Page 12 of Taming Dahlia

“And what do I call you?” I asked her.

“You?” Her eyes snapped back to me. “You don’t get to call me anything. “

I huffed, amused by the hostility she was displaying. “You won’t tell me?”

She only lifted her chin in response, and I fought back a smile as I observed her little act of defiance.

“You don’t have to tell me. I have your ID,” I told her and her glare intensified.

I took a second to look at her from head to toe, taking note of every little feature. Those blue eyes of hers still managed to give me a pause.

What was it about them that affected me so much?

“Your name is Ludovica Fiore. Age 21. From Messina.”

I read the information on the card out loud and lifted my eyes to meet hers. “That’s what’s written on here, at least. Or is all of that false?”

It most likely was, but she didn’t seem to be in any hurry to tell me the truth as she continued to scowl up at me, her mouth set in a firm, straight line.

“Like I said. You call me nothing.”

Even after only knowing her for this short period of time, it wasn’t difficult to gather that she was a very stubborn and bullheaded person.

I felt a sliver of worry gnawing at the back of my mind, but I decided to ignore it.

What was the worst thing that could happen?

“How about a switch?” I tried to extend her an olive branch. “I’ll tell you my real name if you tell me yours.”

Her gaze ran purposely over me once before settling into a look of disinterest.

“I don’t care enough about you to want to know your real name.”

A small, amused chuckle escaped from me. “Ludovica it is, then.”

I reached into my pocket to toss a phone at her, and a hand emerged from under the blanket to catch it. After eyeing the phone cautiously for a second, she looked up at me.

“What do I do with this?”

“You can order clothes and some other necessities you may need. Also — before you try to get your hopes up — know that the phone is modified so you only have access to what I give you.”

When she didn’t look too keen on the idea, I idly added, “I suggest you take me on the offer — unless you want to run around the house completely naked, that is.”

From the way she was glowering at me, I was sure that she would have lunged at me if she still had some mobility left in her muscles and legs. As it was, she settled on just giving me a withering glare.

While I didn’t know if taking her in was a bad idea or not, there was one thing I was sure of — this was going to turn out to be a real interesting experience indeed.

Four

Dahlia

Like a fast-spinning carousel, the days rapidly whirled by me. I was confined to a room that was kept under a lock, but I welcomed the isolation. I knew that it was only when other people started to get involved that the situation turned ugly.

The only company I’d get was in the form of King who would — without fail, three times a day — arrive like clockwork to bring me food. He’d engage in one-sided conversations with me for a couple of minutes, and then he’d leave me alone again when he saw that I wasn’t in the mood to talk.

I kept waiting for him to grow tired of me not doing anything or to at least try something, but it seemed that he was content to just let me be.

I couldn’t understand what was going on inside his head.

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