"It's just a small cut, relax" He said.
I said nothing in response.
"Would you drop the cooking and let my mom finish up?" He asked.
"No no, I'll finish it up by myself, don't worry about it. Thank you"
He made no attempts to persuade me and left immediately he finished up cleaning my wound and wrapping a bandaid over it.
I finished up the cooking and served dinner. I went to inform Mrs Abigail that dinner was ready and she was really excited to try out the food but I was quite nervous going to Dante to tell him but I had to anyway.
I knocked on the door, hoping he wouldn't respond or would probably be asleep. But he responded almost immediately I knocked.
"Yes, who is it?" He yelled from inside the room.
"It's me, Sienna," I responded.
He immediately came to open the door rather than just announcing the door was open.
"Since when did you start knocking on our bedroom door?" He asked, leaning over the door with his arms folded over each other and as always, he was shirtless. I wondered if he knew how much I loved to gush over his body and did it deliberately.
That didn't even click in my mind, he was correct, I usually never knocked but anyways, "I just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready" I said.
"Hm okay, let's go see what you made" He said walking behind me as I headed back to the dining room. He didn't even care to put on a shirt or wear flip-flops, that was typical of him, he loved to go about the house only wearing sweatpants, very sexy in my opinion.
I served the food onto everyone's plate and we all began to eat.
"This tastes so good Sienna, you're such an amazing cook. Your mother did a very good job" Mrs Abigail complemented.
"Thank you," I replied with a big smile on my face.
"Isn't the food amazing?" Mrs Abigail asked, directing her question to Dante.
"Yes it is" He responded lackadaisical
We continued our meal in silence after which I had to unpack my stuff that had been delivered earlier that day while I was at work. Dante did most of the work, helping me set up my stuff in designated places around the house. As much as this marriage was strictly contracted and was planned to be terminated in a year, I was getting way too comfortable than I expected. Seeing my things all over the place made it feel so much more like home to me.
I had missed seeing this portrait of Taylor Swift looking all gorgeous in her element. I'm a huge fan of Taylor Swift and I had to take her everywhere with me.
Dante complained a lot while unpacking my things.
"You women are a lot, why do you need all these things?" I heard him grumble to himself as he lifted the flower pot to put it in place. It was a really huge one and I couldn't dare to lose it because it was a gift from Jess on my birthday the previous year. I was very protective when it came to gifts, I always treated every gift as priceless, no matter how little. The flower pot was quite heavy though but it was nothing all that muscle of his couldn't handle.
All through the time we spent moving things and arranging, I noticed how much he avoided me. It seemed to me like he was struggling so hard to keep his distance but he did anyway. It was a whole lot of awkward moments but I respected the fact that he wanted it that way.
I grabbed a glass of chilled orange juice to help me ease off after all the stress we went through. I didn't do so much but I was exhausted regardless.
Sitting and staring out the window with a glass of juice in my right hand, my mind wandered off. Flashbacks of that intimate moment with Dante in his art gallery kept popping violently in my mind. I couldn't help it, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I wondered if he was thinking of me too, if he was thinking about our kiss and if that was why he had been avoiding me.
I couldn't imagine what it would be like if he decided to keep up with it any much longer because I was slowly losing my mind. The more he tried to get away from me, the more I desired to be close to him. This burning feeling in my heart continued to exist without my permission, I didn't want it but I couldn't control it. Love wasn't the word to describe it, I most certainly wasn't in love with him but this attraction was way much more stronger than love. I needed a distraction, work wasn't doing it for me at all because everywhere around the office was filled with trails of him. He owned the company and there was no way I would be able to go a day without him being the center of my life.
"I should've thought this through before agreeing to it, now I've only made a mess for myself" I thought to myself.
I saw hands waving in my face and it was then my mind drifted back to reality and I realized Dante had been talking to me but I didn't hear a thing. I didn't even notice when he walked up to me.
"Yeah, what?" I asked with confusion trailing all over my face.
"My mom will be heading back to her house in a few days. Just thought of letting you know" His deep seductive voice carried an aura I couldn't fathom.
I was surprised because I thought his mom lived permanently with him but I had never cared to ask and even if I wanted to, he left immediately before I could say anything.
The week ran out pretty fast with my routine on repeat and by the weekend, Mrs Abigail headed back to France where she lived. I gathered that from small talks with her at dinner mostly.
The house felt so empty all of a sudden, most likely because the only person left in it with me had mastered the art of ignoring my existence. He made everything I needed available and went about his daily activities as usual and he didn't fail to send the weekly payment as he promised.
Missy, my personal assistant, had become my closest acquaintance and we spent most of our time doing things together but on and off work. It was a whole new chapter of our lives and the worst was yet to come.