THE ITALIAN BOSS: Old Habits Die Hard

EPISODE 4

ANASTASIA GRIFFITHS

I waited in the lounge, pacing up and down, scared and a lot I thoughts were running in my mind. What should I expect, or what will happen? I have the answers but they rather not be said out loud.

Although my husband has not shown any violence to me for a long time, I know what he is capable of doing. I am just praying that he does not kill me.

"Signora, I am off now. Are you sure that you are okay?" Katrina asks for the umpteenth time.

"I will be if you stop asking. The guards will see you out," I said, sauntering to the stairways, but just then, the door opened and my legs automatically froze.

I swallowed my saliva, leaving my mouth dry and my heart pounded like the cells in my body were playing drums on it. His scent made the greetings first before he even settled into the room. Now I am so scared to turn my body and face him.

"Signore Ferrari, I was just on my way out. Have a good evening," Katrina said.

"Grazie, buona notte." (Thank you, good night.) He answered.

After the door closed, I made a sluggish turn to my husband and my eyes met his. I could not keep up with his unreadable glare, so I looked away and cleared my throat.

"Amore, please sit down I want to talk to you," I spoke, taking the plastic of what looks like food from him, but he held my hands and I trembled in fear.

"Are you scared?" He asked in a neutral tone. Right now I can't tell if he is angry or not.

I shook my head continuously.

"Words, Amore. I don't speak any sign language,"

"No, I am not scared," I lied, I am terrified.

"Now why are you shaking? Should I be worried about something?" Oh Lord, this man is testing me.

"Maurizio, I-" He let me go and I got hold of the plastic.

"Go and make us dinner. Please prepare the Abalone the same way that you did on our Anniversary. I am just going to take a shower, I will be down In a few."

And like that, he left me dumbfounded like a fool. What game is he playing? My main question is, did he see the picture? Is he still angry about last night?

***

Maurizio walked into the kitchen, and as hot as it is in the kitchen with the stove on, the room became so cold like snow. I am still busy cooking the abalone and boy, it smells so aromatic – I hope this wins me his forgiveness.

He went to the fridge and I couldn't help but watch his topless back as his muscles stretched out like some artwork when he grabbed a bottle of water. My eyes quickly shifted back to my pots as he turned back and walked to the counter, taking a seat on the barstool.

"Uhm, Maurizio," I called out as I began to chop the onion.

Only his eyes moved and looked at me, meaning that I should go on and speak.

"The kids, where are they?" I asked and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"You finally remembered that you have kids?"

"How can I forget about them? Leandre is just a baby, Maurizio and he needs to be breastfed. Why did you have to take them to Nonna during the week of school?"

"Oh, so when you go out leaving Beverly to look after our children when she is also one of them you did not think it's school night? When you were out there doing God knows what with who, did you not think that Leonardo needs breast milk?"

I silently started crying as I continued chopping my onions. He definitely saw the picture and him sending the kids away could only mean one thing. He wants to hurt me with the kids not being around to witness how heartless their father can be.

"Besides, they will be there for a couple of days which gives us some time to catch up. Leonardo will have to toughen up and get used to the formula,"

I sniffed, blinking my tears away.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, nonchalant.

"I am not crying, the onions are irritating my eyes," I shot my excuse. What a coincidence and a proof of my response.

"Mmh,"

***

I could not eat a bit. I was uneasy, but he acted relaxed and are up everything on his plate, leaving it clean.

"Are you not going to eat your food?" He asks, cleaning the corners of his lips with a napkin.

"I am not hungry,"

"Then why did you bother dishing up for yourself? If you not going to eat, get up and follow me," He got up.

"Where to?" I asked, nervously.

"Just follow me." His tone is slowly transforming and something tells me not to follow him because it might be a bad idea.

We go through the stairs and pass through the passageway until we got to our playroom.

He looked at me and I already know what to do. I got my shoes off and so did he. I kneeled down before him and he brought his hands in front of me and I kissed both his palms and the back of his hands before I kissed his toes.

