Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Nine-thirty.”
I do my best to offer my apologies without a phone. My instinct is to sign to him, even though I know he doesn’t understand. His lips draw together, and he points to a pool chair facing the door.
“Sit there. We will have our meeting in a moment.”
I stare at him pleadingly, but if he notices, he doesn’t acknowledge it. He disappears behind me, and I watch his reflection in the glass as he removes his towel and walks down the stairs into the cold plunge pool. My eyes widen as he submerges his entire body, staying there for what feels like minutes. I’ve felt the temperature of that small pool, and I know how icy it is. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do that to themselves, but Alessio seems unfazed when he resurfaces and retrieves his towel.
A small part of me wonders if he needed a cold dip because he feels this strange pull between us too. I don’t see how it’s even possible, considering how I look with all my scars on display, but he must have felt some attraction. That’s the only logical explanation for his cock hardening the way it did.
Shit. I have to stop thinking about that. I try to put it from my mind as he reappears, gesturing for me to follow him.
“We’ll go into the sauna. Have a meeting as the Finns do.”
I hesitate, and he glances back at me. “I have a schedule, Natalia. You disrupted it this evening when you failed to meet me. If I remember correctly, you once lectured me about wasting one’s time.”
I force a nod, but deep down, I’m wondering if this is it. Is he going to kill me in the sauna? Is he just drawing it out, giving me time to consider all the ways it might happen? I know he’s seen my scars. He never believed me from the beginning, and I’m certain he will challenge me now. I don’t know what to do because I didn’t plan for this contingency. Not so early. If he tries to kill me, I will fight him. I will do the only thing I can and try to kill him first.
He opens the door for me, and we step inside. It’s hot, almost unbearably so, but I can’t think about that right now. Alessio retrieves a bucket hanging from the wall and dumps some water onto the hot rocks, introducing steam to the environment. He takes a seat on the wooden bench, pointing to the area beside him. It’s the space between him and the glass windowpane.
“You can write your responses there.”
I release a quiet breath and nod, taking the seat next to him. The space is so large I don’t know why he’s sitting so close to me. It doesn’t make sense unless he plans to confront me. From here, I can smell the clean woodsy scent I recognize as his, and between that and the heat, it’s slightly intoxicating.
A few long moments pass where I wait for him to speak. I’m beginning to wonder if he even will when my gaze slips to his large hands. They are so big he could easily wrap them around my throat and snap my neck. It wouldn’t take much force from him, but would he?
Even knowing what I do, there’s still a delusional part of me that wants to believe he’s different. He wouldn’t hurt me. I know it’s stupid. Once he realizes my true intentions with him, he will certainly want to destroy me. He probably won’t even hesitate. He’ll just … kill me.
The silence is suffocating me, and I’m on the verge of a panic attack when he finally breaks it.
“I need something from you,” he says.
I swallow hard, repeatedly telling myself not to glance at his towel covered crotch.
“I could use your assistance.” He lowers his voice and clears his throat. “What I mean to say is I want you to make Nino … like me.”
My head whips toward him, and I stare at him in disbelief. He seems irritated by my response, but I can’t help it. This was not at all what I was expecting.
I turn toward the glass and slide my finger through the condensation, writing out a short message that disappears a moment later in the heat.
What do you mean?
“I thought it was clear. He is afraid of me. He doesn’t want to spend time with me. You seem to possess some magic formula, and I want you to use that to change his feelings about me.”
My eyes move over his face, and I can see a glimpse of his vulnerability for the first time since I met him. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before, but he has guarded it well. I had assumed he just didn’t care if Nino liked him. I had assumed a lot of things, actually, and now I am questioning all of them. Regardless, he has to know that what he’s asking for isn’t realistic.