Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And welcome to Romano's house! This will end weirdly! Mwahahaha!
Anywho, on with the show!
Disclaimer- Fucking Turkeys...
Chapter 29
Romano's house was oddly similar to Veneziano's. She looked into the back yard, seeing similar grape vines and had to giggle. The whole way he'd talked about taking her to see the sights of Rome, what he figured to be one of the most romantic cities in the world. "Much better than France." He said, his eyes showing distaste, but was surprised to look down and see her blush.
She'd spent an hour in France hiding with Gil in a fairly intense make out session. Of course no clothing was removed, still taking it slowly, but it was still enough to have the girl bright red.
He lifted a bag, and for the matter of his dignity, when she lifted the other, she didn't mention she had the heavy one.
The inside was similar as well. It had a different look to it, but still had an old world feel as she walked through. He took the items up to her room and told her to go ahead and unpack. He pointed out a bathroom attached to the bedroom, something she didn't have in Venice, and told her to go ahead and dress up. He'd be taking her out that night.
She looked through her bags and was disappointed she didn't have any of her dresses left. When she went to tell him, he smiled and nodded, taking her back up. "I didn't know you'd carry something like that around with you, so I had to make a couple of calls, but I found your size. Here." He showed her the dress bag on the back of the door and she turned to him confused.
"You bought me a dress?"
"Of course, Mia bella. It's a gift. Enjoy it." He smiled with a small bow as he left the room.
Good god, he was different than she'd imagined! So, was he only so vicious with men? He knew the Italian men were insatiable flirts, but she didn't think it would be this much!
She opened the bag and gasped in shock.
When she came down the stairs almost forty five minutes later, she was surprised to find him wearing a tux with a rose at the pocket. His hair was brushed back out of his eyes and he had a calm look on his face til he heard her approach.
His eyes stilled on her. She wore a floor length gown, covered in pearls. It had a draping neckline which went far lower than she was comfortable with, but for tonight, she'd deal. He hadn't intended her chest size, so it was a bit more revealing than even he'd imagined. It had a loop around the back of the neck and an open back which hung down well below the small of her back. There had been a pearl hair comb, so she'd done a bit of an up-do, using the comb to hold it in place, with a hairband hidden under the bun. She'd brought out her makeup and had done thick lines of eyeliner, a little blush and a pearl pink lipstick, with just a touch of tan eyeshadow.
"Non mi aspettavo una tale bellezza di accompagnarmi questa settimana. Hai un aspetto sorprendente." Jasmin giggled at the compliment before offering a slight bow of the head.
"Thank you so much."
"No problema. Let's go." He offered his arm, and she took it with a smile.
He'd gotten reservations at a restaurant and Jasmin could feel the eyes on her. She wasn't sure if it was because she stuck out like a sore thumb, not being one of the tiny girls she was surrounded by, or if it was due to the man with her.
As much as she stuck out, so did he. She realized quickly he was a bit of a celebrity, and everyone seemed to be interested in trying to get his attention, but she realized quickly they weren't going to get it.
His eyes only seemed to drift back to her. They finished dinner, which she fell in love with the food, before they went to the next spot he'd planned out. It was a night club with an old thirty's feel to it. Here she seemed to fit in much better. They were placed at a table with a candle in the center, and he ordered for them both as she looked around. "I don't know if you like dancing. I'm not generally much for it, but if you want to later..."
"I can only do slow songs." She blushed and he looked at her surprised, before blushing in return.
It took a couple of drinks to give her the courage to ask to dance. He smiled and held her hand as they went up to the dance floor. She kept one hand in his and one on his hip, and he did the same, but kept his hand a bit closer to the small of her back, holding her close. After a moment the song was over and they made their way back to the table, and spent a little longer talking and just getting to know each other before heading out.
