Page 50 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Our conversation is stilted, and he won’t meet my gaze. I get the sense he’d rather be anywhere but here.
And in turn, I can’t seem to learn anything he’s showing me.
“I don’t get it,” I exclaim after I fail to correctly do a sequence he’s demonstrated three times.
“You’re not listening,” he snaps. “Where is your head at?”
His frustration leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I give him an are-you-kidding-me look. “I had a rough night. Apparently, you did too. Maybe we should end class early.”
His eyes narrow at my suggestion. “You have something else to do?”
“Plenty.”
A dry scoff. “Is this about your phone? Move on. If you could, you would have gotten it back by now.”
“Oh, is that what you think?”
“Iknowit.”
Fire licks the inside of my stomach. I’m definitely finding that damn thing today, just to prove him wrong.
“Whatever, Giorgio. I’d rather help Polo in the garden than do this with you right now.”
Something dark flashes in his eyes. “Watch your tongue.”
I bite down on the retort threatening to come out of my mouth as the air between us vibrates with tension. He’s angry, and so am I, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that I need to keep a handle on myself.
What he said to me last night only hurts because Ilikehim. If he sees how upset I am, he’ll suspect it, and God, I don’t think I’d be able to handle the humiliation.
I need to get out of here.
He appears to be of the same mind, because he blows out a breath and goes to get his keys. “We’ll resume tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” I say to his back, and he nods without looking at me.
I go to my room, shower, and get a snack from the kitchen. Despite what I said to Giorgio, I decide against going outside. The ground is still wet from the rain, the sky is cloudy, and the prospect of digging around in the mud isn’t all that appealing.
Instead, I settle inside the library, moving one of the heavy leather armchairs close to the window so I can enjoy a perfect view of rolling hills, yellow wildflowers, and pines spearing the sky. The forest that encircles the property looks somewhat ominous under the gray clouds, and I remember Giorgio’s warning about not going there. Belligerence stirs beneath my skin. Maybe I should do it just to piss him off.
Shaking my head at myself, I tap my fingertips against the side of the armchair. I’m not usually this bratty. Maybe on occasion with Dem when he really manages to irritate me. But Giorgio seems to bring it out easily and often.
I’m watching an eagle soaring above the tree line when a hinge creaks nearby. I glance over my shoulder to see Sophia squeezing past the door. She pads over to me and rests her head on my lap.
“Hi, girl,” I say softly, patting her bristly fur.
She blinks at me and then turns to the window, looking in the same direction as I was before.
“Do you go there often? Does someone take you on walks in the forest?”
She snorts and lies down on the floor at my feet, as if to say I should know better than to ask her questions she can’t possibly answer.
I reach for a book lying on the windowsill.
The Herbal Alchemist—a guide to herbal medicine.
This must be Polo’s. The table of contents is extensive, and I stop on a familiar word. Valerian. Huh. That’s the herb Polo gave me in that tea. I wonder if this book was his inspiration for growing it.
I turn to the page, curious to see what it looks like, and find an illustration of a plant with lots of tiny pink flowers. The text below states it’s a natural sleep aid that can reduce the amount of time it takes to go to sleep and improve its quality. That checks out. I can’t recall the last time I slept that deeply. On the page next to the picture, there’s some additional information written in tiny script. I bring the book closer to my face to make it out.
