I almost regretted entrusting him with the task, suspecting he was taking his sweet time just to irritate me. On the other hand, I was a little proud, since I was certain his pettiness was something he’d picked up from me.
The bounty of his hunt made it all worthwhile, though, and I swiped greedily through all the files he’d compiled until I struck gold.
The air was knocked out of my lungs as I hurriedly scanned the handful of pictures showcasing my little devil.
Fuck. Adelaide Romano was stunning.
Glowing skin, long brown, wavy hair and the deepest brown eyes, like melting pools of chocolate. An electrifying heat sent my blood pumping and I could feel every inch of my body coming alive as I tried to take in every detail of her on the screen.
The merest dusting of freckles graced the bridge of her nose, almost invisible against her tanned skin. I vowed to myself to count them and memorize every single one until I could draw their pattern in my fucking sleep.
Somehow, she’d surprised me again. She was simultaneously not at all what I had expected and everything I could have dreamed of.
I had imagined her with every conceivable eye color, body type and hair color , and yet I would never have been able to conjure her up.
I went back to the pages I’d skipped and scoured every last piece of information my little brother had found for me.
She hadn’t lied in her letters. Everything was there: the failed bakery, the odd jobs and the fraud conviction. Her father had indeed died when she was twenty, making her twenty-five now, and her mother had moved to England,where a good portion of Addy’s extended family appeared to live.
Why hadn’t she gone to England after she lost the bakery? Why did she stay in Florida all alone?
This woman had so many facets, and I wanted to discover them all, collect them, hoard them all for myself.
My little devil would never be lonely again. Right now however, things were going my way. A lonely Addy would be much easier to integrate into my plans.
My thumb swiped back to her pictures on its own accord, greedily taking her in again.
Long brown hair framing a heart-shaped face, with large, almond-shaped eyes in a deep shade of brown contrasting against olive-toned skin. Objectively, none of her features stood out; nothing demanded one’s attention.
But to me, it was like seeing the sun for the first time.
A sense of satisfaction thrummed deep in my chest because it felt like I was the only person aware of how truly special Adelaide Romano was, inside and out.
And she was going to be fucking mine.
Chapter 11
Addy
May 9th
Hi Sasha,
You’re wrong. I rarely know what I’m doing. Sitting around engineering subtext is not my MO. I just … talk. You’re the one assigning motive like this is a chess match instead of a woman with too many thoughts and access to stationery.
For the record, I don’t actually know what you look like. Or sound like. Or how tall you are.
For all I know, you could have a terrible haircut and an unfortunate habit of chewing too loudly. You could have a voice that cracks when you say long words. You could pronounce “caramel” incorrectly.
Essentially, you’re a very opinionated font, and I don’t think you can be attracted to that. Well, some people might be able to, but not me. I’m not yucking someone’s yum, to each their own.
Also, who says I chose you? Maybe it was a randomized assignment.
Anyway, I’m flattered you think I’m dangerous. I promise you I’m not. I’m just loud, curious, and prone to ending up where I shouldn’t be.
Not yours,
— Addy