Chapter 20: Chapter 20

After Gino disappeared into the back corner of the club with some other men, my body slowly recovered from its intrusiveness and I had collected myself, I sat down again on the stool in front of me and drank my glass empty. I was listening to the loud music while playing with the bottle of red wine and suddenly noticed how the old geezer got up next to me.

I turned to him unobtrusively, watched with an uneasy feeling in my stomach as he took the little one from the dressing room by his hand and dragged her behind him like a piece of dirt.

As they passed behind me, I turned towards the hallway, looked after them and before they could disappear to the right towards the stairs, she looked back at me again with a pleading look for help, which hit me right in the heart.

They were gone now, but I was still staring down the dark corridor, remembering my first night here. The fears, the desperation. if it hadn't been for Dario.

"Oh god," I breathed, briefly closing my eyes to cowardly roll over while taking deep breaths and desperately trying to push it all away.

My eyes fell on Gino again, who apparently had a lot of fun with the bitch from the dressing room. He sat on a chair, she on his lap and again and again she held her breasts in his face, which seemed to please him.

What's going on here?! I wish I had to marry Enzo! Then I could now read the newspaper and drink coffee!

Frustrated, I refilled my glass, drank it down in one gulp and then decided to at least help the little ones if I couldn't save myself from living in darkness.

Slightly drunk, I got up from the stool and stood frozen for a moment to get used to the dizziness and only when it slowly subsided did I grope to the stairs to run up them quickly.

Again I found myself in the wide corridor with the many different doors and simply opened the first one on my right, but there was no one to be found.

"What am I doing here," I thought and without thinking further I ran towards the second door, where I found a woman on her knees and a moaning man.

"Excuse me!" I blurted out, wide-eyed, and quickly closed the door to look around again.

What would I actually do if I had found her?

My head seemed foggy and when I hesitantly opened the third door, I immediately looked into the eyes of the girl, who was sitting on the bed completely intimidated, with her hands tied together and staring at me with wide eyes.

"Come on, let's go," I ran towards her in a whisper and wanted to untie her bonds, but I stopped in panic when I suddenly heard the door slam shut behind me.

"Now I know it again," the old man's voice sounded and, holding my breath, I turned to face him, immediately grimacing in disgust because he was already undressed and didn't cut the best figure. "You're the whore that dumped me and my boyfriend."

"Must be a mix-up," I replied and turned to the girl again, but this disgusting guy suddenly grabbed my forearm, so I immediately stared at him angrily.

"Get your dirty fingers off me right now," I warned him, but he just gave a dirty laugh.

"You owe me a fuck, honey," he whispered, and I felt like throwing up, but I held it back.

"You can tell my fiancé about that, Gino Mancini," I said boldly, confident that he would leave me alone after that, but unexpectedly he grabbed part of my hair and pulled so hard that I cried out in pain.

"Do you think I'll believe your lies! I won't let myself be fooled a second time you little whore!" he yelled and the first tears welled up in my eyes from the stabbing headache while I was trying desperately to get his hands out to remove my hair.

"I'm not lying!" I said out loud and was thrown on the bed next to the girl. I quickly got my torso back up and turned to face him, which must have been a mistake.

I stared wide-eyed as this pig undid his pants and then quickly stared at the floor. I didn't even want to see his puny sausage and then looked around excitedly for something to hit him on the head with, but to my regret I couldn't find it and physically he was many times superior to me.

"Kiss!" he said into the silence and my eyes immediately fell on him in irritation, although I couldn't help but stare at his cock for a moment.

"Forget it!", I immediately defended myself and wanted to get up, but he immediately pushed me back onto the bed by my shoulders and then took his cock in his hand again, which he started rubbing excitedly.

"You will regret all this!"

"Oh yeah? I've got enough money to ask you anything I want! So go ahead! Touch her!"

I was about to throw something at him again when the girl next to me put her hands on my thighs, my attention focused on her.

"It's still better than..", she whispered and nodded in the direction of the old man, but I didn't see at all that I should be humiliated here. After all, I was Gino's fiancée and even if that title didn't bring me anything but trouble, it should at least keep me out of that kind of thing.

"No!" I blurted out confidently and got up again to face the bastard. "Ask Gino who I am! Then you will-"

I couldn't react that quickly when he slapped my cheek so hard that I immediately lost my balance and fell sideways to the ground. My vision was completely blurry for a short time and all I heard was a loud beeping as I tried to put my hand on my pounding head, but I felt him take my hand in his and put something cold around my wrist before I heard a soft click and squeezed my eyes tight.

"You bitches are so ungrateful!" I heard him curse, and as my vision slowly cleared, I immediately looked up at my hand, which was handcuffed to the bedpost. I sat on the floor in a heap and still held my other hand to my aching cheek before my gaze wandered to the side of me to the girl above me.

She looked at me in panic and I would have loved to take away her fear, but when I suddenly felt the guy's hands on my cheeks, I panicked even more.

