I’m looking into her eyes, melting under her motherly touch, wondering— Am I?
Are you well, Vivienne?
The answer is, of course, a very solid N-O.
“Yes, sure.” Being more self-conscious, I stretch the covers higher up, and shift my gaze away from hers.
Her kindness surprises and overwhelms me. Perhaps, she doesn’t remember, but the memory is as vivid as the day I was kidnapped—glinting steel held to her throat.God,how pathetic could I be? I wanted to run away from a killer, and I harassed an old woman.
Calming down, I encourage myself. It is not my fault that I am here. Again, compromise.
“Then why are you naked? Did you have a fever?”
“I might as well have. It’s hot in here.”
The air-conditioners are working just fine. I didn’t turn them on. Maybe I low-key just wanted to wallow in frustration. Who knows? The point is, I feel suffocated and need a way out. But my conscience pricks like a freaking needle, and I know I cannot continue a conversation with Agatha until I?—
“I’m sorry.”
Wide-eyed and startled, she takes a step back. “Whatever for?”
What does she mean by “whatever for?”
I could have hurt you, woman!
“For the other day. The knife episode.”
A hearty chuckle leaves her lips, and she goes around the bed again, picks up the items she dropped there, and starts movingabout the room to fix them where they belong. When she is done, she ambles towards me and hands me the dress. When I take a closer look, I am relieved to notice the laces dangling at what I suppose is the back of the flowing dress.
Taking it from her, I keep it beside me on the bed.
“We all have our crazy days. That was your day, and I perfectly understood your need for fight or flight. I was available and vulnerable. If I were in your shoes, I might have done the exact same thing, child. I hold nothing against you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You are Nio’s own. No good can come out of holding a grudge.”
I almost bite down on my tongue when she indirectly points out Antonio’s ownership over me and focus instead on her ability to forgive. How is it possible that a woman with such a golden heart and an invisible halo hovering over her head works for a man like Antonio?
It’s almost enviable. If I had a shred of her piousness, I might have settled in twenty-four hours after my abduction.
Thinking about it stirs a flame in my chest that I thought I could sleep away.
Settling in? Bullshit.
My fatherwasright. I am resilientandstubborn. And I pretended to listen and subdue but hated it when anyone else demanded something from me.
Antonio didn’t play fair with me, so I wasn’t going to either with him, and as long as I am concerned, he dragged in the wrong fucking cat.
I am Vivienne Cole, and I am prepared to rain shit on Antonio Mancini’s parade. If he thinks he’ll easily break me, he has another thing coming.
“Thank you, sincerely. You will make my stay here a little less awkward.” I hold my head up high and stare out the window.“Say, Agata, I’ve been wondering: what can a girl like me do for fun around here?”
I don’t look at her but catch a glimpse of shoulders moving from periphery. “Fun? I’m not sure, child. This fortress wasn’t designed to be a kid’s playground. But I guess. . . It is a sunny day. You can lounge by the pool. I can ask someone to buy and bring up a selection of the finest bikinis for you to choose from. Nio wouldn’t mind, as long as you behave.”
Kicking the covers off with a wide, lopsided grin, I strut to the bathroom.
Of course, he wouldn’t.
Before I shut the bathroom door behind me, I don’t fail to appreciate the old maid for her kind-heartedness and naivety.
“Thank you, Agatha. Really,thank you.”
