A.N. - As you might expect from the ending of the previous, this is a heavy, mature and intense chapter. The theme of sexual assault is front and centre here, and the level of danger to beloved characters is upped significantly.
Chapter 7 – Exposed.
The sudden calling out of her real identity caught Daphne completely off-guard and she struggled to recover even as she heard Esposito cursing in her ear again.
Mario looked at her with every inch of his predatory eye now as she spluttered to try and find the words to speak. "Oh, come on Daphne! You didn't think I would clock it was you the second you set up this little ruse?" He asked with a hint of amusement at her horrified reaction. "Did you think I could ever have forgotten you? Oh, far from it my dear! As if glasses and a dark wig could hide that stunning face. Though I have to say you do make a very cute little reporter. I have to tell you; I have dreamed of the moment of coming face to face with you again. I never thought it would be on your terms however. Very smart though I guess, setting up in a public place like this. Although I'm not sure how smart coming on your own is?"
He smiled pleasantly at her as life continued normally at the other tables, completely oblivious to the sheer tension at this table as a rapist and one of his victims came face to face again. Even though on the inside she was crumbling with fear at being exposed, Daphne maintained a composed outlook as she took off the glasses now and placed them on the table.
"Alonzo Nicoli? An 'inspirational dashing noble'? Who are you trying to fool?" she said scornfully, mocking the meaning behind his fake name. "You're far more suited to 'Mario'. What was that meaning I found again? Oh, that's right, a sad bitter man. Perfectly apt." She said, locking eyes with him defiantly.
Mario didn't seem angry, just amused as he sat back in his chair casually. "What on earth were you hoping to achieve with this little charade? That I would just give lovely Luciana a little confession? You going to call the cops on me Daphne is that it? They don't care you know." He laughed.
"About your pathetic little early release for your Ghostly Gondolier thieving? No, I don't suppose they do. It's what was unproven that is what matters to me," she shot back defiantly.
"And what is that, Daphne?" Mario challenged her maliciously. "Let's not forget, you yourself had the chance to speak up at the time and you did not. I thank you for that by the way. It helped my case enormously that I could convince them that my taking of you was solely 'a moment of madness' from poor confused Mario," he clutched his hand to his heart in mock concern. "I told them it was purely to get the medallion you were so beautifully modelling," he grinned.
"You set that whole thing up!" Daphne retorted angrily. "There was nothing about it that was a 'moment of madness' and you know it! You made absolutely sure I would be wearing it when you made your dramatic entrance. I tried to give you that damn amulet. You are one sick bastard Mario."
"You actually told them all you were unhurt if I recall when I was arrested, and you also soon left the country. Did you even tell anyone about what really happened between us? Your friends? Your lovely Freddy?"
"No," Daphne admitted hollowly, to Mario's immense satisfaction. "I didn't. I didn't tell anyone, not for a long time."
"Oh. I do find that surprising. I thought you would be struggling from the weight of the shame," he said teasingly.
All of Daphne's anger for what Mario had done came back to the forefront, and she struggled to keep her cool and not to cry in front of him now. "How could I? How could I tell him, when I still don't even know what happened!" she demanded.
"Ahhhh," Mario said, understanding at last. "That's why you're doing this; you want answers about that night! Well, I tell you what, get rid of that stupid recorder and I'll give you exactly what you want. You might not want to hear it though."
Daphne looked pale again now and she heard Esposito's sharp response in her ear. "Easy, Daphne, you don't have to do this. We have more than enough already. Get out!"
Daphne knew it would be so easy to walk away now; to just get up and walk to the safety of Fred's or Esposito's table, but that horrific feeling of not knowing exactly what had happened on that awful night had consumed her for so long. Mario was finally willing to give her those answers, this would be her only chance to finally get some closure. She was beyond grateful that Fred wouldn't hear the ensuing conversation.
"I never even switched the recorder back on," she replied innocently and he rolled his eyes.
"Do not take me for a fool Daphne," he warned her a little dangerously. "I saw you subtly start it again when you came back from the bathroom. I promise I will tell you exactly what happened that night but you have to delete that recording right now."
"Fine," she said, she reached forward and scooped up the phone. She turned the screen towards Mario so he could see her end the recording and then she hit delete and switched the phone off, she tossed it in her bag, not breaking eye contact. "Done."
"I still can't believe you're actually here after all this time," Mario said to her salaciously, leaning forward again as if to drink in her appearance. "And like our finest Italian wines, you've only got better with age. You were always my number one you know Daphne," he said wistfully. "The American beauty with the curves to die for. I knew I had to have you from the moment I met you. I bet even you remember our first meeting?"
