by A. J. Snyder
I carefully lift the lid and smile when I see the contents. Inside is a digital watch with a rose gold wristband. Since there are no clocks in my room, I've been going insane from never knowing what time it is.
"It's perfect," I tell Lucien with a big smile.
"I'm glad you like," he says. And then he flashes that drop-dead gorgeous smile of his that seems to always make my heart go pitter-patter.
I take the watch out of the box, setting the contents down and wrapping the band around my wrist. Struggling with the clasp on the band, I gasp when Lucien gently takes my wrist in his hands and does the clasp for me.
His fingers are long and adept, and I close my eyes, remembering the feel of his hands on me. He's only a few inches away from me now, and I wonder if he can hear my heart beating out of my chest.
"I have one rule about this, Adeline." When I meet his gaze, he says, "Never take this off. It's waterproof, so you don't have to worry about even taking it off when you shower."
I nod in agreement to his demand, and I can't help but wonder if there's something sinister about this watch like it has a tracker to monitor my movements or something. But then I decide I don't care. It's not like he doesn't know where I am twenty-four-seven already. I'm sure there are cameras everywhere throughout and outside of the mansion at his control. And it's not like I can just up and leave an island anyway without his knowledge.
"You won't need to charge it. I installed some new thermoelectric technology I've been working on. The watch will stay charged running solely on your body heat."
It takes a moment for his words to register. "You…you made this?"
He nods. "I bought some of the pieces that I couldn't make on my own. Mostly, I did all the internal work, writing the software for the hardware and installing the thermoelectric modules."
"Wow, Lucien," I say while peering down at the watch that seems so much more than just a watch to me now. I've known from the start that Lucien was intelligent, but I didn't know he was a borderline genius. My eyes flash to his as I tell him, "That's incredible."
Lucien gives a small shrug as if it's nothing, and I have a feeling he's not used to getting compliments.
"What's the other present?" I ask, remembering that he told me he had two gifts for me.
He turns and walks over to the keypad by the door. I frown when I think he's about to leave without telling me, but then watch in confusion when he begins to type a long code into the keypad. I hear three beeps before a click on the door latch, and the keypad goes dark.
"I'm allowing you to leave your room whenever you'd like. You may come and go as you please."
My mouth falls open at his words.
"But make no mistake, you're not allowed to leave this house. I have guards present outside at all times, and they are aware of your…boundaries," he says carefully.
I can't help but be a little displeased by his demand. I would love to feel the sun on my face and the breeze in my hair. It's almost springtime, and I always loved to watch butterflies and plant flowers when I lived with my father. "Will I ever be allowed outside?" I boldly ask.
"Yes, when a certain level of trust is earned," he answers honestly.
I can't help but be excited about the prospect of being able to go outside. "Thank you," I tell him. "For everything."
He gives me a small smile. "You're welcome, Adeline."
My name rolling off of his tongue sends a shiver up my spine, and I involuntarily take a few steps towards him. When I realize what I'm doing, I stop short and shift my gaze to meet his dark eyes. What was I about to do? Touch him? Kiss him?
Oh, god, I'm losing it, I tell myself.
Lucien stares at me for a beat before he says, "See you at dinner."
The door closes behind him, and it seems odd not hearing the beeping noise and the lock engaging. This newfound sense of freedom has me almost giddy even though I know it's wrong to feel that way.
I shouldn't be happy about being allowed to leave a room I've been locked up for only god knows how long.
But I am.
I am happy.
It's so hard to differentiate between right and wrong anymore that I try not to dwell on it. Normal rules don't apply here, and I'm not the person I used to be.
And as long as I'm here, I might as well get used to the new way…even if I'm afraid of losing myself in return.
CHAPTER 30
LUCIEN
THE WATCH I made for Adeline catches my eye over dinner, and I can't help but notice how much more she's smiling and talking. In fact, I can't remember the last time she talked so much during dinner.
While Adeline talks about New York City as if it's some truly magical place, Jax is practically beaming, looking completely enamored.
And I know exactly how he feels.
I know if I was capable of loving anyone, I could possibly love Adeline. She would be so easy to fall for.
Her fingers skim over the bracelet of the watch, and she looks up at me with a huge smile on her face. "Lucien gave me this today," she tells Jax, and she actually sounds…proud. Of the watch or of me or maybe both. I'm not sure.
But I can hear that forgotten muscle deep inside my chest beat once again under all the thick layers of tar and muck that have kept it hidden for so long.
Jax sends me an enigmatic look before he tells Adeline, "That was very thoughtful of him."
I'm sure he knows of my true intentions since he saw me installing some of the hardware in the watch the other day.
I built the watch almost entirely from scratch. It does a lot of the same tasks a fitness tracker does, except it's more advanced for my purposes. It contains a GPS tracker, and it's synced with my phone and computers so I know where she'll be at all times of the day.
The GPS will help us build a level of trust. It will alert me if her heartbeat reaches a certain level or if she strays too far away from the mansion. If she's trying to run, I will know almost instantly and be able to stop her.
