Last night, I’d been too panicked to look at him, but now… The way he was dressed and carried himself, he hadn’t broken into our apartment to steal.
Lethal and terrifying.
“Hello, Dolcezza,” he said softly, stepping into the room.
I scrambled off my arse as he stalked towards me like a hungry tiger circling the rabbit. Something in his eyes glinted, and I noticed the wildness too quickly.
I was going to scratch his face if he touched me.
A step closer from him, a step back from me. Then another and another, until I was pressed against the wall, the chain tight around my ankle, dragging me down to sit.
His shiny, polished shoes blocked my vision, and I craned my neck to look at him. He tilted his head, and my eyes caught the scar that ran down his cheek. It was faint, yet not something you could miss. Unhinged stormy grey eyes trained on my face,dragging down my body, lowering to my bleeding knee. His lips twisted.
“Who… who are you?”
He lowered himself, and I flinched as he knelt in front of me. I stared at him, wanting to ask him so many questions, but couldn’t with my heart hammering in my throat.
He patiently watched me, observing my shaky limbs and trembling lips.
I made myself stay still when his hand was raised to touch my face. I just sat there. This murderer’s fingers were gentle on my skin, almost tender. For a moment I was disoriented.
“Who am I?” he repeated my words. “Who do you think I am, Dolcezza?”
My ankles ached against the chains, and I knew I was bleeding, yet I couldn’t stop pulling. Futile, useless, desperate. My body fought for freedom even as my mind sank deeper into the hole.
“Why?” I spat, my voice trembling but firm. “Why did you kill him? Why are you doing this to me?”
His lips twitched—a ghost of a smirk that never reached his eyes. He tilted his head, studying me like a puzzle he had all the time in the world to solve.
“Knowing why will not make this hurt any less.”
This time I flinched when his hand trailed down my cheek, deceptively tender, until it gripped my jaw with bruising force. My teeth clenched under the pressure, and I whimpered, hating the sound that escaped me.
“You want to know why I killed him?” he continued, and I glared at him with hatred burning in my eyes. “Because he was in my way.”
Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. He didn’t deserve to see me break. My throat ached as I swallowed down the sob clawing its way up. Adrian was gone. His laughter, his warmth—stolen by this monster that now crouched before me.
“You’re sick,” I hissed, my voice cracking.
His grip tightened, forcing my head back against the cold wall. His face was calm, unnervingly so, like my words did not have any impact on him.
“I’ve been called worse.”
I thrashed, trying to pull away, but he held me easily, his strength a cruel reminder of how hopeless this was. My wrists burned, and I felt the sticky warmth of blood pooling beneath the chains.
“What are you going to do to me? Kill me?” I hated how he scared me.
He chuckled as if my trembling voice amused him.
“I find you worth keeping, Dolcezza.”
His words sank into me like knives, and all I could do was shatter more and more.
“Why… why did you do this? What have we ever done to you? What do you want from me?”
For a moment, his jaw tightened and a faint tick betrayed an otherwise eerily calm demeanor. Then he chuckled, sending a chill down my spine.
“What do I want?” he echoed, his tone deceptively soft. His storm-grey eyes bored into mine before raking over my body. “What any man wants—sex.”
