Kidnapped & In Love

Chapter 3

I was awaken by the sounds of birds chipping by my window. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed. Looking around I recognize the room, this has been my room the past few days. I think I need to choose my fate.

The four books I had with me last night are now on the stool besides the bed and I am under the covers. I don’t remember putting the books away or getting into the covers. Did Ms. Stella come back and tucked me in?

I get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I wash my face first then brush my teeth. No one likes the bad morning breath, I am not going to see anyone except Ms. Stella, but I still needed to be clean. While in the bathroom I hear a knock on the bedroom door.

I walk back into the room,

“Come in” the doorknob turns.

The door opens and a handsome guy walks in.

He is very handsome, I have never met anyone this handsome. I always thought my brother was handsome but his like an eight out of ten and this guy is a twenty out of ten. His tall, very tall he almost reached the door frame when he walked in.

His body is well-built, he either works out or plays some sort sport to keep him fit, perhaps American football. His hair black and spikey in all sorts of directions. His skin is perfectly tanned.

“Good morning” he says as he walks in towards the unmade bed.

Damn his voice is amazing. I bet God took all his time creating him. His in black smart pants, brown smart shoes and a black t-shirt that’s untacked.

“I brought you some breakfast” he says before placing the tray of food on the bed. Who is he and why is he here and not Ms. Stella?

“I hope scrambled eggs, beacon and toast is fine” he says, and my eyes immediately shoot to the tray on the bed.

“Where’s Ms. Stella?” I rudely ask. I don’t have to be because his being nice, but I could careless, I am being kept here without my consent.

“She’s…….” he scratches the back of his head as if trying to figure out what to tell me. I hope nothing bad happened to her.

“Well?” I prompt him to say something.

“Away. She has gone away to take cake of something personal” he says sounding unsure, and I looked at him titling my head to one side. I find what he says hard to believe. I think she would have mentioned it to me that she was going somewhere, Ms. Stella is a nice person.

“Don’t worry, you will probably have someone else assigned to you soon” he says, and I say nothing to him. He excuses himself and leaves the room closing the door behind him but not locking it.

I am so hungry because I had nothing for dinner last night, but I am not going to eat this food brought to me by this stranger. Hell, everyone is a stranger in this place. I go back into the bathroom and take a shower. I change into a dress among the clothes Ms. Stella had brought me yesterday.

I put away the tray of food and make the bed. I settle on it before I pick up a book and continued reading. I have a few chapters left to read because I read so much yesterday. I like Sophia but I think she’s too naïve and lets Leon treat her the way he wants which is wrong. I hope not to be in such a toxic relationship.

I had a boyfriend back in high school but I broke up with him after I discovered he only wanted to date me because he was dared too and that was the least thing, he also had to sleep with me which thanks to the heavens didn’t happen. It’s one of the worst memories I have of high school, finding out that the guy you’re dating is only with you because he was dared too.

I was looking forward to dating in college, but I have found myself in this situation I have no clue of how it may end. If they meant to kill me they would have already done so by now, I can’t even imagine they would want to ask for a ransom. I come from a middle-class family that has no money. My mother is a high school teacher while my dad works for a construction company.

                                                *****************************

After a while I hear another knock on the door just when I am two pages from finishing the book. If I ignore whoever is knocking they may go away and let me finish reading. But no, they decide to open the door and walk in.

“Hey” he says standing in front of me with both his hands in his pockets. I look up at him from my book.

“I don’t remember saying come in” I glare at him.

“I know and I also know you weren’t going to say I could come in” he says

“So then why did you come in?” I ask

“Because I wanted too. Was something wrong with your food?” he gestures towards the untouched food on floor. I choose not to answer him and continue reading my book which within a second disappears from my hands.

“Look whoever you are………….”

“Dimitry” he cuts me off

“What?”

“My name is Dimitry” he says in a very sexy voice. I wonder if he knows his voice can make someone wet their…… what the hell Melissa, focus.

“Okay, please just leave me alone if you are not letting me go” I snap

“I am only trying to be your friend” he says then sits at the foot of the bed

“I am not looking for a friend, what I want is to go back home I have plenty of friends there” I shout more than I anticipated I would.

“What if Stella comes back?” he asks

“Look, I don’t care what who does what, all I want is to get out of this place”

“Neither I nor anyone else can let you leave this place, the boss will have our heads” he says calmly. The boss? What does he mean the boss? I thought he was the person in charge or at least second in command looking at how his dressed and carries himself with so much command “I am sorry”

Hearing him say that is really depressing. “Why are you here anyway?” I ask

“I am here to make sure you’re okay.”

