The Don's Unexpected Princess.

Leverage and Warnings.

So , I was caught out . This whole thing was intentional and not a misunderstanding . They knew exactly who I was before they even got to me . I felt my lower lip quiver but bit it lightly in an attempt to stop it before I spoke . " Okay, so now what ? " I asked , finding it pointless to carry on the facáde of innocence . Simply put , the cat was out of the bag and I was terrified . " What is your motive ? I mean , I do not understand what a Mafia lord , a powerful one at that too, could possibly want with a princess . " He was still standing in front of me but his hands were behind his back now while he looked at me .

I watched him closely as he pondered over my question . Why did he have to ponder in the first place ? To me , it felt like something that should have just came out naturally . I mean , it would have been easy to say the truth without having to think about it .

" I am simply a middle man , princess . " He finally answered and vaguely at that . A Mafia lord with the role of a middle man . That has got to he the most laughable notion I have ever come across . It surely did not make sense to me , really .

It seemed like he could read my thoughts because he went on . " The king wants you back home. I have his orders to return you to him and your kingdom safely so that you can be where you rightfully belong . " I scoffed at that .

' Where you rightfully belong . ' I held back a scoff at those words . I do not know where I belong just yet but it most definitely was not in the Kingdom of Esmond . Especially whilst my father' s cruel rule continues to reign . Speaking of , there is no way that this mafia lord was doing all this without an underlying motive . It could not be money because he had plenty of it but it had to be something irreplaceable . After all , no person in their right mind would find it within themselves to assist the King unless forced .

I frowned and tilted my head slightly . " If you know the king , I guess we can both agree that he is a horrible human being which is why I also know that he has some leverage over you . Something valuable . Why else would a busy mafia lord entertain such a bootless erand of playing the transporter . " I saw his lips twitch instantly before he clenched his jaw . Aha , there was more to this .

" A person close to my soul . " He said heavily , his voice almost sombre . " That is what he has against me . " Although his voice was heavy with a deep seethed anger , his face was expressionless .

Oh , this man had a lover.. or a wife , perhaps . I did not know why that did surprised me but I had so many questions.

Marco cleared his throat but it was more so for him to switch back to his cold , entitled mafia lord persona again . " Be prepared to depart in no less than two hours . I will have a meal sent to the room . " He said in a very business like manner, his Italian accent , which I didn' t pick up until now , seeped through . " Do not attempt anything smart , princess , otherwise I will have to resort to more barbaric measures and we both wouldn' t want that . " He added , his piercing gaze met mine to enforce his warning before he turned .

I felt a chill creep up my arm . I needed better clothing . I was still in my two piece costume which was now pretty much ruined and dirty from yesterdays incident .

" Wait . " He didn 't . He continued his steps towards the door and stopped when he stood in front of it . His hand was about to reach into his pocket to retrieve the key he placed there moments ago . " I need better clothes . You simply cannot expect me to move around in these flimsy pieces of material . " I said loudly making sure that my voice had reached him .

Marco still went on as if he hadn' t heard me at all . He inserted the key into the lock and I held myself from saying anything further . It was clear that he was not going to give me any consideration .

" You move around in those skimpy - " he paused , waving his hand around like he was looking for a fitting word but came up with nothing decent . " things pretty well . Your abundant male viewers are proof of that and I could use the entertainment . " I gasped at his words and the suggestive tone it came out in . With that , he saw himself out before locking the door behind him .

I had less than two hours to plan my escape . I couldn' t go back to Esmond . No doubt my father will make my life a living hell with amped up security watching my every move . If I go back there , there was no way that I was ever going to escape again .

Quickly , I rose to my feet and hurried to the bed and began stripping the covers of of it . It was a spacious king sized bed which meant more fabric for me to scale down the side of the building .

Once I had all of the bedding on the floor , I hurriedly worked on knotting the ends of each sheet to the other as securely as I could manage . My arms ached from yanking at the knots but I didn' t have the time to worry about that . Once I have it all bound and lengthy enough , I hooked one end around the hard wood leg of of the four poster bed frame . Luckily, it was not much of a distance away from the window .

