Elena's POV

I was locked again, this time in a luxurious bedroom that reeked of lavender and jasmine. In a house as big as a mausoleum with a sweeping, curved staircase carved in marble. Portraits and paintings hanging on the walls. And maids and butlers walking around, continuously working in their drab black and white uniforms. I could see it all through the blinds of my window. A window that was sealed shut, as I had already tried prying it open and failed.

I was locked in.

My ribs were aching from all the beating I had taken, and I was sure my lower lip was bleeding, though I hadn't seen my own reflection for days. My hair was dry and twisted like ropes; the locks fell all over my face. I hadn't had a shower in days. In fact, I hadn't had a proper meal in days. But what scared me the most was the fact that I was still under the influence of the drug.

Whatever the hell they had given me before bringing me here was still in my system. It was still making my legs shake underneath me, and my mind was engulfed in a fuzzy blanket that didn't let me think clearly. I could barely keep my eyes open, and yet I didn't dare go near the bed.

Right there in the centre - king-sized and covered in green silk sheets. And all I wanted to do was just let my body fall on it and go to sleep and never wake up, I was so tired.

But that was until I remembered what that lady downstairs had told me, that I was to be in her son's harem. That I was supposed to get pregnant with his child. And suddenly, I couldn't get far enough from that bed. Was that where he was going to force me to have sex with him? A chilling shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the emerald green bedsheets, the soft cushion covers, and felt like I would rather die than sleep on that bed. Outside my locked door were two bulky guards wearing black suits and carrying guns.

It was impossible for me to escape this place, and yet I had to. I wanted to go home, to my life, to the college whose acceptance letter might still be sitting on my desk, if Joffery hadn't already thrown it all out. Tears gathered in my throat as I sat there wondering what I had done wrong in life to deserve this. But that was all, a defeatist mindset. I needed to keep a positive attitude, keep my mind open, and find some way to escape this hellhole.

And then I got my first idea. I slammed myself against the door, with my hands and all my body, and made as much sound as I could, until one of the frustrated guards outside my door was forced to open the door for me.

"What the hell do you want? You are not going out of here until Signora Moretti allows it." The guards looked at me, annoyed. I made a face. "I am hungry. Can I get some food at least? I hadn't eaten anything in two days." I said for a better effect, and it was true. All I had eaten in the last 42 hours was a banana, which one of the kidnappers had given me. "And some water, please."

They looked at each other before agreeing. "I will bring something." One of them went away, and the other one immediately locked the door and went back to his duty. I waited, waited with bated breath and anticipation running through my veins for my escape plan to come to me. 10 minutes later, the locked door was opened again, this time by a maid pushing in a cart of food.

There was some risotto and pasta on the plates, which she quickly served on a table and began to leave. Though not before she warned me. "We do not serve anybody, before Master Alessandro had eaten in this house, but Signora Moretti made an exception for you. Today." She looked at me like I was dirty. "She wants you to be ready," The maid added, scrunching her nose as she took a look at my condition. "Have a shower and clean yourself up before master Alessandro arrives."

"In this condition, he will take one look at you and throw you back into the garbage you came from."And I would love nothing more than that. But I stayed silent, had the shower, calmed myself down, sat on the floor, and had my dinner. a delicious plate of pasta nd Risotto. Because I needed my strength for what was to come.

Before I armed myself. The forks and knives went into the sleeves of my dress. Broke a ceramic plate and collected as many pieces of it as I could and thrust them into my jeans pocket. Ready.....ready to strike when the time came.

---

I wasn't sure what time it was, or even what place it was, when I was suddenly woken up, shaking like a leaf in the dark, completely disoriented. When I realized that I had fallen asleep on the floor....but what had woken me up?

And then I looked up...and there he was, a man in a grey silk suit, standing in front of the mirror behind the bed, taking off his watch before he started taking off his coat and started to unbutton his shirt. My hands shook, my throat dried, and my breath came and went like a dying engine. I felt chilled right up to my bones as I felt for the knife hidden up my sleeve and slid it down into my hands, my other hand holding onto the sharp, jagged edges of the plate.

It was time, I knew. For my escape. And yet my hands shook as I stood up, the lights of the room had been dimmed, I noticed, the bedcovers turned down, ready to be used, and panic surged within me. He had taken off his shirt now, his bare body, carved out of muscles glistening under the light, and I felt my throat tighten.

And then I did it.

I closed my eyes, held the knife tight, and plunged, with as much force as I could gather, as fast as I could. I plunged the weapon. "Cosa diavolo?" He heard him cussing in Italian. A rough, harsh voice that soon turned into a hand that gripped my hand like a vice.

"You little bitch!" His voice boomed through the room. I opened my eyes, and there was blood oozing through a nick on his arm. Within seconds, he had his fingers gripping my throat so tightly that I couldn't breathe. "You know, when my mother said that she bought a girl for me, over dinner. A virgin, no less. I was a little disgusted with her." He breathed into my ears. "That she thinks I have to stoop as low now as to buy girls off low-life rats like Daneil, human traffickers." His voice, like a roar, reverberated through my ears. "But since I had no choice about what my mother had already done, I came here with the intent of speaking to you and telling you that you will be free to go in the morning." He twisted my arm harder behind my back, and tears of pain fell from my eyes.

The pain was so bad, I was sure that any more pressure on that wrist and it would snap. "I came here and felt even worse about this whole situation when I found you burrowed under a thin bedsheet in one corner of the floor like a scared mouse." I was sure his fingers tightened even further on my neck. "I was even going to offer you some money to help you get back home, and two seconds later, you attacked me like a crazy rabid dog!"

He twisted my hand so hard that the knife fell out of my hand. And I felt like my arm would break.

"P-please..." Somehow, I breathed. Wanting him to let go.

"Please, what?" His warm breath tickled on my neck. "Please fuck me against this wall? huh? Please ram inside of me until my crazy rabbidness goes away?"

"Don't worry," He laughed a rich throaty laugh right into her ears. That made panic skyrocket through my chest. "Because I will. I had changed my mind about letting you go. You are one crazy bitch, who attacked me." He hissed. "And nobody walks off unscathed after they attack Il Re of La Italia. " His eyes bore into mine, and I felt myself break. "Now, you will fulfill your purpose and warm my bed tonight. I will fuck you until you cry out my name and cream against my dick. And realize that the one true purpose of your life is to be my whore..... inside of that bed and outside."