I hope it never comes to that, but it's nice to know she'll never be able to leave me. If my security system and guards don't catch her, I can rely on the bracelet to do its job. The three-tier system should be foolproof.
* * * * * * *
AFTER DINNER, I retreat to the library with a glass of scotch. Adeline went up to her room to change into something, as she put it, more comfortable, but I expect her to be down shortly.
It feels weird to know she's roaming the halls of my mansion without a guard or me, and I can't help but check my phone for the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes to track her movements.
"She's in her room, right where she said she'd be," I mutter to myself.
I force myself to tuck my phone back into my pants pocket, and I take a sip of the dark liquid, relishing in the burn running down my throat.
I've never been much of a drinker, but I enjoy a good scotch now and then. I like to remain clearheaded and stay away from any substance that might be considered addictive. I know that all stems from my childhood and growing up with a drug-addicted whore of a mother who slept with anyone who supplied her with booze and pills. However, she had been devoid of reality for a long time, maybe even before I was born.
I was an unfortunate mistake.
My mother told me so. Many times.
I went through withdrawal from heroin soon after I was born. I spent an entire month in the NICU while I suffered from neonatal abstinence syndrome, or at least that's what my medical records tell me.
Memories from my childhood blur together. There are no happy memories, just nightmares that keep me up at night.
When I was finally rescued at the age of twelve by my rich uncle, many told him I was too far gone to be saved and that he should throw me into a mental institution.
I can't say I really blame them for their opinion of me, though. I mean, I barely spoke a word, couldn't make eye contact and had already developed a lot of nervous tics and social anxieties.
I was also extremely s
ocially inept. Always assuming the worst in people. Always assuming they were going to hurt me even when they claimed to love me.
My mother had made sure to instill my fear of love right from birth. She had claimed to have loved me with all of her heart, but all she ever gave me was pain and misery.
I associated love with pain.
I still do.
My uncle must have had a heart of gold, though, because he never gave up on me. He spent money on the best doctors, the best therapists, eventually getting me to function like a normal human being at a rate so fast that it shocked all of my doctors.
I eventually grew into a mostly normal adult, and I learned to adapt to my surroundings quickly.
However, my peculiar mannerisms that I had developed over the years stuck with me, making me unable to pursue any sort of normal relationship with anyone really. My affinity to cleanliness came from living in scum my entire childhood. It soon grew to an obsession. And along with it, the need to feel clean and for everything around me to be sanitary.
I was only sixteen when my uncle noticed that I couldn't eat off the fine china that had already been used at a prior meal. I couldn't drink from the same glass that someone else's lips had touched even if it had been washed a million times in scalding hot water.
I needed everything to be brand new and unused. Every. Single. Time.
I also required control over every single aspect of my life. Having had no control for so long throughout my childhood, I demanded it when I got older. I need order and precision to survive.
Taking a final swig of my scotch, I set the glass down on a coaster resting on a side table. Feeling flushed from the alcohol and overwhelmed from the barrage of painful memories, I take off my suit jacket and neatly drape it over the back of a broad backed leather armchair. My fingers hook into the tie around my neck, loosening it, before unbuttoning the top two buttons.
Breathing deeply, I instantly feel better and not as if I'm suffocating.
The door to the library opens, and my gaze flashes to the doorway to see the most beautiful creature who ever graced my presence.
Adeline's dark locks cascade in soft waves around her. She's wearing short pajama shorts that showcase her long legs and curves and a tight tank that leaves no room for the imagination. She's not wearing a bra, and I can see her nipples poking through the material.
My cock jumps at the sight, straining against my zipper, and I hold back a groan as she walks towards me.
"I thought you might be in here," she says with a coy smile.
I try to read between the lines of her statement. She knew I'd be here, and she dressed…like that? I narrow my eyes as I try to figure out what kind of dangerous game she's trying to play.
"Jax told me that you don't even own a DVD player," she tells me.
I frown at her words, because I don't remember the two of them discussing that over dinner. She must have talked to him afterwards…or maybe before. How often do they talk? What do they talk about?
My mind swirls with jealously, and I hate the fucking feeling. I clench my jaw, seething internally with anger.
She must notice the change in my demeanor, because she takes a step back and watches me with a guarded look on her face. "You said that we could watch the Lord of the Rings movies together sometime, so I asked Jax if you had them."
Some of my raging jealousy simmers when I realize she was thinking about me when she talked to Jax.
Adeline regards me with unease, and I hate it. I don't want her to fear me or hate me. I want her to like me and to trust me, and I've never wanted something more in my entire fucking life.
I close the distance between us in a few, long strides. I tower over her petite frame as she looks up at me with those emerald eyes I can't seem to stop thinking about.
"I'll order a DVD player and the movies," I tell her. "If you make me a list, I'll get whatever movies you want."
