The door closed behind Sofia with a muted finality.
She stood where they left her, listening to her own breathing, until footsteps approached from the opposite end of the corridor. Not guards this time. One set. Unhurried.
A woman stopped a few feet away.
"You can move," she said. "No one's watching right now."
Sofia turned. The woman was tall, dark-haired, dressed in black so simple it felt intentional. No jewelry. No visible weapon. Her expression was neither kind nor hostile just practiced.
"And later?" Sofia asked.
"Later, they'll watch again."
Sofia exhaled through her nose. "Figures."
"I'm Giulia," the woman said. "I manage the household."
"Congratulations."
Giulia's mouth twitched. "You'll want to eat."
"I'll want to leave."
"That's not on today's schedule."
Sofia studied her, weighing volume against risk. "Am I allowed to ask questions, or is that discouraged?"
"You're allowed to ask," Giulia said. "Answers are conditional."
"On what?"
Giulia gestured down the hall. "On him."
As if summoned by the word, Alessio's voice carried from behind them. Calm. Close.
"She'll eat."
Giulia stepped aside immediately. Not rushed. Not afraid. Respectful in a way that had nothing to do with affection.
Alessio stopped in front of Sofia, the distance measured. She noticed now that his jacket was gone, sleeves of his shirt rolled neatly to the forearms. His hands were empty.
"You hungry?" he asked.
"No."
"You will be."
"I want to call my father."
"No."
She smiled tightly. "You're very good at that word."
"It saves time."
Sofia crossed her arms. "You said I wasn't a hostage."
"You aren't."
"Then why can't I make a phone call?"
"Because hostages negotiate," Alessio said. "You don't."
Giulia cleared her throat. "I'll have the kitchen—"
"Stay," Alessio said, without looking away from Sofia.
Giulia stayed.
Sofia tilted her head. "So what am I, then?"
He considered her for a moment that felt like assessment, not curiosity. "A consequence."
Her smile fell away. "You don't need me for that. You could've killed someone else."
"Yes," he agreed. "But that wouldn't have hurt him."
Silence stretched, sharp at the edges.
"You're making a mistake," Sofia said. "If you think this will make him move."
"I don't need him to move," Alessio replied. "I need him to sit still."
"And I help with that how?"
By then, they were walking. She hadn't noticed when it started just that her feet followed, guided by the conversation more than force. They entered a dining room stripped of warmth. One long table. Two chairs set.
Alessio pulled one out not for her. For himself.
"You exist," he said, sitting, "where he can't reach you."
"That's not protection."
"No," he said evenly. "It's leverage."
Giulia placed a plate in front of Sofia. Simple food. Bread. Pasta. Steam rising.
"Eat," Giulia said quietly. "You'll need your strength."
Sofia didn't sit. "For what?"
Alessio met her gaze again. "For learning how this works."
"And if I refuse?"
He shrugged slightly. "Then you'll be hungry and still here."
Giulia looked at Sofia then not warning, not pity. Recognition.
Sofia sat.
Sofia twirled the fork once between her fingers and set it down untouched.
"So," she said, "is this where you tell me the rules? Or do I figure them out by getting punished?"
Alessio lifted his glass. Water. He drank, unhurried. "If you needed rules explained, you wouldn't be here."
"That's convenient." She leaned back in the chair. "Because from where I'm sitting, this looks improvised."
Giulia stilled behind her. Sofia didn't look back.
Alessio set the glass down. "You think this is chaos."
"I think," Sofia said, cutting in, "that you dragged me across a city like luggage, put me in a room with no locks I can see, and expect me to behave because you used the word leverage like it explains everything."
"It does," he said.
"Then explain it to me."
"No."
Sofia laughed again, sharper this time. "You really love that word."
"I really love efficiency."
She leaned forward, palms flat on the table. "Efficiency would've been taking one of his men. Or his money. Or his territory."
"I have all three."
"Then why me?"
The question hung there, naked.
Alessio studied her face the way a doctor studied a scan detached, thorough. "Because you're the only thing he pretends not to use."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
Giulia shifted. "Sofia—"
"No," Sofia said, not taking her eyes off Alessio. "If I'm a consequence, I want to know what crime I committed."