"Yes," Daphne retorted icily. "Of course, I do."
Socialising at parties used to be the highlight of a much younger Daphne Blake's world but it was safe to say since her 'not father' was exposed as a maniacal drug lord, the invites had well and truly dried up back in Coolsville.
So, when they decided to go undercover to tackle the 'menace in Venice' as Velma had hilariously dubbed their newest case in Europe, Daphne knew her social skills were somewhat rusty as they tried to blend in at the student party that night. They had all tried to fit into the raucous bash but as drugs were readily on offer from the moment they got there, it was clear they were already out of their depths.
Ever the professionals, Daphne and Velma mingled their way around the packed room, surreptitiously checking out some of the male students who were the top suspects. Daphne knew that both Fred and Shaggy were always close by which was reassuring but even so she felt confident that she could still handle herself just fine. She knew dressed in a tight purple dress and go-go boots at the 70's themed bash, that she would attract some male attention. A couple of guys had already attempted to get her to dance with them only to get polite short shrift from Daphne. She had felt Fred's protective eye from across the room the whole time and smiled at him.
Feeling a little light-headed from the drinks she had consumed, she headed down a corridor towards the bathroom. As she was on her way back, she was suddenly met with a young dark-haired man alone.
He smiled at her in a friendly manner. "Hey, I don't think I've seen you around before? Are you new?" As soon as Daphne started speaking in her native US accent, his grin grew wider. "God! I just love American girls. May I just say, you are quite stunning. What's your name, beautiful?"
"Daphne."
He positioned himself fully in front of her and then placed his hand on the wall to prevent her walking past him and Daphne swallowed a little nervously. They were completely alone right now and his behaviour was more than a little intimidating.
"Excuse me," she tried to brush past him.
"Daphne, you just made my night, you know that?" He stepped forward in even closer proximity to her, making her shiver from the closeness and the intensity of his stare. He reached out to stroke her cheek. He was close enough for her to feel his breath on her. She started to panic a little, but then they both heard an incredibly indignant 'hey!' and Mario backed up, whirling around to face an extremely pissed off looking blond. Daphne melted in relief when she saw Fred approaching with Shaggy and Velma in tow.
"I knew from the look on his face then that you were his girl, but that didn't put me off." Mario reflected of their first meeting "Just made me work harder. All part of the fun you see, got me all hot for the chase," he told Daphne cheerfully to her clear disgust.
Daphne remembered 'the chase' well as he had first tried to continue to legitimately pursue her at that party and she had to keep him at arm's length. Then, the next day, the students took the gang to see the remaining amulet, and Mario had insisted Daphne must try it on as it would complement her eyes beautifully. Then not long after, the lights had gone out and Mario as the Ghostly Gondolier had pursued Daphne on an altogether different kind of chase as he cornered her away from her friends.
"The chase? You fucking kidnapped me you creep!" she hissed in a low voice so as not to draw attention to them. She couldn't though, resist a spirited attempt to get more from his confession, adding "And I bet it wasn't the first time either that you've terrorised some poor young girl!"
"Oh, hell no," he grinned at her. "But that costume just added something a bit more don't you think? Really ramps up that fear factor I find. I wish I'd done it earlier, way classier than a simple ski mask."
"You're disgusting," she told him, only too acutely aware of the fear she had felt when he had trapped her into that dark alley and then threw her in the car trunk while Fred, Velma and Shaggy had watched on helplessly.
"Really?" He arched an eyebrow. "I don't think you felt that way when you were kissing me Daphne," he smirked and Daphne was sickened by that comment. Was it really as she feared; did he genuinely think he had done nothing wrong? That that kiss was consensual? The thought made her skin crawl. She wouldn't let him get away with that.
"I hardly had a choice, did I?" she reminded him through clenched teeth. "You had a knife pressed into my stomach, remember?" She could feel her blood pressure rising and she was becoming even more stressed. She risked a tiny glance over his shoulder towards Fred and could see he had fully put the book down now. He was staring straight towards their table, his eyes still hidden by the sunglasses but she knew from his posture that he was deeply concerned right now.
"Details," Mario dismissed her callously, before he suddenly reached down into his small rucksack under the table, causing Daphne, and the watching Fred and Esposito all to tense up with alarm. Was he pulling a weapon again? Daphne mentally calculated the distance in her head and realised if Mario stabbed her right now, neither would get to her in time.
She quickly breathed a visible sigh of relief when all he produced was a small black notebook, but as he flicked casually through it on the table and she glimpsed a flash of her name, she went cold all over again.
"What is that?" she asked with a tremor, already fearing the answer.
"Proof," Mario said to her casually. "I told you that you were my number one and here's the proof."
