The aroma of the bolognese filled the kitchen and surrounded her, filling her nostrils and invading all her senses like a drug.
Her stomach immediately rumbled again.
As though he heard it, he served her portion on a plate and put it before her.
"Enjoy your meal!" and she did. As soon as the Spaghetti touched her tongue, she exploded in infinite bliss.
It was so delicious, almost as good as the original Italian Spaghetti bolognese.
"Mhmm!" she moaned and melted in her chair. "That's the second time I'm making you moan. It won't take long for the third to happen" he said with a mischievous grin.
"Shut up! But I have to admit though, this bolognese tastes heavenly. I'm surprised you can cook like this" she remarked and continued eating her food until she had cleared her plate.
"There are a lot of things about me that you'll be surprised to know about"
She didn't even care to know what that meant. Her belly was full of the most delicious thing she had ever eaten in a long time, and maybe it was now affecting her head because she couldn't believe what she found herself saying next...
"Hey, I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass for you these past months" she began apologizing, this time sincerely.
His brows knitted together as he assessed her features skeptically.
"I honestly didn't have a reason to act all bratty to you except for the fact that you hit my dad, forcefully married me, and threatened to kill him if I tried to do anything," she said humorously.
"You aren't going to let that go, are you?" he chuckled,
"Maybe after a while, I'll forget it... My point is that despite my attitude, you've been patient and manageably kind to me all through this while, even rushing down to pick me up by yourself just so that those people wouldn't get to me first. I really appreciate it, Don" she concluded shyly with flushed cheeks.
"It's alright. Besides, I didn't expect you to be as soft and gentle as a sheep, I saw it all coming when I decided to come and forcefully take you back home with me" he eased. "And I'd prefer it if you call me by my real name. 'Don' holds too many formalities"
" 'Don isn't your real name? How come no one knows that?"
"Most people who have worked with me and my family for a while know that it's a title my Dad gave to me from birth as his first son and heir. He made everyone call me that so that familiarity wouldn't set in and cause them to lose respect for me. Of course that rule doesn't apply to you since you are now my wife" he added and flashed her a lopsided grin that made her heart do a billion somersaults.
Before she could say anything else his phone rang.
'Perché il suo telefono continua a interromperci quando abbiamo un momento di difficoltà {Why does his phone keep interrupting us when we are having a momeng}?'
He took his phone from the counter and saw that it was an unknown number.
He answered it nevertheless. "Don!" Andrew's voice rang in urgency.
"Andrew? What's wrong, why are you calling me with an unknown number, and why do you sound so serious?" Anaya's attention shot up.
"Because this is very serious! We managed to capture one of the men who attacked your mother, sister, and Camilla today. After torturing him for an hour or two, he told us who sent him?"
"Don't keep me in silence. Who is he from?"
"I can't say more than this on phone. Let's meet in person. I came to California as fast as I could, and right now, I'm staying at a hotel in Downtown. We can talk about this when we meet" he suggested.
Don glanced at the clock in the kitchen... It was five minutes past eight.
"Okay then, see you soon" "Mhmm" Andrew hummed through the phone and hung up.
"What's wrong?" Anaya asked, her face being distorted with worry.
"Well actually..."
Wait wouldn't she get worked up if she heard what Andrew had said?
She wasn't even done settling down, and now he was going to stress her with this news.
"... Andrew came to Los Angeles too" he continued smartly. "He wanted us to talk about an urgent matter, so he suggested I meet him in a hotel" he cleared his plate immediately and wore back his watch.
"Is it about the attack today?" she asked flatly, "That and some other things... I will be back late and the front door is unlocked by my fingerprint only, so you can't open it for anyone else or go out. If anyone else comes here and claims to be sent by me, they will know how to enter the house, so be alert!" he said and left the kitchen.
A few minutes later, she heard the door slam shut followed by the sound of his car driving out until all that was left was a silence so thick a knife could slice it.
She sighed and went upstairs.
****************************
She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped firmly around her chest and stopped mid-thigh.
