"I am not going with you to Japan." I state as boldly as i can, but instead my voice comes out unsure and quiet.

Matteo looks at me, his expression blank as always. He tilts his head slightly before opening his mouth. "What makes you think you have a choice in the matter?"

Despite expecting him to say something like that, I'm still taken aback, and I begin to squirm uncomfortably in my seat before standing and backing away from Matteo and Dante who still sits casually on the couch watching this conversation unfold.

"I won't cooperate." I spit. "I'll yell and scream and you won't be able to get me through customs without people getting suspicious."

Dante laughs in his seat and takes another handful of chips. The rustling of the packet only heightens the awkwardness of the silence between us all.

"I don't expect anything else from you." Matteo says calmly.

I clench my jaw, annoyed. "You can't just take me wherever you're going, like transporting a sack of meat."

He finally smirks, and it makes me want to punch him so hard. "I can, and I will."

I huff and take another step back. "You can't take me with you, I am still feeling sick and I'll only get worse if I'm on a plane." I say, deciding to take a different approach. I know that he cares about me enough to worry about whether I'll get even sicker than I am.

"Do not take advantage of my feelings towards you, Mia. I do not like being teased." His face has fallen back into it's usual solemn expression. "If you really are sick, I will have Hammel check you over before we leave."

Damn it! There's no way that I'm going to get out of this.

If he takes me to Japan with him for god knows how long, the chances of Dad finding me will become one in a billion. No one would expect me to be out of the state, let alone in a whole other country.

"Please, just leave me here. I promise I won't try to run away, I'll be good." I plead, but Matteo is unimpressed.

"You are coming with me, and that is final." He growls. "Dante, have her ready by the time I am back downstairs in ten minutes."

I stand there utterly helpless as Matteo walks away leaving me with Dante who looks like a deer in headlights. I watch as he stands from the couch and heads towards me, but I'm too quick and I make it to the other side of the couch before he gets any closer.

"No! I'm not going to Japan!" I yell at him. "Back away." I stretch my arms out in front of me, hoping that it will distance us, but he keeps approaching.

"Sorry, Mia. But when Matteo tells me to do something, I do it."

"The both of you are absolutely horrible people!" I scream in frustration. I suddenly feel all my pent up and repressed anger from the past few days and even when I was locked in the cellar burst from me in a fit of rage.

"Faresti meglio a stare lontano da me, cazzo! Siete entrambi fottuti cazzi e giuro che quando esco di qui vi farò soffrire entrambi fino al vostro respiro morente!" (You better stay the fuck away from me! You are both fucking dicks and I swear that when I get out of here I will make you both suffer until your dying breath!)

I grab the closest thing to me which just so happens to be Dante's glass beer bottle and chuck it at him across the room. Lucky for him, it narrowly misses and smashes loudly on the wall. Pieces of glass fly everywhere, littering the floor.

"Calmati Mia." (Calm down Mia.) Dante says calmly as he now continues to approach me with his arms outstretched, as if he's trying to show me that he bears no weapons.

I scoff and continue to back away.

"I'm not going down without a fight fucker." I growl aggressively. It is as if the shy, reserved girl i used to be has disappeared and been replaced by a feral animal.

I begin to frantically look for a weapon once again around the room, but find nothing. That is until I set my sights on a large lamp which looks perfect to hit someone on the head with.

Yanking the cord from the powerpoint, I hold the lamp above my head, ready to use it as a weapon if Dante even dares to get closer.

"Mia, think about what you are doing. Matteo non ti farà del male." (Matteo won't hurt you.)

I laugh like a feral woman. "Sta 'zitto!" (Shut up!) I yell. "Don't tell me these lies!"

Tears of pure rage and emotion fall from my eyes. I am so filled with anger that my body shakes and my breathing is so shallow I feel myself beginning to get dizzy. "I am sick of pretending to be obedient! I want to be free!"

I raise the vase even higher, ready to throw it at Dante, but I am stopped as a hand and cloth clamps over my mouth, startling me and causing me to drop the lamp onto the ground where it shatters into a million pieces.

I can feel some of them cut into my skin, but I barely notice the pain as I'm too distracted trying to wrestle this person off of me.

I scream into the cloth and thrash in their grip. "Just breathe." Matteo whispers into my ear.

I do exactly the opposite, and hold my breath. But it doesn't take long before my lungs feel like they're on fire. I just have to hold on. I can't let him win. I refuse to let him win.

"Calm down. It's alright, Mia. Breathe." He continues to console me as tears stream down my face at the pain of holding my breath. I won't be able to hold it much longer, and even if I do, I'll pass out anyway from lack of oxygen.

Unable to bear it any longer, i suck in a large breath, feeling the chemicals enter my lungs, forcing me into an unwanted sleep. Darkness begins to seep into the corners of my eyes like ink, and I now feel so very tired.

I fall limp in Matteo's arms and his grip on me loosens. "Good girl." He coos as he brushes my hair back from my face with his hand. "It's alright, just sleep."

First the first time since I've been here, I do as I'm told.

------------------------------------------------------