"Number one of what Mario?" she asked, struggling to remain calm.
"Well, this Daphne, this is my prized possession, my little black book if you want to call it a cliché. And sitting pretty at number one still – little Miss Detective herself – Daphne Blake."
Daphne eyed the thickness of the book with a sinking heart as she realised in that moment, the horrifying true extent of his victims. In her ear, she heard Esposito proclaim in several Italian curse words again before saying 'you have to try get that book'. Repulsed as she was by its likely contents, she recognised the significance too immediately; it could provide the indisputable proof they were looking for.
Mario kept it on his side of the table and after making sure no-one else was watching, he quickly flashed her a look at the first page and she gasped, instantly gagging as she saw a polaroid photo of herself unconscious and in a compromising position on his bed. Tears immediately sprung to her eyes and she could barely even look at him. "You're an absolute monster. What did you do to me you coward!"
Mario continued to grin wickedly at her. "If you're sure you really want to know?"
She did and she didn't but she bravely found herself nodding anyway. He leaned forward to look at her intimately again and she shuddered under the intensity of his gaze. "I didn't rape you that night, Daphne."
He said it so quickly that it nearly caused her to fall off her chair in shock. "You, you didn't?!"
"He's lying," Esposito hissed in her ear. "Don't fall for it!" but Daphne's entire attention was firmly on Mario now who had closed the book and looked at her earnestly.
"No. See, I have to admit you truly fascinated me, Daphne. You weren't like any other girl that I had been in that position with. Those girls. They feared me but they were so compliant, it was just too easy!"
Daphne mentally noted another useful confession and heard Esposito suck in a breath as Mario began openly discussing his depravity so casually in the Florence sunshine.
"But not you." He said with a grin. "You had my attention immediately. You were brave. You fought like a tiger from the moment I trapped you. You struggled. You screamed. You never gave up. Even once I got you away from your friends you still repeatedly tried to attack me. I can't tell you what a turn-on that was Daphne."
Daphne shuddered and she wanted to turn away from his gaze but found she couldn't help but stare at him as he licked his lips salaciously. "I soon found out who you really were of course, your little detective agency, I read about the things you had gone through and I thought to myself; this is one strong woman."
"So that's why you drugged me, you knew it was the only way you could have me!" Daphne exclaimed in disgust.
"Yes, I drugged you with the full intention of having sex with you, and it's not like I haven't been with unconscious girls before," he added with such an indifferent shrug, it caused Daphne to almost instantly throw up. "I laced your drinks, I knocked you out, I got you exactly as I wanted...but then I realised it wasn't what I wanted with you my dear. I had made a mistake drugging you." He paused to drink in her astonished reaction. "I wanted your spirit. I realised I actually wanted you to fight me every step of the way, drugging you was just too easy. I took myself some 'memories' for my book but I left you alone after that. I was hoping we would have some more time for 'games' later when you woke up, but as majestic a beauty as you are, the paintings were in sight then and not even you were worth missing out on the potential haul of a lifetime."
Daphne gaped in disbelief at him, feeling for sure he had to be lying. Mario had her completely at his mercy that night and he did...nothing? "But you said I was your number one? You undressed me! You expect me to believe that you truly did nothing?"
"Believe what you want," he shrugged. "But I am telling you the truth. To me you see, you will always be the one that got away," he said ruefully. "If I'd have known how close your meddling friends were getting, I would have made better use of my limited time with you. That's why I'm so delighted to see you again!"
She still didn't dare believe him but regardless of whether he had touched her or not, she still felt emboldened to get justice for what she knew without a doubt were many other victims now. She knew those depraved conversations were more than enough evidence now to completely nail his disgusting ass, but she couldn't resist one final push.
"And how many more have there been Mario?" she said, her eyes narrowed. She never expected him to actually answer her but was completely floored when he did.
"Hundreds." He declared proudly. "Not all in the manner you're thinking either but sure... I've raped plenty."
He said it so casually, with such an indifferent shrug as oblivious diners laughed and chatted loudly around them that it had her gasping in pure disbelief. He seemed so completely proud of it.
"I can see you're surprised Daphne but this is what you wanted isn't it? This is what you came all the way to Italy for? You wanted to expose me, yeah? Well, here's another bone for you – the campus one? Yeah, that actually was me."
She heard Esposito make an enraged sound in her ear and for a moment she was truly stunned. She never expected him to be so willing to be honest and she allowed herself to think that perhaps he was finally going to give himself up and had nothing to lose by confessing all to her first. She began to think of how triumphantly they were going to hand this tape to the police but then Mario's eyes darkened significantly. She shuddered as that awful, leering smile was back in earnest and suddenly she felt wildly unsafe as a dark realisation hit her.
