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The Maid Who Ran from the Don - Full
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The ruthless Mafia heir Alessandro had money, power, blood in his hands, but not one woman in his bed.
00:07The rumors said the future Dawn was either impotent or gay.
00:10The old matriarch worried about the Moretti bloodline, so she gave the order to me, the maid who sold herself
00:16because of the family debt.
00:18Strip down and climb into Alessandro's bed. Teach him desire. If you succeed, your family's debts will be cleared.
00:24If you fail...
00:25Her voice pressed down on me.
00:28Don't bother coming back alive.
00:30I'd heard that other failed models and celebrities disappeared without a trace after they failed.
00:35Let alone a girl like me, with nothing to my name.
00:39That night, I crept into his room in nothing but a thin lace slip kneeling at the foot of his
00:43bed, shaking.
00:45Alessandro was on the bed, idly toying with a gun.
00:49Bianca, what are you doing?
00:50He didn't expect it, me.
00:53Your grandmother ordered it.
00:54I whispered.
00:55She said I'm to teach my master about... sex.
00:59He sat up against the headboard, dark silk pajamas loose at the collar.
01:03He tilted my chin up, his gaze lingering over my face.
01:07His voice was low and teasing.
01:09Teach me then.
01:10I swallowed and took out a sex manual his grandmother had prepared for me.
01:14Techniques, positions, all of it.
01:16I read the first page in a flat, steady voice, like a prayer.
01:20I tried my best to ignore the illustrations.
01:23Alessandro nodded slowly.
01:25Not one word wrong.
01:27Impressive.
01:28But what about the pictures?
01:30I looked up.
01:31What?
01:31He suddenly pulled me onto the bed and wrapped an arm around my waist.
01:36Then he pointed at the illustrations.
01:40If you don't explain the picture, how am I supposed to know what it means?
01:43My face burned hot.
01:45My ears going red instantly.
01:47His pajamas hung loose at the chest.
01:49His burning skin pressed against me.
01:51I looked down.
01:52The picture was... explicit.
01:54I knew the rough idea.
01:56I had no idea two people could even bend that way.
01:59They're, um...
02:00They're together.
02:02Alessandro pressed my head toward him, his lips almost touching mine.
02:06He whispered...
02:06Couldn't follow.
02:08Be specific.
02:09The text on the page had been one thing.
02:11The heat of his breath against my face was another.
02:13My face went hot.
02:15I shoved the book at him and put some distance between us.
02:18I don't know how to describe it.
02:20Mr. Moretti can see for himself.
02:22He didn't take the book.
02:24His gaze stayed on me, soft and sly.
02:27You don't even know.
02:28How are you supposed to teach me?
02:29Go back and learn properly.
02:32Come back tomorrow.
02:34A quarter hour later, I was outside his door, sniffling.
02:37Day one.
02:39Failed.
02:41The next day, the matriarch found out I'd failed.
02:44She lost it.
02:45Stay here on your knees until you figure out how to seduce him.
02:50I was punished to kneel in the garden under the rain.
02:52The stone slab scraped my knees and the heavy rain soaked me through.
02:56I'd been born to a poor family.
02:57My father had gambled away a fortune in debts, and my mother couldn't afford to raise both
03:02me and my younger brother.
03:04So when I was still a child, she sold me to the Moretti family.
03:07It was there I met Alessandro 16 back then.
03:10I'd never known a man could be like that.
03:13Handsome.
03:13Intelligent.
03:14Violent yet elegant.
03:16He'd pulled me out of the dirty and back-breaking kitchen and made me his only personal housemaid.
03:21Ten years had passed.
03:22I pressed his suits.
03:23I poured his wine.
03:26I organized his files for him while he was working.
03:29And somewhere in there, somewhere I shouldn't have, my heart had started leaning toward him.
03:33But I had never once thought the matriarch would order me to strip and crawl into his bed like a
03:38whore.
03:38I felt the tears coming.
03:40I was still a virgin.
03:41How was I supposed to teach anyone?
03:44Alessandro came through the front gate just then.
03:46He saw me kneeling in the rain, crying.
03:49What's going on?
03:50I almost passed out from the pain in my knees.
03:53He didn't ask twice.
03:54He swept me up into his arms and carried me into his room.
03:58He checked my knees.
04:00Your skin is raw.
