Mia Regina (#1)

Chapter 16: New Ally

  It was almost time and I was still gawking at the huge dark maroon gown that was set up on a mannequin in my new massive walk-in closet alongside all my other new clothes that Zaya had brought in. She had a good fashion sense, I must say, but this dress was way out of my league.

          We had become good friends in a matter of couple hours. I'm not the one to make friends quickly, but Zaya was different. Her parents passed away when she was just eight which is how she ended up here. Leo's family took her in when they found her on the streets of Rome, alone and terrified along with her sister. They have brought her up since then just like hundreds of the other orphans according to Zaya. They educate the kids and train them to work for the family later on in their lives.

          "Let's get you in that dress," Zaya said as she stood at the door, staring at the beautiful material. "Boss will kill me if I don't get you all decked up in time." She walked towards the dress and tried taking it off the mannequin carefully.

          "Let me help you with that." I paved towards the dress and removed it cautiously from the mannequin.

          "This is heavy. Jesus! How are you going to stay in this the entire night?"

          "Well," I sighed, "You're the one who picked it out." We gently placed the heavy gown on the table in the middle of the room.

          "Oh, no," she laughed. "Sir got this. He personally went and bought it for you. It's his choice. Your other clothes are my choice."

          "Oh, I thought it was you."

          "No. I don't have that great of a fashion sense," she chuckled. "It was all him and it's the first time I've seen him do that. You're the lucky one, I guess."

          "Oh." My lips zipped up, unable to say anything else to that statement. He went out of his way to buy me a dress. A gorgeous out-of-my-league dress that I could never afford.

          "Okay now. Let's get you in this." She held the dress low for me to step in it. Pulling it up, she zipped up the back and turned me to face the mirror, forcing my eyes to widen at my reflection. I barely recognized the woman looking back at me.

          "Wow!"

          "I know!" She laughed. "You look... I can't even find the right word."

          "Breathtaking is the word you're looking for," a deep voice bellowed behind me. Zaya and I shot our eyes to the door to find Leo leaning against the door with a huge smirk embellishing his sculpted face.

          Zaya bowed and left us alone in the huge closet that began to constrict on me as Leo got closer and closer, compelling my heart to thump violently against my ribs.

          "I come baring gifts." He pulled out two antique wooden boxes from behind him that had glass covering the top. Before I could get a good look at the gifts inside, Leo placed the boxes on the table and ordered me to face the mirror.

          "Close your eyes." My eyes widened as he whispered into my ear. His warm breath hit my face, making the hair on my body to stand upright. "I asked you to close your eyes, not widen them," he laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything crazy."

          My eyes softened as I shut them slowly with a little fear lingering in my chest before I felt a cold metal around my neck. Jerking my eyes open out of fear, I found Leo placing a shiny diamond necklace. Thank god! it wasn't a gun. I let out a breath of relief and returned my attention back to the necklace. I was in complete awe of the beautiful piece of jewelry that adorned my neck. He was showering me with all these luxurious things that I could only imagine of having, but why? Why was he doing this? Why was he being so kind to me?