6. Phone Call

I couldn’t sleep at night, once again.

I wonder how long my body will take to completely give up on me. How can anyone sleep with this kind of anxiety, though? A den of wolves is where I am. I’m right at the center of it, surrounded by all of them. They keep snapping at me and growling, and I don’t know when they’ll ever lunge at me to rip me to pieces.

It’s exactly the way I’m feeling now. They’ve shown me their teeth and nails, but when do they attack?

I twist and turn in bed. After last night, I don’t know where I stand with them. I couldn’t control my anger and maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do, especially when tensions are so high. The way he looked at me gives me shivers even now, hours after the whole thing passed.

I tell myself that there’s no turning back now, and that my father would be proud of me.

That keeps me going. It diminishes the feeling of an impending doom hovering above my head, threatening to split it open.

Just as I’m about to close my eyes, a knock at my door alarms me. I sit up too quickly and feel like I’m going to throw up.

“Miss Morelli,” Hubert says from the other side of the door. He sounds grave, for some reason. It only adds to my anxiety.

“Come on,” I say weakly.

He opens the door and stands with his arms on either side of him. “Mr. Makárov would like to see you in his study.”

My heart drops and I’m sure I’m going to pass out because of how nauseous I feel, but I don’t. I kind of wish I did so I didn’t have to be confronted with this matter. With a dry mouth, I say, “I’ll be right there.”

“Certainly,” he answers as he inclines his head respectfully.

I can’t delay this forever but I want to have to moment to myself so I can prepare myself to face him. I wonder if this has anything to do with last night and then I’m convinced that it does. These…ruffians don’t like being challenged. And since he bought me and thinks that I’m his property, the rules most certainly apply to me. In his eyes, I’m probably no better than his employees.

No doubt he’ll tell me that when I make my way down there.

That is if he doesn’t do worse.

I wash my face and change into something less crumpled. I’m not going to appear before him unkempt. I’m a Morelli. We wear our shields when we face the world. We don’t show the enemy what we’re truly feeling. Fear and despair needs to be concealed behind a mask of smiles, and I’ve already shown far too much emotion for my own good.

I tell myself that from now on, I’ll exercise caution. And calm.

Hubert is waiting for me outside the door. He gestures at me to follow him. We go down the stairs until we reach the ground floor. It’s ten AM, so they’ve probably already brought breakfast. They didn’t bring any to my room so I’m guessing he wants to prove a point.

Good for him. I don’t care either way.

The door to his ‘study’ is black and menacing. I feel like I’m walking straight into hell when Hubert holds the door open for me.

I’ll never have good memories of this place. My thumb even throbs as a reminder.

Igor is sitting behind his desk and he’s on the telephone. His eyes are on me as I walk in. I keep my face neutral and my eyes hard. I hate him so much that it’s easy for me to step into my role. He meets my gaze steadily as he leans forward, the telephone still in his hand.

My arms are on either side of me. I wait.

I don’t expect him to extend the telephone to me wordlessly, so when he does I don’t know what to do. Still, I keep my face neural and try not to show any panic.

“For you,” he says patiently.

I stare into his eyes for a few beats before reaching over and taking the telephone from him. I press it to my ear hesitantly and wait.

“Clara?” my father says uncertainly.

The sound of his voice brings tears to my eyes. I cover my mouth with my hand, unable to control myself even though Igor is staring right at me, a little triumphantly. It’s like he’s taking pleasure in seeing me this way.

“Clara?” he says again, his voice dripping emotion.

“I’m here,” I say, though my voice cracks. “I’m here.”

“How are you?” he asks after a sharp intake of breath. “What did they do to you? Are you safe?”

“I’m fine,” I answer, which is true. I am fine. I haven’t been hurt or anything. Not yet, at least.

“I want you to know that we’re doing everything we can, alright?” he says firmly. “I’m going to get you out of there and bring you home. This is going to end soon, okay? As soon as we figure out what the hell he wants, you’ll be coming home. Don’t despair. You’ll be alright.”

I nod and then remember that he can’t see me. So, I say, “Okay.”

“Don’t be scared,” he says, then lowers his voice a little. “You’re the strongest of us, do you understand? You’re my girl.”

I nod again. This time, I can’t say anything or I’m going to cry.

“Don’t forget that I love you,” he says, and then he hangs up. Hearing nothing on the other end of the line is discouraging but I try to stay strong. I try not to show despair and follow his advice.

He’ll come for me.

He won’t leave me here.

“What, he said he’ll come for you?” Igor asks in a low voice as he takes the telephone from me. “He lied. He knows he can’t.”

I don’t answer him because I don’t want to entertain him. If my father says he’s coming for me, then he’ll come. He’s never abandoned me and he keeps all his promises.

He’s a man of his word.

“You’re stuck here with me,” he says, standing up. He’s very tall and I have to look up to stare into his face. I’m not going to look anywhere else. I won’t show him just how much I’m intimidated by him.

“And you know what that means?” he asks as he nears me. “That means you follow my rules because you’re living in my house.” He stops right in front of me. “And you, Clara, have broken too many rules already.”

Still, I don’t say anything.

“So, I believe you deserve a small punishment,” he says, staring deeply into my eyes. “Since you refuse to eat, your wish will be granted. You’re going to stay without eating. If you’re curious to know just how long you’re going to be without food, there’s no specific number of days.”

This didn’t affect me as much as he expected me to, and I could tell because he was getting annoyed that I wasn’t giving him a reaction. Maybe he expected my eyes to at least widen. I didn’t care about his food. I didn’t want anything that came from him. The only reason why I was wearing these stupid clothes was because I’d rather be dressed in the shit he gave me than walk around naked.

He chuckles a little before saying, “You’re not going to eat anything unless you get on your knees and beg for it.”

His words hit the bottom of my stomach like a brick. It only increased the anger I felt for him. The fact that he wanted me to beg convinced me that I’d never beg him, not for anything.

I’d rather die.

“You don’t care?” he asks, taunting me. “Let’s see how much you’ll care once you don’t have anything to eat. You don’t know what starving is like, that’s why you’re acting this way. After this, you’re never going to refuse a plate of food ever again. That, I promise you.”

Still, I say and do nothing.

“You’re only going to get food when you beg for it,” he repeats, inching closer to me. I smell the cigar he just smoked in his breath. “Maybe then you’ll learn to appreciate what you’re given.”

“Well then, prepare yourself to lose your fifty million dollar investment, Mr. Makárov,” I finally say, as coldly as I can muster. “Because you’re never going to hear me beg.”

He only smiles as I turn around and open the door. I walk out of his office and make my way upstairs without Hubert. Once I reach the room, I close the door and press my back against it.

I did a good job. I didn’t show him fear.

Now, I’ll see how long I can stay without eating. I’m sure my father is going to rescue me and resolve this matter before then. I have nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all.