21. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Olivia
A lessandrio Greco.
Alessandrio. His name rattles around in my head, desperate for an escape, as if my mind is tempting my tongue to taste the sound of it. I swallow that temptation, afraid that the name at even a whisper will conjure the monster himself. I screw my eyes shut, as if it will help rid the image of him burning behind my lids. Images of him bursting through the door as I sat with his brother, hearing out Emilio’s terms. The ferocity of him that slowly morphed to annoyed disbelief when he heard their plan. It’s a terrible thing knowing the truth. The truth they say sets you free, but his truth has rattled me. A cursed man. It was so obvious, I should have seen it. All his actions and behaviours were very human, even the expressions in his monstrous face, and those eyes. I press my face into the pillow, groaning as my abused limbs test their newfound freedom.
A soft sound freezes my heart and my movement, the hairs on my bare arms prickling as I strain to listen again.
“Good morning.” My yelp gets lost in the pillow.
“What the—” His colossal form fills the seat he occupied less than twenty-four hours ago. “What are you doing?” Hysteria fills my voice, making it more of a screech. I draw my knees and the blankets up to my chest, backing away as far as the headboard will allow.
“That’s not a very polite way to greet your host now, is it?” There is a mechanical whir and the drapes begin the journey back across the wall of glass, blinding me in their wake.
“Shit,” I gasp, covering my eyes as pain throbs in my head.
The soft chuckle from the end of my bed makes my hackles rise. What the hell is he doing in here? This is totally unacceptable. Emilio promised me a room and freedom, not a stalker. Ahhh, but that’s how this started, didn’t it? My stalker.
“Why are you so obsessed with me?” I snap, pulling the blankets down from my watering eyes and blinking desperately for them to adjust.
The booming laugh that answers me is obnoxious, dripping with unspoken sarcasm. “Obsessed with you? Please.”
With the light behind him, I watch his form stand, a dark mass against the too bright backdrop. His massive size moves closer, till he is at the very end of the bed and staring down at me. The shirt has slipped over my shoulder in my sleep and those eyes burn tracks down over my neck to my bare skin. His nostrils flare. Is that disgust? My stomach dips and I glare at him, tugging the cotton up over my shoulder.
“This isn’t a vacation, princess. You work for the Greco’s now and this is your wake up call. We have lots to go over before you make your debut tonight, so get your ass up and meet me in the kitchen in ten.”
I glare up at him. How dare he? This is a two-way street. I am helping them and to hell with being treated like that. “Fuck you,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
Another of those obnoxious laughs cracks through the room. “Not if you fucking told me it would end this curse,” he spits back, eyes glinting. “Now get up.”
Before I can even conjure a response, he turns and leaves, his claws clicking with every stride. Not even if it would end the curse? I shake my head, disturbed by the direction my mind is taking and the low simmer of confused hurt. The sound of sex echoes up from the depth of my memories. Was it porn? Are there female versions of them? And why the fuck am I thinking of sex and him in the same thoughts? Growling with frustration, I roll off the bed. If he thinks he can boss me around, demand things of me and treat me like I am at his beck and call, he is sorely mistaken.
With no clothes to swap out the oversized shirt, no hair brush to tame my dishevelled curls and no toothbrush, it isn’t long till I am heading down the hall, anger fueling my steps and ready for a confrontation. As I emerge, my eyes lock on him. His head is down over a plate of food, the curve of his horns catching the sun from the wall of windows behind him. His head swivels and our eyes clash. Will his gaze ever not unsettle me? The intensity of them sucking up all the breath in my lungs and bringing about an acute awareness of myself. Move, do something. I berate myself, cursing his ability to so easily intimidate me, and yet all I can manage is the narrowing of my own eyes. The movement of his hand draws my attention, his claw tipped fingers raise a fork that looks alarmingly undersized and points it and mindlessly my eyes follow the direction.
“Eat,” he says impatiently.
Beside him is another plate, one I hadn’t even noticed, piled with food. Food . The spell that froze my feet to the tiles breaks, my mouth salivating and despite its nearness to him, I am in the chair picking up my own fork before I can even talk myself out of it. It could have been anything: a plain piece of toast or a granola bar, and I dare say my hunger would make it taste like a five star meal. I appreciate the fact that the eggs are cooked to perfection: the bacon is crispy, and the bread is deliciously fresh. I was ready to go to war when I came out here, but right now, I can’t ever remember why I was so furious.
“Tonight is your debut.” Reality turns the food to ash in my mouth. “We have a lot to go over—”
“I’m not ready.” The desperation in my voice makes me cringe.
“You will be.” There is no doubting the warning growl in his voice.
And suddenly the anger that I had forgotten because of hunger rises like a tide, demanding to be heard. Metal clatters against marble as I forget all good sense and drop my cutlery, the sound stark and grating. I turn, but again, reality is the water that banks the fires. He’s so much closer than I thought, his own cutlery forgotten as he glares back at me, face twisted in a horrible mask of displeasure. I swallow, noting how slightly off centre his strong nose is. The fur covering the bridge is shorter, much like the rest of it, and more golden brown than Emilio’s. My eyes flick back up, meeting his narrowed gaze. Do not let him intimidate you. Easier fucking thought than done, but I swallow and plow on to this foolish path.
“Yesterday, I agreed to your brother’s plans. I didn’t agree to work for the Greco’s.” The corners of his lips twitch, and I see red. “You can’t speak to me the way you did this morning. I am not your captive anymore. The Greco’s need me, which means you need me, so if this is going to work—” I wave my hand around at his living space—“I need boundaries.”
There is a momentary pause, but it isn’t a silent one. There is a roaring in my head, like all the chambers of my heart have pumped at once. Then the bastard actually throws his head back and laughs, a rich sound that makes me want to throw something at him.
“Boundaries?!” he says through his laughter, clutching his chest dramatically.
“Just because someone cursed you to be a monster doesn’t mean you have to act like one!” Angry tears spring to my eyes.
Then he moves, lightning fast. His shadow consumes me as my mouth falls open, his fierce face sharp with angles despite the fur. Fear is numbing, as I’m reminded that he is exactly as I just called him. A monster. Who moves so impossibly fast I can do nothing to avoid his reaching hands as they come around my head. I feel his long fingers slide through my hair, gripping it tight at the base of my skull as he lifts me bodily off the stool. A cry rips from my throat as he pulls me in close, his face inches from mine, those teeth glinting with promise.
“Act?” he breathes out, his eyes flicking down to my parted lips. “Princess, your family only made the outside match the inside.” And as quick as lightning, he lets me go, I fall back against the stool, catching myself with a hand on the countertop for support. “Now eat. You will need your energy.”
With that, he moves away, picking up his plate and carrying it around to the sink as if he didn’t just rattle me to my very core. I snatch up the cutlery, more for something to do, my shaky hands making them scrape against the plate. What did I agree to yesterday? Regret consumes me as I begin to doubt if my brother is truly the biggest threat to me. Alessandrio Greco could not only break me, but he could tear me apart. That knowledge settles over me like a heavy weight.