Debt to the Mafia

Chapter 11

—AMELIA— 

I was brushing my hair in front of the mirror and getting dressed ready for the day when there was knock on the bedroom door. I called out to give them permission to come in and Jace entered. I turned to him and pressed my lips together with awkwardness. 

His short blonde hair was freshly cut, he didn’t have his jacket on and his bright blue eyes were piercing through mine. I saw the scabs all over his face from the scratches I had caused in the jet and lowered my head in shame.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you” I began, twiddling my fingers nervously.

“I wanted to apologise for... well, for your...” I pointed to his face and sucked in my lips to stop myself from rambling. He didn’t say anything which made the atmosphere even more tense. 

“I’m sorry for attacking you” I started over. 

He shrugged and then walked slowly around the room, inspecting every detail as he went which I found odd. He paused and put his feet together, focusing on a pair of my underwear that I had left on the floor. He raised his brow and then glanced up at me.

“Oh, sorry, I have literally just got dressed” I said hurrying over to pick them up. 

“Michele has gone out for the day on business, he’s told me to watch over you. You’re not to leave this penthouse under any circumstances until he returns” he informed me like a robot with a recorded message. I tensed my expression and asked where he had gone.

“Out on business” he repeated. I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever” I grumbled with attitude. 

Jace left the room promptly and shut the door. Away on business? Ezio’s men are looking for me and he’s gone away on business’? Something doesn’t seem right, he is an arsehole but I know that he wouldn’t leave me here with one form of protection after what had happened yesterday. 

I’m reading too much into this again. The thing I should be most worried about is how I’m going to keep myself busy if I’m not allowed to leave the penthouse. I’ll end up dying of boredom in here; especially if it’s with Jace. Why does he have to act so awkward? I wish Michele would have left me with Nico. 

Hours passed and I was getting extremely bored. I had already rearranged all of the cupboards in the kitchen and tidied every room. I needed to get out of here and I’m sick of feeling like I’m being watched constantly by creepy Jace; even if it was to a different floor in the building, anywhere beats sitting in here all day. I made my way to the living room where Jace was lounging on the sofa.

“Hey... I need to go down the the office floor, I left something down there this morning” I lied. Jace sat up from the lying position and raised his brow at me suspiciously. 

“What did you leave?”. s**t! I didn’t think that far ahead, I had to think of something quickly. 

“My... glasses” I stuttered. The suspicion on Jace’s face grew as he leant forward onto his thighs.

“You don’t wear glasses” 

“Yes I do, for reading. I’m getting really bored and I wanted to read one of my books, but I can’t read it if I don’t have my ‘reading’ glasses” I emphasised. He didn’t move as he assessed every word that I had said. I waited nervously to see if he had fallen for it.

“Fine, but we are only going to pick up your glasses. Once you’ve got them, we are coming straight back up here” he said. I rolled my eyes and agreed. 

We headed into the elevator and I already felt like I was breaking free of my invisible chains. Once the doors opened, the automatic lights flickered on in the room. I paced myself as I walked through the narrow hallway, taking as much time as I could to admired every door I passed - wasting time.

“Get on with it!” Jace snapped. I turned back and flashed him a dirty look.

“Don’t you get bored up there in the same room for hours?” I asked him.

“No, that’s why there is a TV in that room” he replied. After passing a few more doors, I could feel the frustration coming from Jace without him even speaking.

“What room did you leave it in?” He asked impatiently. 

“In Michele’s office on his desk I think” I answered him without turning around. He grabbed a ring with dozens of keys on it and picked one from the bunch. He moved past me and unlocked Michele’s door, clearly trying to hurry me up. He entered the office and grunted. 

“You’re f*****g lying! There’s no glasses in here!” He yelled aggressively. I bit my bottom lip as I tried to find an excuse as to why it wasn’t in there. He stormed back out of the office and headed towards me. 

“Oh that’s right, I must have put it in one of Michele’s draws. Silly me” I nervously chuckled as he charged towards me like a raging bull. He gripped my arm as he passed me and dragged me towards the elevator. 

“Ow. Jace! Let go of me!” I screeched.

“Let go! You’re hurting me!” I shouted louder but he continued to pull me along. 

