“I’ll have tea with three sugars, a dash of milk, a drop of honey, and a biscuit.”
I glanced back at him, confused by his explicit instruction, but shrugged it off to see the girl prepare it. Maybe he was just picky about his tea. Instead of handing it to him, she placed it on the edge of the cart and pushed it closer to him. Dante remained in place, so she pushed it a bit closer. Nothing.
Receiving a glare from the older woman, the girl stiffened and picked up the plate with the teacup and biscuit, extending her hand towards him though she was still too far for him to reach it. Dante arched a challenging brow at her, and the girl began to take small steps, extending her arms farther so he could take it.
He didn’t.
When her hands began to tremble, the cup tinkling against the plate more and more I realized she was terrified of him. No, not of him. Of his deathly darkness.
The others grumbled under their breaths, while Dante just stood there, forcing the poor girl to get close to him. The older lady didn’t say a word to help her, expecting the girl to do her job and deliver the lord’s drink.
“You know, what? I can give it to him,” I offered, stepping closer to the girl, but Dante lifted a single hand, seeming bored by the spectacle.
“No need,” he sighed. “I just remembered I don’t drink tea.”
“Dante!” I gasped, smacking his arm, hard. He’d put that poor girl through all that for nothing.
His lips twitched as he glanced down at me, but he didn’t let the smile take over them.
D pinched the bridge of his nose, probably wanting to sucker punch Dante, and I was tempted to encourage it.
My incredulous gaze returned to my mate, not believing he would be so cruel knowing these people were terrified of him. And then something struck me. Lifting my hand to his cheek, I called his gaze to me, seeing the sliver of resentment and pain hidden within the shadows of his gaze. A truth revealed to no one else but me.
Instantly, I realized why he had begged me to never fear him.
For two hundred years, humans had feared him so much that they didn’t even want to come near him after realizing who he was. Orwhathe was in their eyes. His own power had once killed the woman he loved, but they didn’t care about his suffering. The only thing people saw when they looked at him was the deathlyLord of Twilight.
Dante was far, far more than that, but they never gave him a chance to show them that, did they?
Stepping closer to him, I took his hand in mine, pulling on his lapel again to kiss him. The darkness intensified in his eyes right before his mouth closed on mine, recognizing that I knew the depth of his true feelings.
A loud gasp escaped the young girl when I let go of him, and she glanced at me in panic while his shadows danced around my body, caressing me with love. Facing her again, I looked into her eyes, letting her know he was mine, and I could never fear him.
“Very well,” the old woman interjected, having seen enough. “Allow me to escort you to your rooms so you can refresh and change before meeting the Viscountess. She is expecting you.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any clothes to change into,” I replied, we had left everything in Dante’s apartment.
“The closets are stocked with everything you might need,” the woman offered, and without another word, she turned, leading us toward the grand staircase.
My gaze jumped from one place to the next as we walked, absolutely mesmerized by such beauty. From the off-whites, thegolds, the crystal chandeliers the polished wooden surfaces, and even the white and obsidian stone floors, everything exuded elegance and power. I had no idea what the details carved onto the ceilings were called but I had never seen anything like it.
It occurred to me then that after meeting D and the others I had done, and seen, many things I never had before in my life. In one way or another, I’d experienced all myfirstswith them.
Turning before we reached the grand staircase; the lady led us to an elevator instead.
“There’s an elevator here?” I whispered, seeing the woman turn to look at me over her shoulder.
“Ms. Natasha,Rosu Castleis six stories high and has one hundred and twenty rooms, of course, we have an elevator.”
We stopped at the third floor, and she gestured us outside. We followed. “I leave you to your rooms,” she began. “Your temporary room, Ms. Natasha, is right next to Ms. Isis’.”
“Thank you, Edith. I’ll guide her there,” Isis assured, and the woman graciously bowed at us.
“Do let me know if you need anything at all.”
With that, Edith reentered the elevator and left.
We all walked in the same direction, and I was relieved to see that like in Dante’s penthouse, all our rooms were next to each other.
