by KENYAN, M. O
Rayne tucked the precious paper in her pocket, excitedly, and followed the winding stairs to the top floor. All the doors to what she assumed were to their bedroom suites were shut. She walked to the end of the hall and found the nursery. She was stunned. The room alone was as big as the lower level of her old house. It was decorated with bold colors and only had small touches of pink. The play area was a space of its own, and then there was the miniature library filled with books, a bathroom, and then finally, a bedroom.
Sure, there were aspects that mirrored what a little girl might like, but other than that everything just resembled things a grown up would have. Even her room back home wasn't this serious. She wondered where the child was and why Mrs. Burke would allow for her daughter's room to be so impersonal.
***
"What was her name again?" Rayne slapped her palm on her forehead. She hadn't asked what the little girl was called. Morrison only called her, "Little Miss." She definitely wasn't going to. With nowhere else to turn, she decided to use one of the terms of endearment her mother used with her. "Sweetheart, would you like to come out here and meet me?"
Rayne waited for a few minutes and almost gave up. But when she turned toward the closet she caught sight of a little leg peeking out. Feigning ignorance she walked around the room. "I heard the little girl who lives here is really beautiful, but if she doesn't want me to see her she must look like Cinderella's step sisters."
"No I don't." The little girl revealed herself, her nose scrunched up in annoyance.
Rayne knelt on the floor so that she was at the child's level. She didn't bother to close the gap between them. She needed the little girl to come to her, that way she could establish trust on her grounds.
"No you don't." Rayne looked her over and tried to pick a princess that she resembled. Her jet-black hair, her big black eyes, her rose bud lips, and her porcelain skin made it obvious. "You are beautiful just like Snow White. I think I'm going to call you Snow, since I don't know your name."
"Alessandria." She giggled, standing inches away from Rayne.
Her laughter was beautiful, like a sweet melody. Rayne wondered why her joy had been confined in this depressing room and wasn't out in the sunshine running around. She was told that the child was a toddler, so she immediately assumed two years old. But Alessandria looked a bit too tall, and seemed too smart to be two.
"My name is Rayne." She couldn't help but feel sorry for the little girl. "How old are you, sweetheart?"
"I’m going to be four in a week." She jumped up and down clapping her hands.
"Oh my goodness, you are such a big girl." Rayne gathered the squeaking girl in her arms, stood up and spun her around. "Do you want a treat?"
The little girl nodded with much enthusiasm. Rayne settled her down on her feet and held her hand, but as she tried to walk out of the room with her, Alessandria refused. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not allowed out of the room," she whispered. "Only grandma takes me out."
Rayne's heart shattered. She looked up at the ceiling and blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. She felt sorry for the little girl, but enraged at how they kept her captive. "Alcatraz," she mumbled. "You are with me now. I've got you." Rayne lifted the little girl in her arms and walked out of the room with her.
But out of the comfort of her room the little girl withdrew, like a tortoise into her shell. Alessandria hid her face against Rayne's neck and held onto her tight as if she was afraid. Rayne hated seeing her like this, especially after basking in the little sunshine that she was.
"Melody, look who I kidnapped?" Rayne announced once they were in the kitchen. She noticed the shocked looks on their faces and could swear she heard someone gasp. "I found this beautiful little princess and I just had to show her to you." She winked at Melody urging her to play along.
"I wonder who she is. Isn't she pretty?" Melody moved closer to Rayne and tried to get a look at Alessandria's hidden face.
“It's Snow White.” Rayne tickled the little girl's sides. When she heard Alessandria laugh her heart soared.
"No, it's me, Alessandria." She giggled.
"Is it?" Rayne faked a gasp.
"It is her," Melody cheered on.
Alessandria stopped hiding her face and looked more comfortable on Rayne's hip and looked around. Rayne could still feel how reserved she was. She was sure the little girl hadn't met a majority of the people in that room, but since she was comfortable with Melody she assumed that they had met, over meals anyway. Rayne settled Alessandria on the counter and handed her a bowl of fruit and chocolate. She stepped closer to Melody and whispered to her. "Doesn't she go out and play?"