"Open your mouth," he whispered, stroking my bottom lip with his finger, but I immediately clenched my jaw and shook my head, which was still pounding violently from the punch.

His two thumbs pushed painfully between my lips and with slight force he also pushed them between my teeth, so that I reluctantly opened my mouth and closed my eyes in tears.

"If you bite, I'll rip out your beautiful larynx!" He warned me in a threatening voice and I already felt his glans on my lips while he groaned excitedly. I tried to think of something else and he mercilessly pushed his cock all the way down my throat making me choke and he pulled himself out of me.

"Mhhhh," he moaned, stroking my hair. "You're doing well, you filthy whore."

I certainly died several deaths inside and just waited crying for him to force himself into my mouth again, but then the door suddenly opened behind him. Full of hope, I opened my eyes and only then noticed that the girl had snuck out, which he must have missed out on being so horny.

"What!" he cursed and turned to the door, at which point Gino appeared.

He stared at me in complete disbelief and I immediately avoided his gaze in embarrassment to just stare at the floor in front of me.

"You bloody bastard!" I heard him yell angrily and immediately he yanked the guy away from me to punch his face multiple times so hard I could hear with bated breath as several bones were surely broken.

"Gino! I didn't know!" the old man gasped and flew to the ground, right in front of my feet, where Gino sat down on him in a rage and didn't stop beating him.

His face was already unrecognizable and although I only wished him suffering and misery, I still didn't want to see him die.

"Gino! Stop!" I begged, shaking, trying to free myself, but he kept hitting him, so I could only see blood where his face was before.

"Gino!" I tried again, but again he ignored me.

Under high tension, I thought about what to do and then just hoped that I would lovingly manage to get us out of this situation quickly.

"Gino, Bellissimo! Please get me out of here," I tried again, crying, and only then did he pause with his blood-smeared fists and look deep into my eyes.

His breathing was rapid, his gaze seemed completely blank, but he immediately got up from the guy and rushed over to me to uncuff me and carefully put his bloody hand on my cheek, where I jumped in shock.

"I'll take you home," he whispered, just like last time, gently helping me up by my hands before turning back to the gasping guy on the floor. "And I'll send the son of a bitch home too."

Gino pulled a pistol from the holster under his shirt, cocked the safety and before he could fire, I turned around quickly and put my hands protectively over my ears.

The shot sounded not a second later and my whole body was shaking. It wasn't just the fact that someone was being killed behind my back, but also the realization that I felt like crap.

When I unexpectedly felt Gino's arm on my hip, I flinched again and immediately looked at him apologetically.

"Come on," he said out of breath, taking my hand in his to lead me out of this room. Out in the hallway, he pulled out his cell phone and kept glancing at me worriedly while I couldn't stop crying and couldn't get a word out of my mouth.

"Nunzio," he then turned to his cell phone. "Come to the club immediately."

He hung up, put the phone away again and when we were finally outside in the fresh air, I took a deep breath and slowly realized what had just happened.

And not only that.

I also knew who was to blame.

"You lousy asshole," I breathed, crying, turning my back on Gino to run across the parking lot from him.

"Ludovica!" I heard Gino calling me again and again, but I didn't even think of stopping. Totally detached, I ran through the darkness and between the many cars until I couldn't stand it anymore and leaned against a car.

I vomited so violently that I felt like I was going to choke miserably.

My heart was racing as I cried for air, bending over and still gagging.

Everything that had happened in the last few days.everything that had happened to me just flowed into my mind uncontrollably at that moment and I had no idea how to sort my feelings and my views in any way.

"Ludo!"

I could detect a hint of concern in Gino's dark voice, but I continued to ignore it and leaned against the car behind me with my eyes closed.

Of course I shouldn't have walked into that room, but left this poor girl to her fate? No! I wouldn't have forgiven myself for that. Not after she stared at me for help like that.

I ended up blaming Gino, if only because I needed someone to blame for all of this.

He had brought me back here, made me talk to the girls. He left me alone at the bar because I didn't want him to touch me.

With all this chaos in my head, I put my hand to my forehead and opened my teary-eyed eyes again, whereupon I looked directly into Gino, who was walking towards me.

He didn't say a word, stopping a few steps in front of me and I was surprised he hadn't freaked out about me calling him an asshole.

"Are you okay?" he just wanted to know quietly and kept looking into my eyes until I nodded and he then came closer. His hand gripped mine and he silently pulled me behind him across the dark parking lot until we got to the Porsche and he held the door open for me.

"Thanks," I mumbled under my breath, still angry at him but getting no response from him.

Exhausted and drained, I fell onto the cold, soft leather and was startled when he slammed the door, but I calmed down quickly and watched him walk back to the entrance of the club, where I now also recognize Nunzio could.

The two talked for a while until Nunzio disappeared inside the club and Gino approached me again.