“Do I seem okay?” I ask just as my vice breaks

“No……….you” I cut him off

"I just really want to get out of this place.” I pull my knees to my chest “Why is my life so messed up? First Luca went away then my parents started fighting, I got away from that and went to college and now here I am, in the middle of God knows where with people I don’t know” I can’t hold it in any longer and let myself break down.

I feel him moving closer to me. The moment his hands touches my shoulder I jolt back into the headboard. I don’t know what that was, but I feels like a low voltage of electricity.

“I won’t hurt you I promise” he says with his hands raised in defense. “I was only trying to comfort you”

“Would you like to go outside?” he says, and I just look at him with my messy face. Why did I cry in front of him, why Melissa? Maybe because this whole situation is confusing. My second voice responds.

He stands up and holds out his hand for me to take. I stare at it for a while then decide to get off the bed too but not take his hand. I slip on some slippers then straighten the plain knee length black dress and walk towards the doors. He opens the door and allows me to walk out first.

I walk into a passage with so many other doors.

“This way” he leads, and I follow behind him. We walk down the passage until we reach the end and find a staircase leading us to the ground floor. this house is huge and who ever owns it must be very rich, you can tell from the luxurious touch the house has.

The staircase leads us to an open space, the main door is in front of us and two wooden doors on each side. The floor downstairs is different from the floor before. This one is tiled with white marble tiles. The walls are high with amazing chandeliers.

“Let me show you around so that you can know your way around” he says. I wonder if I am really kidnapped, why is he showing me around, I am not a guest or here to stay.

I am?

“That’s one way out” he points to the main door before he turns to his right and walks towards a huge wooden door that’s already open.

“This is the lounge” a beautiful room with apricot colored walls, white sofas, and a glass coffee table. I don’t get to see and appreciate the beauty of the room because he walks out to the other wooden door across from where we started.

This door slides sidewards unlike the other one. “This as you can see is the dining room” a huge long coffee brown table with chairs around it that can sit at least more than ten people with lilac walls and beautiful paintings hanging on the walls.

He walks out of the room and I follow him as he heads towards the staircase. He passes the staircase and pushes through a white door I hadn’t noticed. The moment the door opens I know this must be the kitchen. I can smell the nice aroma of the food being prepared. Everyone in the kitchen goes quiet when we enter.

“Please continue” he tells them and waves at a hand at them before he turns to face me “This is the kitchen” he says with a small smile playing on his lips.

“If you have any requests just feel free to come down here anytime” he says.

He walks passes me and out the door he goes. I still don’t know why his even showing me around because all I want is to get out of this place.

He goes on showing me the rest of the house. The house is huge, a mansion I must say. All the rooms are so big and decorated with expensive furniture and antics, lounge, a tv room, a dining room, a huge kitchen, a gym where he obviously works out to have such a great body. The study is big with so many books I swear it would be a library for a small school back home.

We head back upstairs where he shows me which rooms are off limit, the house has about eight self-contained rooms, excluding the room I was in. Our tour finally comes to an end when we stop a few doors passed the room I have been in, in the past two or three days. He opens the door and walks in before me.

“The boss said I could move you to a new room” he says.

The first thing I notice when I walk in are the beautiful lilies in a vase on the dressing mirror, freshly picked I presume. I noticed a lot of flowers in the garden when he was showing me around. The walls are turquoise, a queen-sized bed with white covers and more pillows a person can ever need. Two bed side tables on both sides of the bed. The wooden floor has a white fury rag which adds a touch to the room. The white curtains are flying in the room from the wind coming in through the open window.

“Do you like it? Is there anything that you need to be changed?” he asks bringing me and my thoughts back to earth.

“The room is fine, but I honestly don’t see why I need a new room.” I say

“Because the boss wants you to be comfortable” he says

“I don’t want to be comfortable, this isn’t my home”

“For now, it is” he says. “Lunch will be ready in a few minutes, a maid will come inform you” as soon as he finishes, he walks out of the room closing the door behind him.

I then notice a small whitewashed table close to the door with some books on it. I walk over and recognize the books are the ones I had in my previous room. I pick up ‘the school bully’ and lay back on the soft bed resuming my reading. It should be illegal for a bed to be as comfortable as this one.

I like the ending of the book, Sophia was forced into a relationship with bad boy Leon who was only protecting her, and they still end up together. I am not sure I would want such a relationship for myself.