She dried her damp long black hair with a hair dryer and allowed it to fall loose to her waist.
She went to the wardrobe at the side of the room and pulled it open.
"Shit!" she cursed.
She didn't bring any clothes. Not that it was hers or anyone's fault anyway... It's not like the thought of packing clothes and other essentials would cross your mind when you're running to safety anyway.
She sighed and walked out of her room.
This was his house, so he would definitely have clothes. Maybe she could find something to wear from his. Afterall, he was a 6'4 and she was just a 5'7.
She navigated her way around all the rooms and finally came to his room, the largest one of all.
It was magnificent.
Her eyes swept to his huge bed and exotic thoughts began setting in. She shook them off and went to his wardrobe.
As she thought, he had quite a number of clothes there, of which only a few were formal.
She took a grey shirt and slipped it on. It was the same length as her towel, and it still had a faint hint of his masculine scent... Rosewood!
"Eh! This is alright" she shrugged to herself and walked out of his room.
********************************
It was already past ten and he still wasn't back.
"What is keeping him so long?" she really missed his company, even though they would most times argue and sit in silence with unspeakable thoughts running through their minds.
She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
It was the second movie she was watching so far to keep herself entertained, yet even that wasn't enough to keep sleep away.
Her eyelids were getting heavier with each passing second, and she couldn't resist letting them win.
She switched the TV screen off and fell into the soft pillow. A little sleep wouldn't hurt...
An hour later...
She was tired and out of breath. Her heart was beating massively fast, adrenaline was pumping through her veins in high amount.
"Anaya, why are you running away? We won't hurt you" They were catching up to her and who knows what they'd to her if they get her this time.
She ran faster, but could only go as far as her legs took her, because it didn't take long for her legs to give way and throw her to the cold ground.
She felt a pair of hands grab her by the hair and pull her up. Instantly, she met their taunting spine chilling eyes and shrunk in fear when she was thrown against the wall behind her.
"Please don't hurt me" Anaya pleaded among her sob.
"Now, now, Anaya! It's rude to run away from someone when they are playing with you" the blond guy teased while his twin sister and the rest of their friends were grinning mischievously.
"I think we should teach you another lesson" he smirked devilishly and gestured for two of his friends to pick her up.
"No, no, no! Don't touch me! Put me down!" she yelled, kicked, struggled and did all she could to free herself from their grip, but it was all in vain.
His twin sister and the other red-haired girl had already brought out their phones, ready to record what was going to happen next.
"Please don't hurt me! I won't ever cross your way again if you let me go" she begged with a river of teas pouring out of her eyes, but they only laughed.
"Why would we hurt you? We are just going to free you of all your clothes and help others see how beautiful your body truly is" his sister said in a taunting tone.
"Now just be a good girl and this will all be over soon" she added and held her phone up.
The blond boy went towards her with outstretched arms and a devilish smirk.
She continued pleading, but their laughs were louder than her pleas.
He grabbed her collar and pulled the first button open, then the second. By the third, her cleavage and bra were already peeking out.
He pulled the fourth one out then....
She jolted out of her bed panting.
Fear emboldened in her eyes and on her face, sweat glistering over her forehead.
She looked around and was glad to see that what she had just experienced was just another nightmare.
She reached for the drawer beside her bed but remembered that she wasn't in Tyler's villa but in his vacation house.
Her eyes went wide.
She left her pills back in New York. Without them, she wouldn't have control over herself, and those nightmares will drag her out of her sanity.
"No! I need my pills" she said to herself with urgency and jumped out of her bed.
She ran down he stairs and went to the front door. She twisted the knob and pulled it, but it wasn't opening. Then she remembered that Tyler said the door could only be opened using his fingerprint .
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" she banged on the door.
This couldn't be happening to her.
She backed away from the door and went to the sitting room instead.
The lights were off, but she lit the fireplace instead.
She sat on the rug and rested her back on the foot of one of the sofas.
"Why is this happening to me?" she whispered to herself and brought her knees to her chin as she stared at the glowing flames of the fire.
"Anaya!"