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