Savannah’s POV
I could feel his eyes on me.
Even without looking up, I knew he was watching.
I kept my attention on the plate in front of me, scooping another bite of food and chewing slowly.
I forced myself to swallow despite the uncomfortable knot forming in my throat.
The silence between us was worse than the questions.
I lowered my gaze to my food, pretending I couldn’t feel his presence.
Then his shadow stretched across the floor.
I stopped chewing.
Slowly, I raised my eyes.
He was leaning against the wall a few feet away, his arms folded across his chest.
His posture looked relaxed, but there was nothing but coldness through his eyes.
They remained fixed on me.
Watching and waiting.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
He tilted his head.
“Will you ever fill your stomach if you keep stealing glances at me?”
The words caught me so off guard that I nearly choked.
I immediately grabbed the glass beside my plate and drank from it, trying to clear my throat.
I swallowed several times before putting the glass back down.
The sound echoed through the room as I glared at him.
“Will you stop saying nonsense?” One corner of his mouth twitched.
But the amusement disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
He pushed himself away from the wall and adjusted his stance.
“I wasn’t saying anything complicated.” He snapped.
“You were staring at me.” He added as he took a step after another.
“So?” I said.
“So…it’s irritating.” I retorted then his eyebrows lifted slightly.
“Yet you’re still eating.” I clenched my jaw.
I hated how calm he was.
Every word he said seemed deliberately chosen to get under my skin.
He didn’t need to raise his voice.
He didn’t need to threaten me but by simply looking at me made something irritated.
And somehow, that was enough.
He sighed.
“Want to freshen up after?”
My brows furrowed.
“What?”
He looked at me as if I were the one being difficult.
“Take a bath.”
I stared at him.
“Pardon?”
“I said you can take a bath.” He repeated.
For several seconds, I simply watched him.
That didn’t make sense.
Why suddenly offer me something like that?
My fingers tightened around the edge of the plate.
I scoffed.
There was something beneath it, something I couldn’t quite identify.
Suspicion crept into my thoughts.
Maybe this wasn’t kindness.
Maybe he was trying to make me comfortable enough to talk.
Maybe he wanted me to lower off my guard.
And if that was his plan, he had chosen the wrong person.
I leaned back slightly.
“Can I go now?”
His gaze dropped toward my plate.
“Finish it.” He ordered me as he pointed his finger at my plate.
I frowned.
“I’m done.”
“You barely touched it.”
“I said I’m done.” My voice were sharp and pissed as his eyes returned to mine.
“Finish it.” There was a warning hidden beneath those two words.
I refused to look away.
He walked toward me instead.
My body instinctively tensed as he crouched beside the plate and picked it up.
I watched his hand close around the utensil.
He scooped up a small portion and held it toward me.
“Eat.” I stared at the food.
Then back at him.
“You’re unbelievable.” I groaned as I stood up but he immediately catched my arm and pulled me down.
“Eat, Savannah.” He ordered with authority as he aligned the spoon into my mouth.
“I can feed myself.” I retorted.
“Then do it.” He snapped back with an annoyed expression, literally losing his patience.
His voice was calm, but his patience was clearly thinning.
I rolled my eyes and knocked his hand away.
The utensil fell to the floor.
Clank.
His fingers froze.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then his jaw tightened.
“I’m trying to be good to you.” His voice was cold and deep as it was trying to gave me signal.
I laughed without humor.
“Good?” I stood.
“You call this good?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
My chest tightened.
“I didn’t ask for thanks.” He snapped back still sat on the floor.
“Then stop pretending you’re doing me a favor.” My voice grew louder.
“You people killed Yannah!”
The room went still.
My hands trembled, but I refused to let him see how much the memory hurt.
“You killed her,” I continued.
“And now you stand there acting like giving me food and letting me take a bath somehow makes you different?”
His expression hardened.
“You don’t know everything.”
“I know enough.” My voice were getting louder as he was towering me with his unfriendly expression.
“You know what you’ve been told.” He said.
“I know what I saw.” I retorted still infusing attitude to him.
His eyes sharpened.
For a moment, something dangerous passed through his expression.
Then he gave a humorless smile.
“So?” He stepped closer.
“We’re basically a Mafia. What did you expect?” His voice dropped.
“Flowers and apologies?”
I stared at him.
And he leaned slightly closer.
“Or should I brief you instead, Agent?”
My stomach tightened at the title.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
He wanted me angry, he wanted me to get emotional.
Because emotional people made mistakes.
I swallowed my anger and stepped around him.
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
He didn’t stop me.
But I heard some footsteps following me at my back.
That alone made every instinct in me scream.
I entered the small bathroom and stopped.
There was a shower stall, but there’s no door, no curtain almost like a public bathroom that nothing offered privacy.