"Wh- why, are you telling me all this?" she stuttered nervously and his smile widened as he sensed her growing fear now.
"Why, because dearest Daphne, you have presented me with an opportunity I have only been able to dream about and I thank you so much for that." Daphne eyed him apprehensively while he casually began flicking through that book in front of her. "I have to be completely honest with you now. I played along with your fun little interview for my own amusement really, but I saw through your ruse the moment I identified it really was you."
"What opportunity? What are you talking about?" Daphne said, her pores sweating now as she desperately tried not to show Mario how uneasy she now was.
He was grinning like the cat that got the cream now and she was wildly unsettled.
"Well, my dear," he purred, thoroughly enjoying himself. "I know exactly what you tried to do here. Your heroic attempt to trap poor Mario. But I confirmed it was you the moment I got to the table and you want to know something else? I also knew without a doubt one other thing..."
"What?" Daphne said, shivering with dread now, and Mario grinned.
"I knew you wouldn't truly come alone," he said darkly.
The sentence was like a dagger to Daphne's heart and she automatically looked beyond the gloating Mario now to check for Fred. Since Mario had been admitting to his crimes, she had been wholly under his spell and hadn't looked for Fred in a while. Fear clenched her heart as she realised with horror that Mario had been playing them all along. She fully expected Fred to be gone somehow, spirited away in the busy Piazza, but she felt a huge wave of relief course right through her when she saw him sitting stoically in place still.
Mario knew exactly where her gaze had landed and laughed cruelly. "Of course I spotted your boyfriend; sitting there in his baseball cap oh so casually over there. Honestly, the two of you need to work on your undercover stuff, it's more than a little bit sloppy for such fine detectives," he mocked her while Daphne sat silently in shock.
"I half expected the rest of your beloved group of detectives to be here too, but I'm satisfied now that they are not. Even so, I felt so sorry for Freddy...looking so lonely sitting there all by himself..."
Daphne's heart thudded in her chest, anticipating an almighty sting in the tail despite the fact she could see him there right now safely at the table. Mario suddenly shifted his chair to the side and leaned right back so Daphne could now see the opposite chair at Fred's table. The one that Mario's body had previously blocked from view. The one that was previously empty. She was already reeling at the sight as she heard him add his triumphant barb.
" so I arranged for some company for the poor boy."
Daphne put her hands to her mouth when Mario's movement revealed that Fred was indeed no longer alone at the table. She cursed herself for her stupidity as she realised what had taken place when she had been distracted by Mario's sordid revelations. She stared at the familiar outline of the back of the tall, dark Italian who was facing Fred. Daniele.
She tried to make eye contact with Fred but his eyes were strangely fixed on his uninvited companion. Why hadn't he simply got up and moved away? Unless...
"No!" Daphne exclaimed in terror as she took a closer look at Daniele and Fred. Suddenly she could see exactly why poor Fred was frozen in place looking so grim faced as she noted how Daniele was casually holding something underneath the table, angled right towards Fred. The colour drained fully from Daphne's face. "No, you bastard!"
"Calm down dear," Mario said lightly before pulling her close to him. "I'm sure it won't escape your attention exactly where Daniele is pointing at that gun," he said in a low threatening voice. "So, I'd keep nice and calm if I were you Daphne and keep smiling. Would hate for your boyfriend to be met with a nasty accident down there. Ouch!" he mocked, releasing her arm again.
Despite the abject terror Daphne was now feeling, she couldn't help but correct Mario icily.
"Husband."
"Oh, congratulations my dear! Sorry I missed the wedding! I guess my invite got lost in the post" he said jovially before reaching across the table and taking her left hand in his firmly.
She automatically attempted to wrench it back but Mario tsked in amusement. "Ah ah ah. I already told you, you don't want to do that. All I need to do is give Daniele the signal. Just be nice and calm and do not forsake me in any way Daphne, or Fred will suffer the consequences."
Daphne sat stock still in disgust while Mario proceeded to caress her hand. He gently stroked each finger, stopping on the ring finger where she had already removed her engagement and wedding bands.
"I cannot believe how foolish you two are," Mario mocked her with wide eyes. "You thought you would just be able to squeeze out a confession and then run back into his arms? I'm amazed he even let you meet me like this! Believe me Daphne, the only reason I told you the truth is because neither of you will ever be able to tell anyone else now anyway."
The threat was said so casually that Daphne had barely registered the seriousness of it. She couldn't take her eyes off Fred who sat grim faced while Daniele secretly held the gun on him.
