"I…" I start panicking. I have my bucket list, right? Going to the opera, to a museum, driving a car, eating everything I want… so many things, why can't I pick just one?
"Let's do it this way.” Enzo takes my hands in his, his eyes focused on mine. “Every day we'll do something new, something you want. How does that sound?" It's like he's reading my mind, realizing that there are so many things I want to do that I can't just choose one.
"OK," I nod slowly, a little shocked by the outcome of our conversation. At best, I thought I'd scream some more insults at him, and at worst, that I'd tackle him to the ground.
"Good," he stands up, and he does another thing that surprises me to my core: he kisses my forehead.
25
ALLEGRA
I watchin awe as he goes back to his reading, picking up his newspaper again as if nothing happened. As if he hadn't just turned my entire world upside down.
Dangerous. He's dangerous, not only to my body but to my heart as well.
I don't want to like him, because he represents everything I hate about this world. But why can't I bring myself to hate him?
Because he doesn't fit inside the box.
Enzo can be cruel and overbearing one moment but kind and gentle the next. There's a duality in him that makes little sense.
You want to figure him out.
No! I most certainly do not. I try to shove my inner voice out of the way. It's better if I stay detached. Even when he looks at me with those sexy eyes…
I shake my head, trying to dispel those thoughts. It won't do me any good to dwell on them.
Picking up the book, I focus on reading again. At some point, I doze off, because when I wake up, it's already dark outside.
I stretch a little, and a blanket falls from my body.
"Rise and shine, little tigress," Enzo greets me, moving a table full of food in front of my chair.
"For me?" I ask softly as I take in everything on the table. It's a feast worthy of a queen.
"Eat," he urges, but I'm already ahead of him, stuffing my mouth with hot buns. "Hey, easy, no one's taking it away from you," he tries to reassure me, but I'm past the stopping point now.
Not when his mother had made sure I got only the bare minimum to survive.
"Easy," his hand strokes my hair softly as he watches me eat with gusto.
"Thank you," I manage to say between bites. Now that the initial reaction is wearing off, I remember that time in Agrigento and how I'd been sick afterward. And it would be a pity to waste this food…
I slow down but still don't stop.
"Why are you smiling?" I frown as I catch him staring at me.
"I enjoy watching you eat," he answers, and for a moment I wonder if this was supposed to be for both of us. My eyes widen in fear—the prospect of having to share my food terrifies me.
He notices my reaction because he quickly amends that it's only for me.
My lips spread in a smile.
"You can have this.Onlythis." I reluctantly push the last bun toward him.
His eyebrows shoot up at my offering, but he doesn't refuse it. I continue eating, but I also watch him slowly bite into the bun, his mouth fitting around it.
I still, mouth agape, as I watch the eroticism of that small gesture. It reminds me of last night, the way he also feasted on…
