The villa was half-asleep.
A strange stillness hung in the air, like even the wind was holding its breath.
I'd curled up in a corner of the hallway, crouched against the cold wall. My back ached. My arms, too. I'd spent the night rocking Angelina, pacing in circles through that damn room that reeked of sweat and hostility.
Downstairs, a silence too heavy to be peaceful filled the space.
No laughter. No music. No yelling.
Just... waiting.
Margot appeared out of nowhere, a steaming black coffee in one hand, a cigarette pinched between two fingers.
"You want to sleep with her tonight?" she asked, her tone flat, almost robotic.
I looked up at her, startled. My brain took a few seconds to catch up.
"Sorry… what?"
"The baby. If you want, I can lend you the back room. It's more isolated. Quieter. You might get some rest. Ana won't bother you there."
She said it like it was nothing. Like these kinds of decisions were made every day, between drags of a cigarette.
I swallowed hard. My hands were still trembling slightly.
"Thanks…"
"You just need to tell Eyass. The back room's where he keeps his shit sometimes. He doesn't like people touching it without asking. But he probably won't care, as long as you stay low."
I nodded.
Margot turned on her heel and headed to the kitchen, leaving behind a bitter trail of smoke.
I stayed there in the hallway, still as a guilty child.
The back room.
I knew which one she meant. I'd seen it once, the door left ajar. Grey walls, bare floor, shutters that never opened. A cold room. Lifeless. Like him.
I went back to the bedroom, gently picked up the sleeping Angelina, still swaddled in her blanket, and slipped out slowly, my steps barely making a sound on the tiles.
I had just reached the bottom of the stairs when a voice stopped me cold.
"Where are you going?"
I turned, my heart jumping into my throat.
Eyass stood in the doorway of the living room, arms crossed, his bare chest covered in dark, menacing tattoos. A vein throbbed in his temple. His black eyes tore right through me.
I felt small. Like I always did around him.
"Margot said I could take the back room. Just for the night," I whispered.
He didn't answer right away.
He never answered right away.
He stepped closer.
Each footfall echoed inside me like a threat. I clutched Angelina tighter, as if she could shield me.
He stopped right in front of me.
"And you thought you could just dump your shit in there without asking me?"
His voice was low. Slow. Each word landed like a loaded gun.
"I don't have any shit... just Angelina. She's asleep. It's just quieter there, and I—"
"You still don't get it, Emma," he cut me off, his gaze locked on mine.
"You're not at home here. You don't get to make decisions. You ask. Or you stay where you're told. It's that simple."
Tears welled up, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of him. Not anymore.
I lowered my gaze.
"Okay... I just didn't want to wake her again…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Go. And close the door behind you."
I nodded quickly, eager to vanish.
I crossed the hall like a thief, heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.
When I shut the door to the back room behind me, my legs gave out.
I slid down the wall, still holding Angelina in my arms.
There was nothing here.
A broken lamp. A worn mattress pushed against the wall. An empty dresser.
But it was quiet.
And I could breathe.
---
Hours later, the villa began to stir.
Voices. Footsteps. Distant, muffled laughter.
Then the sound of an engine pulling up the driveway.
I looked out the tiny window.
Denis was back—Eyass's right-hand man. He stepped out of the car like he owned the place, cigarette hanging from his mouth, sunglasses still on even though night had already fallen.
Laurina came running out, heels clacking on the pavement, her cropped grey top barely covering her ribs. She threw herself into his arms like a teenager.
"Where the hell were you!" she shouted, half-laughing, half-crying. "You didn't answer a single message!"
He didn't reply.
He kissed her forehead and pulled her close, his hand lingering too low on her back.
"You're back?" came a voice behind me, making me jump.
Margot. Leaning against the doorframe, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other—always.
"Yeah... I've been here a while," I murmured.
"What did Eyass say?"
I shrugged.
"The usual. That I don't get to decide."
Margot nodded slowly, her eyes staring into nothing.
"You know... he's not human. He's a product. A monster built from hate and orders. He doesn't love anything. Doesn't feel anything."
She took a drag.
"But he didn't kick you out."
I turned to her.
"Why does he keep me here?"
She exhaled smoke through her nose.
"Because he wants to keep you. Not you, the girl. You, the reminder. You're the proof he fucked up. And Eyass... he never lets a mistake slip away. He cages it. Watches it rot. That's how he stays in control."
Her words chilled me to the bone.
She held her mug out toward me.
"Drink. Or you're gonna collapse."
I took the cup. Black coffee. Bitter. Scalding.
Like my throat.
Like this life.
---
It was late when I heard the knock.
Just one.
No more.
I gently set Angelina down on the mattress and opened the door.
Eyass.
Still shirtless. Still those ice-cold eyes.
"You left the light on. It's lighting up the courtyard."
That was all he said.
I opened my mouth to answer, but he stepped inside.
I backed away instinctively.
He looked around the room like it was some old memory he wanted to erase.
"I told her she could stay here tonight," said Margot, reappearing like a familiar ghost behind him.
"I didn't say I wanted people in here."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Margot sighed, irritated.
"And I said she needed quiet. Do whatever the hell you want with your goddamn walls, but let the baby breathe at least."
He stared at her. Long and hard.
Then he turned to me.
"If she screams again tonight, I swear, Emma... it won't end well."
I clenched my fists.
I wanted to speak. Scream.
But I knew one word would be enough for him to crush me against that wall.
So I stayed silent.