Page 7 of A Taste Of Darkness
She smiled up at me softly. “Like I said, that’s fine. It’s just one night anyway.”
Yeah, one night. I could survive one night with her in my penthouse.
I cleared my throat, then picked up a pink, shimmery dress. One of many. “You make it very obvious what your favorite color is,” I said.
“Is that a bad thing?”
My head shook. “It’s cute.” Just very predicting.
Sterlie was too sweet to become a part of my life, which was exactly why I could never have sought her out the way I wanted to. It wasn’t just physical attraction I felt toward her. I wanted her to have my last name, own me like no one was ever allowed to. From the second I first saw her, I could feel it.
I felt that Sterlie was always going to be more to me, even if I could never have her.
She was unlike anyone else I knew.
Sterlie wasn’t just pretty, a rich girl living off her father’s money. She was determined to work, and design clothes even when I knew—thanks to Flora—that she could barely do the minimum amount of math. Simple addition caused trouble, and still, that didn’t stop her from designing, creating, and sewing. She was kind and loved to help.
I admired her.
“You seem to have a thing for pink, too,” she said, smiling up at me widely.
My eyebrows rose. “Me?” I looked at myself through one of the mirrors, and still, I couldn’t find a single pink thing on me. Quite frankly, I would’ve been surprised if I did because pink really wasn’t my color.
“Yes. I doubt you allow your staff to choose the colors for the LEDs of Tartarus.”
Oh. “They change daily.” They didn’t.
“Really?” Her eyes wandered over to the broken window, kind of like she was trying to catch a glimpse of my nightclub from here. The building wasn’t completely visible, but the top floors showed, as did some of the lights and the huge sign. “I’ve never seen any other color.”
“You pay quite the attention to a club you don’t want to join,” I said and stepped closer to her, much against my better judgment. “Why don’t you want to join?”
She never gave me a reason, just denied my offer. Flora came up with excuses for her sister—hell, even I came up with excuses—but I never got hers.
Sterlie chuckled. So sweet. A melody in my ears that traveled right through my body like a wave of unknown emotions. “I’ve been working here day and night for a year. Sewing and designing, you know?” she answered. “I’ve had a great view of Tartarus for a while, and eventually, I realized the colors never changed. I would’ve noticed if they did.”
Fine, I could give her that. “Do I get my question answered?”
She nodded softly, but before words left her mouth, she looked down at her dog in her arms and sighed. “The only dogs you allow inside have the ability to speak a human language, and most of those dogs are murderous.”
Sterlie wasn’t tough enough to join Tartarus.
Sterlie didn’t belong there.
Sterlie was afraid someone might hurt her when they realized she wasn’t supposed to be there.
Sterlie didn’t like clubs.
Sterlie denied my offer because I didn’t allow dogs inside the building.
One side of my mouth tugged up into a smile. Out of all the reasons she could’ve given me, it was her dog who kept her away all this time.
“You could’ve just asked if I’d make an exception for you.” My gaze fell on Soup, her almost black eyes staring up at me like she wanted to bite me. Her fur was perfectly white, so white I was sure Sterlie bleached it regularly, while at the same time, I doubted she’d ever do such a thing to her precious dog.
“You would’ve said no,” she replied with conviction. “Flora told me how long it took her to convince you to play her favorite singer in the club, so getting you to agree that I bring Soup with me was no option.”
“If you want to bring your dog, then you may bring your dog, cuore mio.”
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