"So..." I sang awkwardly. "I had a great morning today. What about you guys?"

A pin drop silence.

"That busy?" I gasped, covering my mouth in shock. "My, my, you guys should think about taking a day off from whatever work you do. It would really help. Maybe go to spa and get a massage or something?"

"Grazie, Amy. We will surely take your suggestion into consideration." Adrian said flatly. "Who knows? Maybe you will serve us some drinks?"

I laughed nervously. "Serve? Me? Pfft! No. I don't do serving."

He hummed, tapping his chin. "I wonder why I saw you serving breakfast to padre."

"That was one time." I mumbled and averted my eyes from him.

While Adrian glared at me, Leonardo was staring out of the closed balcony, deep in his thoughts. He hadn't spoken a word to me since him and his brother barged into my bedroom only a few minutes after I came in and I am worried about it. I am not scared of his father, not anymore though, but he was intimidating and I didn't like it. Especially after what he said before I dashed out of his office.

"Leo?" I whispered softly and poked his arm. He hummed and faced me. I swear I felt something tugging in my chest when I saw disappointment in his eyes. He is disappointed at me.

"Si?"

And why am I so much bothered about it?

"Everything alright?"

"Si. It is. Just thinking about few things. That's all."

"Let me guess," Adrian spat. "Thinking about how I dragged you out of your early morning paperwork or how your genius mind made up some excuse to get Amy out of there?"

I shot him a glare. "You're not helping at all, Adrian. So shut up."

He scoffed. "Right. It's my fault. If I hadn't been there, who knows what padre would have done or worse, what he would have asked to you."

"Are you blaming me?" I asked in disbelief. "Let me tell you something. Nobody is at fault here. I was free, the usual women who serve him were sick so I took their place, correction, I had no choice but to take their place. You think I wanted to go near your dear old daddy and give him his goddamn tea? Of course not! I prefer getting shot than serving him."

Adrian picked up the bowl of chocolate syrup from the table and a spoon then dipped it in. He took a spoonful of the syrup and shot me a look. "So proud to hear that you think our father is an a-hole because we think so too." He drank the syrup and moaned. "Yum... Hershey's."

I gave him a stink eye. "Then why the hell were you saying things like that?"

"Had to play the role of a strict elder fratello because he," He pointed the spoon in the direction of his brother who was again staring at the balcony, "is not gonna do anything."

"Oh." I mumbled. "Very well then, carry on with your syrup."

"What did padre mean when he said it was good to hear from you again?" The Agostini son asked after a momentary silence. "Have you met him before? Had a conversation with him?"

"I... I don't know..." I mumbled sadly. "The only thing I know about your father is that he is the one who brought me to this mansion and he also happens to be a very bad news."

"Then maybe you met him before everything that had happened?" Adrian suggested.

"I don't think so." I answered honestly. "I mean, a man like that, with all the power and authority, I would have remembered him, but I don't even know how he looks like and to say that I have met him before? It doesn't sound right, Adrian. Besides, you are forgetting the part where I actually woke up here and not walk into this place on my free will."

"What if..." My attention went to his brother, "What if you met him before you woke up here and actually had a word or two with him?"

A short laugh escaped from me. "Are you serious? So you think that your father and I met in a coffee shop and struck a conversation with each other? Or he visited my old school only to see how my studies are going on?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Not that before. I was talking about the time you were taken away which was before you woke up here. As much as I know about this process of bringing people, they are very shady and not many know about when and where they do their businesses. Padre is one of those rare, important men who actually knows when and where this happens. So you must have met him there and talked to him."

The brothers kept eyeing me suspiciously and I felt uncomfortable under their gaze.

"I-I am not sure. That was years ago. All I remember is struggling and passing out. I don't remember saying anything to your father." I defended myself.

"But you did." Adrian said, licking his spoon, "Because whatever you said to him must have caught his attention and tada! Here you are, years later, having a nice chitchat with his sons."

My brows burrowed as I tried to remember something, anything which could make some sense to things happening here with me because it doesn't fit in if I had never seen their father's face.

"Do tell me, my second favourite pair of brothers, how does your father looks like?" I asked with a huge, fake smile plastered on my face.

"Second?" Adrian gasped dramatically. "Who are the first?"

"My neighbours." I said in a duh tone. "Scratch that, ex-neighbours. The Robinson twins and I know you guys already knew that so don't act dumb with me."

"Right." Adrian coughed awkwardly. "Sorry about that again."

"And? How does the big, bad capo looks like?" I asked, raising a perfect eyebrow. "Grey haired? Old? Pot bellied with a dirty beard, yellow teeth and stinking breath?"

Adrian's lips curved upwards in amusement. "He's sitting right beside you."