He got in the car, started it and I leaned my head against the window to focus on my breathing and kind of put it all behind me.

I stared into the darkness, saw houses and trees passing by and the whole drive Gino didn't speak to me, which made me feel awkward.

"You really screwed up," he suddenly said when we drove through the wide gate up the gravel driveway to the villa and he parked the car in one of the parking lots.

Confused, I looked at him, but he was immediately busy with his cell phone and no longer noticed me, so I wanted to turn to the door and get out, but he wouldn't let me.

He wrapped his hand around my wrist with far too much force, so that I immediately looked at him expectantly again.

"He was one of the most influential men in Palermo. Also an old friend of my father's and a longtime business partner," he said calmly, but I could tell from his voice that it must be really difficult for him to stay calm at that moment. "What were you doing in that room?"

I stared silently at his bloody hand on my wrist and wanted to pull away from him, but he immediately squeezed harder, bringing tears to my eyes again.

"I wanted-" I started and took a deep breath as I remembered what had happened. "The girl. I wanted to help her."

"Help her?" he repeated a little louder, then let go of my wrist to roughly cup my chin. "You're no help to anyone! So do as I tell you and keep your damn feet still!"

He spoke so contemptuously and menacingly that I began to tremble slightly and tried again to free myself from his grip, which I succeeded this time.

"You're a lousy asshole!" It slipped out of my mouth involuntarily and I quickly got out to flee, but he got out too.

"So that's the thank you?!" he shouted at me over the roof of the car and hit it so hard that I looked at him in shock. "Do you know what you are?!"

He rushed around the car in a rage and straight at me while I watched him frozen, regretting I even opened my mouth. My heart was beating so uncontrollably that I could hardly breathe.

"You're a whore!" he suddenly snarled his opinion in my face as he stopped right in front of me and tearfully I avoided his gaze because somehow after tonight I felt like one too, after this man . "And I'm not saying that because you're poor or you've been to my club! I'm saying that because you play me like I'm a fucking dog!"

He kicked the car so hard that I took a trembling step back and just hoped he would calm down.

"Every time I take one step towards you, you take three steps back! Every time I try to approach you in any way, you completely block me! I help you and get insulted as a thank you!"

"Aber-"

"But what!", he interrupted me yelling and desperately ran his hands through his black hair, only to spit in contempt at my feet. "You women are all the same!"

That was the last thing he threw at me before he circled the Porsche again, started it and sped down the driveway at way too fast a speed.

"But I don't know how to deal with all of this myself," I whispered while crying, covering my mouth with my hands to nip my sobs in the bud.

What felt like an eternity passed, alternating between looking up at the moon and down at the driveway, before I turned to the front door and slowly walked towards it through the crunching gravel.

One of the security guards unlocked the door without trying to get at me, and as soon as I got inside the bright entrance area, I quickly ran up the marble stairs to meet Dario in the hallway.

"Was ist-"

"Leave me alone," I said quietly, wiping away my tears, and disappeared into my room, slamming the door in his face.

I didn't want to see him because more and more I had to agree with Gino. I became attached to him and while I'm sure he didn't want that any more than I did, he at least tried to approach me, unlike me. I slept with his brother behind his back, ignoring everything he said the entire time.

"Ludo?"

I turned to Dario, who just entered through the door and closed it behind him. His blue eyes fixed me as if trying to see through me, but I just shook my head with a sad smile, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

"Stay away from me," I whispered, suddenly feeling a pang in my heart when I saw his eyes.

"Tell me what happened," he demanded calmly and came towards me, but when I reached out my hand and wanted to put it on his chest, he immediately took a step back. Gino had to feel the way I felt at that moment.

"That happened," I said in total control and slowly lowered my hand to avoid his questioning look and walk to the window.

"You're engaged, just like me and too and I can't go on with this secret affair any longer," I explained, staring at the moon, feeling myself start shaking again just at the thought of what I was doing had given from me.

But it was the right thing!

"He's good," Dario said suddenly, and I immediately looked up to see him confused. "Gino will destroy himself, just like he destroys everything he touches. Especially himself."

"And you?" I suddenly defended the man who had just insulted me as a whore. "You are the hero in this story?"

"I never said that," he explained. "I just wanted to make you feel good."

"Is that all? You wanted me to feel good?" I threw at him, stunned, realizing at that moment that I had imagined something between us that apparently only existed in my imagination. "Do you know how I would feel better? If I could hold someone in my arms! Someone is touching me and not just to take control away from me!"

I ran up to him again and grabbed his hands without him being able to prevent it, so he immediately snatched them away and glared at me in bewilderment. That was proof enough for me that no matter if he broke up with Giovanna and no matter if me and Gino broke up, it would still never be anything real.

"Please go," I whispered softly, turning my back on him. Tears welled up in my eyes again as I heard his heavy, slow footsteps, and when the door slammed shut after a few moments, I wrapped my hands protectively around my body to cry bitterly again.