Elena had been in this damn house for two days and she was already losing her mind.
She had reorganized her books twice, finished half a novel, learned the exact sound every floorboard in her room made, and memorized the view from every window on the second floor. She was not someone who sat still well under normal circumstances and these were not normal circumstances.
Alessandro had left early in the morning after giving instructions to the security to keep an eye on her, she had heard the car leaving from her window, and she had given herself exactly ten minutes of lying in bed staring at the ceiling before she got up, made herself presentable, stole coffee from the kitchen while Sera's back was turned.
The house was bigger than it looked. She had already established that. But she hadn't gone past the library yet and this morning she did, down a hallway that turned right where she expected it to turn left, past a door that was closed, one that was half open and one that was—
She stopped in her tracks abruptly.
There was a bag of chips on the coffee table in the room.
She pushed the door open wider and looked at the room properly. Messy bookshelves, a couch that had clearly been slept on, a television that looked completely out of place next to the dark wood paneling, football boots by the door.
Alessandro DeLuca did not own football boots, right? Or was this a hobby he hid?
"That's my stuff by the way."
Elena spun around so fast coffee sloshed over her hand.
The man leaning against the doorframe was grinning at her, dark hair pushed back, jacket half on like he had just come from outside, and he had Alessandro's jaw and Alessandro's eyes but absolutely none of Alessandro's energy, none of that sternness, he was just standing there smiling like life was genuinely funny and he was glad to be part of it. What exactly is so funny? Elena thought to herself staring at his handsome face.
"I'm Luca DeLuca" he said with a chuckle, "Alessandro's brother." He tilted his head "you must be Elena. He described you quite… well. He seemed to have studied every inch of your body."
Elena's face flushed instantly, what the hell was he talking about?
"He described me?"
"Well" Luca exaggerated, walking past her into the room and dropping onto the couch, "he said Giovanni Rossi's daughter was staying here and not to bother her." He looked up at her "I'm bothering you though. You want coffee? Mine's better than whatever Sera made you. A different brand."
Elena looked down at her cup and then back at him "Alessandro has a brother" she said, mostly to herself.
"Disappointing isn't it" Luca said cheerfully, already up and heading toward the small door at the back of the room, "come in, sit down, you look like you've been wandering this house alone for two days."
"I HAVE been wandering this house alone for two days."
"You See?" he called from behind the door, "I'm already an improvement."
She stayed for two hours without even knowing.
She hadn't meant to but Luca talked so warmly, like he had known her even longer than he actually had, and before she realized it she had finished two coffees and learned that he was twenty seven, that he split his time between Milan and Rome, he had shown up last night on no notice because he never gave notice, and that Alessandro had looked at him when he walked in the door with the expression of a man who was deeply unsurprised and deeply tired.
"He worries about you" Elena said with a chuckle.
Luca raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Alessandro doesn't worry about anything or anyone."
"He worries about you" she said again, she didn't know why she was sure about that, she just was, after all he was his brother.
Luca looked at her for a moment and then he smiled, it was slightly different from the easy grins he had been giving her all morning, it was a slight grin "yeah" he said quietly, "maybe."
The front door opened below them.
Luca checked his wristwatch "he's back early" he said.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Depends on why" he said, standing up, "when Alessandro comes back early something went wrong. When something goes wrong he goes to his office and doesn't come out for hours." He looked at her "just leave him to it."
Elena nodded picking up her cup and went to the door.
"Elena" Luca called behind her.
She turned to him with a smile.
"He's not as uncomplicated as he looks" Luca said, "just so you know."
She looked at him for a moment "he doesn't look uncomplicated at all, he looks very complicated." she said.
Luca smiled before saying "good, then you're paying attention."
She almost walked into Marco, Alessandro's right hand man, in the hallway.
He was bigger up close than he had seemed in the garden that night, broad shouldered and calm faced, he looked at her without any of the wariness she had been expecting, "hello Miss Rossi" he greeted politely.
"Elena" she corrected.
"I'm Marco" he introduced himself, "I run things here when boss is out. Anything you need, you come to me."
She nodded "thank you."
He stepped aside for her and she went toward the stairs and was halfway down them when she heard Alessandro's voice from the direction of his office, low and tense before hearing the sound of a door slamming.
When she got to her room, she plopped down on her bed with her laptop open when her phone suddenly chimed.
Sofia had texted, "I went to your apartment Elena. You're not there. Your dad's housekeeper says you haven't been home either. Where are you and whose house are you at because I will find out sneaky girl."
Then immediately after, before Elena could even process the first one, she saw another message, "also your dad is acting weird and I don't like it. Call me."
Elena read both messages twice.
Then she put the phone face down on the bed and pressed her fingers to her mouth looking at the ceiling.
Sofia was going to comb the whole city looking for her and there was absolutely nothing Elena could do about it from inside these walls and that was eating her up.
There was suddenly a knock at her door.
She sat up as she answered, "come in."
The door opened and surprisingly it was Alessandro, she was expecting sera, his jacket was off, sleeves rolled up, looking at her with a steady gaze that she still hadn't figured out how to feel neutral about "Luca said he introduced himself" he said.
"He did." She replied.
"He talked too much?" Alessandro asked with a stern expression.
"He was fine" she said, "I liked him."
Alessandro's expression went sour lightly but changed almost immediately. "dinner at eight" he said, already stepping back from the door.
"Alessandro."
He stopped and turned to look at her curvy frame on the bed.
"Sofia is looking for me" she said, "she went to my apartment. She knows something is wrong."
He was quiet for a moment "I'll handle it."
"She's very close to me, how will you—"
"I'll handle it Elena" he said sternly like he was upset, that was when she knew she should be quiet.
He pulled the door shut.
Elena stared at it the door and cursed at him under her breath.
"I wish I could strangle this guy… why has got him so angry anyway?"
Then she looked back down at her phone at Sofia's messages and thought about how "handle it" could mean a hundred different things when it came from a man like him and none of them were particularly comforting.
She typed back to Sofia, "I'm okay baby. I promise. Stop looking." She replied with a string of laughing emojis.
Sofia's response came in four seconds flat.
"Absolutely not. Where are you Madam?"
Elena dropped the phone on the bed and groaned.
What should she do? Should she run? She didn't want her father's business to go down and didn't want to die either!