AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why didn’t you say? I can take you shopping.”
“Dante didn’t . . . he didn’t . . . I don’t have any money.”
“What about the card he left you yesterday?” She shakes her head but offers no explanation. “Okay, I have an idea.” I stand, pulling her with me. “Let’s go and feed you.”
“I don’t think I should—”
“Eat?” I finish, and she nods. “I don’t care what’s going on with you and Dante, Tessa, but you’re eating today. As your bodyguard, I’m forcing you.”
“He’ll be mad,” she whispers.
I gently swipe her tears away with the pads of my thumbs. “He doesn’t have to know.”
* * *
I hand the menu to Tessa, and she stares at it in a panic. “Choose anything, my treat,” I reassure her.
“What’s good?”
I frown. “Most of it. I like the Angus steak burger personally.”
“I’ll take that,” she says, closing the menu.
I re-open it. “Tessa, look at the menu. Choose what you want.”
She stares at it and a tear escapes down her cheek again. She slams the menu down and wipes her cheek angrily. “I bet you think I’m pathetic,” she mutters, but I shake my head. “I wasn’t always like this. I used to make decisions and choose food.”
I like that she’s opening up. “What changed?”
She thinks for a moment. “Dante.”
“Well, he isn’t here now,” I remind her, nodding at the menu. She smiles sadly and goes back to looking. When the waitress arrives, I patiently wait for her to say what she wants, smiling when she orders salmon and potatoes.
Once the waitress leaves with our order, I put my full attention back on her. “Tell me about your life before Dante.” When she hesitates, I place my hand over hers. “You can trust me, Tessa. I won’t tell him anything you say.”
“He pays your wage.”
I nod. “He does, but I still have my own opinions and, honestly, I don’t like what I see between the two of you.”
“There’s not much to tell,” she says. “I grew up in care, then I met Dante and he saved me.”
“Saved you?” I repeat.
“I was about to be sent out into the big bad world. I was almost seventeen, and they encourage you to leave the care home and be more independent. I’d have gotten a bedsit, but I would have been alone.”
“You didn’t have friends? You mentioned before that you did.”
“I had friends, but everyone moves on as you grow up.”
I shrug. “I don’t know about that, I’m still in touch with friends I grew up with.”
“Lucky you.”
“Did you choose to lose contact, Tessa, or did Dante prefer it that way?”
The food arrives and she takes the chance to change the subject.
* * *
