"I hate to admit it, but you really do have a beautiful home."

I stood before Antonio's Italian house (or mansion) in awe. It was incredible and made his place back in California seem like nothing. There was something about this one that made it seem so magical in one way or another.

The outside was painted an off white color, it had a warm tint which complimented the thick layers of vines and ivy that scaled the walls. The green plants wrapped themselves around the building, almost weaving their way through the areas that the windows were positioned in. There was a elegant water fountain in the middle of a gravel round about sort of drive way. There were also balconies overlooking the seen of the far off fields before them. We were, once again, in the middle of nowhere. Only this time, it was in a completely foreign country that I had never stepped foot in before now and had no experience with the language. In plain words, I was screwed.

"It was designed in the 1800s. It's since been fixed up, but I am rather fond of the place."

He answered with more information to my praise towards the mansion. We continued walking into the house. We were closely followed by a few members of Antonio's staff who were carrying in all of his luggage.

I followed him as we began to climb the grand staircase that was positioned in the center of the large hall. Then we continued down a hallway until he stopped and opened a door, ushering me to come inside with him.

It was instantly obvious to me that this was indeed Antonio's bedroom. The décor was all plain and simple but despite that was still very modern as well as stylish. The room was actually very nice. There were two other rooms connected to it, just like in his Californian house. I knew that they were most likely the bathroom and a closet - both of which were huge.

"Get changed, lunch is soon. I'll send someone to come and escort you."

After giving me my instructions Antonio just left the room, leaving me to my own devices. I walked into the closet, surprised to see it fully stocked with both clothes for me and him. I scanned through everything before grabbing a summer dress. It was warm outside so I didn't want to wear anything that would make me to hot. Then again, I still wasn't that comfortable with Antonio so didn't want to expose myself too much by wearing shorts. I then tied my hair back before slipping on a pair of matching coral flip flops that were hidden away in the bottom of the shoe rack.

Sure enough, a woman was waiting for me when I exited the closet. She smiled at me warmly. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. I knew how much I would regret it but couldn't help wonder if she could help me. I was well aware that I should have learned from my mistakes after the whole Linda situation but still, this woman seemed a lot kinder. Maybe she could help me.

"Excuse me, I know you work for Antonio, but I need help. Please help me, I can give you money as soon as I'm safe. I ne-"

She cut me off by placing her hands on my shoulders and shaking her head at me.

"Mi dispiace caro, non parlo inglese."

(I'm sorry dear, I don't speak English.)

I sighed. I had no idea what she had said but assumed whatever it was, it didn't translate to 'sure I'll help you escape from my big, scary boss!'.

I just smiled back at her understandingly as she lead me outside to the garden.

Antonio was sat at a table with a large umbrella shielding it from the sun. It was actually really pleasant, the weather was beautiful here and eating outside would just make us appreciate it that much more.

"Really Alice?"

He had began speaking before he even looked up at me.

"Already trying to escape? Didn't you learn your lesson? Besides, I can assure you that bribing my employees is not the way to go. None of them speak English and even if they did, they are loyal to me, and only me."

How the fuck did he know about me asking for help! The maid hadn't even spoken to him! I was seriously considering the fact that maybe he could read people's minds.

"Sit."

He ordered me. I was already waiting to be punished so wasted no time in pulling out my chair, not willing to test him anymore.

"No, on the floor Alice."

I paused and just stared at him. Was he kidding? Surely he didn't expect me to kneel at his side like a fucking dog. He just raised a brow at me, testing me to see how much more I'd defy him. I frowned a little but slowly lowered myself to me knees.

Slowly, Antonio began to stroke my head.

"Good girl." He muttered.

I just rolled my eyes to his behavior, hating this but not prepared to go against him and earn a beating.

I only watched as some more of his staff came and presented food on the table. They put down trays of fruit, cheese and meats along with some juice. He nodded his head towards them, dismissing them by doing so.

I waited expectantly, hoping that he would allow me to eat. That hope died after about five minutes. My knees were starting to hurt from putting so much pressure on them by kneeling on the concrete ground. I shifted slightly, in an attempt to relieve some of the pain.

"Up."

I turned my head to the owners voice, who just sat staring at me. I did as I was told and slowly stood up, brushing off my hurting knees.

"Sit."