With that in place , I reached for the window latch , undid it and pushed it open to receive a swoosh of fresh air which was very welcome at the moment . I took a few breathes to calm my nerves then pushed myself on to the ledge of the window with the free end of the bedding in my hand . I let it go and watched as it fell down until it stopped which was still a good few feet away from the ground . I could snap my neck easily if I made a mistake but it was either this or Esmond .

Not willing to overthink any further , I grabbed the cloth beneath my hands and made sure that I had a secure grip before dropping the rest of my body . I held back a scream as the weight of my body almost dragged me down but I tightened my grasp which gave me some control . Carefully , I moves one foot beneath the other and my hands followed . My heart was pounding within me , my brain felt like it would explode with the adrenaline rushing through me but I kept going , refusing to look down .

I wasn' t a long was from the top so when I heard the door to the bedroom bang against the wall from being open with force , my heart nearly leaped out of my chest . Quickly now , moved down more steadily but I could hear voices and rushing of foot steps and before I knew it , I was looking up at a furious mafia lord .

Delusional , I still made an attempt to go further down as if I was going to make it but soon enough , I was being pulled back up . I had the thought of just letting go but that would mean my certain death .

Once my head was in line with the ledge , Marco lifted me from my arms as if I was the lightest creature . " I - " I don' t even know what I was going to say but whatever it was got cut of because I was roughly shoved to the floor . I gasped for air and struggled to catch even two breaths .

" I warned you about trying to pull something smart . " His voice was equally as thunderous as his anger . He reached for me , yanking me back to my feet by holding my wrist . I was too scared of his anger to retaliate or resist . So , when he guided me to the sheetless bed and threw me face down on it , I was shivering with fear . The length of his body pressed me into the mattress for a moment, and , even in my scared state, the hair at the back of my neck stood in awareness but his weight was partially of of me .

I could still feel his knees on either side of my thighs , the warmth of him seeping through the flimsy material of what covered me . He reach for my other hand and yanked until I squealed in pain . My right wrist met my left at the base of my back . He held both of it in one of his hands for a moment before I felt cold metal surrounding them followed by a click and then his body was completely of and away from leaving me bound by handcuffs and motionless against the mattress .

I struggled , trying to turn but the handcuffs only bit into my wrist until I gave up , slumping against the bed . " Look here . " Marco said gruffly and I did . He was standing on the other side of the bed and closer to the door . He held a tray of food in his hands that consisted of croissants , fresh fruit , yoghurt and orange juice .

My stomach growled at the sight of the food. I didn't realise how hungry I was with all that was going on until now . The sudden pang of hunger coursed through my abdomen .

Marco saw my reaction with a satisfied look in his face . " You could have enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast princess , but not anymore . Unless you want to travel like an animal , don' t test me . " His warning was clear , his stormy grey eyes pierced through mine making sure that I got his warning loud and clear .

There was a hardness to this man and rightfully so . He wouldn' t have been the leader of the most dangerous Mafia otherwise . There was no doubt that he had killed countless people mercilessly and there was nothing stopping him from doing the same to me . Aside from , maybe , his lover .

I let out a small nod and he didn' t say anything else but remove himself from the room . Once the door shut behind him, I let out a breath of relief . With him gone , it felt easier to breathe as if the oxygen felt lighter with him gone .

I couldn' t afford to be rebellious . This treatment was lenient for a Mafia lord which has been afforded to me as a princess . Regardless of whether or not he chose to go easy and had no intention of displaying brutality on me , I did not want to tempt the devil .

And oh , the devil he indeed was .

Esmond was a long way from here . Although , I somehow had a feeling that this journey was not going to be a simple one and for that , I did not know if I should be thankful that I get to be away from Esmond longer or simmer with irritation in the company of Marco Moriotto .

I let out a heavy sigh , my thoughts trailing to Brazies . Was Owen okay ? Did Maggie know what happened ? What about the other girls ? Was there anyone else who got hurt because of me ?

Poor , innocent Owen . All he ever did was help me and look at where that had gotten him . I just hoped that he was okay .

Not wanting to dwell on these heavy thoughts , I wiggles my body and tried to get onto my side . It was becoming uncomfortable in my current position . So, I pulled my knees up , ignoring the burn of it pressing against the mattress , until it was below me . I probably looked like a caterpillar right now but it worked . It took just one move and I was on to my side which made it much easier to breathe .