04:02He found a small jar of ointment and started working it gently into the skin.
04:06The most powerful air in New York kneeling in front of me.
04:09His fingers were long and careful, drawing slow circles on my knee.
04:13You're always so reliable.
04:16My grandmother only punishes you when you've done something wrong.
04:19Was it last night?
04:20I was so tense, I twitched against the bruise and let out a hiss.
04:23But underneath, my heart was leaping because of his concern.
04:27Alessandro caught my finger and suddenly kissed my cheek.
04:30His voice didn't give anything away.
04:33Tell my grandmother I learned slowly.
04:35Come back tonight.
04:37Keep teaching.
04:39That night, Alessandro was already in bed holding the book when I came in.
04:43Somehow his pajamas was even more open than yesterday.
04:45I could see every line of his abs.
04:47He saw me and patted the bed next to him.
04:49Shoes off.
04:50Up here.
04:51I climbed up beside him, leaned against the pillows.
04:53Then, I realized what he was reading.
04:55The sex manual.
04:56My heart started slamming.
04:58He didn't seem to notice and laid the book open between us.
05:01His arm wrapped around my waist, just like in the picture.
05:04Is this how the people in the pictures do it?
05:06I nodded, blushing.
05:07He flipped to the next page as if he were really a student.
05:09Time passed.
05:10He handled me like a toy, following every position from the manual.
05:13The only sound in the room was the rustle of paper in Alessandro's breathing, which was
05:17getting uneven.
05:18Bianca.
05:21Yes?
05:23I'm uncomfortable.
05:25What's wrong, my master?
05:27Alessandro suddenly snapped the book shut, threw it aside, and pulled me against him.
05:31I wanted to see you blush.
05:33He said into my hair.
05:35Now I can't take it anymore.
05:39I'd known I was pretty since I was small.
05:41The other servants used to tease me about it.
05:43They said with my face and my figure, I didn't have to do a thing to make a man want
05:48me.
05:49Alessandro caught my earlobe between his teeth.
05:51His breath was hot against my ear.
05:53I went stiff.
05:53I didn't know what to do with my hands.
05:55Take it easy.
05:57Alessandro kissed his way down my neck.
05:59His fingers slipped one of my straps down, and his kiss landed lower.
06:03His other hand slid under my dress, and I shuddered.
06:06Then he stripped off his shirt, revealing a perfectly sculpted body.
06:09His eyes locked on me.
06:10Your virginity is mine, and now I'll take it.
06:16His perfect body moved against mine in steady waves.
06:19It hurt.
06:20I started to cry.
06:21He laughed soft.
06:24I don't even know how to do it.
06:26But you were going to teach me?
06:29Aren't you the one who doesn't know?
06:30I whispered miserable.
06:31Sweetheart, there's no man alive who doesn't know.
06:34He kissed the corner of my mouth, gentle, turning to fierce.
06:38When it's the right woman, the body just figures it out.
06:42That night, he didn't let me go.
06:44Now I knew just how ridiculous those rumors were that he was impotent or that he was gay.
06:49Once a man's tasted blood, he wants more.
06:51For the next two weeks, Alessandro wanted me in his bed every night.
06:55He was fierce and dark behind closed doors.
06:57He had mastered every trick in that manual, except self-restraint.
07:00After being teased by a few servants about the mocks on my body, I tried a careful approach.
07:04I heard that even good things shouldn't be overdone.
07:07That too much of it isn't good for the body.
07:10I stopped his kiss at my neck.
07:11Alessandro laughed.
07:12You know a lot for someone who knew nothing.
07:15But he let me sleep that night, at least.
07:18The matriarch heard it and nearly broke into tears of joy.
07:21Thank God, the Moreggi bloodline is saved.
07:25Then she turned to me.
07:28Bianca, you're a sharp girl and you've got your head on straight.
07:32When the right wife comes into this family, I'll have Alessandro keep you on as his mistress.
07:37That was when I realized the matriarch was already arranging Alessandro's marriage.
07:42The candidate was Cassandra Santoro, daughter of the Santoro family.
07:47Of course, the most powerful mafia heir deserved a wife from a respected mafia bloodline.
07:51Not someone like me.
07:53A small town girl.
07:54A maid.
07:54Being kept on by a man like him was a kind of miracle.
07:57And I was already half in love with him.
07:59And he told me he liked me.