“Jace! I’m sorry, I’m just bored!”. He stopped dead in his tracks. Still holding on to my arm, he turned to me with pure anger in his expression. 

“Oh you’re bored are you?” He said in a pathetic way. I stared at him, wondering what was going through his head, he was silent. He let go of my arm and smirked at me. 

“Come on then” Jace switched his tune. He walked back the way we came and played with the bunch of keys once again. I looked at him with a concerned glance as he stopped in front of a door. 

“Come on, I will show you where I work” he beckoned me with me a misleading tone. 

I edged towards him, unsure of his intentions. He opened his office and turned on the light. As if on cue, the automatic lights turned off around me. I waved my hand above my hand to turn them back on but they were unresponsive. Sighing in defeat, I headed towards Jace’s office. 

It looked pretty basic. It had a desk with two chairs in front of it, a computer and a table with a coffee machine. There were two filing cabinets in the corner and the desk had folders neatly stacked in a pile. He sat down in his chair and pointed to the seat opposite for me to sit down. I hesitantly walked over and sat down. 

“You know, when Mr Rossi gives me orders, I follow them” he spitefully told me with a glint of evil in his eye.

“His orders to me this morning were to ‘keep you in the penthouse until he gets back’. Well...” he sat back and held his arms our wide.

“As you can see, this isn’t the penthouse”. I didn’t like the tone he was using, it was making me feel really uncomfortable. 

“Then let’s go back, I won’t tell him that we have been down here; I promise you. He’ll never know that we left the penthouse” I said trying to hide the desperation in my voice. The way Jace was acting didn’t seem right, he was tense and letting off an aggravated vibe. He stood up from his seat and slowly walked around the desk. 

“It’s a bit late for that now principessa (princess)”. 

He leant against the wood facing me, inches away from where my knees were. His body language was seething with negativity and he looked at me with bitterness. My heart was beating through me chest as he leant down, inches from my face. I thought he was about say something, but instead he gripped my waist and stood me up, twisting me round with one quick swoop and pinning me down onto the desk by my wrists. I grunted as my body hit the surface and flinched. He scanned down my body and smirked.

“I’m fed up with you prancing around in your tight clothing, flicking your hair and teasing every man that looks at you. You think you’re untouchable don’t you?” He snarled in my face. I shook my head, shocked by the way he was treating me.

“That wasn’t what I was doing at all! You’ve got the wrong idea!” I testified. 

“Shut the f**k up! You knew exactly what you were doing. You’re a f*****g tease and it’s about time you see what happens when you constantly tempt a man!”. 

Jace leant down towards my face and brushed past my lips with his stubble. He sucked at my neck and kissed it aggressively, still tightly gripping my wrists and holding me in place. I squealed and wriggled, trying to move away from his mouth but his grip was strong. 

“Stop it Jace!” I cried out but it fell on deaf ears as his mouth moved towards my collar bone. 

He had me in a position where I couldn’t kick him, I couldn’t wriggle free and he had access to my upper body. He nipped at my skin causing me to groan in pain. 

“What’s the matter tesoro (darling), I thought you liked it rough. That’s the impression I got from the way you clawed at me in the jet!” He teased. 

“Get off of me Jace!” I warned him. 

He chuckled at me and then went to continue nipping at my chest, but before he could make contact; I threw my head forward as hard as I could, connecting with his. He roared in pain and let go of my wrists which gave me a second to run. I headed for the door but his muscular arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back into the room, throwing me to the ground with force. 

“You f*****g b***h! Michele should have handed you over to Ezio the moment he asked for you. That way; Ricco wouldn’t be fighting to get his brother back and Mario would still be here, safe and sound. His life is worth a lot more than yours is!” He bellowed as he stepped closer to me. 

I had no idea what he was talking about. I shuffled along the floor to get away from him but ended up reaching the wall. There was no escape from him and I was definitely no match against him either. 

“Please Jace! I’m sorry okay? Let me go and I swear I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone!” I yelled. 

Jace bent down and gripped me by the throat with one hand. Using his other, he ripped at my shirt causing it to part slightly at the top. I whimpered at the strength he had and he pinned me against the wall using his body. 

“I’m gonna enjoy you before I hand you over to Ezio” he snarled against my ear.