this thing as much as she claims you do. I might just toss it in the trash. You wouldn't mind, would you?”
My heart pounded in a fast rhythm, and I yelled in sheer instinct. “Wait!”
He paused and swiveled slowly as I expelled a tight shallow breath. “I'll eat. I'll eat if you just let me have it.”
He smirked with rich amusement. “You're nothing if not interesting, tesoro. So determined to keep on fighting when you must know you can't win. I should let you starve yourself until you beg for the very food you have rejected,” he bit out in a cruel tone, and then laughed when he noticed my face settled into a worried expression. “I'm very tempted to punish you, Olivia, but I'll make a small exception because I can see you’re distressed.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly, because I didn't want to antagonize the monster.
He returned the plate on my lap and sat next to me, scrutinizing me as I forced myself to eat every last bit of food. It was delicious, but after days of hardly eating anything, that large portion made my stomach restless and almost nauseous. When I finished, I settled the fork and knife on the plate, but Alessandro made no move to hand me the box.
“You...you said...” My voice broke, and I eyed him pleadingly, inhaling a deep breath to compose myself. “You said you would give it to me if I ate everything from the plate.”
“What I said”—he caressed my cheek in a tender gesture—“was that I was tempted to punish you, but wouldn't. Tell me, tesoro, does that not warrant enough kindness for one day?”
My throat burned with a scream that I somehow managed to keep at bay. But I couldn't stop the shivering that uncovered just how upset his cruel remark made me feel. He snickered again and shook his head.
“I guess not,” he said in a teasing manner, and retrieved the box from his pocket again, handing it to me. “Here. You can listen to it. Perhaps, it will make you stop acting like a spoiled brat.”
I spied him warily, thinking it was a trick and he'd snatch it away, but he didn't. The moment I took hold of the little box, the familiar warmth and comfort erupted in my chest. I opened it, and kept my eyes frozen on the dancing ballerina as the music started playing. A few tears escaped my eyes as I was reminded of my situation again, and I pressed my lips together, forcing myself to stop crying in his presence. I hated that he was right there, witnessing this moment of weakness; this moment I deemed as private and only mine. The instant the music ended, he snatched the box away from my hands.
I reached for it again, but paused at the sight of his warning glare. “But you said—”
“I said you could listen to it, not have it,” he pointed out.
Then, he rose from the bed, collecting the breakfast tray and empty plate. Before he left, he paused by the door and turned to glare at me with clear warning in his eyes.
“You can spend the rest of this day thinking about your insolent behavior,” he instructed. “And think hard, tesoro, because tomorrow, I will not be in the mood to make exceptions to anymore fucking rules.”
***
In the following few days, he continued bringing food to my room, and we established a sick routine. If I ate the food, he'd let me listen to the music box. Protests and acts of defiance on my part were few and far between because they only made things more difficult for me.
On the other hand, as my stubbornness slowly dissipated before his eyes, Alessandro relaxed more and more in my presence, and I couldn't help thinking he resembled the man from the restaurant again.
There were no more threats, and he'd smile at me a lot; constantly repeating that he couldn't wait for me to become his bride. He even showed a lot of interest in my general state of mind, promising he'd let me roam the house when I earned his trust. A part of me was tempted to go along with it and indulge his need to bend me to his will, but—while he thought I had surrendered to his demands and made my peace with the situation—nothing could be further from the truth.
Every night, I cried myself to sleep, and prayed to God to help me get out of there. I was only