It took me a moment to realize he shouted at the dogs and not me. A couple of terse fearless orders in Italian and the dogs calmed down and whimpered in sudden fright, backing away as if they were never interested in chasing me to begin with. Alessandro's shadow stood above my small shivering form. I was in a state of shock, hugging my knees and trying to make myself as small as possible. He bit out something in Italian. When he reached toward me in absolute fury, I quickly crossed my arms over my face, certain he would strike me. He pulled my arms apart, and I shrieked in panic as his hand neared my face, but—instead of a blow—I received a gentle caress on my cheek.
“Don't worry. I won't hit you, tesoro,” he murmured softly as he lifted me into his arms. “Not this time.”
“No, don’t! Let me go…please, let me go!” I lurched in his grip to free myself because I knew he'd end up hurting me sooner or later, but he didn't listen.
He held me so tightly against himself, forcing my body into complete stillness. Then, he lowered his head to whisper in my ear. “If you don't stop struggling, I'll fucking drop you and let the dogs have you, capisci?” His voice was soft, so treacherously soft, but the threat was real. I knew it.
He didn't move. Instead, he waited and I nodded jerkily, knowing he would make good on his threat if I defied him. Devoured with the terror of being left at the mercy of those two bloodthirsty monsters, I remained completely still in Alessandro's arms, but not crying was a losing battle. I shivered in his arms and sobbed all over his chest as he carried me back to the house. My state of mind only grew worse when he climbed the stairs, and led me right back into the confinement of that room I thought I had escaped.
I was covered in mud, but that didn't stop him from laying my body onto the expensive silky sheets. My mind was still trapped in those moments when I was attacked by his huge dogs, and I was unable to stop shaking with the consuming residue of terror. Then, Alessandro peeled off his dirty shirt, uncovering the naked muscles of his chest. He had never taken off his clothes in front of me before! The look in his dark eyes was maddening, and when he lay next to me in bed, my throat closed in due to the full on panic attack brewing inside.
But, to my surprise, he didn’t lift a finger to hurt me. All he did was pull me closer to himself. Then, he gently stroked my trembling body, all the while whispering into my ears like he knew exactly what was going through my mind. “Shh...calm down, tesoro. The dogs are gone. They didn't hurt you. You are safe. Try to stop shaking. I won't let them near you again, I promise.”
Realizing the underlined meaning of his words, I convulsed harder and broke down crying. His promise that I wouldn't be near his dogs meant he would make sure there were no more attempts of escape.
“Shh...shh,” he continued whispering, all the while rocking me in his arms. Then, he withdrew something from his pocket. “Here. You want the box? You can have the box.”
I opened my eyes and saw my mother's music box. With trembling hands, I reached for it and replayed the melody over and over again while Alessandro held me in his soothing embrace. He never made any move to take it away from me. Seemingly attuned to my need to ease the panic, he let me listen for as long as I wanted, and I held it in my hands until the stress turned to fatigue and everything before my eyes went black.
When I woke up, it was so hot that I couldn't breathe. The confusing sounds of crackling fire and burning wood infiltrated my ears, and I opened my eyes to a scene from a horror movie. Alessandro sat by the fireplace at the opposite end of the room—the bright red glow of flames reflecting on his handsome face. Remembering what had happened, I looked around, searching for the music box, but it was nowhere to be found. I quickly moved, but soon became aware of the pain in my biceps. My hand was handcuffed to the bedpost. Startled, I looked into Alessandro's emotionless expression. He