08:00I never imagined there could be more.
08:02My face burned.
08:03I knelt and thanked the matriarch.
08:05Good girl, take this as your reward.
08:07She handed me my family debt bondage.
08:09It meant I was free of my servant bond or the debt.
08:12I almost wept with joy.
08:13But Alessandro was the only one who wasn't happy.
08:16That night in his bed, he gripped my jaw.
08:19Your man is taking a wife.
08:21And you're happy?
08:22My chest squeezed, but I made myself smile.
08:25You and the Moretti girl are a perfect match.
08:27Why wouldn't I be happy for you?
08:29His face darkened.
08:30Each word came clipped.
08:31She's the wife.
08:32You're the mistress.
08:33The other woman.
08:34From now on, I'll be staying with her in this bed every night, using all the ways you once taught
08:38me to treat her well.
08:39If you cross her, she has the right to scold you, scream at you, do reasonable things she likes.
08:44It hit me then.
08:45He was warning me.
08:46He was afraid I'd get too comfortable.
08:48That I'd cross his new wife and bring down trouble.
08:51He was reminding me of my place.
08:52Yes, Mr. Moretti.
08:53I know what I am.
08:55I'll stay in line.
08:56Somehow, he got even more angry.
09:00And if she's cruel, if she goes out of her way to hurt you, do you really understand?
09:08The men around the table howled.
09:10Glasses clinked.
09:11The whole booth erupted.
09:12The coat crushed in my fist.
09:14So the love he whispered in my ear was just some trick.
09:17A move on a board.
09:18I couldn't bring myself to pull back the curtain.
09:20I turned and stumbled out, the coat slipping from my fingers somewhere along the way.
09:24Alessandro's car was waiting at the front of the club.
09:26The driver was there.
09:28I should have walked back to the car.
09:29Instead, my stomach turned.
09:31I turned into a narrow side hall.
09:33I bent over and retched.
09:34Nothing came up.
09:35I'd counted the days and I was already two weeks late.
09:38This was a sign of pregnancy.
09:39The worst possible time.
09:41I looked around.
09:42I was in the back street behind the club.
09:44Nobody could see me.
09:45My debt bondage were folded in my bag.
09:47No debt.
09:48No service.
09:49I was a free woman.
09:50I'd never been brave.
09:51I was the most careful person I knew.
09:53But somehow, in that minute, I decided, I'll leave.
09:56I wouldn't be going back to the Moretti estate.
09:58I ran out into the rain around the alley and flagged down a cab.
10:03Take me away from this part of the city.
10:05As far as you can.
10:09Alessandro finished his last drink and stood to leave.
10:12That's when his eyes landed on the coat I'd brought.
10:14The brooch on it was a gift I'd saved up for months to give him.
10:17He snatched it up from the floor, eyes flaring with panic.
10:21Who's been here?
10:24The cab rolled through the storm.
10:25And my time at the Moretti estate played back in my head, scene by scene.
10:29The first day I'd come to work the estate, one of the family's men had cornered me.
10:34Simply because of my face.
10:35Just as that filthy hand was about to tear my clothes off, an arm hauled him off and sent
10:40him sprawling.
10:41That was the first time I saw him.
10:43Tall, sharp, like a blade drawn from its sheath.
10:45He'd looked up and his eyes had gone stunned just for a second.
10:49What's your name?
10:50I lowered my eyes.
10:51Bianca.
10:52It suits you.
10:54He'd said.
10:54You're fair as fresh snow.
10:56Of the dozen girls who'd come to work the estate that season, I was the only one Alessandro
11:00had chosen to be his personal maid.
11:02I'd been over the moon.
11:03I worked twice as hard as the others.
11:05When I cleaned the front rooms, I caught myself watching for his figure across the grounds.
11:10By the time I noticed what I'd done, the feeling had its roots in too deep to pull.
11:14I'd loved him so carefully.
11:15So afraid someone would catch on, that they'd laugh at the kitchen girl who thought she
11:19had a chance with the air.
11:21Being his maid had been enough.
11:22I never thought of more.
11:23But I couldn't be one bottle in his collection.
11:26I couldn't stand him watching me bleed for him and finding it amusing.
11:30And the very least, I didn't want my child to suffer for it later.
11:33I didn't want her called a bastard.
11:35I looked back at all his odd behavior the last few weeks.
