★JANIE★

I bit down on my lower lip. Damn! Why would I offer to treat him? I could care less if he bled to death, that would make everything a whole lot easier for me.

Somehow, my thoughts don't correspond with what my mom had taught me. Part of her lessons was to be good no matter the circumstances, or how much the person was bad to you.

Luciano stared at me in shock, and he twitched his lips without uttering a word. He walked past me slowly and I followed right behind. I heard Romano clear his throat as we walked away. Perhaps, they might be as stunned as I was at the moment for offering to treat someone who caused me so much pain and ripped me of my dreams.

Maybe, this might turn out well, I thought to myself. Alas, I could treat him in exchange to be set free. There was no damn way I was going to render such a benevolent act without expecting anything in return.

I'd be damned.

Out of sympathy, I walked up to him and encircled my arm around his waist, then we ambled into his room.

Luciano kept on grunting at every step he took, if I wasn't of a good heart, I would have pressed down on his bleeding wound when no one was looking and caused him more pain, or perhaps, I could even kill him. And, I would say he died of too much blood loss.

But, I wasn't one to do such things.

By the time we got to his room, he pressed down on the knob with his bloodied hand. "Come in, Janie." came his deep voice in an inaudible gasp.

I trudged into his room with him by my side, then I let him down slowly on his bed. "Where is your first aid box?"

Luciano stared intently at me for a few seconds without uttering a word.

Biting down on my lower lip, I glared at him. "You do know I'm not here for a staring contest, I don't give a damn if-"

"-Why did you offer to help me?" He asked out of the blue.

Folding my arms neatly beneath my breast in akimbo, I let out a chortle. "Because I wasn't brought up to take life and hurt people." I blurted out loud, then I looked around. "Now, if you don't want the planet Earth to kiss your ass goodbye, where the hell is your goddamn first aid box?"

Luciano seemed taken aback by my statement, but I observed that - he quickly collected himself, and cleared his throat before pointing at his closet. "It's below the last drawer."

Without further ado, I walked over to his closet and searched for his first aid box, shortly after my eyes fell on the box right where he had described it. Picking it up, I hurriedly walked back to him.

Years back, my mom had patiently lectured me on a first aid course, because I have always wanted to be a nurse like her. I was grateful her teaching could come in handy, in a situation such as this. So first thing first, I knew I needed to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.

Placing the first aid box gently beside him, I hurried over to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. I wasted no time in pressing down the wound through the fabric of clothing and Luciano winced a little at the impact of the pressure.

It was obvious, he was trying to act all strong while I treated his wound. However, I felt it was okay to show if he was hurting. I opened the first aid kits and smiled in satisfaction. Behold, everything I needed, ranging from gauze pads, disposable non-latex gloves, and antiseptic wipes were in there. And I couldn't help but wonder if Luciano got himself injured a lot more than usual.

Unbuttoning his shirt so I could tend properly to his injury, I look up to his eyes solely fixated on every of my little movement and surprise was evident on his face. Yet, he remained calm without uttering a single word.

My eyes surveyed the healing bruises and scars on his torso. And a part of me began to wonder how often he got himself into a brawl coupled with the stories behind those scars.

On sighting his injury, a silent gasp escaped my lips as I watched the deep pink bruise running from his shoulder down to his elbow. Almost at once, I knew it was inflicted by a dagger or a knife and wondered who Luciano got into a fight with.

Slipping on a disposable hand glove, I immediately unwrapped a gauze pad and applied pressure to his bleeding wound. With a low growl of pain, he grunted as I poured a little amount of peroxide on the surface.

"Sorry." I managed to say and he hummed in return.

Wiping off his wound with the gauze pad, I applied more pressure for a few minutes more, until I was affirmed his bleeding had ceased. Then I bandaged it firmly and picked out an iced pack to aid the swollen areas.

Satisfied by the outcome of what I had done, I removed the gloves and tossed them into the waste bin. Alongside the soiled clothes and the gauze pad.

As soon as I stood to my feet, Luciano's hand latched around my wrist. "Thank you for treating me, Janie."

Twitching my lips, I stared down at him but said nothing.

Luciano locked his gaze with mine. Somehow, the whole room felt hot all of a sudden, and I could feel a lot of heat radiating from him.

After several seconds of silence, Luciano licked his lower lip and asked; "Can you stay with me tonight?" he cleared his throat. "Please?"

Bile was starting to rise in my throat and I swallowed hard. "Why do I have to stay with you?" I questioned with a hushed tone. "I volunteered to treat you, and now you're demanding more?"

Luciano shook his head, "Janie. Please." He said again. This time, with a soft soothing tone I'd never known he had. "Maybe until I fall asleep."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "What made you think I would want to spend another second with you, uhn? If I stay until you sleep off, I don't know what I might do to you because of the anger boiling inside of me."

"Do anything you want to me, Janie. As long as it came from you, I won't hold a grudge."

"What if I killed you?" I fired back.

Luciano chuckled. And for the first time, this man looks so goddamn gorgeous with a softened expression. "I know you can't do that. You weren't brought up to take lives, remember?"

I inhaled deeply and exhaled afterward. Fighting with my inner demons, I finally resisted the urge to walk away and sat beside him. Luciano managed a small smile before laying on his bed. Still, he didn't release his grip on my wrist.

Several thoughts made my mind run amok. Should I ask him to set me free now? What was his motive for buying me from my father? How long has he planned this?

Momentarily, the pressing question of why he had to keep me here emanated to the base of my throat, and I proceeded to ask him.

But when I looked at his face, I observed that he was sound asleep. And his grip didn't leave my wrist yet.

★THE NEXT MORNING★

My vision blurred for a little while and I let out a loud yawn. Just when I tried to move, I noticed something was hindering my body from moving freely and I turned to see Luciano's hands wrapped around my waist.

Rigged with disgust, I shoved his hands away from my waist and he stirred awake with a loud grunt.

Oh, his injury. I thought to myself.

Luciano smirked. "I was hoping to wake up in hell, Janie. I knew you couldn't do what you said."

"Really?" I scoffed. "It is not too early to die, Luciano. You'd be doing the world a whole lot of good."

Luciano placed a hand over his chest. "Ouch, that hurt."

As soon as I huffed and shuffled out of his bed to leave the room, his words stopped me mid-track.

"Janie, I know you must be wondering why I took you from your dad."His voice trailed off, and I froze.

Almost at once, I spun around to meet his gaze.

"Luciana," he added. "You look so much like her."

My mind quickly traveled to the pictures of a young girl I saw in that room. Suddenly, his words piqued my interest and I remained rooted to my spot. "Who is she?"

"My twin sister."

My breath hitched.

Luciano shuffled out of the bed and slipped a shirt over his head before continuing. "She died ten years ago in Italy. So when your father came that day to lend money, he left his wallet here and I got to see your picture. So when he came back to get it, I made a deal with him."

"To have me and give him the money for free?" I asked in disbelief.

Luciano managed a nod. "Yes. I wanted to take care of you, and give you the life your poor father can't give you."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What?" I scoffed. "Then you could have just given us the money and taken care of me while I was still with my father, you shouldn't have caused me pain, you shouldn't have subjected me to this kind of misery!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"I am sorry, Janie. But I had my reasons."

"What are your reasons, huh?" I fired back. "What are your fucking reason?"

★A/N★

Hi dear readers,

I am sorry it took so long to update.

Now you know the story behind those pictures Janie saw in that room.

What do you think Luciano's other story is?

Stay tuned to find out.

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Thanks for reading ♥️♥️