He took her back to the house and smiled, dropping her off, explaining he had some work to do. She watched him drive off after she'd gotten into the house and frowned. She heard a sound come from the kitchen and went to see what it was to find a gun at her temple. The man only spoke Italian, so she had no idea what was going on as he dragged her to the basement. She was afraid he was going to rape her as he tied her hands together and stuck the bindings over a hook on the wall. He fought with a door there for a while before they heard a crack and the door slid open. She was able to stand just a bit farther on her tip toes to slide the binding off and peered in, finding three men in dangerous conditions tied to loops through the floor.
"What in the hell?!" She yelled and while the guy that tied her up started like he was going to hit her, she ran past him and grabbed the loop, tearing it out of the ground. "What's going on here?!" She yelled and one of the men tied down looked up.
"What's such a pretty girl doing in this monsters' house? Don't you know who lives here?"
"It's Romano's house!"
"Yeah, the mafia kingpin! He was gonna kill us tonight. You saved our lives, bella. Grazie!" He grinned as the other started trying to lift them. They were surprised when Jasmin held the door open, her hands shaking and all of the color drained from her face.
When she went upstairs she shivered.
He was sweet, charming, and a lot more dangerous than she'd imagined.
She threw her stuff into her bag as quickly as she could. She needed to get out of there!
It was too much!
She ran down the stairs and noticed headlights coming up the front drive and turned, running out the door that had been smashed in when the others had come.
She made it a bit back and walked around the outside of the yard, jumping the fence. She called for a cab and sighed, looking through her phone. "Alo?"
"Turkey, I'm on my way over for a bit." She whispered when she answered the phone.
"Jasmin? Is everything alright?"
"I think I just got tangled up in a mafia thing. I have a taxi on the way, but if you don't hear from me saying I need picked up from the airport in three hours, please let Alfred know."
"Kahretsin! Bu nasıl oldu?" He asked and Jasmin could tell he was already running somewhere.
"Romano dropped me off and some guy in the house held a gun to my head and tied me to the wall. I was able to escape but I noticed some guys tied up in the basement. I let them go and found out Romano was planning to kill them tonight. I'm freaking out!" She panted as she ran to the street corner, not sure how long it would take for a taxi to get there, or even if Romano would drive to look for her and find her walking down the street with her bags packed.
Would he encase her legs in cement and throw her into the ocean? She shivered at the thought. She kept running, and made it to the corner, finding the taxi. She sighed as she looked up and gasped out "Airport please!"
"Si, bella." She heard and her heart stopped at the sound. It took a second to realize it wasn't Romano and she gasped for breath.
"Jasmin? Are you alright?!" She heard Turkey yell and sighed.
"Yeah, just a bit of a panic attack, sorry. I'm in the taxi. Please wait for my call! And thank you!"
"No problem. Be safe." He hung up and she sighed.
They made it in twenty minutes. She gave the guy her card and she asked him to overprice it half over for a tip and he grinned. She got into the airport, sure she would be alright now.
She found out the jet wasn't there. Of course not, it was in Russia by now. "Are there any other planes leaving for Turkey right now?"
"Um, no, but with your red passport, we can offer you a private jet."
"I can't afford it." She frowned and the woman shook her head.
"You misunderstood. I can offer you one for free. Those passports are only offered to the highest ranking officials across the world. It's considered an emergency passport. If you need to escape-"
"Yes! I need to escape!" She felt her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't know what might be happening. The woman grinned and nodded, typing into her computer.
"Your plane will be ready in an hour. I'll have a security detail take you to your departing area." She smiled and handed Jasmin a stack of paper before waving over a guard. They whispered for a moment, and the eyes the man had on her creeped her out before he turned to her with a smile.
"Come on, I'll get you to your plane."
"Thank you so much." She bowed low between the two and followed the security guard.
She was taken to a small, dark room just off from the terminals and sat with a sigh. It was about twenty five minutes later the guard stepped out of the room, and she looked up, the movement catching her attention.
She watched for a second before another shadow stepped in. Her eyes widened as Romano walked up to her, a hand on his hip. "You know, it's not like I was going to kill you or anything." He frowned and she just sat there, terrified. He could see her shaking like a leaf and he bent down before her, running a hand over her hair. "I know you didn't know what was happening. You're probably scared half to death, aren't you, Bella?" He said and she ran across the room, tripping on the lights. Romano was startled at the blinding lights came on but was more startled when he opened his eyes and she was gone, her bags abandoned at his feet.