11:38His harsh words.
11:39The way he'd stopped calling me to his bed.
11:41He'd been pushing me away on purpose, hoping I'd get the hint and back off.
11:45And here I was, an idiot, daydreaming about our future.
11:48Is that it?
11:49The driver took the next turn.
11:51The cab rolled on into the rain.
11:54I'd been in this little out-of-the-way town nearly a year.
11:57I'd had my daughter.
11:59I'd named her Penny.
12:00Even out here, gossip from the Moretti family filtered through eventually.
12:03People said the Santoro girl had been married in spectacular fashion.
12:07The display had gone on for blocks.
12:09Cars, jewels, the whole show.
12:11Alessandro had won her.
12:12He'd be high on himself now.
12:13He wasn't my match.
12:15He'd never been my match.
12:16Cutting him out of my life had been the right thing.
12:18I'd opened a small restaurant on the main road,
12:20using the money I got from pawning a diamond necklace he'd given me.
12:24When Penny was three, she ran a fever in the middle of the night.
12:27I rushed her to the hospital through the pouring rain that night.
12:30The doctor looked at me with pity.
12:31Just you raising her?
12:33Where's her father?
12:34Dead.
12:35Caught an STD and died young.
12:36Penny was burning up, half awake.
12:38She mumbled at me from under the blanket.
12:40Mama, what did he catch?
12:41A sickness people get when they don't keep clean.
12:44I stroked her hair.
12:45Penny keeps clean.
12:46So Penny will get better fast.
12:49Aunt Marge was trying to set me up again.
12:52I'd turned her down a dozen times.
12:54She wouldn't quit.
12:55You've got a child.
12:56You can't go through this life alone.
13:01Penny and I are enough.
13:03We're our own family.
13:04That's different.
13:06Now, this Ethan.
13:07His father had once owned a large farm.
13:10He never amounted to much, but he owns a house.
13:13He lost his wife a few years back, looking for a kind, steady woman to settle down with.
13:17She stroked Penny's head.
13:18He says he doesn't care that you've got a child.
13:20He'll treat Penny like his own.
13:22So, if yes, I'll make it happen.
13:24Don't be shy.
13:26He'll come to your restaurant tomorrow for lunch.
13:28Brown jacket.
13:29Far corner table.
13:30Just walk over and look at him.
13:32If you like him, I'll keep going.
13:34If not, no embarrassment.
13:36I never got a word in.
13:38The next afternoon, a brown jacket sat down at the corner table, just as promised.
13:42I'd tell him I wasn't interested.
13:44I walked over carrying the beef stew.
13:46Sir, try the beef stew.
13:49His hand shot out and locked around my wrist as I set the bowl down.
13:52The broth nearly splashed.
13:54I jerked my eyes up, ready to snap at him.
13:56I met a pair of stunned eyes.
13:58A familiar face.
13:59The kind of handsome I had spent four years trying to forget.
14:03Now his face was wrenched with shock and fury.
14:05How could it be?
14:06Mr. Moretti.
14:08I caught the word before it left my mouth.
14:10I turned my face away and forced my voice flat.
14:13Sorry.
14:14Wrong table.
14:15That order was for someone else.
14:17His hand wouldn't let go.
14:19His voice was shaking.
14:20Bianca.
14:22Why are you here?
14:23Half the room was looking at us now.
14:25I had made up my mind four years ago that I would never let this man back into my life.
14:30Let go!
14:31I slapped him across the face.
14:33Hard.
14:35You've got the wrong person.
14:37Get a grip, sir.
14:39I bolted for the back.
14:40Alessandro caught up in three strides and cornered me against the far wall of the back lot.
14:45He had me pinned, anger pouring off him.
14:47So you've got some nerve now.
14:49Running from the estate and even slapping me.
14:51I held the line.
14:52I really don't know you.
14:54He laughed once, sharp and cold.
14:56His eyes dropped to my collar.
14:57Is that so?
14:59Let me settle this.
15:00His fingers yanked my collar down.
15:02There was a scar on my shoulder.
15:06Alessandro turned his head.
15:07He seized Ethan and hurled him against the wall like he was garbage.
15:12She's mine.
15:13Get out.
15:14Ethan scrambled away as best he could.
15:16The lot went quiet.
15:17Alessandro's face was iron.
15:18You were meeting that?
