Authors Note:
Thank you for all the amazing reviews I received from the last chapter.
I am very thankful for all of them.
I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Chapter 4
Vito bent over to kiss Ariadne on the cheek and it was only then that Dom realized that she had been crying.
He placed both of the wine bottles, he was holding, on a low wooden table to his right and then quickly walked over to Ariadne.
"Are you alright?" He asked her lowly, his heart stinging as he saw that her eyes were red from her previous crying session.
She nodded once and was about to answer when Vito grabbed Ariadne's hand in his and spoke cruelly "Please, Principessa. We do not associate with those lesser than us." He then led Ariadne towards the large crowd of projections in the middle of the ballroom.
Ariadne's newly curled hair was placed into a loose bun and she had been given gold jewelry to wear. She hated all of it. She looked like one of those girls who she despised. The ones that wore so much make up that their face looked as if it was bought at the Halloween store.
Ariadne turned her head slowly to Cobb and mouthed the words "Help me," at him. Dom bit down on his bottom lip and gave her a quick smile to let her know that he would try to do as requested.
He looked down at himself, his new wardrobe fit him fine. The white collard shirt, black pants and black jacket were nothing compared to that dress and high heels Ariadne was being forced to wear. He could tell that with every step she took, she was cursing Vito profusely in her mind.
Vito suddenly lifted one of the wine glasses in his hands and held a knife in the other, tapping the bottom of the glass. He cleared his throat once the projections of dozens of people stopped murmuring to one another. "Buona Sera. I would like to say grazie to all of you beautiful people who came to mia festa." He smiled and lifted his glass, dropping his knife to the floor.
Cobb memorized the spot. If he was lucky enough, Vito would forget about it and he could steal it. Vito grinned happily and draped an arm around Ariadne as he continued "It is my pleasure to introduce you all to my ospite d'onore, my guest of honor, the molto bella Arianna."
Ariadne let out a fake smile as Vito took her hand in his and kissed it. Ariadne's eyes closed at the contact of his lips on her skin. She felt disgusted with herself.
Dom, in that moment, wanted to strangle Vito. But he couldn't, one of the guards would kill him. They needed to find Saito. He couldn't risk any personal affiliation or conflict. So, he just stared at Vito as he raised a cheer to himself and to his wonderful but very unreal guests.
He then led them into the other room where everyone sat down around the large and bronze table. Vito was on one end and another chair was next to him. Cobb wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Ariadne, see what had happened, or maybe if there was a way to escape.
He walked up behind her and pulled out her chair for her, his eyes burning into hers as he said "Please, sit."
Ariadne watched him with surprised eyes as she sat down on the velvet chair. Velvet chairs? What an odd choice.
Vito chuckled and turned his attention to Cobb while saying "Domenico, how awfully kind of you to seat mia dolce ragazza." Dom half smiled, his attention to Ariadne who placed her hands on her lap.
"Could you pour me some wine, Cobb?" Ariadne asked, her eyebrows raising up at him. Vito nodded to Dom who grabbed a bottle of wine from the table. He bent over Ariadne and suddenly, an idea hit him. He let the bottle slip through his fingers and it poured on the white satin table cloth.
"Cretino" Vito cursed at Dom, hitting his shoulder with force.
Cobb lowered his head to Vito and whispered "I'm sorry. Let me get a few paper towels to clean it up." And with that he was gone into the kitchen, one of the guards showing him where the paper towels were.
Vito grabbed Ariadne's hand in his and rubbed it softly but she immediately pulled away, her face tensing. "Please stop." She spoke the request bluntly. She did not want to be touched by this man anymore.
"Have you thought about the deal, Arianna?" Vito asked, directly into her ear.
Ariadne nodded once and she was about to respond when Cobb bent over her, paper towels in hand.
He dropped one onto her lap, when Vito was looking away. His voice went soft as he whispered into her ear "Hide it." She did as she was told, sliding the paper towel under her dress.
When Cobb finished wiping the table, he turned to Vito and asked through a fake grin "Anything else, sir?
"Domenico, I really like this ah-new you." Vitto chuckled.
Cobb shrugged his shoulders and lied "I thought I should make myself helpful."
Vito clapped his hands together once and turned to Ariadne who was looking down at her lap. She needed to excuse her self somehow, but how was she supposed to do that without Vito seeing?
"Would you excuse me?" Ariadne placed a soft hand on Vito's shoulder, lifting herself up. But he pulled her back down again. He couldn't trust her... yet.
