trust me.' One of them says before a few of them start laughing.

Cataleya looks at me and I shrug. We get up and look to see who it is.

'Good morning ladies.' Tiago smirks before walking towards us. He wants to hug us but we simply step out of the way. 'No morning hug for me?' He asks sadly and I roll my eyes, making him smirk even wider.

'Miss Velez, Miss North. I would like to introduce you to the Barsetti brothers.' Rio states, pointing at the two men standing beside him.

'Marco Barsetti,' I recognize him. His hair was tied into a high bun and he still had blue eyes. It didn't match his tawny tinted skin but for some reason it did. His tattoos crawling from under his shirt, trying to escape. He still looked like he went to the gym all the time. The golden earrings shining because of the sunlight. His eyes widen when he sees me and all I can do is smile.

The last time we saw each other, I beat him. He was supposed to win the shooting game, but I won. And he was salty about it. Probably still is.

'And Brandon Barsetti,' A skinnier-looking boy stood beside them. He looked nothing older than eighteen years old. He had the same eye- and skin color as his brother, but that was it. That was the only similarity they had. His hair was darker and way shorter but neatly styled with gel. He didn't seem to have any tattoos or at least no seeable ones.

'Finally, some girls to connect with!' His voice didn't match his appearance. He was way girlier than I thought he would sound like.

'Brandon, I want you to go shopping with the girls. Buy them some clothes and help them pick out a few things for special occasions.' Rio says firmly, not demanding but something like that.

Special occasions? Why would we need clothes for special occasions if we're just going to work for him at one of his hotels?

'Okay, give me your card?' Brandon holds out his hand, waiting for Rio to place his credit card in his hand, which he doesn't. Instead, he hands him a big stash of 100 euro bills. Dear god!

'Make sure they get everything.' Brandon nods and turns back to us. 'Let's spend some money ladies!' He exclaims before pushing us through the front door. 'Have fun ladies!'

'Wait but-' We get pushed into a black car and start laughing. Brandon runs around, to the other side of the car, and gets in the front seat.

'Drive to the mall bitch! We're going shopping!' I can barely hold in my laugh because of Brandon, just the way he says it makes me want to laugh out loud.

He looks over his shoulder and has this observing look in his eyes. 'Those idiots made you wear that shit, didn't they?'

We simply nod and look at him, smiling. 'You queens deserve so much more than those baggy clothes!'

Brandon turns to the driver and points at him with his index finger. 'Hit the gas bitch! These queens need their clothes!'

Cataleya and I can't keep it in anymore. We burst out in laughter and Brandon joins us.

'So what are your names?' He asks, looking outside at a cute boy who's crossing the street. 'I'm Neveah.' Brandon turns around again and smiles at me. 'And I'm Cataleya.' He nods and winks at her. 'Good to know, but I'll probably call you something like bitch or girly.'

We look at each other and nod. The fact that Rio allowed us to go shopping in a mall, without him, surprises me. He probably has a lot of men walking around just to make sure we won't go anywhere.

'Brandon?' He turns towards us again and smiles again, 'How old are you?' 'I turned nineteen today.' He chimes before doing a little dance with his hands.

'Oh happy birthday!' Cataleya and I say in unison. 'Thank you, girls! You better bake me cake next year!' He jokes, but in a serious tone. Next year...

I look at Cataleya, who has the same thing in mind. We hope to not be here next year.

'I'm going to give you two your dream closet!' He exclaims as we pull up into the parking lot. We all get out and look in front of us. There is a huge shopping mall with over a hundred different stores.

Brandon steps in front of us and quickly scans our bodies, making me feel a little uncomfortable. 'With bodies like those, every boy will kill for you once we got everything!'

My cheeks heat up and I'm happy that I have a darker complexion, otherwise, it would be embarrassing. I feel like we're really going to like Brandon Barsetti.