chapter 7

Stella's POV

"What's going on in your mind, dear?" Grandma's words were accompanied by her soft touch, making me snap back to reality.

My lips curled up into a smile so she wouldn’t get too worried about me.

"I'm fine, Grandma." My eyes darted over to the table, catching a glimpse of the food right in front of us.

At her request, I had made sure to prepare a whole buffet, and from the look of things, she was enjoying herself.

"Grandma, I hope you like the food," I asked, tilting my head so I could carefully watch her expression.

Grandma pursed her lips, and the smile on her face widened as it reached her ears.

"Of course." She gave a subtle nod and then scooped my hand into hers. "This is delicious."

With that, she turned back to her plate, the chattering sound of the knife and fork scraping against the plate momentarily breaking the silence.

My face was fixed on my food, trying to enjoy it, but I had no appetite that morning. I couldn't tell if it was because of that jerk Alexander or if I was too tired from cooking.

My hands tightened over the fork as I sighed.

"My dear, did you see my grandson? He's supposed to be here for breakfast."

My body stiffened when she mentioned Alexander's name. I pressed my lips together, clearing my throat.

"Grandma, I did see him this morning, but I haven't since I came downstairs to prepare breakfast," I said calmly. For some reason, I could feel my insides twisting as I spoke.

Grandma tilted her head as she sucked in a deep breath.

"That's not right. Oliver would never miss breakfast," she said.

"Um, Grandma, I've been meaning to ask. Why do you call him Oliver?" I asked, leaning closer, my eyes brimming with curiosity.

Grandma twisted her lips, her eyes becoming light with emotion, and suddenly, I felt so bad for even asking in the first place.

"Oliver is his father's name. When I see him, I can't help but think of my son. Pardon me if it confused you a little."

A jolt of panic jumped inside my chest as I began waving my hands dismissively. "Of course not, Grandma. The only reason I asked is because I was curious."

Grandma gave me a smile that warmed my heart. Her hands reached out toward mine, and my eyes narrowed at her palm.

"Aren't you a good girl?" she mumbled, her eyes filled with care and concern.

"Too bad I didn't get a wonderful daughter like you before I hit menopause." She clicked her tongue.

"Please go tell my son to come down for breakfast. I don't like him skipping his meals," she said.

The fork in my hand instinctively dropped on the table, and I swallowed hard.

"My dear, is there something wrong?" she asked.

I grinned, revealing my perfectly white teeth, because there was no way I could tell her that I didn’t want to see Alexander. She would start asking questions, which would end with me spilling the truth—that I saw him banging his girlfriend and I watched the whole thing.

My shoulders dropped. She was definitely going to think I was some kind of pervert if I told her what happened.

Shaking my head, I pushed back my chair, the scraping sound echoing against the floor as I stood up.

"It's alright, Grandma. I'll go and get him for you."

I turned swiftly toward the stairs, my knees buckling as I walked into the hallway.

The light cast an eerie shadow over me as I held my breath.

Why was I scared? It’s not like he had horns on his head that could bite me in the ass or something.

But whenever the words from his teasing rang deep in my ears, I could feel the heat creeping up the back of my neck, crawling over to my cheeks.

Finally, I stopped right in front of his room. My hands reached over to grab the handle. My heart drummed as I inhaled. I held it in for a while before I let it out, but it did little to ease my frantic heart.

"Come on, Stella. It's just one guy. It’s not like he's going to harm you or something," I encouraged myself.

My hand reached up to knock on the door, but then I froze, leaving my hand midway.

"Damn it," I cursed under my breath.

Was it too late to turn back? I pondered.

I could just tell Grandma that I was unable to speak with Alexander. That way, problem solved.

"Yes!" I clasped my hands together. "That way, I could just tell her that he didn’t open the door for me."

I nodded, almost satisfied with my conclusion, but then I realized that lying to Grandma felt like I was abusing her trust. Plus, she was always so nice to me.

"What am I going to do?" I whimpered, my lashes flickering closed. I exhaled, my cheeks puffing from the air.

I found myself leaning against the door, my head resting on it for support as I moaned over the situation.

Suddenly, I heard the door click from the inside.

My eyes snapped open, and before I could react, the door swung open. My body jerked forward, stumbling into the room, and a loud scream tore from my throat until I crashed into a hard chest.

My lashes blinked rapidly, confusion nudging against my chest because I honestly thought I was going to fall.

"What..."

My eyes snapped wide when I felt a pair of strong hands hovering over my waist, steadying me against him.

The familiar scent of cologne rushed into my nostrils, and I closed my eyes. I was pretty much getting the idea of whose hands these were, but a part of me didn’t want to admit it.

"How long are you going to stay curled up against my body? In case you didn't know, I have a girlfriend, and I don't think she likes threesomes very much."

Alexander's voice teased, his breath tingling against my skin, and I bit my jaw inwardly.

I quickly pushed away from his body, my hands rubbing against my skin as if to wipe his scent off me because it was so alluring.

It had this pull that made me want to sink into his arms, but I knew that was never going to be possible… EVER.

"Why must you say such words? I have no interest in sleeping with you," I said boldly.

"Humph." Alexander rolled his eyes, stepping forward, and I instinctively took a step back.

He stopped right in front of me. God, the height difference was so intimidating, and I lowered my gaze because I didn’t want to look at him—especially his eyes.

"Are you sure, Miss Ella?" he smirked.

"It’s Stella. Why can't you just remember it? Or are you doing this just to spite me?"

"Maybe. I like it when you get flustered when you get pissed off."

His hand went up against my chin. My body felt a wave of emotion boiling inside my stomach as I locked eyes with him.

His touch was firm yet gentle, his eyes searching mine—so deep, like he could see my soul.

"The last time I remember, you looked really horny watching me bury myself inside another woman."

He smirked, taking his hand away from my chin, but his touch still lingered. His fingertips brushed over the side of my neck, and I tilted my head to the side.

The heat flashed against the tip of my ears, and I took a deep breath, steadying my heart.

"If you want, you can come over to my room," he said in a low tone.

His hand clamped over my waist, yanking me forward, and my body slammed against his.

I could feel my belly pressing against his middle, and images of his hard rod flashed through my mind. A wave of electricity shot through my skin.

"I... I..."

The words came out through ragged breaths as his hands started caressing the side of my neck.

How could I possibly think straight when he was doing all of that? No matter how hard I tried, everything in my head was just gibberish.

"What do you say? Today, by midnight… you can be my little doll."