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~ Luciana's POV ~

"Your date?" He nodded and stepped closer to me while I just sat there in shock. I definitely didn't expect that.

"What makes you think I will agree to that? Once again, I have to remind you that you've kidnapped me." He rolled his eyes at my words and knelt down infront of me, his brown eyes with light brown, almost gold, flecks even closer than before.

"I'll leave you alone after this. You have my word." I could tell he was being sincere, and although I knew he was dangerous, I had this feeling that to someone like him, his word meant a lot.

"I don't even know your name..." My voice was a lot quieter when a small smile tugged at his plump lips. "It's Alessio, amore mio." (My love)

Anyway, that's how I ended up a few hours later being poked and prodded by two Italian women who were determined to make sure I looked nothing like I did when they first met me. When I agreed to go to the 'gala' with him, Alessio had someone show me to a room upstairs where my torture would begin. The two women were already inside waiting for me, like he had basically planned this whole thing.

"Take off your clothes." I rose an eyebrow at the one woman with long brown hair who was staring at me with disgust evident on her face. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said take off your clothes. Now." She stepped closer to me gesturing at my dress causing me to step back before slowly removing my dress from last night leaving me in my matching black underwear set. Thankfully I made sure to match last night.

"And the rest." I turned to the other one who was busy preparing what looked like a waxing set while absentmindedly gesturing to my underwear. "When you're done, lie down." I nervously watched her as I removed the last pieces of clothing and lay down on the bed.

I'd been waxed everywhere before, but it definitely wasn't something that I would voluntarily do again. Especially after the last time I kicked the woman in the face when she tried to remove my hair...down there.

But I guess this time I didn't have a choice.

After I had managed to silently get through the torture of a full body wax, I took a shower. I let the cool water cascade over my body soothing my skin which was aching from the torture I had just been put through. Nothing about the last 24 hours has been easy, but I didn't expect it to end up like this, me going on a 'date' with someone who kidnapped me. I know I don't know anything about the people I'm dealing with, but there's definitely a lot of ideas going through my head. They're Italian, rich and presumably violent - just not towards me, and they know my father.

The memories I had of my father were vague, apart from the few that come back to haunt me in my sleep. The images of him hurting us, especially my mom, never leave my mind. I'm twenty three now and I still can't forget the relief I felt when my mom finally had the courage to separate from him, but also the fear that one day he would come back to find us.

Since then my relationship with my mother hasn't been the best. Sure she loves me and I love her, but I can tell the things he put her through had a huge impact on her, and she feels guilty for letting my brother and I experience what we had to. As soon as he was able to my older brother, Carlos, left home, I hardly see him now but I know whenever I need him he'll be there for me. When I was able to, I moved out as well, something that made my mom extremely happy - it finally gave her the peace she always wanted.

The only thing I took from my experiences in Italy is that I want to avoid any similar situations from ever happening again. If I can manage that, I know I'll be okay.

No one knows about what happened, all my friends and work colleagues knew I grew up in Italy but that was about it. Even Daliah didn't know the truth, which is why she calls me Lucy. I just blocked that whole chapter of my life out of my head. It's how I wanted it to be.

I tried to stay in the shower as long as I could to avoid any more torture but eventually I had to get out when they threatened to come in and get me. When I returned they plucked my eyebrows, which were already perfect in my humble opinion, caked my face in make up and tugged at my hair for an hour before telling me to put on my dress.

I took my dress out of the box it was in on the bed, my mouth dropping open at the sight of it. I held the simple yet elegant satin red gown in my hands admiring the simplicity of it. It was something I definitely would have chosen on my own, but just probably not an expensive version like this one.

The label inside the dress made this whole situation even more surreal. I never once thought I would be holding a Prada dress, never mind wearing one.

"Hurry up, he doesn't have all day." I let out a sigh, trying to stop myself from giving her a snappy comeback and instead just put on the dress which fit surprisingly perfectly on my body, hugging and emphasising my curves in all the right places. I let the two rude Italian women finish getting me ready before they shooed me out the door with a new purse full of all the things I had in mine last night, and the red lipstick they put on me tonight.

I struggled to walk in the extremely high heels I was given as I made my way down the double staircase towards the front door. My steps faltered when I saw Alessio talking to Tomasso and the other guy from the office who I still haven't met properly. Their conversation halted when they saw me, as I continued walking towards them.

Alessio sent me a heart stopping smile as his eyes raked over the dress and my hair and make up. "You look perfect Luciana." I rolled my eyes at his words as I came to a stop in front of the three men who were still staring at me.

"You planned this." His smile soon turned into a laugh as he nodded. "Of course I did, I had a feeling you wouldn't tell me anything of use. Anyway, these two will be joining us tonight. You've already met Tomasso-" I narrowed my eyes at Tomasso while he just scoffed and turned away from me, before I turned towards the other guy. "This is Rafael." I sent Rafael a small smile which he returned before I turned back to Alessio.