She kept her purse so she still had her phone and cards. She snuck out through the front door, the woman from earlier noticed her and started yelling for the guards to get her. She tried to escape, but wasn't quite fast enough.
The guards tackled her to the ground, dislocating her shoulder and she screamed in pain. Romano ran over and started pulling the guards off of her, panicked. She could hear him yelling at the guards in Italian, and had no idea what was going on. One of the guards sprayed something at her and suddenly her eyes were just too heavy to stay open.
When she awoke again, she was in a bed. She sat up, realizing she was at Romano's house. Her bags were by the foot of the bed. Her arm had been stuck back into the socket and she looked over at the clock.
It had been five hours since she called Turkey. All she could do was wait.
But like hell would she be able to sleep after this!
He came by to check on her an hour later to find her sitting up, curled into a ball, shaking.
"I'm glad you're alright." He stepped in and gently wrapped his arms around her. "I can't believe someone broke in while we were gone. Were you hurt?"
"You were going to kill those men." Her eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead. "You're a murderer?" She turned to him and he frowned.
"I'm not always proud of what I do, but I do what I must. Those men, they were trying to increase the export of human trafficking. They were going after children."
"Then why didn't they take me?" She asked and Romano fell short with an answer. He sighed, realizing exactly where he stood and carefully scooted away from her.
"I didn't want you to find out about this." He frowned and Jasmin scooted further away. "I just wanted us to have a fun week. I'm taking it you called for help already?" Jasmin could only nod through the lump in her throat. "That's fine then. I'll take your bags to the door." He stood and grabbed one, barely able to lift it.
Jasmin startled when the pounding on the door started about half an hour later and screamed, ducking and covering her head with a pillow. She didn't realize the people outside heard the scream and kicked the door in, rushing into the house. "Jasmin!" She heard and ran down the stairs, seeing Turkey, Ivan and Roderich with a very upset Romano sitting in a chair by the door. He had his head down and his hands clasped in his lap. Ivan ran up and hugged her, causing her to scream from the pain in her shoulder from the dislocation.
"What did you do to her?!" Roderich lifted Romano by the front of his shirt and was about to punch him when he saw the look in his eyes.
"It was all a misunderstanding. Everything was a misunderstanding. I'm so sorry." He sighed, waiting for the hit for such a vague answer. By this time Russia had looked over her arm, as she was still wearing the dress from earlier. "Her arm was dislocated. Her whole back is bruised up."
"Did you hit her?!" Roderich let his fist fly and Romano was sent to the wall, the back of his head hitting first.
Jasmin yelled and fell into Ivan's arms. "Roderich! Wait!" Ivan called and he turned, seeing Jasmin knocked out. "When you hit him, you hit her!"
Roderich looked down at the young man who cried. "I caught some people who were selling children on the black market. I didn't even think about it, and they broke in. I don't know exactly what happened, but she released them. They told her I was planning to kill them." He explained softly. "Take her somewhere to calm down. She hates me now. She's too afraid to even listen to me." He said and looked up at Roderich. "You're a lucky bastard. I really hate you right now, you know?"
"I know. And that's fine." Roderich said and noticed Jasmin's bags by the door. They were gone in five minutes. Five minutes after that, Jasmin woke up. Turkey drove, while Ivan and Roderich sat in the back seat, each trying to comfort the girl who looked amazing, but couldn't stop shaking. When she realized what she was wearing, she tore it off on instinct. She didn't want to wear what he'd bought her. She threw it out of the window and Ivan took off his coat, covering her with it. Roderich couldn't stand the fact she would smell like him again.
Shortly after, she leaned her head against Roderich's shoulder and fell asleep.
They let her sleep on the plane ride, and the woman behind the counter, who recognized her as the woman she'd almost got fired over earlier, let them all go to the plane that they'd taken.