"Hey! Just because I am your younger brother that does not mean you will insult me!" Leonardo snapped.

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Idiota, what I meant to say is you are a carbon copy of padre as well as nonno. Even if I wanted to insult you, I'd do it without thinking about our so-called brotherhood and you being my brother."

"Carbon copy, you say?" I faced a scowling capo and took in his features. Hmm... He is not that bad looking. Thin lips, neatly trimmed beard, perfect jawline and cheekbones, thick eyebrows, Roman nose, small eyelashes and hazel brown eyes which I always find so familiar since day one.

"So basically I am looking at your father?"

"Si." Adrian answered, "Just add a bit of a grey hair here and there, wrinkles in the corner of his eyes and wipe off the beard from his cheek. Padre usually keeps it short below his nose and chin area."

"I have no idea whether I should be feeling insulted for being compared to padre or flattered for having such strong genes running in my famiglia." Leonardo muttered under his breath and scoffed.

Where did I see those eyes?

"Oh come on, fratello, I have seen nonno's pictures. You happen to be a younger, better and stronger version of your previous carbon copies." Adrian groaned and kept the empty syrup bowl on the table.

"Have you ever seen me before?" I asked capo, ignoring Adrian's previous statements.

He frowned. "Before you landed on my back and made me bleed?"

I gave him a tight lipped smile. "Yes. Before that."

"Then no. I have not."

"Neither did I." Adrian added, "The mansion is a big place. People can live here without being noticed by anybody you've seen before for weeks, months or maybe years, if that's your case. The rules which you ladies follow are the living proof of that. I had never seen you before you decided to roam in the kitchen and make some weird soupy substance for your sick roommate in the middle of the night."

Nothing makes sense here. I am absolutely sure that I have seen those eyes before and if those aren't capo's then they must belong to his father, but the question is... where and when?

I gripped my hair in frustration. "This is so damn confusing! For all we know, your dear old daddy knows things about me and I am his centre of attention now. He sounded a bit surprised when he found out that I am an American. Or was an American after my demise to my loved ones and doesn't understand Italian so very well."

"It is surprising though." The Agostini son said and his brother nodded in agreement. "You see any other American here? No. All of us are Europeans, mostly Italians while some are from other European countries. That does give you the impression of being out of place. Padre brought you here from America then you surely must have done something to grab his attention back there."

"When? How? Where? What did I do?" I am getting irritated by so many questions lingering in my mind. "I was drugged, I presume. I was passed out. I was snatched away from my family and friends and that ruined everything I had planned for myself. What more could I possibly ask for?"

I was answered with silence again.

I scoffed. "Expected that. Even you guys don't know."

Leonardo sighed loudly. "We want to help, Amelia. We really do. But getting angry and stressed out will not do us any good."

"Said the man who shot me because he was stressed." I gritted, "Do tell me, signore, does your father know about your little trick you pulled with me and your brother?"

His face darkened and a deep growl emitted from his throat. "No."

"No?" I gasped in surprise, feeling my anger slowly subsiding.

"No."

"Does he know about my multiple attempts to escape out of this place? You know, the way I landed on you and rest of the stuff?"

"No."

My jaw went south. "Are you serious? He doesn't know anything?"

"He doesn't know anything." Adrian confirmed. "We didn't want to give him the impression that..." The brothers exchanged a knowing look with each other, "... never mind. We kept it low key because if padre had found out about all of this, you would be having another gravestone in your name."

"Does he even know you had shot me?" I whispered to the man sitting beside me.

He avoided my eyes. "Si. He knows that."

"And? What did he say?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Just respect the women working here, but he doesn't know that it's you."

It took me some time to register his words. And when it finally did, it took me some time to react to the nonsense of their father.

"Adrian?"

"Si?"

"You were wrong. I don't think your father is an a-hole."

"You don't?" He gasped.

I shook my head. "I think your father happens to be the father of all the a-holes."

"Ooooh, that's even bet—hey! No! He happens to be our father!"

I laughed. "Exactly. You seriously think that he doesn't know anything?"

"Si. We are sure of it, Amelia." Leonardo confirmed. "What is done is now done. It is very clear that you are under our padre's radar so it is for the best if you stay away from him as far as possible."

"Agreed." Adrian nodded. "Try to avoid the top floor as much as possible, even when you work. You have seen what Leo can do when you mess with him, but you haven't seen what our padre can do and believe me, you definitely don't want to mess with him."

I released a shaky breath and looked at Leonardo who was already staring at me, worry evident on his face.

"I'll... I'll give you guys some alone time." A few seconds later, I heard my bedroom door close.

Everything here is messed up. First was Louisa, her lies and her anatomy service to one of the brothers, those fake rules of lies and the bad Agostini boss knowing my name as if we were old friends who met after years which is not a good thing and it actually puts me in grave danger.

