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This one has a big lizard of some sort in it. Giulio smiles widely when the lizard ambles over to the glass and stares at us.
“Yeah, you’re hungry, I know. But you had dinner yesterday. I can’t overfeed you, or you’ll get all fat.” Giulio glances at me. “Do you know how many people overfeed their reptiles? They end up with huge fat deposits in their tails.”
I couldn’t care less about reptiles getting fat or where that fat settles.
My skin is crawling just looking at the thing, and I try to back up. I can only go so far, because Giulio tightens his grip on my hand. “Whatisit?” I ask, trying to calm myself down by focusing on the facts instead of dwelling on just how creeped out I am.
“He’s an Argentine tegu. Really friendly and loves to eat. He’ll climb all over me if I let him roam the condo.”
I’ve never even heard of tegus before. It just looks like a big lizard, with a long tail and a black-and-white spotted pattern on its scales. I shudder when it flicks its tongue out in our direction.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared?” Giulio asks. “The terrariums are top quality. Nobody’s getting out without my permission.”
“Yes, I’m scared,” I say, my voice going a little high with rising panic. “You just said it climbs all over you if you let it out. I don’t want it near me.”
“Ooh, if you’re scared of Carlito here, you’ll love Antonia.” Giulio grins widely. “Want to guess what kind of animal she is?”
I shake my head, pulling harder against his hand as I try to get away from him and the creatures contained within the glass. “Please, just let me go into the other room,” I plead. “I don’t like this.”
“I know you thought she was a woman.” Giulio laughs as he pulls me along. “I do keep her in a cage—an enclosure. I feed her less than I feed you! But she eats big rats when she does.”
Big rats. He has to be talking about a snake, which makes me shudder, panic rising in me as we get deeper into the room.
We end up on the far end, in front of the biggest enclosure. It takes up almost the entire wall. There’s a waterfall feature, lots of green foliage, and several large branches extending from one end of the enclosure to the next.
And hanging from one of those branches is a giant snake.
“Antonia!” Giulio says with a wide smile. “Did you miss me?” He turns to look at me again. “I don’t think snakes form attachments to humans. But I’ve formed enough of an attachment to her for both of us.”
“Oh god,” I whisper, feeling like I’m going to throw up. If my skin was crawling before, it’s nothing compared to how I feel now. The tegu was bad enough; this huge snake is ten times worse. “Please, please, can we leave this room?” My voice is strangled, high with panic.
“Nah, we haven’t bonded yet.” He lets go of my hand and says, “Stay right there.” There’s a sharp note of warning in his voice.
I want to run out of the room, but the situation is already bad enough without me pissing him off. I swallow hard, looking longingly at the door that seems so far away right now, but I don’t move. Instead, I stare at the floor, trembling, while I try not to look at the snake.
Giulio unlatches the locking mechanism on the glass and slides one pane to the side. He reaches in without any worry at all and grabs the snake. It immediately starts to slither along his arm and over his shoulders.
“She’s a ball python,” Giulio explains, like that’s somehow important, like I care what kind of snake it is beyondlarge. “My first reptile. My old man was fucking livid when he saw her. Good thing I’d already moved out. He might have murdered her otherwise.” His expression turns dark at that.
I shudder. I don’t like the snake. I’m terrified of it, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to see it killed. I just… don’t want it to be here, or anywhere around me. “Why… why would you get it?” I ask hoarsely.
“She’s gorgeous!” Giulio says as he comes closer to me, snake still slithering on him. “I like snakes, I have the money, so why the fuck not.” He looks around the rest of the room. “A man’s gotta have hobbies, right? I can’t spend all my time fucking you.”
I back up when he gets closer to me, my eyes trained on the snake. It keepsmoving, and he’s just handling it without seeming to care. I can’t even flinch at his comment about not being able to fuck me all the time, because I’m too overwhelmed by the sight of that creature. “Keep it away from me,” I whisper, my eyes wide.
“Aww, she’s harmless.” Giulio gets closer, and closer.
Then he drapes part of the snake over my shoulders.
I shriek and jump back, only staying in the room because I remember that menacing tone from earlier. “Oh god, please no,” I whimper, tears welling up in my eyes as I shake my head. “Keep it away from me!”
The snake recoils too, letting out a hissing sound that does nothing to reassure me. If anything, it heightens my growing panic.
“Hold still,” Giulio admonishes, gripping my waist this time. The snake rests on his shoulders but stares me in the eyes. Its tongue flicks in and out.
I can’t catch my breath. I feel like I’m going to pass out. It keepslookingat me. I don’t even know if the thing is poisonous. Giulio seems like the type who likes to live on the edge, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he had one that could kill him. “P-please,” I choke out, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Please don’t.”
I wish he’d handed me off to his perverted business contact instead of this.
