Sold to Moretti Mafia

Claire

I wake wrapped up in Lucca’s embrace, feeling like I didn’t sleep at all. I’m tired and sore. If I didn’t have classes, I would stay in bed all day.

After we had sex, he tended to me, and part of me thought he was remorseful, though he didn’t apologize. He held me in his arms, and I fell asleep to the sound of his breathing.

The pleasure he brought me was intense, but the pain. It was… unexpected. I’m a little confused by last night, but one thing is clear, whatever it was, it brought us together more. I could feel his walls come down, feel him opening up to me. He let the beast inside of him out to play. I just didn’t know he was going to play this rough.

Stretching my stiff limbs, I try to untangle myself from Lucca so I can get up.

“Where are you going?” he asks, his voice deep.

“Bathroom, and then I need to get something to eat. I have class at nine,” I whisper. My inside still feels like they have been rearranged, and in a lot of ways, they have been.

Lucca props himself up to his elbow. “Shit. Okay. I’ll take you, of course. I’ve got to do some grocery shopping too, so I’ll do that while you’re in class.”

“Sounds good.” I yawn, stretching my arms above my head.

“Are you okay?” he asks almost shyly as I stand from the bed.

“Yes.” I give him a reassuring smile. “I promise, I’m fine. Just a little sore.”

“You know, I would never hurt you on purpose. Last night was…” He pauses, and I have a million words I could use to fill in the blanks. “It had to happen, was going to happen. There’s no way to go back in time. But next time we have sex, it will be better. I lost control, but now I’ll be prepared.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Just thinking about having sex again has my thighs clenching together and my nipples tightening. Even feeling raw and bruised, I can feel the wetness building there.

“I’m gonna get breakfast started,” I say, trying to distract myself.

“I’ll hop in the shower really quick.” Lucca gets up, and I have to tear my eyes away from his naked body before I throw myself at him all over again.

With a smile on my face, I make my way to the kitchen, get the coffee started, and pop some bread into the toaster.

As I wait for the toast to be done, I remember how hungry I get between classes and decide to pack a couple of sandwiches. I open a few of the drawers in search of a bag or container I can use when I come across something different entirely.

A piece of paper with my name written at the top catches my eyes, and I stop to read it.

Claire,

I’m sorry, but I can’t let this go on any longer. You know I care about you, and I want to keep you safe at all costs. You are like a sister to me, and that’s the way it needs to stay…

I pause, forcing myself to look up from the paper. There is a distinct pain in the center of my chest, and something tells me it will only get worse as I keep reading. I shouldn’t be reading this anyway. He didn’t give it to me, so he must not want me to have it.

I should close the drawer and finish making breakfast.

I should… but I lower my head and keep reading.

I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’ve been seeing someone…

All the air whooshes from my lungs, and I literally feel like I got punched in the stomach. I lay my hand flat on my stomach, physically having to hold myself together. He has been seeing someone else?

Tears form in my eyes, but I blink them back. I need to be strong, and I need to read the last few words, no matter how much it will hurt. I need to know.

That’s why there can never be anything between us. Because I’m in love with someone else.

My heart shatters into a million little pieces, and the world around me goes dark. I’ve never felt so much pain in my life, not when my father beat me, not when my mother left. Nothing hurt as much as the thought of Lucca loving someone else.

One tear escapes. It leaves a cold trail down my cheek and lands on the piece of paper that turned my world upside down.

His words from last night ring in my ears.

“I warned you before that I was no good. I told you I can’t love you the way you want me to.” I thought he meant he couldn’t love anyone, but he just can’t love me.

He is in love with someone else, and I gave myself to him completely. Anger festers in the pit of my stomach. I gave him my virginity. No, he took it. He took something from me last night. Stole it right from under my nose.

More than that, he proved to me I was nothing but an object to him, a possession to be owned instead of cherished and loved. I wasn’t a lover to him; I was just a quick lay.

I was so stupid, thinking that he could ever love me. I made a mistake in thinking he wanted more.

He will never love me, never care for me beyond protecting me and shielding me from those around me. He wants to control me, use me, and I’m done letting him do it. I’m done being the puppet while he pulls the strings.