Ariadne's eyes popped as she bent over and kissed Vitto on the cheek, his face flushing red. Ariadne's lifted the paper towel in her hands and Cobb's expression became well, expressionless.
She crunched up the paper and whispered into his ear "I need to freshen up." She then turned her body and walked towards the rest room.
Dom watched her walk away for a moment but his attention was called back to Vito when he said "Arianna is quite ah-something. Yes?"
Cobb was really getting annoyed by how this man talked. He felt the need to ask 'yes' after every statement, as if that would help disguise his thick accent. "Yes, she is." Dom agreed, hearing a few glasses shatter in the kitchen. Dom gasped. There was an exit from the kitchen to the bathrooms where Ariadne was.
"Would you please excuse me, sir. I must go help with the appetizers." Cobb let out a faux grin and left the area. Vito watching him suspiciously.
xxx
Cobb walked into the kitchen, his eyes searching for the restrooms when a man, who looked like the chef from the way he was dressed, handed him a frozen piece of meat and demanded that he put it in the freezer. Dom obliged. That would not take too long.
When he opened the freezer door, an arm pulled him into it, slamming the door completely shut. Ariadne was standing there shivering as she stuttered "There are no-no escapes." So, she was able to understand his messy handwriting.
Cobb placed the piece of frozen meat on one of the shelves and rubbed his arms from the cold. "There has to be something." He spoke the words lowly and watched Ariadne shake from the cold. Poor girl. She was wearing nothing but a dress.
"Here." He spoke, taking off his jacket and placing it around her shoulders. She whispered a small thank you in return before he asked "What are we going to do?"
Ariadne bit down on her bottom lip and spoke softly "Well, I'm not sure." She wrapped her arms around her frame as she looked up into his blue eyes.
"How long have you been in here?" Cobb asked, his hand reaching out to feel the difference of temperature between the two of them.
"I he-heard the Chef talking about y-you. He said he was going to ask you to p-put something in h-here." She stuttered the words and rubbed her arms trying to create friction.
Cobb shook his head at her and pulled her in for an embrace, holding his body against hers."Why were you crying before?"
She held him close to her, his body temperature warming her up tremendously. She didn't respond. She couldn't. Her heart beat had slowed down too quick.
"Okay, Ariadne. You have to get out of here." Dom spoke the words softly to her, meaning both the freezer and Vito's place. He pushed her slightly away from him and continued "You go first and if someone says anything, just say that you confused this room for the bathroom."
She nodded and walked towards the door but stopped for a moment to say "Please, Cobb. Do what he says." And then she left, throwing the jack back to an extremely confused Dom.
And then he remembered something. The knife Vito had dropped had not yet been picked up in to ball room. He smirked, waited a few seconds and opened the freezer door.
xxx
Cobb walked towards the table in a slow motion. Vito was speaking to one of the projections on his left. Ariadne was staring at the soup in front of her, looking not only terrified but bored.
Dom hid the knife in between his fingers, the jacket covering it sufficiently. He took a deep breath as he found himself behind Ariadne, her eyes immediately searching to find his. Cobb nodded once and Ariadne immediately knew that he had found an escape plan.
Cobb moved the knife in between his fingers and positioned it onto Vito's back. Vito gulped once and Dom muttered in an bitter tone "You will let us go, do you understand?"
Vito turned his expression towards his guests and let out a small smile "You do not want to do this, Domenico."
Cobb let out a small smile and replied "You that you're in Limbo, don't you? You just don't want to leave."
Vito bit down on his bottom lip and smiled "No, Domenico. I don't." He then turned around to face, the knife now hitting him softly on his chest "But I think you've forgotten something about this place."
"What's that?" Dom asked, moving the knife towards Vitto's throat.
"I control the people here. Not you. This is my city." Vito replied and suddenly a guard came at Dom with a larger knife and stabbed him directly into his back shoulder.
Ariadne let out a scream in horror as she watched Dom drop to the ground in pain. "Dom!" She yelled at him, hovering herself over him.
Vito cleared his throat and shouted "Take him back to his room." And three guards pulled Cobb by his arms and dragged him towards his quarters.
Ariadne got up and slapped Vito across the face while yelling "You bastard! You could have killed him!"
Vito chuckled, massaging his cheek while replying "Good. Then he would wake up in the real world and I wouldn't have to ah- deal with him, here. Capisce?"
Ariadne folded her arms across her chest while she contemplated the deal from before. She bent down to Vito's sitting level and whispered, holding back tears "If I do what you asked of me. Will you promise to keep your end of bargain?"
