Page 62 of Pretty Plaything

“You can come out now, Sienna,” he says.

I furrow my brow.

Wait, is he for real? Is he going to let me out?

Now?

Just like that?

He pokes his head inside. His gaze lands on me and the rope in my hands.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Nothing.” I drop the rope.

He eyes me for a moment. “Come.”

I follow him out. As I step out into the hallway, I already feel better. There’s an actual window here, so I hurry to it and take a look outside.

It’s a wonderful day, and I’ve missed the sun so much. Maybe Alessandro finally realized that he couldn’t keep me in his dungeon forever, or maybe he’s had enough of me.

I glance at him.

He’s waiting for me at the end of the hallway. I guess he wants me to follow him.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask as I trail after him.

“You’ve been inside for too long.”

“And we both know who’s to blame for that,” I mumble.

He narrows his gaze at me, but a smile quirks the corners of his lips.

We walk out into the yard.

There’s a table set up in the middle of it, among the trees and flowers. I take a deep breath of fresh air, the sun caressing my skin.

It’s not too hot or too cold. It’s perfect, actually.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he says. “I told the cook to make my favorite pasta for us.”

I blink at him.

He wants to have lunch with me? What the hell happened to him? It’s like he was replaced by a completely different person.

Someone I might actually want to get to know better.

“Yeah, sure,” I say.

He pulls out a chair for me, and I take a seat.

I eye him carefully as he sits across from me.

He’s up to something, isn’t he? But I have no idea what.

After he opens a bottle of wine, he pours some into the empty glass in front of me. I pick up the glass and take a sip. It tastes good.

Hopefully, he didn’t spike it with something, and this isn’t actually going to be my last meal.