Ayla
I was almost half asleep when I heard a knock on my door. My eyes snapped open and I sat up with a start, my heart racing.
“Ayla?” I heard Maddie’s voice on the other side of the door.
I closed my eyes in relief and brought my hand up to my chest, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
“Yeah. I’m coming,” I called out, my voice heavy with sleep.
“Okay. Hurry. It’s almost time for lunch.”
I bounced out of bed and quickly fixed my dress and hair.
Opening the door of my bedroom wide, I saw Maddie leaning against the door. She smiled when she saw me. “Hey there, sleepyhead.”
I smiled and shut the door.
“Let’s go. Mom is waiting for us,” Maddie said as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the hall.
As we headed for the stairs, I didn’t see Alessio or his men anywhere.
Viktor, Nikolay, Phoenix, and Artur were always with him wherever he went. They were his most trusted associates.
Artur was the only one who seemed friendly. Maybe I thought so because Maddie was with him.
Nikolay always glared at everyone. I didn’t think he even knew how to smile. The only time I heard him talk nicely was with Lena, probably because she is the mother of house. Nobody talked harshly to her or even tried to be rude. Even Alessio.
As Maddie and I stepped off the last stair, I saw Alessio coming in, followed by his men.
They were whispering quietly. When Alessio made eye contact with me, his mouth froze. He stared at me, his eyes unflinching as he took me in.
And then, his lips twitched in that smirk that I hated.
Looking away, I followed Maddie to the kitchen. Time to work.
Food was served and I was about to retreat back into the kitchen when someone stopped us.
“You and Maddie stay back this time,” said one of the other maids, a girl named Lila. For every meal, two of us had to stay back and serve if the men needed any help. For the last two days, Maddie and I had escaped that duty.
“Okay,” I said.
Maddie scowled. She hated it, and I hated it too. Only because I had to be where Alessio was.
“Ayla, pass me the garlic bread.” Alessio’s demanding voice penetrated my mind. My head snapped up and I looked at him, confused.
“Huh?”
“I said pass me the bread,” he repeated, sounding annoyed. Maddie was standing closer to it.
I looked back at Alessio, but he was staring at me expectantly. He raised an eyebrow when I didn’t move. Turning my head, I swallowed and then nodded at Maddie. Her eyes widened in amusement.
“Maddie, can you please give Alessio the bread? You are closer,” I said as softly as I could, my voice quiet.
Her mouth fell open in shock, and from the corner of my eyes I saw all the men staring at me with amused expressions. I couldn’t believe it either. I had just gone against Alessio and did it in front of his men.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it.
Maddie’s mouth snapped shut and she chuckled under her breath. Before I could change my mind, she grabbed the basket and walked over to Alessio at the other end of the table. Placing it in front of him, she said, sounding almost sarcastic, “There you go, Alessio. Your hot, crispy, buttery garlic bread. Enjoy.”
Alessio took his eyes off me and glared at Maddie. She smiled wide and then sashayed away.
She was playing with fire but she knew that Alessio wouldn’t do or say anything to her. Alessio, Viktor, and Maddie were close when they were little. They grew up together, sisters and brothers from another mother.
Maddie told me stories about how they would always play together and how she would always follow them around and get in trouble together.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt someone poking me. Turning my head to the side, I saw Maddie standing next to me. “You are playing with fire, babe. Don’t poke the beast or you won’t be able to deal with it,” she whispered in my ear before walking away and standing behind Artur.
I sighed, my shoulders slumping in defeat. She was right. I didn’t know what came over me.
Standing there, I shifted on my feet a couple of times, suddenly growing nervous when I noticed their attention on me. I saw Viktor smirking, and then he went back to eating. When Alessio cleared his throat, everyone looked away.
I kept my focus away from Alessio, but I still felt his gaze on me. As each minute passed, my hands grew colder and my insides shook with tension.
“Ayla, can you bring me the rice?” he asked.
I knew it. I just knew it. I knew he was going to do this.
I looked up and saw that his eyes were twinkling with mirth and his right eyebrow was raised in challenge. I looked down and saw that the bowl was right next to me.
Releasing a long breath, I took the bowl of rice in my hand and slowly walked toward him. His eyes were on me the whole time and his smirk was back. He licked his lips.
When I stopped next to him, I placed the bowl down but he didn’t move. Alessio looked up at me expectantly and then nodded toward the rice.
Sighing, I grabbed the spoon and put some rice on his plate. Something touched my leg, and I jumped in fright and then looked down.
Alessio had moved his leg closer and now his thigh was touching mine.
I gripped the spoon harder before putting it back in the bowl and quickly stepping away.
“Thank you, Ayla,” he said, his voice smooth.
Feeling slightly flustered, I nodded and then walked away. The rest of lunch went smoothly. Alessio didn’t call me again and he didn’t look at me.
