Easier to Remember

It took me a few minutes, but I slowly accepted my fate. I was locked in this place with this man, and he looked like he didn't mind at all. I had two options. Stand here and hope that the door would open some time soon, or sit down and hope it opens.

I slowly walked to the seat where I was before, my eyes briefly looking up to Leone. He was eating casually, his eyes fixed on his plate. Not even his phone was in sight.

"Is this your doing?"

He looked up at me, then gently poured himself a glass of wine. "You think I would force myself to be in proximity with you?"

I bit down on my lips. "You made sure to marry me."

He set down his fork. "Because your father begged. There was no other way Brave Hearts would help out a competitor if we weren't secure that hurting us would hurt them too."

"So I am leverage? Some sort of hostage to ensure that my father does not stab you in the back?"

"Yes," he said simply, then grabbed one of the cigarettes laid out on a small tray. He grabbed a lighter too, then leaned to me, his hands resting on the table, his eyes holding mine. "One foul play from your father, and I get to ruin you the way you did me. You know what makes this even more tragic? We both know who your father is, Ginevra. With him, we are only counting the days till he stabs me in the back."

I swallowed hard. He was right, and hell, he might just be ten steps ahead of us.

He broke into a one sided smile, then pushed rhe lighter to me. I grabbed it, then looked up, my eyes thin.

Slowly, I lit the cigarette on his lips, and instead of releasing the lighter, I watched as it turned against the cigarette, the fire reflecting in Leone's eyes.

His smile darkened, and for some reason, he did not move the cigarette from his lips. We both watched as it burned down steadily the fire brightening ad it got closer to his lips.

Right before it reached him, however, I let go of the lighter, and the fire immediately went off, smoke filtering between both of us.

Leone broke into an even bigger smile, before letting go of the burned cigarette.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut through with a knife, and we both just sat there, staring each other down, as if we were gauging the amount of harm we could inflict on the other.

"I thought you moved on," I said slowly, my eyes darting away from his. "I thought you forgot it all."

He gave a small shrug. "He who forgets history is doomed to repeat it, don't you think so, Ginevra?"

I met his eyes again, and they were as cold as ever. If the memory of ten years ago cut something through him, it certainly wasn't evident at all.

I swallowed hard, then turned away. We fell into tense silence, and he neither returned to his food, nor did I pay attention to mine.

My phone suddenly started to ring, and it cut through the silence in the room. I grabbed my bag and checked it. It was dad.

"Dad?"

There was silence for a moment, before the static cracked. "Well, uh... Don Luciano wants you and Leone to get to know each other. I hope you can do that."

My brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Are you having dinner?"

"Dad."

"The door will be opened in three hours."

Fuck. I looked up to Leone who was watching me, his brows slightly drawn, but his face expressionless still.

The call quenched, and I set the phone on the table, my chest heaving.

How am I going to continue this for the next three hours? I checked the time again. Fifteen minutes past seven.

Fuck.

"Did you know about this?" I asked, my eyes looking up to Leone, who had now gone back to his food.

"Mostly."

I cursed under my breath. There was nothing I could do. Three hours. I have to survive it. Besides, I will be living with him till one of us gets tired of the pretense.

I grabbed a fork, then reached for the first dish in front of me. I served it to my plate, then slowly brought it to my lips.

"It has nuts," Leone said simply, and I stopped, just before I could eat it.

I looked down at it, and sure enough, I could see the sprinkled grounded nuts.

I slowly set it back, my eyes watching him.

Without a word, he picked a clean plate, then picked a few different dishes into them, before setting it back in front of me.

I looked down at the plate, then at him. "Are these poisoned?"

"I wish they were."

I swallowed hard, then grabbed a clean fork. "How do you remember my allergy?"

I expected him to ignore the question. It apparently was a dent in his ice.

To my surprise, however, he stopped eating, then leaned back, his eyes the same veiled ice.

"I remember you, Ginevra. I put in effort to make sure I do not forget you no matter what."

I blinked. "Why? Why would you make sure to remember someone like me?"

He let his head tilt upwards a little, his lips set in a lopsided smile that did not reach his eyes.

"I found it easier to remember you. I prefer to remember you, Ginevra. Everything you did, everything you said, what you used to smell like. So if I ever need to kill you, I wouldn't need to find out how."

"Leone," I said, but his voice cut me off, keeping me frozen in my seat.

"And if I ever needed to love you, I wouldn't need to learn it again."

My fork left my fingers, and I sat there, frozen to my seat, my mind working on overdrive as I tried to understand him. To understand this.

He went back to his food like it was nothing, like I was nothing, but it felt like everything had changed. For some reason, this place was more comfortable two minutes ago.