"No."
There was no elaboration to that answer. Rayne examined Alessandria and she was sure the stockings, and mint condition dress were something a little girl was uncomfortable playing in. Even her hair was tied tightly at the back of her head with a clip. Every strand of her hair begged to be released from its confines. Rayne moved to the little girl and set her hair free, but Alessandria didn't look like she knew what to do with it.
Rayne cursed herself. She knew it would take her most of the day trying to tame her mane of wicked curls, but she had to do something to let this little girl know it was okay to be free. Rayne pulled her own hair out of its confinement and shook it loose, urging Alessandria to do the same. Alessandria shook her head the same way Rayne did, her thick hair falling over each side of her head, hiding her face. Rayne parted the curtain and the little girl giggled.
"I have never heard a laugh so beautiful in my entire life." Rayne saw the shock on the girl's face and it broke her heart. No one ever seemed to have given her a morsel of a compliment, but now that she was there she was determined to do so every single second of the day.
When they were back in Alessandria's room, Rayne went through the little girl's schedule and what she was expected to do. Everything was planned down to the last second. Nothing on the list gave Alessandria any time to play outside or get a moment to be a little girl.
"I'll be right back sweetheart."
"Are you bringing lunch?"
She eats in her room too? "I'm taking you out for lunch. Would you like to have a picnic?"
"Yes!" she screamed.
"I'll be back to get you in a minute." Rayne half ran, half walked down the stairs and into the great room, but no one was there. She asked one of the maids of her mistress's whereabouts and was directed to the garden. Mrs. Burke had a chance to get out in the sunshine, why couldn't little Alessandria?
Rayne walked out into the garden. The lady was on her knees tending to her roses.
"Excuse me, could I have a word with you?"
"Sure, Miss Mathews." Sofia turned to her with a smile.
"I was wondering if... since I am now in charge of Alessandria, if I could make her schedule," Rayne stammered.
"If you must." She smiled and turned back to her roses.
"I was also wondering if you would like to join Alessandria and me." Rayne was gaining some courage. "We are having a picnic in the garden later on."
"I would love to." Sofia smiled back.
Rayne was immediately confused. If Sofia was so eager to spend time with her daughter why did she lock her away in her room? She forced a smile, trying to hide her confusion and headed for the kitchen. Rayne asked Melody to get some food out, but she wanted Alessandria to be part of the process.
She met Alessandria in her room excited, but seated at her little dining table. "Where is the picnic?"
"The picnic is outside." Rayne took another look at the child's attire and frowned at how proper and inappropriate it was. She rummaged through her closet and found a t-shirt and shorts that still had their tags on. "You are going to wear this."
CHAPTER THREE
Rayne let the little girl run to the kitchen barefooted, her hair flying behind her. She was delighted about her new found freedom. Rayne was amazed at how unwound she had become in the few hours she had spent with the little
girl. Alessandria was a free spirit waiting to be unleashed on the world. Rayne let Alessandria make the sandwiches and pack the picnic basket. She watched how the child giggled when her little feet came into contact with the carpet grass, her little arms loaded with a blanket.
Rayne looked around, hoping that Sofia wouldn't stand them up, but when she saw Morrison exit the house with a chair and a small table she knew that the queen would be in attendance. Sofia was overdressed for a dinner at the white house, let alone a picnic in her own backyard.
"I'm glad you could come Mrs. Burke." Rayne helped Alessandria with her sandwich.
"Me too, Grandma," Alessandria mumbled.
Grandma? Where the hell was the girl's mother or father?
"She's so beautiful." Rayne watched Alessandria run about chasing butterflies after they finished eating.
"I don't think I've ever seen her this happy." Rayne saw the glint of a tear in Sofia's eyes. She obviously had affection for her granddaughter.
"Do you mind me asking where her mother is?"