15:19Women grow up.
15:21Women marry.
15:22There's nothing wrong with it.
15:23What does he have?
15:24He's vulgar.
15:24He's twice your age.
15:26That was what you wanted?
15:28Who I marry is none of your business, Mr. Moretti.
15:31He bent down, hands on my shoulders, putting himself eye to eye with me.
15:34You took your debts bondage.
15:36And you ran.
15:38After everything I did for you.
15:40Do you have any heart at all?
15:42From his side of things, yes.
15:43He had been good to me.
15:45He had never cursed me.
15:46Never humiliated me.
15:47Never even raised his voice.
15:49He paid me well and slipped me extra on holidays.
15:51For hired help, a boss like that was a blessing.
15:54But the problem was, I loved him.
15:56I fell into silence.
15:57He thought he scared me and softened his voice.
15:59That day, they said you'd come to the club with a coat for me.
16:03I asked the valet and the driver.
16:04Neither of them saw you leave.
16:06I even thought it was my rival who had taken you.
16:08But I tore this city apart looking for you.
16:10I couldn't find a trace.
16:11He cupped my face.
16:21He said it as if I'd mattered to him.
16:23I was confused.
16:25Maybe it was just that he'd never found another maid who served him as well as I had.
16:31Bianca, tell me the truth.
16:32The truth?
16:33How was I supposed to put it?
16:35If I said he'd broken my heart, I'd been the fool.
16:37If I said he was unfaithful, what right did the help have to throw that at him?
16:41So all I said was,
16:42A mistress is an object.
16:44No dignity.
16:45No feelings.
16:46Loyal because she has to be.
16:47The man wants company.
16:49She strips and lies down.
16:50Nobody asks whether she wants it.
16:52I wiped my eyes and made myself smile.
16:56Mr. Moretti.
16:58Bianca didn't want to serve anymore.
17:00Will that do?
17:01I wouldn't make you the mistress.
17:02No.
17:03I cut him off.
17:04A restaurant.
17:05My own food.
17:06My own roof.
17:07It suits me fine.
17:09Alessandro stood there a long time.
17:11He gave a small, bitter laugh.
17:14I see.
17:15I underestimated your pride.
17:17Letting me touch you?
17:19Letting me have you?
17:20That was a humiliation to you.
17:25After he was gone, I hung the closed sign on the front door early.
17:29By dusk, the rain had started.
17:31I went to pick up Penny.
17:33When the restaurant was busy, I left her at Aunt Marge's,
17:35who watched her along with her grandson, Tommy.
17:37I was halfway to the door when it creaked open.
17:40Penny had walked herself home.
17:42Mama, I saw a man on the street.
17:44He didn't have an umbrella.
17:46He was just standing in the rain.
17:48He looked so sad.
17:50I gave him my candy.
17:51The one Tommy gave me.
17:53Her hair was misty wet.
17:54I unclipped it and dried it with a towel.
17:57You don't walk home alone in the rain.
18:00You wait for Mama.
18:01Did he take your candy?
18:03Yes.
18:03She blinked her big, serious eyes at me.
18:05He said he messed something up.
18:06I told him not to be scared, and if there's something he can fight for,
18:11he should fight for it with everything he has.
18:13I sighed, half laughing.
18:15She remembered everything I'd ever told her.
18:18My little brave girl.
18:20I tucked her in and coaxed her to sleep.
18:22Then someone was knocking at the door.
18:24The second I opened it, a wet shape pushed inside and pulled me into his arms.
18:29Her hair was loose, eyes blurry, feet bare on the floor.
18:33I bolded up and scooped her inside my voice shop.
18:36You should be sleeping.
18:37What are you doing out here?
18:39Mom, is this bad man hurting you?
18:42Alessandro stepped inside after us, dripping.
18:44He looked at the two of us and forgot how to move.
18:48She called you Mama.
18:49I didn't answer.
18:51He looked at Penny.
18:52What's your dad's name?
18:54My dad caught something dirty.
18:56He died.
18:57Alessandro took one slow step toward us.
18:59Then another.
19:00His voice was unsteady.
19:03How old are you?
19:06A child can't keep a secret.
19:07Three.
19:09I scrambled for cover.
19:11Mr. Moretti, don't get the wrong idea.
19:14She's adopted.
19:15I found her in a dumpster three years ago.