When everyone dispersed, I could finally breathe normally.
“Woah, babe. That was…” Maddie began. “Intense.”
I didn’t disagree.
***
I was balancing the last tray in my hand, as I quickly swiped the dining table with the other.
I straightened up and walked away from the table. I glanced down at my dress and noticed the little dirty spot.
I was still looking down when I crashed into a hard wall of muscles. My eyes widened when I felt myself falling backward.
I yelled out, trying to gain my footing again, but I was quickly going down. Closing my eyes tightly, I waited for my body to come in contact with the ground. But it never did.
Instead, an arm wrapped around my waist, holding me still. With my heart in my throat, I opened my eyes.
Alessio.
My body was dipped backward but he was holding me firmly to his chest.
“Careful there. You need to watch where you are going,” he said.
My heart stuttered and a shiver went through my body at his voice. Biting on my lips nervously, I nodded my head. My brain was a mess whenever he was near and no matter how hard I tried to understand why, I couldn’t.
I looked at his arm around me and then remembered what he said in my room. My forehead creased in confusion. “You aren’t supposed to touch me,” I said.
He just saved me from falling flat on my butt and I didn’t even thank him.
Alessio’s chest rumbled with laughter and I saw his eyes twinkling mischievously. Oh no. I didn’t like that look.
“Oops,” he said.
And then I was on the floor. The tray fell out of my hand and crashed.
“Ow,” I said when my hips hit the tiles painfully.
Holding the aching part, I looked up at Alessio in shock.
“My bad. I forgot,” he said, his lips pulling up into a smirk.
He brought his hands up to his shoulders in mock surrender, as if showing me that he wasn’t touching me anymore.
Jerk. An absolute jerk.
He gave me a nod and then walked away, leaving me baffled on the floor. He could have at least pulled me up straight, instead of just dropping me.
But that wasn’t the case.
Grabbing the tray in my hand, I got up but then winced at the soreness in my hips. I was pretty sure it was going to bruise tomorrow. I glanced at Alessio’s retreating back and huffed in frustration.
When I walked into the kitchen, I saw Maddie filling the dishwasher. She turned around and frowned at my sour look. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Alessio always this frustrating?” I asked, placing the tray on the counter.
“You just realized that now?” She let out a laugh. “Yes, he is.”
I was still rubbing my hips and Maddie noticed. She pointed at my hand and asked, “So what happened?”
Releasing a heavy and tired sigh, I sank down on the stool. “It’s…a long story.”
“Does it involve Alessio?”
I nodded and her lips stretched in a wide, excited smile. Running toward me, she pulled another stool and sat down in front of me. “Okay. We have plenty of time. Hurry. Tell me.”
Starting from the beginning was the best option. Only then would it make sense. “It started on the first day that I came here.”
I told about how Alessio threatened to shoot me if I didn’t tell him who I was. I told her about Alessio’s options. I also told her about the kiss and the orgasm he gave me. And then I told her about this morning.
Maddie had interrupted me a lot and freaked out tons of times. “Damn…just damn…what? I don’t…you…how.…How could you not tell me this before?” Grabbing my shoulders, she shook me. “Ayla, this is big. Like big. You can’t keep something like that from me! Oh my God, he kissed you? Gave you an orgasm? Oh my God!”
“Maddie, calm down,” I said, pushing her away. She sat back down on her stool but her knees were bouncing.
“Okay, I’m calm,” she said and then paused. A few seconds passed and then she shook her head. “No. I’m not.”
“Maddie, it was nothing. He was rude. I can’t believe he would do that, but he promised he won’t touch me again. So that’s good, right?”
Maddie stared at me blankly and then burst out laughing. “You are funny. You really think he is not going to touch you? Babe, he might not touch you, but he will find other ways. And he will most definitely find ways to make you beg for him. What can I say? He is very resourceful.”
“This does not make me feel any better,” I said, closing my eyes and rubbing my forehead in slight agitation. This man would drive me crazy.
“Sorry, babe. It’s the truth. He is interested in you and he isn’t giving up. When he wants something, he takes it. Doesn’t matter how hard it is to get or if something is in his way. In his book, nothing is impossible.”
At her words, my heart stumbled and I felt panic coursing through my body. “So, you are saying he isn’t giving up?”
“Nope.”
“Maddie, I don’t want him. Why can’t he understand that? I hate it.” I felt tears at the backs of my eyes and my nose started to tingle. Why was I crying?
“Ayla, sorry for making it worse.”
“No. I would rather hear the truth. But I just don’t know.” Swiping my tears away, I closed my eyes tightly. Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten before opening my eyes again. “Sorry. I have been getting emotional on you a lot.”
“It’s okay. I got this, babe.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Okay. Get your ass up. We got some cleaning to do before dinner.”