"She died giving birth to Alessandria," she said. "She's so much like her mother, Maria, free spirited and that smile—"
"What's going on here?" The bark startled Rayne so much that she almost dropped her drink.
Rayne turned around to see her assailant from that morning. He still had his suit on. Even in this heat his tie was strangled at his neck. He stared at them, then at the little girl with a look that Rayne couldn't understand. Rayne turned her attention to Alessandria and noticed that the little girl was frozen in place, her hands stiff at her sides, and her face frowning as if she was about to cry. When she saw the resemblance the little girl had to the ogre scaring her, she gasped in shock.
"We are having a picnic. Do you want to join us?" Rayne called out as she gathered the frozen little girl in her arms. There seemed to be no way to thaw her out with her eyes glued to the object of her fear.
"She's not supposed to be outside," the man barked out.
"She's almost four years old and a child, where exactly is she supposed to be, if not outside playing?" Rayne saw the twitch in his jaw and heard Mrs. Burke gasp in shock. Clearly the tyrant was given free reign in the house to terrorize whoever he wanted, but he had picked the wrong target this time.
Rayne pulled her attention away from the man in the Armani suit, to the little girl when she felt her tremble in her arms. Something warm seeped into her clothes and wet her belly. Damn it! Rayne looked at her shirt and sure enough it was soaked in pee. One look into Alessandria's eyes and she could see how terrified she was of the unnamed monster. She held Alessandria tight against her body while trying to hide her secret. She breezed past the man and headed straight for the polished mahogany stairs.
In her room Alessandria cried as Rayne readied her bath. She wasn't sure how she would explain the stain on her own clothes, but her main priority was to comfort the little girl. After a quick bath and a change of clothes, Rayne watched and listened as Alessandria cried herself to sleep.
Rayne quietly left the room and sought out her target. She saw Armani suit walk down the hall and she ran after him. Rayne walked in his office the second he was settling behind his desk. "Who do you think you are?"
"I'm the man who signs your check." The twitch was back in his jaw.
"You are...you are Alessandria's father?" She couldn't believe it. He could beat her half to death with a flaming stick and she still wouldn't believe it. Where was the love that she and her father shared? She stared at the large man who was now standing, his fists on his desk, burning with rage and nothing about him said father. Any desires that she felt for him, flew out the window and were replaced by disgust and loathing.
"What if I am?" he growled. His perfectly gelled back hair had fallen over his forehead, but those strands of jet black hair did not hide the seams of annoyance marring his perfectly bronzed face.
"What if I am?"
No—yes, she's my little girl or Alessandria is my daughter. "What if I am?" Rayne thought that he sounded more insulted than proud of having Alessandria as a daughter.
"Listen to me—you don't scare me. Not one bit. I know how to deal with bullies like you and I can't believe God let the likes of you procreate," she snarled, her chest heaving as she struggled to ease her rage so as to catch her breath.
"You are fired, Miss...?"
"Good luck trying to get me out of here. As I see it there are only two people who love that little girl, me and your mother." She paced about the room, stopping every few minutes to point an accusing finger in his direction. "I'm not about to leave her here at the mercy of the likes of you."
"You listen here, Miss—" He paused and inhaled. He walked round the room then sniffed at her. "The least you could do is take a bath."
"I did, but this"—she pointed at her shirt—"is what happened the second your daughter saw you. She is so terrified of you, that she froze and wet herself. In fact—" Rayne pulled the t-shirt over her head and tossed it at him; thanking God she had a tank top on. "You can keep it. Think of it as your father of the year award."
As she marched out of his office she expected to find the small army he had at his disposal at her apartment waiting to usher her out, but she was relieved to find they weren't there. She took a quick shower and headed back to Alessandria's room. The little girl was still asleep, but was whimpering. Even in her sleep she was sad. Rayne lay next to her, pulling her in her arms and before long she also drifted to sleep.
