I know I’m sick. A “normal” woman would be calling the police. But normal was always so fucking boring. All my previous relationships bored me into a stupor. Valerio doesn’t ask. He commands. And I fucking love it.
“Sit,” he says, not looking up from the stove.
My knees hit the underside of the small table as I sit.
He brings over a plate of eggs. He sits across from me, cuts a piece, and holds it to my mouth.
“Eat. All of it.”
I open for him. I chew slowly, loving how he’s taking care of me like I’m his everything. Can a man like this love?
“You’re thinking too much,” he says, feeding me another bite. “I can hear your brain trying to categorize me, Charlotte. Stop.”
“I was wondering if you’re capable of love,” I say honestly. “Or if this is just you needing to win.”
He drops the fork. It clatters against the ceramic.
“I’m obsessed with you,” he growls. “You think I’m the one ruling you because I tell you when to eat or how to fuck? My mind is never empty of you. I’m a prisoner to the way you breathe. You rule me more than I’ll ever be able to rule you.”
He reaches to the counter and grabs a ring box I didn’t notice before. It’s a diamond so large it looks vulgar. He doesn’t get on his knees or even fucking ask.
“I’m not running again,” he vows. “I’m yours. You’re the only person who gets to see the man behind the mask. If you want me on a leash, I’ll give you the chain myself. But you wear my ring. You wear it so everyone knows you’re the only thing that keeps me from burning the world down. You’re the only person in this world I care about.”
He slides the ring onto my finger.
“Do you want me, Charlotte? Even the parts that disgust you?”
I look at my name scabbed onto his stomach. “Nothing about you disgusts me. But you never actually asked,” I sigh.
“Why would I ask?” His voice is a dry rasp. “Asking implies there’s a version of this where you say no. I’m not interested in that reality.”
“Maybe I would say no,” I tease, though we both know it’s a lie. I want to own him too. “Maybe I want a choice, Valerio.”
“There is no choice,” he growls, his mouth inches from mine. “I would do anything to keep you. I’d sedate you, drag you to an altar, and have a priest bless the union while you’re out cold. You aren’t leaving. You aren’t saying no.”
God, he’s fucking insane. Cuckoo in the head… we’re meant for each other.
He captures my hand, his teeth sinking into the soft flesh of my palm. I gasp. He moves to my wrist, his mouth leaving a dark, mottled hickey over the blue veins. He circles my ring finger with his lips, leaving a bruising purple ring around the base of the diamond.
“It looks better with my marks on you,” he mutters against my skin.
My brain is screaming about the pathology of this, the sheer,unhinged toxicity of a man who talks about kidnapping as a romantic gesture. But I don’t pull away.
I’m just as sick as he is.
“You’re a monster,” I breathe.
“Your monster,” he corrects.
He wipes a microscopic drop of grease off the marble. This man carries a bottle of sanitizer in his pocket like a rosary. He won’t touch a doorknob without a glove, but last night, he buried his face in my fucking ass. He ate me like he was starving for the taste of it.
“You’re a germaphobe, Valerio,” I say while admiring my new ring. I’m an engaged woman now. Never thought it would happen. “But last night… you didn’t seem very concerned about hygiene.”
“You’re not dirty, Charlotte,” he says. “Anything that comes from you is part of my survival. I’d lick the blood off your knees if it meant I got a taste of what makes you run.”
I shiver. It’s unhinged. It’s the kind of thing a stalker says before he stuffs you in a trunk, but coming from him, it feels like a coronation.
“Is there going to be a prenup?” I ask, twisting the heavy diamond on my finger. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take half the empire when I finally realize just how crazy you are?”
