“You will have dinner with me this evening.”
I looked up in shock to see Matteo standing in the doorway to my bedroom, which was indeed my bedroom now because he no longer slept with me. I was relegated to one of the guest rooms, and he took the master suite.
It was just one of the many things that had changed between us since he had found the poison all those days ago.
Or was it weeks?
It was impossible to keep track. The TV and radio had been taken. I had the view and some books, but nowhere to actually keep track of the time that passed.
All I seemed to do was read, sleep, and think about how things should have been so different.
Not that regrets were doing any good.
Matteo had made it clear that he would never forgive me.
And really, I didn’t deserve it. Sure, I might not have used the poison, but I should have told him.
Because I was never going to use it.
It wouldn’t make any difference now. Matteo had found it and was now treating me like the enemy.
Which he had every right to, but that didn’t mean it got any easier living with a man who hated me and wanted my whole bloodline wiped out day after day.
My gut clenched. He wanted to murder my whole family, and that included Lily. He might not know about her, and now he never ever could. I would never risk her, even if that meant I would never see her again.
“Are you crying again?” he barked, and I started, dropping the book to my lap as I jumped. Self-consciously, I touched my fingers and they came back wet.
“Why are you crying again, Sophia? Did someone you care about try to poison you?” His voice dripped with sarcasm. Which it always did these days.
In the few times he spoke to me, it was always sarcastic and borderline cruel, like he enjoyed torturing me.
“I’m sad.” Lifting the book, I went back to reading. “And I’m not hungry.”
The book was yanked out of my hands and tossed away. Matteo leaned over me, giving me no choice but to retreat into the pillows and stare up at him in fear.
Was this the moment he killed me? I knew he wanted to every time he looked at me. I could see the murder in his eyes.
Anything he had ever felt for me was gone. And he would never listen if I tried to explain.
Not that I could explain.
“I don’t think,” his head descended, and for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, “I was asking.”
Yeah, he wasn’t going to kiss me. He just wanted to get up close and personal when he spat his hatred. “You will dress properly, and you will join me for dinner. In fact…”
His eyes swept over my body. “You will make me dinner.”
My eyebrows shot up. Make dinner for him? I hadn’t even been allowed to make a sandwich since he had found that stupid vial.
Everything we ate was ordered in. He was worried I would try to poison him.
“Is that so?” God, I was so tired of this.
“Yes.” Climbing back off the bed, he stood there and stared. “Yes, you will, Sophia, because it would be a shame for our time together to come to an end so soon, don’t you think?” His smile was crueller than anything I had ever seen. “And accidents do happen. Plus, you’ve been so sad recently…”
I swung my legs over the bed. He didn’t need to finish that particular sentence. I knew what he was trying to say.
“What would you like me to cook for you, Matteo?”
