Page 22 of Taming Dahlia

While she couldn’t give me a response — not with my hands cutting off her airflow — the fire and rage in those eyes of hers was answer enough. The air around us crackled with tension for a couple of moments, before I finally felt her nodding slightly beneath my palms.

Out of breath, I released the pressure around her throat and rolled back to my feet. She was breathing heavily as well, holding a hand to her neck as she slowly stood up. Our eyes met once more as we stood a couple of paces apart, the mat serving as a tangible divider between us.

“Thanks for the training session,” she eventually said, her voice coming out rougher than usual. She didn’t wait for another second as she turned around and stalked right out of the gym.

Alone in the room now — Jack having left some time ago when I hadn’t been paying attention — I swore quietly under my breath.

Just when she started to finally open up, I had to go and ruin it.

This had been a terrible idea. I never should have agreed to the sparring match in the first place.

But there was nothing to be done about it now. The only thing I could do was apologize to her for losing my temper the next time I saw her and hope that she wouldn’t be too angry with me.

However, that appeared to be easier said than done because as soon as I started to look for her, I couldn’t find her anywhere. It was clear that she was avoiding me, so I decided to giveher some space, but then dinner time came and she still hadn’t shown up.

Ace threw me a questioning look, and I shrugged my shoulder, feeling the mark burning beneath my shirt like a stark reminder.

It struck me again that I shouldn’t have been so hard on her.

Of course, she was going to lash out at having someone holding her down. Considering her situation, it would have been odd if she hadn’t.

Having lost even the little appetite that I had, I got up from my seat and after taking a second to think it over, I took a detour to Ludovica’s room.

I knocked gently on her door. A couple of moments passed in complete silence, before I called out to her, “If you tell me to go away, tell me. I won’t bother you again.”

I waited for her to say something, but the silence remained undisturbed.

“Ludovica?” I called out again, getting slightly more worried now.

Still nothing.

The wariness gradually began to bleed into concern.

I was stuck between wanting to give her privacy and seeing for myself that she was alright. The concern eventually won in the end.

I tried the door handle, finding that it had been thankfully left unlocked. As I walked into her bedroom, I saw that it was empty, the only indication of her presence being a rumpled comforter on the bed. I took another sweeping glance around me until my eyes eventually settled on the bathroom door.

I took a few steps towards it and rapped my knuckles against the wood. “Ludovica? Are you in there?”

“Yeah?”

Her muted voice made itself known, and I finally felt like I could breathe more easily now.

“You alright?”

“Yes, of course. Why? Do you need me for something?”

I rested my palm on the door, feeling ridiculous at how quickly I overreacted.

“No, I just noticed that you hadn’t come downstairs for dinner.”

I heard her humming through the door.

“Is it so late already? I must have lost track of time.”

Content with knowing that she was alright, I was about to turn away and leave when I remembered the reason why I came searching for her in the first place.

“Actually… I wanted to talk to you for a second if you have time.”

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