It was decided that since the meetings were supposed to be between Austria and Russia, but Turkey was her protection country, they would all fly there for the rest of the week. Ivan wouldn't complain. It was warm, and he honestly didn't like the cold.
Roderich would have abandoned the meeting if it wasn't suggested by Turkey, who worried since he hadn't really gotten to know the girl. One five minute conversation with Greece being an ass really wasn't enough, and he wondered if any other countries have had to swoop in and save her.
He was just glad he hadn't failed in his task.
She was safe, and he could tell by the looks in the eyes of the men behind him, she'd be well cared for.
She awoke in a large bed, hearing a slight snoring from beside her. She'd forgotten about the night before til she tried to sit up and felt her arm give a sickening crunch before the pain hit. She curled up and tried to keep from screaming, not knowing who was beside her.
Did Romano find a way to keep her? Had she been raped while she was unconscious? She didn't remember. She didn't know.
She slowly scooted away from the sound before she turned to look. It was Roderich? Her memories came back and she remembered him punching Romano. She remembered them trying to comfort her in the car. She sighed and slid back into the bed, curling up beside him.
She needed his comfort right now, even if he didn't know he was offering it.
He woke just after she'd fallen back asleep. He looked down, finding her head on his chest and smiled softly, laying his head back down.
It was an hour later that they both woke, due to Roderich needing to use the restroom. He tried to let her sleep, but it didn't work. He returned to find her looking around. Ivan had gotten her dressed, as he was the only one who had seen her naked before, so it was interesting to see her wearing her nightgown. It was a long, white flowing silk gown with lacework around the hems. She turned to him with a smile. "Roderich!" She gave him a hug. "Good morning." She grinned and he could only smile back.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?"
"I'm still shaking." She admitted. "And I hurt all over." She sighed and he gently turned her so her back was to him.
"Let me take a look." He slid the straps of the gown down her arms carefully and winced at the sight. Her back had huge bruises all over, and he noticed one in the shape of a boot. He leaned forwards and with as much care as he could muster, kissed the mark. He noticed her arms raise goose bumps and smiled. He kissed the bruise under her shoulder and she whimpered. "Did it hurt?"
"No." She held her head low. He softly ran his hands up her arms, replacing the straps.
"You're covered in bruises, but I think you'll be alright. What happened? Did he hurt you?" Jasmin turned and looked him in the eye.
He saw what had happened and sighed. "He was telling the truth. The guys in the basement, we'd been trying to capture them for a while. They're kidnapping children as young as three to sell into slavery." He watched as her eyes opened. She was terrified.
She'd released someone like that? What had she done...
"Don't think about it like that." Roderich smiled. "They can't do anything right now. We still have a few of them locked up in other areas, and we have their tools. They can't get too far. And with the image you just showed me, we can make a sketch to capture the one who broke into Romano's house as well.
"I just... I treated him like that and it was really a misunderstanding?" She was horrified at her actions. She didn't even think about it. They lied and she just went with it.
She believed someone she'd never even met over someone she knew was supposed to be a good person.
"In the circumstances, no one would have blamed you. It was just a horrible situation." Roderich held her softly in his arms and ran his hand down her cheek. He leaned down to offer her a kiss and she felt her heart leap into her throat. Her hands reached for his shirt, but she realized quickly they'd just woken up, and she knew he only slept in his boxers. Her face burned as she stepped back and almost fainted looking at him.
"What's wrong?" He asked and she shook her head, feeling like her mouth wouldn't form the right words right now. Roderich smiled and shook his head, realizing what the situation was and bent down so her eyes were locked on his. "Would it make you feel better if I took the rest of it off?" His eyes were showing strong lust, and she felt her heartbeat pound in her chest.
Roderich kissed her again and sighed, shaking his head softly. He couldn't break the smile from his face. "I can't tease you anymore right now. I don't want to get things started while you're injured, so let's get dressed and go down to breakfast, alright?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." She sighed, honestly a little relieved.
She wanted him. She knew she wanted him.
But that would change everything, wouldn't it?
That's it for now!
See you all next time!
Addio!
Jasmin
