The Slave of Pleasure
Chapter 21

Vincenzo I hate nosy people. I always have. So when I saw Rachel peeking in like a curious child, my patience simply ran out. Does she think she can get her hands on my affairs, as if what happens here is any of her business? I made it clear from the beginning that her deal didn't include knowing everything, just following my rules.

I closed the door behind me slowly, trying to control the direction I was heading upstairs. She was facing away, still drying her hair with a towel, as if she had no idea what was coming. When I heard the sound of the door, she jumped a little, turning around with a look of surprise and confusion.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, clearly disconcerted, as if I were the intruder.

I stared at her for a moment, feeling the weight of anger in the words that were coming, but I held myself back. "I'm the one asking the questions, Rachel. Not you." My voice came out colder than I intended, but it didn't matter. She probably understood that there was no room for disrespect. "Now, tell me. What were you doing downstairs in the office?" She hesitated, and that only made my gaze grow louder. Rachel looked away, knowing she couldn't lie to me. Not here, not now. I approached her slowly, each step measured. The way her eyes widened a little more with every inch I got closer was almost satisfying. Almost. "I... I was just curious," she finally said, her voice low, barely above a whisper. "I didn't mean to—" "Curious?" I interrupted, crossing my arms. "Curiousness is not a good excuse, Rachel. Not here. Curiosity can be dangerous. For you." She held my gaze, but I saw the uncertainty in her eyes. She knew she'd crossed a line, but I don't think she yet understood the depth of that line. "You think you can rule my affairs? That you can just wander around the house and listen to conversations that don't concern you?" The words came out fast now, and I didn't bother trying to sound calm anymore. She probably knew what that was.

She shook her head quickly, but didn't say anything else. Of course she wouldn't. What else could she say? She knew she was wrong, but the problem with people like Rachel is that they always think they have an excuse. That there's always a reason for their behavior that somehow gets excused. But not here.

"You're going to say something, Rachel." My voice was lower now, more controlled, but still sharp. "If you want to survive in this place, you're going to have to learn to follow the rules. And the first rule is: stay out of your own way." I stood in front of her, inches away, taking in every detail of her occurrence. She was tense, barely breathing. Good. That was exactly how I wanted her to be. She needed to understand her place here, and I wouldn't hesitate to remind her of that whenever necessary.

"Know your place," I said definitively, trying to end that conversation. I turned around to make my disapproval of her attitude quite clear, slamming the door firmly as I left the room. When I left, I went straight to my room. I keep everything under control around here, especially my mind, but there are some things, few things that truly test my patience, and heightened curiosity is one of them.

As I entered the room, I sat on the corner of the bed opposite the door, thinking about everything that the grandmother had done to me here, about my current responsibilities as the one who is in charge of the interests of the Moretti family, while at the same time calming my anger at Rachel's unreasonable attitude. My mind thought about everything at once until suddenly the door to my room began to open. Obviously, it couldn't be any of the servants. Such an invasive and audacious act could only come from someone in that house. "I'm sorry Vicenzo, I know what you did was rude and wrong. It won't happen again." Rachel said, closing the door behind her, crossing the room and kneeling in front of me. I looked her straight in the eyes and immediately knew that she had told the truth and not a false promise just to free herself from the guilt as soon as possible. I stared at her seriously for a few moments and finally nodded as if to say "I accept your apology."

In that moment of "reconciliation" between us, Rachel smiled strangely, relieved and mischievous. In a somewhat unexpected way, Rachel looked at the door of the red room for a few seconds and said, "When we were in my room, you said that I don't know where I belong." Her eyes met mine again and she promptly asked me, "And where is my place?" I couldn't fully contain the laughter that reluctantly escaped me, I promptly straightened my posture, previously hunched forward and now standing up straight, I began to open my belt buckle slowly and it was more the growing excitement on Rachel's face and body, who was starting to breathe deeply because she knew what was coming next. I took off my belt, approached Rachel, wrapped my belt around her neck while she didn't take her eyes off me for even a second. I passed the belt through the buckle and suddenly tightened it tightly with a quick movement, causing Rachel to let out a lust-filled moan, and I can't deny that that excited me a lot.

"You asked me where your place is... I'll show you," I said as I stood up, carrying the belt in my hands like a leash and heading towards the red room. Rachel, with her eyes shining with desire, began to stand up. "No!" I exclaimed and immediately she returned to her knees on the floor, understanding exactly what I wanted her to do and like a disobedient chain I guided her to the place where I would punish her.