They would judge me.
And no matter how they find me, I will still be art.
I might act when the need arose, but at the end of the day, I would turn back into me. I could find the real me anywhere, any time, any place. My faces were fluid but my core solid.
On to the next big thing.
What would I say to the spinning top once we crashed into each other on this street?
Oh, hello there!
No, that was too contrived. Anything but what happened naturally in the moment would be. I would just act on what felt natural once at her side.
She was so sweet, though, I knew a gesture of good will would not go amiss. I popped into a shop and purchased two gelati while she had disappeared inside of a pottery place. I was quicker than she was, and the sight of her standing outside of the shop stopped me.
She was…a floating being, and I wondered if her feet followed her thoughts. It was as if she had a hot air balloon inside of her, and she was always looking up for answers or looking down at the world trying to figure out how to fix it.
Taking this as my cue to enter her life, I slipped a hand around her tiny waist, yanking her side against mine. I really had no idea how she survived thatbella bestia. I was surprised that he had not cracked her in two.
Impressive.
She was surviving his physical power.
One look into her eyes, and I was amazed that he was surviving whatever power she held below the surface of those jealousy-colored irises.
I smiled at her, offering her the cup of gelato. “The best inItalia. Homemade. Do not be bashful. Try it.”
I could feel her resistance, her body trying to pull away from mine, but I kept my grip firm and our hips together as I licked my sweet treat. She squinted at me, like I had suddenly brought the blazing sun out with me. Perhaps because of this, she accepted the gelato.
She almost hummed as she ate. And after a tender breeze swept past us, I inhaled, smelling roses in the air. She carried the scent with her as if it was just part of her natural makeup. It did not smell store bought, even if it was. I did not usually care for rose. It gave me a headache, and that only perturbed me. But the scent on her was so natural, it was pleasant.
However, she might have been surviving thebella bestia, but she was thinner than the last time I saw her. Was it because of him? Or because Olivier was ruining her with too much dance?
I grinned. “I see thebella bestiais keeping you thin. He drives you to the point of skin and bones with his sex.”
She was so into her gelato, high in her balloon, that I pinched her side to get her to pay attention to me. She jumped a little, then smiled, a gelato mustache over her lips.
“It’s hard not to—if you were married to Brando Fausti, you’d understand.”
I could have laughed at either her smugness or innocence—it was hard to tell which. She might have looked delicate, but she was a hard nut. “I do,” I said, sighing. I had been giving Rocco a taste of what he wanted, just the two of us, as long as he fed me pasta after. The sex was not as intimate as he wanted, but the feeding was. I allowed it because I enjoyed being treated like a queen. “I have one of my own. But the difference between mybella bestiaand yours is that mine feeds me loads and loads of pasta after!”
She blinked at me when I laughed at the look on her face. It was pinched.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I think the question is…what are you doing here, Ballerina?”
She lifted her gelato, pointing at nothing in particular, and said, “Exploring.”
Not the answer I was looking for, but I knew this was not going to be easy. If it would have been, I would have been disappointed in Brando Fausti for choosing such a weak partner—the blood running through his veins, claimed or not, demanded it.
“I can see that,” I said, giving her my hand. “Come. Let me show you something.”
If I had to, I would have carried her to the car, but she came, even if a few steps behind. We stopped in front of my Ferrari, and I almost laughed at the curious look on her face. But I could tell it was warring with common sense, or whatever her feelings were speaking to her.
“What are you waiting for?” I took my seat, starting the car, giving her anI dare youlook.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