Vito's eyes widened in happiness as he nodded. Ariadne unfolded her arms and continued "Okay, I need to talk to him about it."
Vito laughed happily and spoke "You are excused, bella." And he watched her leave towards the large spiral stairway in the corner of the room.
xxx
Cobb was once again handcuffed to the random pole in the room. This time he was handcuffed on his right hand and his wrist was starting to hurt him. He took a deep breath in, the pain from his left shoulder beating his back. He could feel the blood pouring out of him.
Suddenly, the door opened and Dom's eyes opened widely, steadying himself against the wall at the unexpected. And what he saw was truly unexpected.
He saw Ariadne coming into the room, holding a wooden bucket in her hands. She closed the door behind her, a shadow of a guard remaining from beneath the doorway.
"What's that?" Cobb asked her, his eyes becoming smaller from the severe pain he felt from his shoulder.
She sat down beside him on the floor and replied "I asked if I could help you." She removed a wash cloth from the water filled bucket and touched his shoulder, Dom hissing at the contact.
"I'm sorry." She apologized as she started to remove his jacket on his left side. The white dress shirt had a huge patch of wet blood that was insanely visible. She felt horrible for him. He had just been trying to help her.
"Cobb, I'm sorry." She spoke the words again and ripped the dress shirt down the middle of his back. Her small hands having enough power to do so.
She dipped the washcloth in the water and rubbing alcohol and whispered gently "This is going to hurt." Dom closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, waiting for the contact.
Once she placed the washcloth on him he groaned in pain, cursing "Fuck!" It hurt him so badly. He bunched his knuckles onto the floor, holding in the pain as she rubbed the broken skin. "Distract me." He moaned, his eyes still closed shut.
Distract him? Okay. Ariadne took the wash cloth off his back, the entire wipe covered in blood, while saying "Vito wants to make us a deal." She started, dipping the cloth back into the bucket and then placing it back on his shoulder.
Cobb's eyes opened wide as he asked "What kind of deal?"
Ariadne bit down on her bottom lip and replied "He said that he would let you go, if he could have... me."
"Have you?" Cobb asked slowly. What did that even mean?
"Yes."
Cobb scoffed at the request, rolling his eyes "What a fucking lunatic." He paused waiting for her to agree but when she didn't, he turned his head to her and asked "You said no, didn't you?"
Ariadne looked at him for a moment and whispered "This isn't real, Cobb. Once we get out of here, it wouldn't matter."
Dom's face fell stiff. Wait- what did he mean by having her? His eyes went wide "Ariadne, what does he mean by having you?"
Ariadne dropped the cloth and replied "Look, you need to find Saito and if this is something that I would have to sacrifice for that, then-"
"What would you have to sacrifice?" Dom's voice went loud with anger. He was shaking. If it was what he thought it was, he was going to kill Vito.
"He wants me to sleep with him." Ariadne replied in a mere whisper and then she continued "He said that because I'm real, he cannot let the opportunity get away."
Cobb's eyebrows rised dramtically as he spoke firmly "Ariadne, I am not letting you do something like that. We will find another way."
Ariadne sighed "There is no other way, Dom." There wasn't. If there was, she wouldn't sacrifice her virginity to someone like Vito. And then there was that. If Cobb knew that she was pure, he would never let her do it for anything. But there was no other way.
Dom hissed in pain and let his arm drap upon her lap as he understood "That's why you were crying."
Ariadne nodded and placed her small hand onto his while replying "If I do this, he will let you go."
"And you?" Cobb's blue eyes looked into hers.
She shrugged her shoulders and whispered "I will kill myself and wake up in reality, while you find Saito. It could work, Cobb."
He removed his hand from hers and sighed. Was he actually thinking about this? "No. You can't do that. I will find another way."
Ariadne shook her head and responded "No. I have already made my decision."
Cobb looked back at her, his eyes bursting with tension. "No!" Ariadne stood up quickly, backing away as he shouted "I will find another way!"
But she shook her head, holding the tears in her eyes as she whispered "I'm sorry." And then she opened the door, a guard grabbing her almost instantly.
"Ariadne!" Dom shouted at the door as it slammed shut. Shit. What the hell were they going to do now? The only fact he knew was the he had to stop her. He would never let her- she had said sacrifice, didn't she? Fuck. Ariadne was a virgin.
He licked his lips once and screamed at the door "I want to speak to Vito!"
A few seconds later, the door opened.
Authors Note:
Thank you so much for reading.
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Take Care!