46. The Love That Hurts (Bonus 3)

Normally when she hit him someone saved her. She was alone now. She took a few steps back as he looked at her. She found herself hitting a bed and she fell on the mattress. She sat down expectantly waiting for his outburst. He watched her silently. He had a glint in his eye. He walked towards her and she braced herself for retaliation. He stood towering over her and grabbed her chin again tilting it upwards "Anna. I just warned you. Didn't I. When you are feisty I like it. It makes me want you even more. So if you want to tempt me go ahead. You do know already how madly in love I am with you. You tempt me with your defiance. I have enough self restraint but you are testing it. Don't. Don't tempt me. If I lose control, you won't like the consequences. You will get hurt." He then gave her a long hard stare.

Anna took it as her warning. She was lucky she was getting any at all. It was within her nature to be rebellious. It was in her blood. She hoped she was going to be rescued soon. She didn't think she could hold her tongue and be civil for very long.

Jackson let go of her chin "Now where were we? We need to get breakfast but I can't overlook the fact you slapped me. I can't allow that to go unpunished. I don't want to break your face for hitting me... but I will have to make you pay in some other ways. Don't I? How about this? I let this go if you don't resist it... when I hold you." He then ran his hands down her arm making her cringe.

Anna then watched him walk away not waiting for her answer. "I will get you breakfast in bed. Behave."

The way he looked at her scared her. It was as though he was going to jump on her and devour her any second. But of course he had principles. He had enough self restraint not to do it. She gulped as she imagined what he thought of when he looked at her. He already dreamt of marrying her and making her pregnant with his child while Arturo was still alive. Him being alive saved her from this doomed destiny for now. Jackson was a man who almost ended up being her husband if it wasn't for Francesco. When she pushed Arturo away he was always there to defend him. Even her parents liked Jackson more. They saw Arturo as a risky choice for her. But Francesco never lost faith in him. Francesco loved her like a sister so he protected her long enough knowing Jackson was going to soon take over and clock was ticking so he had forced her to marry before it was too late. Francesco warned her that she could get abducted by Jackson back in the day. He had foreseen this. He had warned her if an O'Kane wanted a woman they would steal them without parental consent and she needed to be wary which she laughed off. Even now that she was married it had happened finally.

Anna stood up and walked around the room as Jackson left the room. He hadn't locked the door so Anna could assume he had guards outside. She was right of course. When she opened the door, she saw many armed men surrounding the room. All across the corridor there were only armed guards.

She wanted to check the windows next when she went back in. As she drew the curtains she found herself facing a brick wall. He had deliberately blocked the windows so she couldnt escape or get hurt. She could imagine she was up many floors. It took a long time for her elevator to reach this floor. She walked to the other curtain. She drew it and she found another brick wall. He wanted to have her trapped. She looked around. There was no chance anyone could see her from the outside. There were no windows. She had to escape but how. There was hardly anything in the room at all so she couldnt make any weapons.

She went to the rest room and looked at the mirror. She put her hands on the wall facing herself "What have I done?" She couldnt believe how she had endangered herself. Everyone was going to search for her and they had to find her if she didnt escape. The through of anyone risking their lives for her made her feel sick.

The reality was slowly sinking in. People could die for her. She didnt want anyone to die. If only... No. She told herself there was no way Arturo could let her do that. She could divorce Arturo and it could mean peace. But her husband could never let her go... Unless she was convincing. She was willing to do that. She was willing to sacrifice herself if it meant it kept peace. How could she love Jackson when she was Arturo's. No woman should have made that decision. To give up the man they loved for a forced love they didnt want. The thought of Jackson touching her made her feel sick. He was not her husband. But she told herself maybe if she divorced Arturo.

She closed her eyes and the first thing that came to her mind was Francesco. What would she say if he was there? He would have told her to break the mirror with a chair and get a piece to stab Jackson with it. She had doubts. What if he lived? That was the problem. She couldnt trust herself to be able to kill him. What if he didnt die? Then what? Francesco would tell her to stab him in the eye. But could she stare into his ice cold blue eyes and stab him. Francesco would. But she wasn't sure if she had the heart to do it. So there were ways out of her situation. She just didnt have the guts. She had feelings for him and it was killing her how she had those unwanted feelings coming back to her. She loved Arturo but Jackson was his side dish.

