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