Page 8 of Serendipity
He lowered his head, leaning closer to my ear, his breath playing with the loose strands of my hair and tickling my neck.
“My name is Nico,Tesoro. Nico Romano.”
“N-Nice to meet you.”
“Hmm, the pleasure is all mine.” He pressed his cheek against mine, his stubble rubbing against my skin. “Now, would you like to come with me to my apartment to discuss this?”
I wasn’t sure if I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I was even breathing at that point, but when he stepped next to me and put his arm on my lower back, slowly pushing me toward the exit, the first trickle of fear appeared in my chest, making me really think.
Was I about to sell my soul to the devil?
CHAPTER5
I rolledhis name over my tongue, tasting each letter, letting it ring in my head like a song I couldn’t get out of my mind. It tasted like danger, like everything I shouldn’t be doing, but as he led me out from the basement toward what I assumed was one of the rooms, I couldn’t help but think about my life and everything I’d accomplished so far.
Yes, I had a great career. At only twenty-eight, I was already a front office manager, climbing higher and higher, but was I really happy? Was this what I wanted my life to look like—working myself to death and then going out to drink or home to sleep?
I couldn’t believe that this emptiness inside my chest was all that there was going to be when I thought about my life. I couldn’t believe that the excitement, happiness, and adventure I used to dream about were only that—dreams. When did I allow myself to stop dreaming?
When did I become so lost in work and what other people expected of me that I forgot what I wanted?
As a teenager, I always imagined what it would feel like if I were free—free from expectations, free from social constructs suffocating us all, free from people that didn’t really know me.
We passed next to a large mirror in the hallway. Nico glanced at me, and for the first time in a very long time, I stopped and really looked at myself. My sandy-blond hair was in knots from the events of the day, my cheeks sunken and my eyes… My eyes didn’t have that spark I promised myself I would never lose.
Funnily enough, even though they kidnapped me, threw me into the basement, and didn’t feed me, here, I felt freedom I didn’t have in the outside world.
“What are you thinking about?” came from my right side and I looked in the same direction, my eyes colliding with Nico’s.
“Life,” I shrugged, “and burgers, to be very honest. I don’t think that you understand how serious the situation is.”
“You mean your kidnapping?” he asked, fighting the smile on his face.
“No, my hunger.” I huffed. “I am five minutes away from going down on my knees to chew on your leg.”
Something flashed across his face, something I liked more than I wanted to admit, and his voice dropped an octave when he spoke again. “I might have some other ideas for you and your knees.”
My face burned like a blazing fire, and I didn’t have to look at myself to know that I went as red as a tomato. The problem with a pale complexion was that we never blushed in that cute way, where the redness only appeared in tiny circles on our cheeks.
No, oh no. Whenever I blushed, even my forehead turned red.
If I did any kind of exercise, I looked like I was three minutes away from a heart attack—and no, it wasn’t pretty.
“I-I,” I stuttered, coherent thoughts and words nowhere to be found.
He stepped closer, making me crane my neck to look at his face. What I saw there was something I would cherish forever.
This tall, dark, and dangerous man wanted me—that much was obvious. And I wanted him as well.
If it wasn’t for the fire burning in his eyes, threatening to devastate us both, his body told a story of its own.
“Uh, is that your knife or are you really, really happy to see me?” I grinned at him, loving the confusion and questions appearing on his perfectly sculpted face. “Because as I said before, if you’re going to kill me, could you feed me first? I am a grumpy human. Could you imagine how grumpy I would be if I died on an empty stomach.”
“You don’t have a filter, do you?”
“Nah, filters are overrated. Life is a lot funnier when you don’t know what to expect from a person.”
“Or a lot more dangerous.”