I have always pictured I would fall in love with someone I meet purely, and we share common interests. I hope he loves to read like I do, he needs to know how to cook and bake. Maybe not baking but cooking is a must, if he can’t cook then I can at least teach him how too. Unlike my parents I want to marry and spend the rest of my life with the person I love. My parents have never seemed like they ever loved each other. My mom fell pregnant at the age of 22 when she was in her final year in university. So, it’s because of Luca that they decided to get married.

I do want a handsome boyfriend like Leon is described in the book. Scratch that thought, I can’t compare him with Leon, his just a fantasy.

Let me be more realistic.

He should be tall, handsome with an amazing smile, strong hands, and a great sexy body like Dimitry.

Wait what!!!

Dimitry.

No!!!

I get up from the bed and start pacing around the round. Fanning myself with my hands. What has gotten into me? I can’t be wishing for someone like him. I mean his good looking but his also one of the people keeping me here against my will. I need to focus on getting out of here and not falling for my possible handsome kidnapper.

“Ms. lunch is served” I hear a voice of a lady call out on the other side of my door.

“Thank you” I mutter then hear the footsteps retreat.

I should go down and have lunch, I haven’t had food in my stomach for over 24hrs. But first I check my face in the mirror to be certain the natural color has returned to my cheeks.

                                                **************************************

“Are you my kidnapper?” I ask Dimitry who almost chokes on his food. I was so hungry I finished all the food on my plate. We were served mash, steamed rice, grilled potatoes with steamed vegetables, beef stew and roasted lamb. I couldn’t eat everything, so I had mash with steamed vegetables and roasted lamb. I had a bowl of hot soup then my main meal. Honestly I am looking forward to meeting the person in charge.

“No!” he says with his eyebrows furrowed

“Who is then?” I ask

“My boss, Mr Giovani” he says. As simple as that, no introduction like ‘his the most powerful mafia leader bla bla bla……..’ just ‘My boss, Mr Giovani’.

We are outside having lunch under an umbrella by the swimming pool side.

“Why am I here?” I ask, as I look at the water mesmerized.

“I am guessing Mr Giovani wants to force you into marrying his son” he says then loads his mouth with more food.

Dimitry’s response takes me by surprise.

“What! Why?” I ask and he puts his cutlery down, takes a sip of water from his glass then looks me in the eye.

“I honestly don’t know” he shakes his head

“Couldn’t he just have asked instead of kidnapping me and forcing me to marry his son?”

“He did and you said no” the moment he says that I squint my eyes and send him a glare. I honestly do not remember being asked to marry anyone.

“I was told you turned him down a thousand times”

“What!” I jerk out of my seat and start backing away. Dimitry gets up too, his face confused.

“Why are you acting surprised like this is news to you?” he asks me a dumb question.

“Because it is. I am only 18years old and never been in a serious relationship for someone to ask me to marry them and I said no”

“What 18, no you must be mistaken” he shakes his head “We…. I mean you can’t be 18”

“Why not, how are you disputing something I am telling you?” I point at myself. “I was born in New Haven 18 years ago and I have lived there until I went to college”

Dimitry stares at me with a stunned look plastered on his face.

“I am confused” he says

“That makes the two of us. I don’t even understand this whole situation except now I know why I was kidnapped. Which is to marry someone who supposedly proposed to me and I said no then his father got me kidnapped for saying no????”

“That’s about right” he says, “But if you are denying being Marisa Valdez then who are you?” he asks with his head c****d to one side and arms folded across his chest.

“Marisa Valdez, me?” I ask and he shakes his head. “No, I am Melissa Arthur”

Now everything makes sense, I have been kidnapped but being treated nicely because these people think I am someone else.

“Let me get this clear, Mr Giovani has a son in Italy who is supposed to marry Marisa Valdez who was supposed to be kidnapped and forced to marry Mr Giovani’s son because she turned him down so many times and this Marisa who is not me looks exactly like me? ” I ask Dimitry.

“I still think you are Marisa but pretending to be someone else” he says. I roll my eyes skywards then shake my head. I lean back into my garden chair.

“So, since I am Melissa and not Marisa can I be set free?” I ask through greeted teeth.

“Only if the boss says so” he says.

                                                ***************************

Dimitry’s POV

“I don’t understand why I am being kept here. We have already established that I am not Marisa”

“I wish I could help you get back home but my hands are tied, all that I am doing is follow orders from Mr Giovani” I tell her,

“I already have enough going on, I didn’t sign up for mistakenly being kidnapped” She says.

