“Are you all right, Laura?” Mom asked, knocking on the door.
I left, wiping my mouth.
“I had a little too much wine. Do you know where Massimo is?”
Mom sent me a quizzical look.
“I thought he was with you. How did you get here?”
There was no sense in lying, so I told the truth.
“A driver brought me. I told you Massimo had some business around here, too. One of his employees waited for me. Jesus, my head is killing me,” I mumbled, collapsing onto a chair by the table.
“Well, then I gather the party moved outside after your dance.”
I didn’t move, trying to remember what had happened. Nothing came to my mind. I gathered my things and prepared to leave after breakfast.
“When will you visit us again?” Mom asked.
“Next week we’re going to Sicily, so it won’t be anytime soon, but I’ll call you.”
“Take care of yourself, darling,” she replied, hugging me.
I slept through the whole drive to Warsaw, waking up only twice, trying to call Massimo.
“We’re here, ma’am.” Paolo’s voice woke me up.
I opened my eyes and discovered we were at the VIP terminal at the Okęcie airport.
“Where’s Massimo?” I asked.
“In Sicily. Your plane is waiting,” he said, offering me a hand.
The sound of the word “plane” made me rummage through my handbag on instinct, searching for my pills. I popped two and went to the check-in counter. Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in the private jet, dazed, waiting for it to take off. Flying with a hangover wasn’t too pleasant, but the pills at least made me sleepy.
After another four hours we arrived in Sicily, where a car was already waiting for me. Domenico greeted me at the driveway of the mansion.
“Hi, Laura! Good to see you,” he said, embracing me in a bear hug.
“Domenico! I’ve missed you so much! Where’s don Massimo?”
“He’s in the library, having a meeting. He asks that you freshen up first. You’ll meet at dinner.”
“I didn’t think we’d leave so fast. Are my things here?”
“They’ll be brought in tomorrow, but I’ve made sure to resupply your wardrobe. You should have everything you need.”
Walking down the corridor, I briefly stopped at the door of the library. I could hear voices from within, but I didn’t go in, despite really wanting to.
I took a shower and got ready for dinner. Not really sure what had happened last night, I decided to dress up, just in case. I chose my favorite set of red lace underwear, then reached into the closet and picked a flowy black ankle-length dress. I slid my feet into a pair of wedge platform sandals and headed toward the terrace. Massimo was sitting at the table laden with food and illuminated with candles. He was talking on the phone.
I walked over to him, planted a kiss on his neck, and sat in the lounge chair next to him. Without interrupting his conversation, he turned to look at me with that dark, icy stare. It couldn’t mean anything good.
Finally putting down the phone, Massimo took a sip of wine and asked, “How much do you remember from last night, Laura?”
“I think I remember the highlights. Such as you snorting tons of coke,” I replied sarcastically.
“What about later?”
I thought about that, feeling the fear kick in again. I had no idea what had happened after the second bottle of wine with Piotr.
“I went out to have a chat and some wine,” I replied, shrugging.
“So you don’t remember anything?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I remember having too much to drink. Shit, Massimo, what’s this all about? Are you going to tell me what happened or no? So I blacked out—is that so bad? I was angry at you and what you did. I went to the garden and met Piotr there. He wanted to talk, and we had some wine. That’s all. Besides, of course, you leaving me again without a word. To be honest, I’m fed up with your constant disappearances.”
The Man in Black pushed deeper into his chair. His chest was heaving faster.
“That’s not all, baby girl. When your brother returned sometime later, he told me why you reacted like that, seeing the cocaine. I wanted to find you then. And that’s when I saw you.”
His jaw clenched. “In the beginning you talked, but then your friend overdid it a bit with the openness and tried forcing himself on you, taking advantage of the state you were in.” Massimo trailed off, and his eyes grew completely black.
He lifted himself from the chair and smashed his glass on the stone floor. It broke into hundreds of shards.
“That fucking little shit wanted to rape you then and there!” he roared, his hands balling into fists. “You were so out of it you thought he was me. So you let him do what he wanted. I had to stop him.”
I huddled in my chair, terrified, trying to recall what had happened, but my mind was blank.
“Mom didn’t tell me anything. What happened? Did you beat him up?”
Massimo laughed ironically, walked over to me, turning me and the chair his way, and propping his arms on the armrests.
“I killed him, Laura,” he hissed. “But not before he confessed to what he did to you years ago, when he was drugged. If I knew that before, I wouldn’t have allowed him to join us at the table. He’d never set foot in the same room as you.” I could see the emotions threatening to rip out of him. “How could you not tell me about all that? How could you allow me to eat at the same table as that fucking monster?”
Shocked and terrified, I gasped for air, praying that he was lying.
“I think he must have been planning to fuck you the whole evening. My presence made it harder. So he waited for the right moment. He had drugs on him, and I think he spiked your wine. To prove that I’m not lying, we’ll do a blood test.”
Massimo took a step back, putting his hands on the table.
“When I think about what that motherfucker did to you, all I want to do is kill him all over again.”
What was I feeling right now? Fear, fury, and helplessness in equal measure. A man had died because of me. Or maybe the Man in Black was only bluffing, trying to punish me again. Slowly I rose from my seat. Massimo drew near me, but I raised an arm to fend him off and careened back toward the house. Bumping from wall to wall, I reached my room and locked the door. I didn’t want him here. I didn’t want to see him. I popped a pill to calm my racing heart, took off my clothes, and cowered in bed. I couldn’t believe what he had done. When the pills started to work, I fell asleep.
The next morning, I was woken up by knocking on the door.
“Laura,” I heard Domenico calling from the other side. “Can you open the door for me?”
I walked over and turned the key in the lock, letting the young Italian in. He shot me a sympathetic look.
“I’d like you to do something for me, Domenico, but I don’t want don Massimo to know about it.”
My assistant turned to stare at me, disconcerted, deciding on how to respond.
“Depends what you’re asking.”
“I’d like to see a doctor. I’m not feeling well, and I wouldn’t want to worry Massimo.”
“But you have your own physician who can come here at any time.”