"You were born," Alessio replied. "That was enough."
Her jaw tightened. "You don't know him."
"I know exactly who he is."
"You know his reputation."
"I know his decisions."
Sofia pushed back from the table and stood. The chair legs scraped loudly against stone. No one moved to stop her.
"Let me make this easier," she said. "You want him to sit still? Fine. I'll help."
Alessio's brow lifted a fraction. Interest, not surprise.
"I'll call him," she continued. "I'll tell him I'm safe. I'll tell him you're reasonable. I'll tell him whatever keeps him calm."
Giulia inhaled softly, a warning she didn't voice.
Alessio stood. The movement was smooth, economical. He came around the table and stopped close enough that Sofia had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
"You won't speak to him," he said quietly.
"And if I insist?"
"You won't."
She swallowed. "You said I wasn't a hostage."
"I said you weren't negotiating."
"That sounds like semantics."
"It's control."
Sofia held his gaze, pulse loud in her ears. "You don't need to do this."
"I do."
"Why?"
"Because if I let you believe you have influence," he said, "you'll start testing how far it goes."
"And you don't want that?"
He leaned in just enough that she could smell the faint trace of soap on his skin. Nothing else. No cologne. No indulgence.
"I want you to understand," he said, "that everything you have here exists because I allow it. Including your voice."
A beat.
Then she smiled.
"There it is," she said. "That's the part you like."
For the first time, something flickered across his face. Not anger. Not amusement.
Recognition.
"You think this is pleasure," Alessio said. "It's not."
"Then why are you standing so close?"
Silence cracked between them.
Giulia cleared her throat, too late to stop what had already shifted.
Alessio straightened. "You'll eat," he said, stepping back. "After that, Giulia will show you where you sleep."
"And if I don't?"
He paused at the door, one hand on the frame. "Then tomorrow will be harder than today."
He left without another word.
Giulia exhaled slowly. "You should eat now."
Sofia looked at the empty doorway, then back at the untouched plate.
"I just did," she said. "In my own way."
Giulia waited until Alessio's footsteps faded before moving.
"Come," she said. "Before you say something else you can't take back."
Sofia followed her down the corridor, past doors that looked identical, past corners that seemed to repeat themselves. "He doesn't scare you," Sofia said.
Giulia didn't slow. "That's because I understand him."
"And I don't?"
"You think understanding gives you leverage," Giulia replied. "It doesn't. It gives you boundaries."
They stopped at a door at the end of the hall. Giulia opened it and stepped aside.
The room was large. Spare. A bed centered against the far wall, crisp white sheets turned down. One window, barred discreetly inside the frame. A chair. A small desk. No mirror.
"This is it?" Sofia asked.
"For now."
"For how long?"
Giulia met her gaze. "As long as he finds you useful."
Sofia stepped inside. The door closed behind her not locked, she noticed. Worse than locked.
Giulia lingered. "You did well tonight."
Sofia barked a laugh. "I antagonized the man who kidnapped me."
"You survived it," Giulia said. "That's doing well."
"And if I push again?"
Giulia's expression softened by a degree. "Then you'll learn which lines matter."
She turned to leave.
"Giulia," Sofia said. "Does he ever lose?"
Giulia paused at the threshold. "Only when he wants something."
The door closed.
Sofia stood alone, listening to the house breathe pipes settling, distant footsteps, the low hum of power running through stone. She sat on the edge of the bed, pressed her palms into the mattress, grounding herself.
A minute passed. Maybe two.
Then the door opened again.
Alessio didn't come in.
He stood in the doorway, filling it without effort.
"You asked before," he said. "Why you."
Sofia looked up slowly. "I didn't realize you were still answering questions."
"I'm not," he replied. "I'm correcting an assumption."
She waited.
"You think defiance makes you interesting," Alessio said. "It doesn't."
"Then why am I still here?"
"Because you listen," he said. "Even when you pretend not to."
He stepped back.
"Sleep," he added. "Tomorrow, you learn what staying costs."
The door closed again.
This time, Sofia didn't move for a long while.