I turned around immediately.
He was standing near the wall.
Watching me.
My eyes narrowed.
“You’re not seriously staying here.”
A faint grin appeared on his face.
“I have to.”
“Why?” My expression turned sour.
“Because I have to watch you.” My mouth parted as a scowl escape from my mouth.
My fingers curled.
“Afraid I’ll escape?”
“Exactly.” He retorted.
“You’re paranoid.” I said.
“You’re an agent.”
“And you’re a criminal.”
“See?” His grin widened slightly.
“We’re both suspicious of each other.”
I stared at him.
“I don’t need an audience.”
“You’ll survive.” My temper snapped.
I walked toward him and slapped him across the face.
The sound cracked through the bathroom.
His head turned with the force of it.
Silence followed.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
For one brief second, I wondered if I’d gone too far.
Then he slowly turned his face back toward me.
His jaw was clenched.
His eyes were cold as his muscle twitched.
“I guess I became soft around you.” Before I could respond, he caught my wrist.
I tried pulling away but his grip were to firm.
“Let go.”
He pushed me toward the shower stall.
Cold water suddenly poured over me.
I gasped.
The freezing water soaked through my clothes almost instantly.
I reached for the handle and shut it off.
Water dripped from my hair and sleeves as I glared at him.
“What is your problem?!” I raised my hand again.
He didn’t move.
Then I noticed something.
He wasn’t looking directly at me.
My brows pulled together.
“What?” I asked suspiciously.
His eyes shifted away.
“Where are you staring?” I asked and fastly followed his gaze.
Understanding hit me.
My face burned with anger and annoyance.
I slapped him on his face again.
“Pervert!”
He turned his head slightly.
I stepped backward, crossing my arms over myself.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
His expression darkened.
He stepped forward and struck his fist against the wall beside my head. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
I flinched despite myself.
He leaned closer.
“Tell me something.”
His voice had changed.
The teasing was gone and there’s only authority in his deep voice.
“Would Ciffarelli care about you?”
My brows knitted.
“What?”
“You heard me.” He watched my face carefully.
“Would he come looking for you?”
I let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Why do you care?”
“Answer me.” He demanded.
“No.” I said.
His eyes narrowed.
I smiled bitterly.
“You don’t get to question me about him.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s none of your business.” He stepped closer.
“Or maybe you don’t want to answer because you already know the answer.”
I shook my head.
“You’re obsessed.”
“Am I?” He sarcastically asked as his lips parted.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me I’m wrong.” I stared at him.
He waited.
I refused to give him the satisfaction.
Yet he continued.
“Does Ciffarelli know where you are?”
I stayed silent.
“Does he know you’re here?”
Silence creep between us.
I stayed my mouth shut unwilling to gave him answer.
“Does he even care?” My hands tightened into fists.
“I don’t care whether he cares or not.”
His eyes searched mine.
“Liar.”
My head snapped toward him.
“I’m not lying!”
“Then prove me wrong.”
“You’re trying to provoke me.”
“And it’s working.”
I scoffed.
“You’re pathetic.”
His mouth curved into a grin.
“If someone is, it was you.”
He reached out and caught my chin, forcing me to look up.
My eyes narrowed at him as I tried to remain my composure.
“So you’re still expecting him to care?”
I said nothing.
That silence seemed to be enough of an answer for him.
A low chuckle escaped him and I hated that sound.
“You think he’ll come for you.”
“Shut up! It was a deal between me and your boss Zuyan and it someone we’re crossing the line. It was you”
He released my chin.
But his eyes remained fixed on mine.
Then he leaned closer and whispered another taunt, deliberately crossing the line to provoke me.
I stared at him but suddenly my heart pounded.
Anger burned through every nerve in my body.
I slowly placed my hand against his shoulder.
His eyebrows lifted.
For a second, he seemed to think I’d finally backed down.
But he was wrong and I will never let my guard down for no applicable reason.
I swiftly drove my knee upward.
“AAAGHH! DAMN IT!”
He immediately doubled over, clutching himself.
I froze.
Then I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.
He slowly straightened.
His face had turned red with fury.
He pointed at me.
“You—”
I raised both hands defensively.
“What?” I retorted.
“You actually hit my dog, you vixen!”
I couldn’t help it.
A small laugh escaped me.
His expression became even darker.
He threw his middle finger at me in frustration.
I stared at him.
Then another laugh slipped out.
“Pfft.”
I turned toward the shower stall.
“Who would’ve thought Inferno’s men would end up like this around me?”
I heard him mutter something behind my back but I couldn’t hear it properly.
For the first time since I’d been brought here, the tension inside my chest loosened slightly.
And if they wanted me to break, they were going to have to work much harder than this.
The dice is rolling!