***
How could she speak to me in that manner? Antonio was having another one of his silent conversations. He had left work early so that he could go home and pick up some papers in his personal safe and a travel bag. He was leaving for Beijing in two hours. He didn't think he was coming home for a scolding. He looked at the stained t-shirt on his desk and his heart broke. He didn't mean to scare Alessandria, but it was hard for him to love her knowing that she was the reason he lost Maria.
From the second she was born Antonio had found it hard to hold her, to love her. Especially since everything about Alessandria physically reminded him of himself. There was no spot of Maria on her face and it broke his heart. But that governess—she seemed to have a fire within her that he had never seen before. In the morning when she verbally attacked him, he found her amusing and desire burned inside him. He wanted to reach out, grab her, crush her tiny body against his own, and kiss her plump lips. She was beautiful, her curvy body, wild hair, and fiery eyes called to him, even now after she had ripped him a new one. Antonio's body clenched like a fist. His eyes had been glued on the movement of her tight body as she stripped before him. Her jeans hugged her thighs and ass in a way that was heart breaking. Her plump breasts teased him, but it was that defiant spirit inside her that he longed to tame.
Antonio had every intention of finding out who she was and maybe try and get her to be something more than just the governess. He headed for his daughter's room and expected to find them in the middle of a lesson, but when he walked into the bedroom adjacent to the library, he found them both curled up on the bed. He moved closer, the sweet innocence of the picture pulled at him. Alessandria was snuggled in a peaceful slumber in Rayne's protective embrace. If only he could find that kind of love for his daughter. This was how he had imagined Maria and Alessandria countless of times, but he knew it would never come to pass. Seeing this new girl with Alessandria warmed his heart, and puzzled his logical mind.
When he walked out of the room he came face to face with Kane. Antonio shivered and for a second he knew that was how his daughter felt toward him. Fear. He knew the angst would soon turn into something that resembled hate. Would he give his daughter a briefcase for her fifth birthday? Or should he wait four more years to uphold the tradition?
“I thought you were off to Beijing?” Kane glared at him.
“I thought I would let someone else go and spend some time with Alessandria.” He couldn't believe that he had said that, and he could see his father didn't ei
ther.
"No, you are going to Beijing. You better get your things ready," Kane ordered, then walked away.
Anger stirred inside Antonio, and with it hate. He had worked so hard, he couldn't let his father take everything away from him now.
***
Antonio stared at her like he had never laid eyes on her before, but of course he knew who she was. Her lips had haunted his dreams for the last week and he didn't like it. The more he thought of her the less he thought of Maria. "What do you want?"
He saw the look of shock on her face before determination replaced it. His plan of being hostile wasn't working, on his part anyway. His body seemed to be getting hard and going against his mind. "What's your name anyway?"
"Rayne Matthews," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Rayne."
"Miss Mathews," she corrected.
Antonio chuckled then started off toward his bedroom. "Miss Mathews what can I do for you at this ungodly hour."
"I wanted to speak to you about Alessandria's birthday."
Antonio stared at her in shock as she walked past him at the door and into the room. He couldn't overcome the feeling of how right she looked in his living room. He couldn't explain where his feelings for her were coming from, but he thought it could be because he hadn't been with another woman since his Maria.
"Of course, come in," he mumbled and began to shed his suit.
"I was thinking that maybe we could do something special for her." She went on.
Antonio stopped listening when she mentioned birthday. Sure it was Alessandria's birthday, but it was also the day Maria died. There was nothing to celebrate. He usually spent that day locked in his room drinking himself into a stupor, clutching Maria's photo to his chest while he wept. Antonio mourned in private, afraid that if his father saw him break down he would call him weak.
He took his shirt off and had the pleasure of seeing her fall silent. Her eyes scanned over his body. Antonio knew he had a good physique; he spent hours in the gym trying to release his pent up aggression and stress. His ripped body was the result of that work out. Antonio watched her chest heave and her eyes darken with desire. When her tongue licked her plump lip that was it. He took two long strides and his body was up against hers. He waited for that anger he had seen days before to push him away, but she leaned in closer.