"Good girl," He said.

This is how seriously he takes the other part of his life. b**m is not just about having dirty-freaky s*x, but it has some serious rules that need to be followed.

"I, Anastasia Ferrari will enter this room as an obedient sub and will obey and submit to the dom-my Master. Therefore, anything that shall be done in the room I will not dispute."

"And what do you have to say to your Master before we enter?"

"I shall only speak when told to. I shall say please and thank you to the Master, and with my body, I trust the Master to handle, protect and take care of it. I leave my decent life outside this room and when I enter, I will no longer be Anastasia, but the obedient sub to my Master,"

"Stand up and enter the room. Take all your clothes off," I didn't want to, but I had to. I just don't want to make things worse as they are already.

I did as told and stripped off all my clothes and stood naked at the center of the room. He went to sit on the one-seater couch and ordered me to kneel and look at him.

"You vowed before we entered this room and I listened. We have been doing this for so long and I must say, we have a good – or rather a better relationship when we at

are locked up in here. You obey me and that turns me on. Did you ever imagine how it will be if we take this life out in public, because I want you to be obedient all the time? Imagine yourself in a public place naked like this and I have to dominant you, would you like that? Well, baby girl, I would enjoy the whole thing because I would want to show the world that I own you, don't I? But, I am not going to do that because I want to protect you, I have been protecting you for so long and I thought you liked the calm side of me. Did you take advantage of that? Honey, I don't like bringing problems into this room and you know it. This room should be my peace, but right now it is not,"

I want to speak but I wasn't told to speak yet, so I had to swallow all my words and observe as he spoke. I have a feeling that this will end in tears. I feel my urine at the edge and one mistake, It will splash out.

"I have always protected you, sweetheart. I went against my own family to protect you and took down a lot of people for you. I admit, I was not the man I am today when we first met. I was horrible to you and I did things to you that are unforgivable, but baby girl you need to know and remember this, I am Maurizio Ferrari and they call me Two-Sec in the streets of Naples; old habits die hard. Don't think because you haven't seen that other side of me in a long time you think that it's gone. No, honey, that man still exists and you are slowly provoking him to wake up. Your vow says I protect you, handle you with care but I have a question for you, little girl, who will protect you from me?"

"Master, may I please get permission to speak?"

"No, I don't want to hear anything from you! I am disgusted by your actions. Do you know what the most painful thing is to a parent? Is when your children suffer from their parents' sins. I had to fetch Beverly from school before school was even out. The poor child was bullied for her mother's sins, she stayed in the toilets almost the whole day, trying to call you but someone broke their cellphone, now what is it that you want to speak of? I warned you about your supposed friends, but do you ever listen? If you didn't befriend them, such nonsense would have never happened!"

My tears gushed out of my eyes like tap water. I closed my eyes when he rose from the couch and walked up to me.

"Nastasia, is what I give you not enough, huh? Stop crying and look at me! You did enough of that in the kitchen when chopping the onions, this is my time and signora do not test my patience, because I am trying to avoid the worse that can happen here."

He roughly pulled me up with my hair and I screamed to the top of my lungs. We have never been through this for so long and now one simple picture has to take us back to square. Maurizio is ruthless and whatever he says he means it.

"I am sorry," I cried out, but that didn't stop him from pulling me with my hair to the balcony.

He grabbed the long rope on the floor and draped it on the balustrade before he pulled my hands.

"Maurizio, please baby forgive me. I am sorry, I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing. Please, don't tie me up here all night, it's cold," He then goes to my legs and ties them.

"Stop it, just stop! You chose to go around and getting intimate with another man. Amore, I don't want to hurt you,"

"Then please listen to me,"

"No!" He roars. "You might want to sit your naked ass down, because you will be sleeping here tonight,"

"Please don't leave me here, I'm scared!"

He ignored me and my cries and went back into the room, closing the sliding door, and just before I knew it, the light went off.

I was left there to cry in the cold night, naked and restrained.

***