Chapter 42 Cooking for her
Isabella POV
I walked into the bathroom and found Dante standing at the sink with my towel wrapped around his waist. He was brushing his teeth.
With my toothbrush. “That is so disgusting.”
He kept brushing his teeth, but he wore an arrogant expression in his eyes. He stared at me in the reflection, all the muscles of his body tightening and shifting as he moved around. The muscles in his forearms shifted like piano keys as he scrubbed his teeth. He finished what he was doing then spit in the
sink. “I like disgusting.”
I slept like a rock last night. While I stayed with my parents, my sleep was just okay. And it.
wasn’t because I was up late at night with too much wine in my belly. I knew it was because I’d gotten used to sleeping on his warm and
hard chest. I felt like a cat that loved to feel his owner’s heartbeat underneath his paws. I was scared of this man, but when I was with him, I knew nothing else could ever happen to me.
Knuckles could break into my apartment, but Dante would kill him instantly.
He was like a guard dog, a fierce protector. But he could also become the attacker if the setting changed. So I felt safe with this man
but also afraid. He rinsed off the toothbrush in the sink then dropped it in the cup. “Want me
to make breakfast? Or do you want to go out?”
There were so many things wrong with that sentence. “First of all, there’s no food in this house. And two, you know how to cook?”
He pulled the towel from around his waist and set it on the hanger, displaying his naked self without any vanity. “I stocked your fridge yesterday. And yes, I know how to cook.”
I didn’t catch any of that because I was staring at his dick. Even when he was soft, he was big. I didn’t know they made men like that until I met him. Some were growers and some were showers…he was definitely a shower. When I finally lifted my gaze to his face, I saw his cocky grin. “What?”
He walked out of the bathroom, his tight ass full of rock-hard muscle. “I’ll whip up.something.” I watched him go before I looked at my toothbrush in the cup. I deliberated whether I should take it or not. It was gross that he kept using it, but I needed to brush my teeth. Otherwise, it would drive me crazy all day. The fact that it wasn’t that disgusting to me was the most disturbing part. So I did it. I brushed my teeth, thinking about my night with him. When I pushed for my beliefs, he folded. He had the capability to listen, to have some kind of empathy if it was presented the right way. It humanized him, made him less of a monster. That made me feel like I had some control back, that if I pushed him hard enough, he would give me what I wanted. If something was really important to me, it was important to him. The fact that he admitted his father’s actions were wrong told me he wasn’t completely evil. He had a lot of darkness inside him, but at least there was a sliver of light.
I walked into the kitchen and saw him cooking eggs and bacon on the stove. “Let me get this straight. You go to the store and pick up all this stuff, but it doesn’t cross your mind to pick up a toothbrush?” I joined him at the counter,
dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He flipped the bacon, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt. “Maybe I like sharing a toothbrush with you.”
“But I don’t like sharing it with you.”
“If you hate it so much, why do you keep using it?” He turned to me, arrogance in his eyes. “You can get a new one for less than a euro, but you insist on using mine…”
“Hold on, it’s not yours.”
“You’re right,” he said. “It’s ours.” He turned off the stove once the bacon and eggs were done. He scooped them onto plates and pulled the bread out of the toaster. I didn’t have a dining table because the apartment was too small,
so we sat on the floor and ate at the coffee table. I stopped arguing with him because it wasn’t a good utilization of my time. I’d rather focus on eating one of the only home-cooked meals I’d had in this apartment. The eggs were well done, and the bacon was crispy. “This is pretty good.” “Pretty good?” he challenged.
“Alright…” I took another bite. “It’s really good.”
“That’s better.” His plate was twice as full as mine, and he had four pieces of toast. I’d never seen him eat anything less than a feast. Like a large horse that needed five thousand calories a day, he scarfed everything down. He ate so
much but didn’t have an ounce of fat. “When do you work out? I never see you do anything.”
“Because I consider fucking a workout.” He drank his coffee, his blue eyes on me. “And when I’m not around?”
“I have a gym. I do a lot of weights, some cardio. What do you do?” I laughed and took a big bite of my bacon. “You know I don’t do anything.”
“Your body says otherwise.”
“I walk around Rome a lot, so that must be where I burn the calories.” “You still have a toned look to you.” “I fight off psychopaths pretty often…”
He gave a sinister smile before he popped another piece into his mouth. “You think I’m a psychopath?”
“I know you’re a psychopath. You kill people for a living, and you want to destroy my family, who are the nicest people in the world. Yes, I think that’s the definition of psychopath.”
“I’ve met a lot of psychopaths,” he said. “Trust me, I’m not one of them.”
“Well, we established last night that I don’t trust you.”
“But you assume I’ll honor my promises.”
He had me there. “You trust my honesty,” he said. “So now who’s the psychopath?”
I turned my gaze down to my food and kept eating, feeling the tension rise between us. He was a wild animal that could be easily provoked, but I never learned my lesson and stopped initiating his temper. I was too proud and stubborn to be the quiet prisoner who kept their head down until the perfect opportunity presented itself. I was outspoken, and sometimes, a little stupid.
“I told my father I’m dropping out of university.”
It was the first time Dante took a break from eating his meal. “And what did he say?”
“He said he would support whatever decision I made.” Dante grabbed his mug. “I’m glad you listened to me.”
“I didn’t listen to you,” I argued. “I’ve just considered what you said.”
“Same thing. And believe it or not, I’m a very smart man.”