The days passed by as Mia wandered the room, ate her meals and spent her time reading books from the shelf. She stumbled past the dragon marked book several times only to be met with internal anger from the previous experience, even if she did feel sorry for him sometimes. It didn't excuse the fact he kidnapped her and dragged her into all of this. The internal anger bubbled up inside her as she stared out the dining room window. She had read all the book that had interested her, it would take two days for the maid to retrieve the books she requested. She sighed and went to grab the leather backed book of mystery. She sat down in a chair by the window and opened the leather front flap. "Morino Family Tree" It read on the front in stamped writing. The leather was stained a dark crimson and the writing was almost impossible to read at the start, the dates were obvious though. His family dated back to 1840, a time where the 'mafia' didn't really exist. She tried to decipher what it wrote at the start but the letters were so tightly written together and smudged it was impossible. Her mind was completely zoned out to the book, taking every ounce of her concentration. She didn't realise his presence straight away, not until his shadow loomed over her. She cringed and snapped the book shut, and carefully looked up. Axel's face was covered in blood, whether it was his or someone else's Mia had no idea. She recoiled slightly and gave him some distance. "Baby doll, you know where your supposed to be right now so hop along." His demeanour had changed and his breath laced yet again with whiskey. The other side of him was back again. Mia's heart pounded in her chest as she knew was was coming.
She braced herself as he grabbed her and took her to the bedroom. It was as if he was a completely different person, his eyes had changed to a darker brown and his body language changed. He ripped open her top from the front, Mia squealed in response. She tried to bite her tongue but she couldn't. The dramatic difference in personality was too much. The last thing he was right now was gentle, he pawed and grabbed at her with need. Barely giving Mia a chance to catch her breath as he rammed his length inside her while tugging off his belt, he tied her arms tight together with it. Mia thrashed in response, it was too soon after his fathers attack, it was too much to handle. Even if Mia could hold her tongue her body was reacting, flashbacks spread across her mind as her body automatically started to scream. He grabbed her ripped top and shoved it in her mouth to stifle her scream. Only a few days ago she wanted this man, she was willing to take the risks but this was insane. Her vision started to black out as he finished inside her, pulled up his pants and left. Locking her back away. Something was different, something had changed. The gentle care and affection he showed afterwards was missing, he left her a screaming, terrified mess on the bed. She curled up tight and sobbed, loud and hard. Releasing all the tension inside her as her body blacked out and she lost consciousness.
Mia woke up to the maid bringing her breakfast. She had passed out and not moved an inch but still she was covered and not exposed. She looked around the room for Axel. He wasn't there. She groggily pulled herself out of bed and went to the bathroom, she was covered in bruises. After a shower she pulled out the cream Axel always used and held back a sob as she applied it on her own. Feeling slightly more normal she pulled on some comfy clothes and went to eat her breakfast. Another beautifully decorated plate of jewel like fruits, glistening against the sun beaming through the windows. She grabbed the leather bound book off the shelf and sat at the table to eat. After spending the next thirty minutes reading through she had made some good discoveries. Axel had been a twin in the womb, but only once child emerged and his family had a long line of evil and hero paired twins. As she studied the first few pages she realised the first paragraph of the book wasn't in English, it was in French. She racked her head for her knowledge of French during her school years, slowly translating a few sentences.
'With good there must be evil, without both one must suffer. It all starts and ends with one brother. Internal fear and external struggle, finding balance is the only way to win when there is double. The Morino Family Curse.'
"It's a bunch of ancient baloney passed down by my psychotic grandmother. I wouldn't pay much attention to it." Axels voice chimed from behind her, she instantly knew his tone was soft and kind.
Her body visibly released the tension she was unknowingly holding as his hand touched her shoulder. Refusing to let herself crumble and loose the game she held back the urge to flinch as his hand made contact. She refused to look up at him, she felt relieved and did not want Axel knowing how much he scared her. "Can we talk?" Axel gentle said behind her. "Do you think I'd want to talk right now? I will wait the rest of my week out in silence. Thank. You. Very. Much." She added a irritated tone to her voice to ensure Axel got the message. She was done being used and abused whenever he saw fit. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. "Listen, if you find out everything about me and my family before I can start making changes then you will never stop trying to escape. And I'm doing this for you now. I am genuinely sorry I dragged you into this mess, most of the time I don't have any control of my choices so please know this isn't who I truely am." Axel's hand left Mia's shoulder as he turned to leave the room. She gave it a few minutes before following him out and into the bathroom. He had turned the shower on and the bathroom was thick in steam. He effortlessly stripped off his clothes and got in to the shower, the steam leaving him a shadowy figure in the distance. Mia bit her lip and thought of her options. Was she even she she wanted to play this game anymore? Had she started to take it too seriously. The gentle soft side of Axel had started to steal her heart. She internally flipped a coin and decided to undress, following Axel into the steamy hot water.