He placed the grape on my tongue, and I bit hard. He chuckled, shaking his head, and leaned back on his seat.
The sweetness exploded into my mouth. So fucking sweet I could’ve cried.
He watched me chew. And for a moment, he looked… satisfied.
“How do you know I like them peeled?” I whispered. Already knew he was a stalker before kidnapping me.
“I know everything about you, Dolcezza.”
The words coiled around my throat like poison, and I swallowed them.
He peeled another and fed me again. I didn’t resist this time because I knew what defiance cost.
His gaze drifted to the window, to the horizon where the sea bled into the sky. He took a sip of his coffee.
“Your mother is a beautiful woman.”
The sweetness turned bitter, and I whispered, “Was.” A correction.
“Your mother is alive.”
The words detonated inside me.
My breath caught mid-inhale, and for a terrifying second, I forgot how to exhale. My heart missed a step. Then another. It stumbled like a drunk in a storm.
It felt like someone had cracked my chest open and whispered a lie directly into my lungs.
Alive? Alive… No.No, no, no. It can’t be.
I sat frozen. My mouth still tasted of grapes, and now they felt like rot. My fingers curled into the hem of the red dress, crumpling silk like paper, and I let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“You’re lying.” My voice cracked. “She’s dead. She’s been dead since I was…”
Was… since when? I have forgotten.
“No,” he interrupted, eyes back on mine. “She just left.”
And just like that, my body forgot how to hold itself up. My mother. I had glimpses of. All of it… was that a lie? Or was he the lie?
“I don’t believe you,” I replied frantically. “You’re trying to break me again.”
He leaned back, a muscle twitched in his jaw, and he looked far too composed for someone who just uprooted my entire foundation. Yet, he peeled another grape and held it out.
I didn’t take it.
He arched a brow. “If I wanted to break you, Dolcezza, you’d already be ash. Like I’ve said before,” his eyes narrowed, “I want you.”
“Why?” I snapped, trembling like a leaf. “Why would she leave me and not come back? Adrian said she died of heart disease! Why would she fake her death? Why would she…”
“Because she loved something more than you.”
My stomach dropped like I’d been pushed off a cliff, and my body hadn’t caught up.
“You’re lying,” I half-chuckled, half-whispered like a mad woman.
He sighed, pushed his chair back, and stood. My head snapped to him, arching, watching as he walked around the table and stopped behind me.
I didn’t turn, but my whole body tensed. I felt him leaning before I felt his sinful lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You’ll understand soon, Dolcezza. This world doesn’t care about you. It doesn’t care how you feel, what you want, or if you live. It’s not sweet.” I stared blankly at where he had previously put the grape skin.
