"Get out." Alessandro's cold flat voice caused me to cringe as I gripped the sides of the car seat refusing to go back into his house. He stood just outside the car with his hand fused to the door handle.
"I am not going back in there, you can forget it!" I said with a shaking voice. His brother stood behind him glaring between Alessandro and me.
"Brother, she is a slight thing ... take her out of the car!" He said impatiently.
"Luca, this is between Nicolette and me. Why don't you tend to our guests?" Alessandro snapped as he glared over at Federico and the terrified woman Luca had been so ready to kill just an hour ago.
"I have been more than patient with you Nicolette. Get out of the car, now." His voice was a cross between a growl and a whisper. I knew it was taking every ounce of control he had for him to keep his temper in check. Challenging Alessandro after my failed escape attempt, I was playing with fire, but I could not give in to him.
"No!"
"Damn it Nicolette!" He said catching my arm in a vise grip. Before I knew it I was out of the car standing in front of an infuriated Alessandro. I could not hold back the flood of tears streaming down my face. I was not sure if I was crying because of the crushing grip he had on my arm or from fear of the fury raging in his eyes. From a distance, I had seen the vampire in his brother when we were at the beach, but now, standing toe to toe with Alessandro, the demon churning in the jade pools made me tremble uncontrollably.
"Y-you're hurting me ..." I squeaked out as I tried to wrench myself free from his hold.
"No more defiance Nicolette! From this point on, you will do as you are told without question. Do you understand?" He demanded as his grip became a bit looser. I bowed my head in silence breathing a sigh of relief as my arm throbbed in his hand.
"Answer me Nicolette, do you understand?" He half yelled as his grip tightened again giving me a slight shake.
"Yes damn you! For God sake, let me go!" I screamed with a whimper. He released my arm, and as we stood there his hard stare at me became a tired frustrated gaze.
"I do not know why you insist on making this so hard Nicolette. I know you feel the energy between us." He said in one breath running a hand through his hair. I said nothing. Anything I could say obviously would not change my predicament at all so I opted to look up to beg the biggest moon I had ever seen for any assistance it could offer.
"Sarafina, take Nicolette up to our room to wait for me." He said with a slight wave of his hand in the direction of a girl no more than sixteen years old. Her face was sad, and she looked exhausted leaning against a stone pillar. But as Alessandro finished speaking, she moved with purpose coming to me grabbing hold of my hand. I tried to pull out of her grip, and when I did, her hand tightened on mine almost painfully.
"Prego Signora, do not fight him." She begged pulling me up the stone steps and past the threshold of my prison. Looking back over my shoulder, I found Alessandro staring at me with a fire in his eyes foreshadowing a really long night.
My trip through the house this time was different than when I ran through it the first time. The walls showcased art from what seemed to have been created by every artist who ever lived, Picasso, Davinci, Botticelli, and Waterhouse stuck out right away. Walking through the Rossi compound, felt more like touring the Louver.
I stopped as we came to a huge tapestry hanging on a wall by itself. An elaborate golden tree decorated its face. On closer inspection, instead of having leafy branches, names sewn in ruby red thread served as the tree's foliage. Across the top of the tapestry in elaborate calligraphy read the words 'Albero di famiglia di Rossi', Sarafina allowed me to linger as I marveled over the the beautiful wall-hanging.
"It is our family tree. We can trace our line all the way back to Adam and Eve, you see?" The small woman pointed towards the two mythical names at the top of the tree as she finished speaking. Feeling uncomfortable with her proximity to me I took several steps backwards until I ran into the wall. She looked discontented as I fidgeted in my nervousness.
"You have nothing to fear in me Nicolette. She said with a small shake of her head. Flaxen waves spilled over her bare freckled shoulders as a dangerous smile reached up to her sparkling obsidian eyes. "I am Donata Rossi, Alessandro and Luca's younger sister." She stuck her hand out for me to take, but retracted it slowly as I eyeballed her with suspicion.
"I-I was rather hoping we could be friends Nicolette, the house is primarily male, if you have not noticed, and my mother is madding more often than not ..." She said with a light chuckle. We stood there in silence for about a minute before I drummed up enough courage to refuse her olive branch.
"I won't be here long enough to make 'friends', Donata. And when I do get out of here, I wouldn't be around when the police show up if I were you because I am taking this whole house down!" I said through clenched teeth. I had forgotten Sarafina was beside me until her now sweaty hand slid into mine tugging me away from the tapestry and Donata. Her spectacular dark eyes had become glassy, like she was ready to cry as she looked on me.
"Nicolette, I know you are unhappy now, but please, give us a chance. Alessandro can be hard at times, but really, he does love you very much, as do we all." She plead. I did not have the energy to respond to her so I shook my head at her as I turned and let Sarafina tug me up the stairs to Alessandro's rooms.