Yes, he warned me, and it’s my fault for not listening, but I will not be that stupid ever again.

Escaping Lucca is the only way I can protect myself. If he is gone from the picture, then all my problems will be gone too.

For once, I’m not running into Lucca’s waiting arms. I’m running away, escaping the shackles that I thought would keep me safe instead of trapped.

He will never dictate my life again.

* * *

After breakfast and a shower, I grab my backpack, phone, and wallet. I won’t have my phone for long, but I have to bring it with me; otherwise, it would draw suspicion. Lucca and I drive to the university in silence, and I’ve never been so glad for the quiet.

I don’t think I could hold the tears at bay if I have to listen to his voice.

There are a thousand things I want to say but can’t, and my heart aches because of it. No matter the reason, I am leaving all I’ve ever known, my protector. The only person who has been in my life since I was eight. The only person who ever gave a damn, but it’s not enough. He doesn’t love me, and he never will.

As we pull up the school, Lucca seems a little uneasy. “Tonight, I will make dinner, and we can talk about where we go from here. I don’t want a girlfriend, but… I can’t let you go. What happened between us changed me.”

His words only drive the knife deeper because I know he is lying. He wants a girlfriend. He just doesn’t want it to be me.

I turn to him, my hand on the door handle. “You just said you don’t want a girlfriend. How did it change you if even after I gave myself to you, you still don’t want me?”

Pure anguish pinches his features. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Then explain it to someone else,” I reply bitterly and open the door to the SUV. There is no need to explain. I already know. He just wants me as a side piece. To fuck when his girlfriend is not available.

“I’ll figure this out, Claire.” His words might have fixed things before, but for me, there is nothing left to figure out. I made my choice. I look at his beautiful face one more time, those blue eyes so bright and beautiful, I would’ve done anything for him.

Without the goodbye sitting at the tip of my tongue, I turn and walk up the steps like I was walking to class.

I don’t turn around or do anything out of the ordinary. I walk the same way I always do and disappear into the hall, knowing I have to make it believable.

As soon as I reach the end of the hall, I turn around and speed walk back to the entrance. Students are bustling all around me, but my attention is elsewhere. I scan the street for Lucca’s car. He is gone, probably already on the way to the grocery store.

There is a bank on campus a block over, so I jog there. My fingers shake as I glance over my shoulder at every turn. Using my card, I withdraw five hundred dollars in four different transactions until I reach the maximum daily amount at the ATM.

Two-thousand-dollars… How far will I get with that?

It’s not a lot, but it will have to do. I shove the money into my purse and order an Uber. The five minutes it takes for the driver to arrive feel like forever. I’m afraid of what would happen if Lucca found me, not so much afraid of what he would do to me, but what he would do to everyone around me.

I have to get away from him. Have to end the obsession.

As soon as the driver pulls up, I sigh with relief and climb into the back seat. He already knows where I’m going, and when he asks me how I’m doing, and I cannot communicate back, he thankfully takes the hint that I don’t want to talk. It’s rude of me, but my emotions are all over the place. Having a conversation with some random guy isn’t what’s going to help me.

The drive to the airport goes faster than I anticipated, and I spend the time typing out a message to Steven and Tracy and booking my flight. I know when I arrive at the airport, I will have to toss my phone in a garbage can.

Lucca would track me with it, and I will not let that happen. Still, I wanted to let them know I loved them and that I was sorry to leave on such short notice.

I check the time as we arrive at the airport. Lucca will return to the university soon, and my class will be over. I have to get on a flight and get out here before the opportunity is gone.

“Have a great day,” the Uber driver says as I step out of the car.

I tighten my hold on my backpack. Fear wraps around my throat, and for half a second, I wonder if I can really do this. Can I really escape him? I look over my shoulder. Nothing, no one. He’s not here. I hit send on the message to Steven and Tracy and turn my phone off. I toss it into the nearest trash can. Taking a huge breath, I straighten my spine and walk into the airport.

I’m ending whatever this was between him and me. He said so himself. He didn’t want me, not like that, so why was I there? Why was I letting him control me? The questions linger even after I’m on the plane and soaring through the sky.

I can only hope that Lucca never finds me because for the first time in my life, I am free, and I’m not going to give up that freedom for anyone.