19:17That's why I called her Penny.
19:19Found a penny in the gutter.
19:22Alessandro didn't move.
19:24Bianca, don't you think you're explaining too much?
19:27Penny was glaring at me.
19:28Mama, you said I came out of your belly.
19:31And my name means a small thing that grows into a great thing.
19:35It doesn't mean you picked me out of the trash.
19:39Penny had Alessandro's eyes and his mouth.
19:42The shape of her face was mine.
19:44There was no walking this back.
19:46I clutched her tighter, terrified he'd take her the next breath.
19:50Alessandro knelt down in front of us.
19:52He started to reach for Penny's cheek and then remembered his hand was wet and stopped his fingers an inch
19:57away.
19:57I knew you the second I saw you.
19:59That's why I took the candy.
20:01Penny, I'm your father.
20:03Penny stuck her hand out, palm up.
20:07You hurt my mama.
20:08Give it back.
20:11I didn't hurt your mama.
20:13Alessandro's voice was so gentle.
20:14He looked at her like he couldn't believe she was real.
20:17I ate the candy.
20:19It was sweet.
20:20Thank you for the encouragement.
20:22Penny puffed up her cheeks.
20:23Mama was right.
20:25There are a lot of liars out there.
20:27Alessandro's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
20:30Penny squinted at my mouth.
20:32Mama, what happened to your lip?
20:35Burned it on some soup.
20:37You had soup?
20:40Uh, yes.
20:42Yes.
20:43Tasted good.
20:46I went hot with shame and rage and would have hit him if my daughter hadn't been watching.
20:51He then changed the subject in a perfectly cheerful voice.
20:54My clothes are wet.
20:55How do I shower here?
20:57Can't you see mama's wet too?
21:00Mama goes first.
21:02Right.
21:03You're right.
21:04My mistake.
21:06A spoiled heir who'd been waited on his entire life.
21:09Less considerate than my three-year-old.
21:11Bianca, take a hot shower.
21:14I'll watch the child.
21:16Don't catch a chill.
21:17Penny gave me a sage look.
21:19Mama, I'll keep an eye on him so he doesn't try anything.
21:23I came out from the shower to find that the watchful Penny had fallen asleep.
21:27In the warm lamplight, she lay curled with her little flowered blanket pulled to her chin,
21:32dark lashes resting on her cheeks.
21:34Alessandro was hanging over the side of the bed, eyes fixed on her like he couldn't look away.
21:38How is she this pretty?
21:40She looks like you and like me at once.
21:42I can't get over it.
21:45My restaurant doesn't keep guests overnight.
21:48You should go.
21:49He looked like a big wet dog.
21:51In this rain, where am I supposed to go?
21:54He had nowhere to go.
21:56That was actually true.
21:57So why had he shown up here completely alone?
22:00No entourage.
22:01Not one bodyguard.
22:03He plucked at his wet shirt, gave up, and went to take a shower.
22:07My hair was thick and long.
22:09I'd just gotten it half dry and was reaching for the lotion when I heard him come back.
22:13I turned and froze.
22:15Alessandro was standing in the middle of the room with absolutely nothing on.
22:19I whipped my head back around.
22:20What are you doing?
22:22He kept his voice down.
22:24Don't wake the kid.
22:26Don't read into it.
22:27I didn't mean anything.
22:29Do you have a change of clothes?
22:30I lived alone with a three-year-old girl.
22:33Where would I have men's clothes?
22:35And if I did, he'd have torn the house apart trying to figure out whose.
22:39He was right behind me now.
22:41I couldn't keep dodging.
22:42I turned and faced him.
22:44You have clothes.
22:45Wet.
22:47Uncomfortable.
22:47Broad shoulders.
22:49Narrow waist.
22:50Not an extra ounce on him.
22:51The kind of body that would have stopped my heart at 18 and was still stopping it now.
22:56I refused to look any lower.
22:58He leaned in.
22:59His voice had dropped.
23:01Where do we sleep tonight?
23:04There was no chasing him out, so I took the next best option.
23:08Penny and I sleep in the inner room.
23:10You sleep out here.
23:10Don't come in.
23:11Alright.
23:12I'd half expected him to refuse the cottage outright.
23:14He didn't.
23:15He looked around at my small furniture, my plain shelves, and just said,
23:20Tight, but warm.
