Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 27737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
"Because it's no longer prohibited."
The way he confirms the truth so casually throws me off, and I end up blurting out the first thought that pops into my mind.
"So it's true? What Maryse said? That you didn't want to risk being called a pedophile?"
His gaze bores through me. "What other reason could there be?"
"How the hell would I know? I don't really know you—-"
"Because you chose not to know me."
"Excuse me?" I can't help feeling defensive at how he accuses me so easily. "Shouldn't that go both ways? Because you also don't know—-"
"Try me."
Oh, so he's really going to challenge me on this?
"What's my favorite color?"
Amusement gleams in his eyes. "That's really what you want to ask?"
Childish or not, it still proves my fucking point, so—-
"Yes," I retort with a proud tilt of my chin. "That's exactly what I want to ask—-"
"It's pink—-"
Ha!
"But because you'd rather die than admit this, you always lie and tell anyone who cares to ask that your favorite color is black."
H-H-How the fuck did he know that?
"You also hate drinking anything hot because it reminds you of what you didn't experience when you were a child: someone to tell you ice-cold drinks may leave your throat sore."
What the fuck?
"You have 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' on repeat when you study, and I know this because I'm the one who pays for your music subscription. It's why I also know you watch Korean dramas at night, on mute. You've forgotten how I'm also the one paying for your streaming subscriptions—-"
Somebody fucking do something before I fucking—-
"I can practically hear you swearing in your mind," Giancarlo drawls.
"Should I say it out loud then?" I snarl.
"If you want to be spanked for it, be my guest."
S-S-Spanked?
I stare at him in a mix of shock and outrage, but when he only gazes back at me calmly, the words fly out of my mouth in a livid cry.
"W-What's gotten into you?"
"This is how I have always been."
"A jerk?"
"You may call it however way you wish. Only take care not to forget that everything will be different, now that both of us are adults—-"
"Is that some kind of fucking threat?"
"A promise."
"Yeah right—-"
"Careful now, dolcezza."
It's his first time to address me with an endearment, and it actually steals my breath away.
What the hell is going on?
"I may be a lot of things, but have I ever lied to you?"
I stare at him mutinously, but silence isn't enough for him.
"Have I?"
"No."
But damn him for forcing me to say this.
"And have I ever given you any reason to distrust me?"
"You already know—-"
"Yes or no, Sarica."
"No! Happy now?"
"Not yet. Although I suppose I will be once I've made my point clear. But first, I need your hand."
What? Why? Fuck no!
"Your hand, Sarica."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I find myself placing my hand in his even as I hate myself for doing so.
"Now, look at me while I'm holding your hand."
What the hell?
"Look at me."
The command in his words is unmistakable this time, and I find myself obeying even as it makes me hate myself even more.
I look at him.
"What do you see?"
A man with silver streaks in his dark hair. A man who's sixteen years older, but also sixteen thousand light years ahead of me in experience. A man whom the world loves to describe as both gorgeous and gentle. A man whom practically everyone sees as the prince of thieves.
I see the man that others see.
But I can't seem to make myself feel the way the whole world feels about him.
And when I look into his eyes...
Fuck.
I realize that he's always known this, and I don't know, dammit.
"You never saw me as a man."
I don't know what I should feel, knowing that he also knows the truth.
"But it's going to change now."
And before I realize what he's doing, he's already placed my hand on his chest.
Fuck!
I immediately try yanking my hand away, but his lips only curve even as his grip on my hand tightens.
"L-Let go—-"
"You feel it, don't you?"
"I don't know what the hell—-"
"The way you make my heart race."
Noooooooo.
I don't know why those words scare me, but it does.
I don't know why, but it terrifies me to death.
"Whatever you think you're doing," I hear myself snarl out, "it won't work!"
"Let me worry about that," he says softly.
"I will n-never see you as a man—-"
He presses my hand more closely to his chest, and my voice falters as I become inexplicably, foolishly, and agonizingly aware of what I'm touching.
This...
This is his skin.
His flesh.
It's Giancarlo's chest I'm touching, his chest that feels smooth, hard, and hot under my skin.
It's him I'm touching.
And I don't understand why that matters, but it suddenly does.
"You understand now, dolcezza? How everything has started to change?"
He sounds so fucking self-assured that I just can't help it.
"Fuck you!"
But I regret it as soon as I say it.