"Now what?" I murmured.

"I... I..." For the first time, I saw Leonardo Agostini just as clueless as I am.

I chuckled humorlessly. "I can't exactly avoid that old man, can I? He'll send one word that he wants to see me in his office and that's it."

"We will think of something. We have to think of something." It sounded like he was reassuring himself than to me.

My nose scrunched up. "What's the worse he can do? Kill me? I am not afraid of that. I have nothing to lose—mmmhh!" I moaned when I felt his lips pressed against mine.

The kiss was slow, sweet and he was putting everything in it. I couldn't help but respond him with equal fervour by wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me.

"Or maybe I do." I panted as we pressed our foreheads together.

"I will not let him get near you."

My stupid heart was pounding and screaming at me to believe him, to trust him, but I was still scared that one day all of this will be over like a dream and he will revert back to the monster he once was months ago.

Even though I knew he meant those words.

"I-I know." I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the natural warmth of his hands on my face.

He kissed me again. "I won't let him hurt you."

My eyes stung with unshed tears and my lips quivered. Oh dear, I was getting emotional with his sincere words. "I know."

He kissed me again. "Let me take you out this weekend."

That, ladies and gentlemen, did ruin the mood we had created in my bedroom.

My eyes shot open and sent him a glare as I pulled away from him. "Are you insane? Gone mad or something?"

"What? Did I say something wrong about my intentions?" He asked, confused about my sudden change in behaviour.

"Again with this!" I got up from my bed and started pacing around.

"My plan to show you the city of Trento?"

"Yes! That!" I snapped. "We have talked about this before then why are you bringing it up again?"

He frowned. "I do not understand. Is your mind still stuck with the same decision?"

I gaped at him. "Still stuck? What do you mean by still stuck? I had made up my mind days ago and I had told you too. I am not going anywhere and you know why!"

"Kindly do refresh my memory, signorina." He said nonchalantly.

"I don't want attention." I revealed, "Going out of this place will raise many suspicions and I don't want that. I am fine where I am. I googled the city and it looks very amazing, but I don't want to see it."

Silence filled in my room again and it was eating me out.

"I meant it, you know?" I whispered softly, "That night... in Adrian's bedroom. I don't want the past to hold anything back. I want to forget it. Whatever this is," I motioned my hand between us, "it's good and I don't want to ruin it by forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone."

His eyes diluted in confusion. "So you find this mansion as your comfort zone?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled sharply. "You didn't understand a word, did you?"

"No." He deadpanned which made me laugh. Why was I expecting that? "I want to take you out, show you the beautiful city without having the intention of leaving you there and you are saying no. I do not like this."

I gasped loudly. "You were planning to leave me there?"

"No. I was not, though it did cross my mind." He got up and stood right in front of me, invading my personal space like always. "I do not plan on leaving you anywhere, Amelia. I did promise you your safety and I intend on keeping that promise whether you still trust me or not."

Holy shit. This actually feels like he is declaring something important like a constitution.

His eyes bored deep into mine, his jaw clenched as he held my face gently. "You said that you don't want to gather attention then you will not because I will take care of that. As far as I remember about your previous statement all those days ago, you said that you don't want to fall under my padre's radar. Guess what? You are now and there is nothing to be done about it now. You said that you do not wish to see the city you are trapped in for years so I am giving you a chance to be free, travel and spend time with me without any boundaries or limits stopping us. Now my question is, can I have the honour of showing you my country?"

That has to be the hottest yet heart touching speech I have ever heard.

"Yes... Yes, you can."

Then he kissed me hard.

"Fuck the boundaries. You are mine!" I did wanted to correct him and say that I actually don't belong to anybody, but that thought flew straight out of my balcony when he pushed his tongue in and my mind switched off.

Oh sweet mother of Jesus, I think I'm gonna pass out due to lack of oxygen!

I had to hit his chest softly as an effort to tell him to stop and let me breathe.

"I... I-I have a question..." My lips felt numb and my selfish self wanted more. "How... How long is this trip?"

"One day and one night."

One night?! One night with him!

Then he kissed me senseless again and again and again till we were sated and eventually came to realisation that his brother was still standing outside my bedroom like a guard dog.

"Wait, wait." I stopped him from opening my bedroom door.

"You want another round?" He asked amusedly.

My face became redder than it already was. "No. Not that. I was hoping you could do another thing."

"What?"

"Can you fly back to my neighbourhood?" I asked desperately.

His lips pursued. "Why?"

"I left my duffel bag back at the cemetery."

Author's note:

If confused what and exactly when Amelia said something to their father... visit third chapter :-)

It's not much of a spoiler.

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