23:22The rain came down all night.
23:23I slept hard.
23:24When I got up to make Penny's breakfast, Penny was already up.
23:28Alessandro was not.
23:29She was on his bed.
23:31My dad already died.
23:33So how come you came back to life?
23:35You'd never seen me before.
23:37So how do you know I'm your daughter?
23:40Alessandro was lying flat under the blanket, laughing helplessly.
23:43I scooped Penny off his bed and gave him a look.
23:47Son's been up for hours.
23:49Why aren't you?
23:50He looked pained.
23:51My clothes are still wet.
23:53I couldn't leave him under the covers all day.
23:56I went downtown and bought him clothes.
23:58Four years on, I still knew his measurements without thinking.
24:01I felt ashamed of myself.
24:03I came back from the store and tossed the bundle at him.
24:06Get dressed.
24:07He sat up pulling on the shirt and watched me.
24:12Bianca, you've changed.
24:14It hit me then.
24:16He wasn't angry.
24:17He was smiling.
24:18Bossy.
24:19I like it.
24:22He liked it.
24:23The ice over my heart cracked.
24:25But I knew a man's affection for a stray cat.
24:27He didn't mean anything by it.
24:29Alessandro insisted on coming with me to the restaurant.
24:32To help.
24:33In one morning, he broke three bowls, burned a hole in the bottom of the stockpot,
24:37and nearly set fire to the kitchen.
24:38I spent the rush apologizing to my regulars and giving away meals.
24:42I lost money.
24:43The pampered young heir was streaked with soot, ducking my eye,
24:47looking guilty for the first time in his life.
24:49Stop.
24:50Just go watch the child.
24:52He nodded vigorously and informed me that he was extremely good with children.
24:56Toward dusk, Penny tugged on my sleeve.
24:58Mama, some people came to talk to the bad man.
25:02They're whispering.
25:03I crept around the side of the restaurant, light on my feet.
25:06Behind the kitchen, two of Alessandro's men.
25:09I caught fragments.
25:10While Bianca isn't looking, take the child.
25:13A mother's instinct went cold in my chest.
25:15Penny was his daughter.
25:17He clearly adored her.
25:18He was going to take her from me.
25:21We worked together like a tiny conspiracy.
25:23Penny's job was to throw out his clothes.
25:25With no clothes, he couldn't chase us right away.
25:28My job was to gather the valuables.
25:30Finally, we locked the door.
25:31Gone.
25:32He had found me in the most out-of-the-way town in the state.
25:35Wherever I went next had to be smarter.
25:37It came to me.
25:38The most dangerous place is the safest place.
25:40His own city.
25:41He would never imagine I'd run straight to the heart of Moretti territory.
25:45I had practice now.
25:46The road went smoothly.
25:47We caught a ride with a small moving convoy heading north.
25:51The lead driver was a kind, big-shouldered man who took a few bills and let us ride in
25:55the back of an empty truck.
25:56The truck was clean.
25:57We took the main highway.
25:59Barely a bump.
26:00A young woman named Tessa looked after me.
26:02Every stop she brought a tray of rich, hearty food to the truck.
26:06I tried to refuse.
26:07She waved me off.
26:09Eat up, ma'am.
26:10The company has cash to spare.
26:12By the time we made the city, the heat had thickened.
26:15Midsummer.
26:15The driver recommended a clean, modestly-priced hotel.
26:19I took the cheapest room on offer.
26:21I'd just dropped my bag when the clerk came up.
26:24Apologies, ma'am.
26:24This room's already been booked.
26:26Let me move you.
26:27He moved me to the best suite in the house.
26:29If the clerk had so much as asked for an extra dollar, I might not have caught on.
26:33There's no free lunch.
26:34A single mother and a child in an unfamiliar city were the easiest targets in the world.
26:38Every alarm in me started ringing.
26:40I grabbed Penny.
26:41Penny, we're leaving.
26:43The door wouldn't open.
26:45They had locked us in.
26:46From behind the partition at the back of the suite, a slow figure stepped out.
26:49Alessandro Moretti in a fresh tailored suit, hair pushed back, standing like a blade.
26:55His grip was crushing my shoulder.
26:57I twisted in pain.
26:59You're hurting me.
27:00It didn't register on him.
27:02His eyes were rimmed in red, wet, like a creature betrayed.
27:06Threw away my clothes.