"Let's just get this night over with. I'm exhausted already." I stepped past them and made my way out the front door towards the car that was waiting for us. I must have been knocked out by the drugs all night but I still felt like I didn't sleep a wink last night, so I was ready to get this night over and done with.

The car ride was awkward to say the least, while Alessio drove I sat in the back with Tomasso who wouldn't stop mumbling profanities to himself every time he looked over at me.

We finally made it to the venue which was just a huge fancy house, when Tomasso and Rafael quickly got out the car leaving Alessio and I. Alessio got out first and came around to help me out while holding my hand. He gave the keys to someone who went to park the car for him while I steadied myself in my shoes.

"If you let me fall I'm taking you down with me." I felt him chuckle next to me as he wrapped his arm around my waist bringing me closer to him. "Don't worry amore mio, I won't let anything happen to you."

I ignored the eyes that were on us as we made our way up the set of stairs and through the front door. Everyone who was inside seemed to be just as rich as Alessio was, and they all carried themselves with the same pride and authority that he did.

"Luciana don't talk to anyone unless they speak to you." Alessio's warning came out low when he leaned closer to me to speak. "Why? Are they capable of kidnapping me too?"

Like I said earlier, I have a fairly good idea of who Alessio and these men might be, so I would expect the company that they keep to be similar to them.

"One day you'll get over that." I turned to face him just in time to see the teasing smile on his lips. "It probably won't be today."

Before either of us could say another word an older couple approached us, causing my grip on Alessio to loosen, however his did the opposite. I felt him pull me even closer to him as they stopped in front of us. The man clapped Alessio on the shoulder as a smile stretched across his face.

The two caught up while exchanging formalities, leaving me to listen in on the conversation. I glanced around the room just admiring the authentic Italian decor while attempting to examine the people here too. It was the sort of situation where you wanted to look but didn't want to risk being caught staring.

A squeeze on my waist brought my attention back to the conversion when Alessio introduced me to the couple. "This is Luciana, my date." I gave them a smile while they barely acknowledged me. That's how most of the encounters throughout the evening went. All I wanted to do was go home, but of course I wasn't allowed to. Alessio didn't even let me leave his side to go to the bathroom, he made me stay with him all night while he spoke to random people and I sipped on multiple glasses of champagne. Most of the conversations he had were in Italian so I couldn't understand a word they were saying, unless they were addressing me, which was rare, then they spoke in English. Like I said my I hadn't spoken Italian in ages, I could only understand a few words or phrases, that was it.

"People actually eat this?" I frowned at the food that was placed in front of us at the table. I'm not the sort of girl to go for posh food, so it all just seemed odd to me. Most people call them delicacies, an acquired taste, I just think it's wrong. Alessio chuckled at my question while I pushed the food around on my plate with my fork. "I'll get you something else when I take you home."

I didn't know why he was being so nice to me, he didn't seem like the sort of person that would be, especially not to someone who he just met. I suppose you shouldn't always judge a book by its cover. Even if that cover is the definition of sex on legs who kidnapped me.

"Alessio." I glanced over at Tomasso who had a frown on his face while staring at his phone. He was sitting between Alessio and Rafael so they could both easily look down at his phone to see what the problem was. They started talking quietly between themselves in Italian before Rafael and Tomasso stood up excusing themselves.

"Are they leaving?" Alessio nodded while keeping his eyes down, clearly he was deep in thought about whatever happened. "Is everything oka-"

"It's fine Luciana." I frowned at the sudden cold tone he was using with me but brushed it off, he was probably just annoyed about something. We only stayed for a little while longer after that incident, most of the time Alessio spent speaking to people or typing away furiously on his phone. He didn't pay any attention to me, not that I expected him to. I just couldn't wait to go home and sleep, forgetting this whole thing ever happened.

I would have gone on my phone too; if my phone wasn't dead. Just another reminder that I had been kidnapped and didn't get a chance to charge my phone.

"Let's go." Alessio came over to where I was sitting drinking my fifth glass of champagne and nodded his head towards the door. I stood to my feet and silently followed him out the door, ignoring the same stares I'd been getting all evening. A lot of the women in particular were glaring at me, analysing everything about me. My hair, my dress, the way I carried myself. I didn't even speak to most of them but I knew they were watching me. The reason I probably got most of the attention that I did was because of Alessio. By the end of the evening I came to the conclusion that to everyone here, he was someone of great importance.

A different car stopped in front of us and Alessio opened the door sliding into in the backseat this time with me. He mumbled a few words to the driver before he began driving, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence. He was still very annoyed about what ever happened with the other two, but he definitely seemed to be taking it out on me.