She remembered how Francesco used to put his hand on her shoulder and say "Fight back Anna. Give it to them. You have my full back up." Back then when she was younger she was closer to Franceso. She was the sister he never had. When the boys used to be mean, he used to beat them up but also riled her up to fight back. "Anna. Give it to them. Fight."

When Anna had a run in with Jackson and Francesco was around it always ended fast back when they were teenagers. She would be trapped as Jackson surrounded her with his Irish gang whether it was in a party or on the streets or at the bar and Francesco would come from behind and embrace her.

Francesco had nerve. When he was surrounded by armed Irish boys who wanted his blood he still acted like he had an army behind him.

One time they were at a bar when they were teenagers, maybe 16 or 17.

Jackson was patronising Anna at a bar trying to intimidate her and tell her she was in the wrong side of town so she felt his power.

Francesco had arrived and had warned him off. "Leave my cousin alone."

Jackson threatened him too "I tell you once to stay out of my business. I tell you once. If I have to tell you twice then you wont like it..."

Francesco had chucked back. What are you going to do? Shoot me? Be my guest. I shoot back. Are you faster than me Jackson? Do you want to put it to the test? A duel. Like in westerns."

O' Neil backed up Francesco against Jackson "If you shoot him, I will shoot you..."

It was typical of the situation. There was Francesco and O'Neil versus Jackson and all other Irish families in New York who were in the circle of underground crime.

When he took her home he always lectured her "Give it back to him Anna. Fight back. Dont let him dictate to you who you are. You are a Rosario. You dont take orders from him. Dont let him speak to you like that. You have my full permission to hit him. I will fix it later."

Jackson had gotten the message that she was special to Francesco so he became more careful in how he spoke to her. As they grew older he was less of a nuisance but she did pursue her aggressively and she didnt welcome the attention at all.

She washed her face with cold water and went back to her prison once again. She laid down on the bed and covered her face trying to decide how to go about this.

She then heard noise but ignored it. The door opened and he heard his breathing first as he got close to her. She heard him put the breakfast tray on the side table and felt him closer. He had sat down on the edge of the bed. She felt his cold hands on on her arm.

She sighed and let her hand down "I dont like being touched by you Jackson. You are not my husband."

Jackson started stroking her hair and said " I know that. I like to touch you so one of us has to give in. That wont be me... Give in. You cant win Anna. You will get used to me soon enough. You will be a widow soon. You will get to live the life with me you were meant to have. Not the one you were forced to have because of Francesco's interference."

Anna could hear the strain in his voice when he mentioned Francesco. He didnt like him. His tone even became colder when he mentioned him. If only he knew Francesco had alot more to do with him not marrying her, hell was going to break loose.

Anna shook her head "You are taking advantage of me. How is this noble? You are meant to be honourable."

Jackson touched her hips and rubbed circles over her curves feeling content she didnt slap him this time. She was learning this was her fate. He didnt want to hurt her but he knew if she slapped him again he wasn't going to let her get away with it. He said " I am honourable. I am just touching whats belong to me. You belong to me. You were mine to begin with. I saw you first. I met you before Arturo did. He stole you away. Now I have you. This is not his country. He wont get you back. He wont find you. He is making his way to New York after hearing you are gone. I am thinking of striking him on his way here. Maybe he dies on his plane or on touch down. A rocket hitting his plane..."

Anna sat up on the bed, shocked "You wont do this... You wouldn't dare. You will not kill my husband."

Jackson said "Stop me."

Anna said "This has gone too far Jackson. If you truly loved me you wont attack my husband. He is the father of my children. You cant do this."

Jackson stood up "You cant stop me. What are you going to do Anna?"

Anna gulped. She had two choices. She could kill Jackson or divorce Arturo and give in. She had a feeling neither could work.

Jackson said "You cant do anything. So give in." He then sat down opposite her as he put the breakfast tray between them "Eat. You need your energy even if you want to fight me."

Anna stared at the tray. There was no cutlery. There were already made sandwiches "You have no cutlery. Are you worried I might stab you?"

Jackson said "I am not worried for me. I am worried for you Anna. If you make an attempt on my life then, you will get hurt pretty badly. I would hate to see your pretty face ruined." He then ran his hand on her forehead "I prefer it if you behaved. So I wont have to hurt you. I am not that easy to kill Anna. I will be a dangerous wounded man. You wont want to face me when I am wounded. Trust me."