CHAPTER 70

ELODIE

It had been ten minutes since he offered to cook for me. I sat on the edge of the kitchen table, my heart pounding as I watched him slice through the beef with the butcher knife. The distance between us was only two centimeters, but it felt like an unbridgeable chasm. I couldn’t take my eyes off that knife.

I needed to stay alert, just in case. If he decided to swing it at me, I had to be ready. The thought made my blood run cold, but this time, I wasn’t going to cower. If he tried to harm me, I would fight back. I had to.

He glanced back, and our gazes locked. I forced myself not to flinch, not to look away.

“Why are you staring at me so intensely?” he asked, one brow arched in amusement. “Are you that hungry?”

“Yes,” I replied, my voice steady despite the fear clawing at my insides. “Can you finish cooking quickly?”

“Alright,” he said with a smirk that sent a chill down my spine.

I kept my eyes on him the entire time, tracking every movement, every flick of the knife. When h