Chapter 75: RIDDLES & DUMPLINGS
Arianna
I should be glad that he is dead, right?
A short humorless laugh escaped his lips,” Promises are fragile things, darling. A strong opponent always will win but it doesn’t mean the weak ones don’t deserve justice for what’s done to them. The wolf in sheep clothing is still a wolf. I just shed their skin to remind them who they are.”
“You’re always talking in riddles,” I mumbled, looking away from his piercing gaze,” I still don’t understand why you chose me from all people. Why did you stalk me if I’m just…me,” my whisper was fragile, carrying its weight in the stale air,” What’s so special about me?”
Tilting my face towards him with a nudge of his finger, his smile is soft,” You chose me. or rather, you chose the darkness, and I am its most alluring manifestation.”
Parting my lips, I didn’t know what to say because he was right. I had chosen the darkness through his novels. Drawn to the mystery that surrounded the author. I just managed to pull him out of the shadows.
Like always, he was right. I was his.
“Let’s drive home, shall we? We have talked almost two hours in here and I still need to get some sleep,” he caressed my cheek, his voice a smooth balm, and I closed my eyes, surrendering to his touch, finding sanctuary in that gesture.
“Fine but I’m starving for some takeout,” I murmured, letting the words carry a trace of playful flirtation we usually indulged in, a counterpoint to the heavier, darker undertones of our conversation this night.
Vincent chuckled, booping my nose,” Always thinking with your stomach. We’ll get something. You name it, darling.”
As the car purred to life, I watched him from the corner of my eye. The city lights flickered across his face, momentarily revealing the sharp lines of his stubbled jaw, the determined set of his mouth. Like a creature of the night, a predator disguised himself as a man with his own principles.
And yet, I was drawn to him. So in love that it was too late to run.
“What would you like for early breakfast? Something in particular?” He asked after awhile as the silence grew between us while the sound of the steady thrum of the engine was the only noise in the car.
I mulled my options,” I’m not familiar with these streets in the capital. Maybe you can decide for me?”
He smirked,” Then dumplings it is.”