I just glared at Antonio. So now he wanted me to just drop back down? I understood what tedious game he wanted to play so just lowered myself back down. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me agitated, that would only encourage him more.

"No, not on the floor."

Slightly happier, I pulled out one of the chairs. But yet again, I was interrupted.

"No, not there either."

I glared at Antonio once he gestured to his lap. He only chuckled at my response and let out a sigh, before smiling as he spoke to me in a mocking tone.

"Sweetheart, you can either sit on my lap as I feed you or on the floor and go hungry. I don't care."

I pouted as I thought through my options, finally deciding to bite the bullet and sit on his lap. Though, I perched right at the edge of his knee, my captor suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his chest. I huffed but stayed deadly still, to scared to move the slightest bit.

Antonio lifted a cracker to my lips, allowing me to eat but only in this assisted state. It annoyed me that I gave in without so much as a word by biting down on the food. We did this for the next few minutes before Antonio apparently decided that I had had enough and we made our way back up to his room.

The next week was actually a pleasant change from what I was used to. I had managed to last these last few days without annoying Antonio at all, and to me that was a huge accomplishment.

He seemed to be busy, so my daily routine mainly consisted of lounging around in our room watching television and reading books. I had been surprised that he even had English TV and literature but I guess it was a good thing for me so wasn't worth thinking about too much.

We still ate meals together. They were the worse. Antonio still insisted that I knelt on the ground before getting permission to sit on his lap whilst he fed me. The first few times I would argue back by rolling my eyes or even just saying no, earning me light smacks and scolding words from my captor. Eventually I just gave in. It was the easier thing to do and as the meals went on, it became the norm. I expected to have such treatment and each time I was becoming less and less pissed off and became used to it. That was obviously his reasoning behind the little exercise. He wanted me to become more used to his touch, less awkward around him and just be more reliant on him in general. And it was working.

As time went on, he also became more touchy with me. He would play with my hair as we ate, stroke my back and his hold on me almost became more hug like.

Antonio seemed busy too. At least more so than he was back in California. I had to remind myself that he would normally live here and therefore probably had more of his work here anyway. He was the boss and had an empire to run.

This evening he seemed different. As we sat, him feeding me a piece of roast chicken, I couldn't help but wonder if something was up with him. I soon brushed and figured that it was probably just something to do with his work and I didn't care about him enough to ask. Who knows how long that conversation would last and I didn't want to run the risk of being punished for speaking out of my place.

"Come, time for bed."

He muttered to me as he pushed his face into my neck, before leaving a trail of kisses all the way up to my cheek. He patted my back, signaling me to jump off of his lap. He too stood and pulled me up to the bedroom. It was only 10.00 but because I was tired I just went along with it.

I had changed into a navy blue, silk nightgown and was currently brushing through my hair in front of the mirror. I ran my fingers across my collarbone, lightly grazing the tattoo. Every time I looked at it I hated him more. And that was due to the fact that I was getting used to it's presence. That should never be the case! This situation that I've gotten myself stuck into is anything but normal, I refused to let my brain suspect otherwise. I instinctively bought down my hand once I caught sight of Antonio standing behind me via the reflection of the mirror.

He stepped towards me and wrapped his arms around my waste, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"What's up with you?"

I didn't know what his reaction to my question would be but it was starting to make me anxious so I gave in and just did it, blinded by my curiosity.

Antonio just breathed out loudly and smiled at me before gently grabbing my chin and turned me so that he could kiss my unresponsive lips. I frowned slightly but made no attempt to get away. It wasn't worth it.

"I'm just exited."

Now I was even more confused.

"For what?"

How I felt was evident in my tone.

"Come, you need to sleep."

Without answers, I followed him out of the bathroom and into the main part of the room. I climbed into the bed and tried to relax while aiming to forget that it was my kidnapper and abuser tucking me into bed and stroking my hair. I was shocked when he stood up and began to head towards the door, so grabbed his hand without thinking. It was like some sort of unwanted reflex.

He turned to face me, still calm.

"Aren't you coming to bed?"

I asked him, unsure if what I wanted his response to be. Logically I should want him to go and leave me alone, but part of me felt the opposite way. The idea of growing feelings towards the man made me shiver in disgust. Every night, I had to force myself to remind my brain that I did not like Antonio in any way and remembered all of the bad things he had done to me. The abuse, the tattoo and everything else.

"No, I have some things to do."