She gives me a heart-stopping smile, and I can feel the breath leaving my lungs. Without thinking, I reach up and wrap a lock of her hair loosely around my finger. Her hair is soft, and I can smell the apple scent from the shampoo I bought for her.
"Lucien." My name is a soft plea on her lips.
When her pink tongue darts out of her mouth to lick her full lips, I'm a fucking goner. I curse at the scotch in my system right now giving me liquid courage and not a clear head. But maybe this is just what I need…what I want.
I release the strand and cup her cheek against my palm. Gently, I trace her bottom lip with the pad of my thumb. And suddenly, I feel the urge to do something I've never done before. My eyes lock onto her lips, and I lick my own. I want to kiss her. I want to taste her.
I want to fucking devour her.
She would be my first.
My first kiss…ever.
I suck in a shuddering breath, my entire body shaking with need. "Adeline." I say her name, and it comes out almost like a moan. I don't ask if I can kiss her. I just take what I want. And I fucking want her more than anything in the world at this moment.
Leaning down, I brush my lips over hers in a teasing barely-there kiss. Softly at first, savoring the feeling of her mouth against mine for the first time.
My fingertips slowly trace the soft line of her jaw to the back of her neck. Then, I tangle my fingers into her hair and pull her closer, holding her in place as I deepen the kiss.
Adeline whimpers and opens willingly to me, welcoming me in as she parts her lips. My tongue slowly dips in, thrusting and intermingling with her own. She tastes like mint from her toothpaste, and I can't get enough of the taste. My hands hold her in place as I devour her, wanting more and more until I finally break away to take a ragged breath.
She's panting too, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion. She liked that kiss as much as I did even though she knows deep down that she shouldn't.
My lips are wet and warm from that soul-searing kiss, and I can still taste her on my tongue.
Slowly, dark thoughts begin to flood my mind about germs and who she might have kissed before and how dirty their mouths might have been…am I going to get sick from kissing her…what if she's sick right now…or has some kind of disease…
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to block out the unwanted thoughts.
Needing some distance, I take a step back from her, but Adeline follows me. "Lucien," she whispers, reaching for me, her delicate, soft hand cupping my cheek.
But her touch is too much on my senses, which are already overloaded from that kiss; and I take another step back to break our connection. My entire body trembles, and I feel like I can't get enough air into my lungs.
Without saying another word, I grab my suit jacket and rush out the door, leaving Adeline standing there. Alone and confused.
CHAPTER 31
LUCIEN
(ONE WEEK LATER)
I TAKE A break from working and walk over to the large windows in my office overlooking the property. Grabbing a pair of binoculars from the windowsill, I peer into them.
Off in the distance, Adeline sits in the butterfly garden I had planted for her, reading. Her nose is always stuck in a book, and it's one of the many things I can't help but love about her.
I've been allowing her to explore the grounds near the mansion, and so far she hasn't broken any of my rules or my trust. Not even once.
I find myself longing for her smile constantly, longing for her affection. And I haven't been able to deny her a single thing she asks for.
Except for freedom, that is.
After our first kiss in the library and my anxiety-riddled brain went on overload mode, I've been taking things slow with Adeline, one day at a time. I haven't been able to kiss her again, but I'm determined to feel her sweet, soft lips against mine again soon.
I can feel the smile on my face as I watch Adeline through the binoculars. She's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, and I find myself a lot of times just observing her. She has turned my whole world upside down, and I c
an't even fathom the possibility of losing her now.
I've been keeping track of the Valenti family's whereabouts, comings and goings but, most importantly, that of Giovanni Morello's.
Word finally spread just the other day in the dark underground of New York that Salvatore Valenti's youngest daughter is missing and presumed kidnapped…or dead.
They have no idea where Adeline is, and I intend on keeping it that way.
If I was a betting man, I would have bet all my fortune on the fact that Valenti would have murdered his right-hand man the moment he came back from his trip to California and found his daughter missing.
And yet Giovanni still has a pulse.
Perhaps there is more to the story than what I understand. Maybe Valenti has no idea that Giovanni is behind his daughter's disappearance. And maybe he has no idea as to the lengths that Giovanni would go to make some fast cash.
Regardless, Giovanni continues to live, and I continue to keep his former fiancée here.
And I'm not planning on letting her go.
CHAPTER 32
GIOVANNI
"WHERE IS SHE?!" Salvatore Valenti practically screams as he slams his fist down on his large, oak desk. The wood threatens to splinter under the assault, and I hurry to swallow past the lump lodged in my throat.
After a week of giving the mafia king the runaround on the whereabouts of his daughter when he returned from a longer than expected trip to California, he finally called me in for a meeting. And I don't mean with a courtesy call. I'm still feeling the bumps and bruises from being manhandled and thrown into the back of a black SUV in the middle of the night.
So here I am, sitting in a leather chair in the center of Sal's office, wearing a crumpled white t-shirt and black, cotton lounge pants after being rudely awakened by the sound of thugs breaking into my condo. They searched the whole place before we left, no doubt per their boss's orders, and came up empty, of course.