Page 46 of About Love and Revenge

“As if I had a choice.”

“You were the one who asked me to choose your meal.”

She sighs and looks totally defenseless. “Do you know why? It's because I trust you. This is going to sound crazy, Odin, but even if I'm sure you hate my father, I know you wouldn't hurt me.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Her faith in me is scary because the time will come when I will hurt her, yes, even if not directly.

“I thought about it a lot today. I considered that you may have brought me here because you wanted a guarantee against him. Like some kind of hostage.” She watches my reaction as she speaks.

“Continue.”

“But if that was the case, you could have simply let me stay on the island. I wouldn't have gone anywhere. Instead, you brought me here to protect me from Naim.”She strokes her fork slowly as she speaks, seeming in no hurry.

“And why do you think I did that?”

The beautiful woman looks at me quickly but then goes back to her silverware. “Because I think you care about me.”

I lean back in my chair to watch her.

She is exposing herself. Even if it's a small part of her, she is, and the least I can do is present her with the same honesty.

“Am I wrong?” Her voice cracks, and I think she’s revealed a lot more than she intended.

“No. You're right. I won't let anything happen to you.”

“And?”

Damn, she's too brave. Elina knows, even in her inexperience, that this cat-and-mouse game between us cannot last forever.

“I want you.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

She looks at me without turning away. “I can't get involved with you until you give me your word on something.”

I try very hard to hide my astonishment, because I never imagined she would be so direct. “Are we negotiating?” I'm curious to know in which direction she wants to go and, at the same time, hyped by the possibility of satisfying my hunger for her.

“In a way, yes, but it's not about anything material—it's about my freedom. I mean, the job you offered me represents my freedom. I don't want to have to ask my sisters or Theo for help. I need to prove to myself that I can do it alone.”

I stay silent, waiting for her to finish.

“I'm attracted to you and also curious. You woke up my body yesterday.”

Jesus, she's still going to be the death of me. Does she have any idea how crazy I am to get her out of here right now?

“I'd like to try out things with you, but when it's over, I don’t want it to cost me my job.”

“Over?”

“Odin, we both know that what we feel is only desire.”

It's not easy to surprise me, but she manages to leave me, figuratively speaking, speechless.

Elina is laying the cards on the table about our future relationship, as if to say: when we are done, there should be no more waiting for "something more".

That's usually my way of doing it. Making it clear to my occasional partners that they won't get anything other than what I'm willing to offer.

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