Adrik
When I claimed her, that was it. I made her mine and betrayed her. She longed for a story that wasn't mine to narrate, so I did the only thing a man like me would-I sent her back. Little did I know the secret she was keeping. The worst of all...
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Miss Giulia," Romeo groans as I lift my leg on the first step of the ladder. "You're not supposed to climb the ladder before you hurt yourself. Signor Rossi gave me strict rules—" He went on and on and on.
I stepped off and scowled at him. "I am capable of picking my apples. I'm not unable, and Antonio knows it too." He glares at me, and I roll my eyes.
Romeo was a handsome twenty-five-year-old man with a head full of luscious black curls and full stubble. I'd flirt with him if my heart didn't belong to someone else. Screw that someone else because I'd vowed to forget about him. He didn't want me anymore, and as the weeks went by, I accepted that he wasn't coming back for me.
"You even slipped and sprained your ankle the day before." He pointed at my foot as I circled it to show him I was alright. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"That was a mistake. The ladder was still wet because someone had left it in the rain." I glared at him, feeling the urge to hit him over the head.
"You left the ladder in the rain, Miss Giulia." Oh. I wandered my eyes, trying to find something to blame.
"Well, that—" I cleared my throat. "Just hold the ladder, then." I groaned. "You're insufferable."
"At least let me do it." He begged.
"And I said hold the ladder." The guards scattered on the perimeter were looking at us with frowns as Romeo continued to open his mouth, trying to make me change my mind. "I want to pick my apples. I don't know what germs you hold in your hands."
"What? Miss Giulia, you wash them after you pick them!" Romeo argued.
I got off the ladder again. I didn't care about washing the apples or not. Recently, the thought of anybody handling my food made me shiver with disgust. I wanted to do everything myself.
"Stop calling me Miss. Are you going to hold the ladder or not? I can get Mitch instead."
"And I'm the insufferable one." He murmured before walking to the ladder and holding it. I ignored his snark and smiled as I lifted foot after foot to get to the top. "Where are the apples you picked two days ago?"
"I ate them." I plucked an apple from the tree and dropped it into my bag around my waist.
"Ate them?! In two days?" Romeo gasped from the bottom of the ladder. "How?"
"I don't know." I groaned. "I love apples," I said a little too enthusiastically, which he did not laugh or smile. "They were not enough."
"I refuse to believe you ate twenty apples in two days."
"Twenty-six," I corrected him. "And I baked Torta di mele."
"When?"
I bit my lip, trying to think of a lie. I couldn't come up with anything because Romeo followed me everywhere except in my bedroom and at night. "Late last night." Romeo sighed, and I dropped an apple.