I still don’t understand how this happened. The people doing the job were given clear and precise details about Marisa. A few days ago, Mr Giovani my father called me saying a girl had been kidnapped whom they thought was Marisa Valdez and I needed to come to the mansion.

He informed me that the kidnappers had grabbed the wrong girl and wanted me to help make her comfortable while we figured out what would be done. I haven’t seen a recent photo of Marisa Valdez but the girl right in front of me was an exact copy of her.

I didn’t like the way she was chained up when I arrived, she was still unconscious, and I asked if she could be released. Stella was the first person to interact with her when she regained consciousness. Stella was one of my favorite maids who has worked for our family since I was a little boy. I sneaked into the girl’s room at night while she was asleep, I found dried tears on her face and it was sad seeing her like that. The chains left bruises on her wrists and it’s a good thing Stella applied some anointing oil.

Mr Valdez and my father met five years ago when Marisa and I were dating. Our short relationship made our parents venture into some business but after our breakup our parent’s relationship died too.

Three years ago, on my 21st birthday, dad asked me for a favor. He wanted me to work things out with Marisa Valdez then coerce her into marrying me. At first I denied doing what he was asking me to do, I was still young, and marriage was the last thing on my mind. But he begged me and convinced me I would divorce her after a year or two. He was trying to venture into a huge project he knew would only work out if he partnered up with Mr Valdez.

I agreed and asked Marisa out on a date and she agreed for us to be friends and work out our relationship. With time we started dating and my father started putting pressure on me to ask her to marry me. I thought it was too soon and he disagreed.

I asked her for her hand in marriage and she said she had other plans for herself which didn’t include her getting married at a young age. Marisa’s mother was a model in her early years before she got married and had children. Marisa wanted to be a model like her mother. I understood her but not my father. After asking her a few more times she broke things off and left the country to pursue her modeling career.

I have been asked to do so many things in my life except being friendly enough to change someone’s mind about leaving a place they clearly didn’t give consent.

When I walked into the room she was being kept since she arrived at the mansion, she looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time. Marisa and I met many years ago and I wouldn’t exactly remember or had an idea of how she looked now. My father was convinced she wasn’t Marisa, but I thought otherwise, because this girl looked exactly like the 18-year-old Marisa I met five years ago. I played along for a while to prove that she was Marisa but there were so many things about her that convinced me she wasn’t Marisa.

This morning she seemed bothered by my presence and kept asking why she was here. The real Marisa would have recognized me and shouted at me, but this girl was calm. I came back to her room later to check if she had her breakfast and found the food was untouched. She had a book in her hands and ignored me.

When I tried to comfort her, she jerked back as if I was trying to do something to harm her. she wasn’t Marisa and was very scared. All I wanted was to make her as comfortable as possible. The least I could do was make her comfortable and that wasn’t going to work if I told her who I really was.

I took her round the whole house so that she knew her way around. No kidnapper would do that except me, which I wasn’t my father was. After the tour of the house and showing her around the gardens I then took her to a better room than the one she was in. she looked around the room and asked why we changed her room. I thought it was obvious we wanted her to be comfortable but all she wanted was to go home.

I left her to rest and sent a maid to inform her that lunch was ready. She came downstairs and decided she wanted to eat by the pool side. The chef did an amazing job and prepared a delicious meal.

She didn’t eat much but I could tell she was hungry after missing dinner and breakfast. She asked me something I was expecting her to ask just when we met, “Are you my kidnapper?” I didn’t know what to tell her. I wasn’t but was the son to the man that kidnapped her.

She asked me why she had been kidnapped and I told her the truth. Her reaction was honest because she wasn’t Marisa but Melissa. I explained everything to her without exposing myself.

I asked one of my father’s investigators to do a background search on Melissa and discovered she was telling the truth. She came from a middle-class family from New Haven, has an older sibling Luca who’s currently away. Her parents are quite average, a high school teacher and a constructor. Her best friend Hanna who she was with during the time she was kidnapped and no Boyfriend.

If I was given the option to choose between Marisa and Melissa I would pick Melisa. She was naturally beautiful and had a nice personality. Marisa was arrogant and spoiled which annoyed me a lot during the time we were dating.

Melissa is abouts 5ft tall, ginger red hair that falls to her shoulders, ocean blue eyes with long eye lashes. Her body is amazing, a small waist with curves around the hip area and a round ass. I haven’t seen her body in full, but she is perfect and full of innocence.