"Alessio." He turned his head towards me with a raised brow waiting for me to speak, but I didn't actually know what I wanted to say to him. There really wasn't much I could say, it's not like I'd had experience in situations like this before. I didn't even know him, anything about him. So I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"I'm hungry."

As if he was expecting me to say something else, he frowned a little at my statement before nodding and saying something to the driver in Italian. We continued to sit in silence until eventually the car stopped and Alessio got out. He came around to open my door while I just stared at the building in front of us.

"McDonalds?" He nodded and took my hand pulling me towards the entrance. It was way past 11pm yet there were still enough people in the restaurant to turn and stare when we walked in. I have two theories of why this could be:

1. Because we're both in fancy clothes walking into a fast food restaurant.

2. Alessio was glaring at everything and everyone.

It really looked like he didn't want to be there.

"What do you want?" I rolled my eyes at his rude tone and turned to the young girl behind the till who was eyeing Alessio up. "Can I get a 9 piece chicken nugget meal, with a large coke." She nodded before glancing over at Alessio again who was glaring back at the girl. She hadn't even done a thing to him. "I'm fine, just her food."

"That'll be 7 dollars." Before I could take out my money from my purse Alessio had already handed her his card.

"What are you doing?" She gave him his card back and a receipt before going to get my food.
"What does it look like?"

"Well I didn't ask you to pay for me." Alessio rose an eyebrow at me and stepped closer to me. "Did I ask you for your input?"

I know he was trying to intimidate me, but honestly all it did was turn me on, probably because of the number of glasses of champagne I had earlier.

"I don't care what you asked for." With that I left Alessio standing where he was when I went to collect my food before making my way out the restaurant with him following close behind. I didn't really feel like eating there, partly because everyone was still staring and because he was just in a bad mood and I couldn't wait to get out of there fast enough.

When we pulled up to my apartment building (which was weird since he never asked for my address) Alessio got out the car with me. "You know you don't need to babysit me all the way up to the door." He didn't say a word to me and instead silently just followed me into the elevator. I unlocked the door and turned around to face Alessio who was staring back at me intently, an unknown emotion going through his eyes.

"Can I help you with something?" I rose an eyebrow at him causing his lips to twitch upwards slightly and he shook his head. "Aren't you going to invite me inside? Where are your manners amore mio?"

This guy must be on his period or something, all these mood swings.

I let out a sigh and stepped aside letting him in before following behind him. I nodded towards the couch telling him to sit there while I got him a bottle of vodka and a glass to occupy himself with.

"Make yourself at home." I sent him a sarcastic smile placing the two items in his hand before sitting down next to him. I wasn't prepared for guests so I really had no clue what to give them. Especially someone like him.

"You need better taste in alcohol." Alessio made a face at the glass after he took another sip of the vodka. "Sorry I'm not made of money like you."

He rolled his eyes at my comment and took another sip from his glass. We sat in silence while I ate and he typed on his phone. Finally when I finished I took the glass from his hand and topped it up with more alcohol before taking a few sips, causing him to look at me weirdly.

"Don't look at me like that." I took another few sips, which were more like gulps before placing the glass back down to fill it up again. I needed the boost of confidence the alcohol gave me when I was around him, I didn't know how I would react if I was stone cold sober, given my suspicions of who he could be.

"You've definitely had enough amore mio." I shook my head at him and tried to grab the bottle but he just moved it further away from me instead. "Don't call me that. Just call me Lucy."

"Why don't you like Luciana? You're from Italy, you should be proud of that." I scoffed at his words and shook my head, feeling the buzz from the alcohol begin to take full effect on me. "I hate Italy."

My words caused a smile to stretch across his lips and an eyebrow to quirk. "What do you hate so much about it?"

"Everything. The language, the food, the people, the places, the mafia." As soon as the last word left my mouth Alessio's features darkened considerably as he sat up properly to look at me. But obviously my drunk ass didn't notice this, or chose not to acknowledge it anyway.

"Did you know the mafia like to hurt people? Just for fun?" My words began to slur as I reached for the bottle again noticing he was distracted, and this time he didn't try to stop me. It was silent for a few minutes before Alessio mumbled my name, it was so quiet I wasn't even sure if I definitely heard it.

I frowned at him waiting for him to speak but he didn't. Instead he rose to his feet. "I need to go." I watched him put his suit jacket on, which I didn't even notice he'd taken off, while standing to his feet.

"Or you could stay."

Hold on. I'm sorry what?

Nope I definitely said that.

In my drunk state I just asked someone, who kidnapped me, to stay.

Well, crap.

I slowly stood to my feet, carefully placing my hands on his chest to stop myself from falling over.

"Stay with me." I don't know where the sudden boldness came from, and although part of me really liked it (definitely the drunk part), the other part was screaming at myself telling me to stop, that this was only going to make the situation ten times worse.

I'm guessing you know which side won.