"Look at me Daphne!" Mario suddenly snapped at her with nothing but menace while he still held her hand tightly. "Look at me, or I'll get Daniele to cause one hell of a scene with Fred and all these innocent people too!"
Daphne forced herself to look at Mario who looked completely unhinged now. He continued to stroke her fingers, and then with his foot, slide up her bare leg again slowly. She didn't dare even glance towards Esposito, and he had gone quiet in her ear too. She hoped against hope that he hadn't been rumbled too, or they really were in grave danger now.
"Ah see, I can see the proper fear in your eyes now," Mario taunted her. "You're practically shaking. You never should have come back here. You should have just left well alone."
Daphne was shaking now; Mario had always felt like a dangerous individual but she had never seen him be so evil; the twisted look in his eye right now was immediately reminiscent of Devon at his worst, and she couldn't help the tremor in her whisper as he continued his unwanted touching. "What are you going to do to us?"
Mario's smile widened enormously now and he stood up quickly, walking around the table to properly embrace her to him. It caught her by surprise and her natural instinct to recoil was immediately suppressed as he held her close and spoke sinisterly directly into her ear.
"I'm going to do everything to you that I never got chance to do last time," he whispered gleefully, enjoying how she tensed up at his words. He stroked her back as he began to instruct her. "In a few moments, you are going to kiss me, and then we are going to leave hand in hand and smiling, without you making any kind of scene or appeal for help; that is, if you want Fred's balls to remain intact. Then, if you're a good girl, I'll ask my brother Daniele to bring Fred who will also leave nice and calmly and they will come and join us."
"And then what?" Daphne asked, completely consumed by her fear for Fred now.
"And then my dear," he replied, while stroking her face. "You, me, Daniele and Frederick are going to go on a nice little ride together and go somewhere I can finally get to live out all of my fantasies with my true number one." He didn't pause to reflect on her truly distressed reaction before gleefully adding the darkest of depraved twists. "And the best part is your boyfriend...sorry husband will get to watch."
She stared at him completely aghast, but didn't give him the satisfaction of a verbal reaction. He stroked the back of her hair now, his fingers resting on her neck. Daphne couldn't help her panicked reaction. She hoped that even the most casual of observer would recognise something was wrong now; it hardly looked like they were a couple in a loving embrace no matter how calmly she tried to stand. She looked frantically towards Fred who had gone purple with rage when he saw Mario embrace Daphne.
"Kiss me now Daphne," Mario instructed her. "Kiss me, or Daniele shoots Fred right here, right now."
She felt truly repulsed but she had no choice; she didn't know how serious the brothers were but she couldn't take any risks. Not with Fred's life on the line like that. If Daniele was even half as twisted as Mario, then Fred was in big trouble unless she compiled with Mario's depraved blackmail. She closed her eyes and forced herself to kiss him. Mario didn't need an invitation to probe his tongue in response and it took everything she had to fight the urge to bite down on it. Knowing they were in public, Mario was satisfied with just a quick kiss and pulled away first, letting her sit back down.
Her eyes immediately flitted to Fred afterwards, and held at gunpoint or not, she knew he wanted nothing more than to launch over the table and kill Mario right now after watching them kiss. She hoped to God that Daniele hadn't filled him in on Mario's disgusting plan.
"Mmmm, so good." Mario licked his lips in satisfaction as he took a seat again too. "God I can't wait to have what's finally mine," he said wistfully, placing his hand on her knee now. "And after I've had everything I want from you? We'll drive you to a beautiful place I know on the coast, and drop you both in the ocean."
Daphne could not believe this was happening, it was like some surreal nightmare. Here they were in a beautiful Piazza in the late afternoon Florence sun. Other diners were still enjoying each other's company as the barista's milled around busily as music played. They were all completely oblivious to the horror that was playing out just a few feet away; Fred was being secretly held at gunpoint and Mario had just casually promised to carry out a disgusting rape and then kill them both. Daphne knew then she had wildly underestimated both the danger of Mario and the depths of his depravity. He was an absolute psychopath and it didn't seem like Daniele was too far behind as he continued to secretly point a gun under the table at Fred.
"Let's go, shall we?" Mario suddenly stood up with a wicked glint in his eye and Daphne reluctantly took his invited hand. Her eyes locked with Fred's in terror and he gave her a small resilient nod that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else.
"You win Mario," she told him in a defeated voice. "Please, I just need to know one last thing before you take us." Mario nodded, agreeing with her request, she suddenly spoke loudly and with a hint of desperation. "What's the Juventus score?"
A.N. - To be concluded next week. Final chapter time already, the weeks have just flown by! See you for the conclusion next Sunday.