27:07Locked me in that cottage.
27:09His voice cracked.
27:11Should I do the same to you?
27:12Would you like that better?
27:13I pictured the inversion.
27:15Cold dread went through me.
27:16That's why the road was so smooth.
27:18You had the convoy from the start.
27:19I walked straight into it.
27:21I felt my nose start to burn.
27:22You can have a wife and a dozen children.
27:24I only have Penny.
27:26You take her from me and I have nothing left.
27:28His face caved.
27:29Aren't I family to you too?
27:31Or do I not even have a place in your heart?
27:33I stared at him, lost.
27:36Was that what he was actually asking?
27:38Let me ask it differently.
27:39He pulled himself together, held my eyes.
27:44Bianca, do you love me?
27:47Yes.
27:48It was out before I knew I was going to say it.
27:53I regretted it instantly.
27:55I had spent four years building a wall around that one word and one question from him and I'd handed
28:00it over.
28:01Floozy.
28:02I scolded myself.
28:03Cheap.
28:04A man who could betray me once could betray me a thousand times.
28:07I had to remember.
28:09Alessandro's face had lit up.
28:10I cut him off with the next sentence, ice cold.
28:12But I don't only love you.
28:14There's a whole world of men out there.
28:18Like wine.
28:19You have to taste every variety before you die or what's the point?
28:23You have to coax them, stroke them, see them melt when you string them along, watch them go from joy
28:27to despair on a single word.
28:29It's quite a lot of fun.
28:30I had never in my life seen Alessandro Moretti look like that.
28:33His eyes went bloodshot, his fury so hot I thought he might catch fire.
28:39What did you say?
28:40I smiled and didn't answer.
28:42You wouldn't dare.
28:44He went berserk.
28:45I watched him from the couch, calm.
28:47He swept his arm across the side table and sent the glasses crashing.
28:51The one thing he didn't do was raise a hand to me.
28:53When he had spent the worst of it, he stood there breathing hard, pointed at me, then at the door.
28:58Get out.
28:59All right.
29:00I stood up smoothly, thinking, good.
29:03Finally over.
29:04The door was right there.
29:06The whole world on the other side.
29:08My chest hurt anyway.
29:10Wait.
29:11That line.
29:13Why does it sound familiar?
29:16I stopped.
29:17I didn't turn around.
29:18Mr. Moretti, you remember now.
29:21You're already married.
29:23Taking Penny and me home would just poison your wife.
29:26Go be good to her.
29:27Don't be the philenderer you were.
29:29Alessandro caught up to me.
29:30His voice was thin with panic.
29:32That day.
29:33The club.
29:34You came to bring me the coat.
29:35You heard me, didn't you?
29:37I heard everything.
29:39In my head, you were the perfect man.
29:42Sharp and untouchable.
29:43The reason you couldn't bear to let me go wasn't love.
29:46It was that I'd begged for crumbs.
29:48I worked to please you.
29:50I was useful.
29:51I was happy to serve as your maid.
29:53I wouldn't serve as your plaything.
29:55That's not what it was!
29:59Four years ago, the woman I wanted to marry was you.
30:04Alessandro took my hand carefully, like he was afraid I'd pull it back.
30:08His palm was hot.
30:09Not a mistress.
30:11My one and my wife.
30:13Will you?
30:16If I'd ever done something to hurt you, you could have told me and I could have explained.
30:21The help doesn't question the boss.
30:23A servant's rule was that the master was always right.
30:26Anything wrong was always on us.
30:27But I wasn't the help anymore, so I would say it.
30:31If you wanted to marry me, why didn't you ever once give me a sign?
30:34If I'd known I mattered to you, I wouldn't have been so easy to wound.
30:38I wanted it done.
30:40Then I wanted to surprise you.
30:43And I was scared it wouldn't work.
30:45I didn't want to raise your hopes and then watch them fall.
30:49You have a mouth.
30:50You could have used it.
30:51I thought maybe we were even now.
30:53He wasn't done.
30:54Second question.
30:56Why did you run a second time?
30:57There was no point hiding now.
30:59I told him.
31:00The line I'd overheard.
31:02Take the child while Bianca isn't looking.
31:05The actual sentence had been.
31:07Take the child while Bianca isn't looking and force her back to the city.
31:11That plan is no good.
31:12Don't try it.
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