Kleptomaniac

ELENA'S POV

5 minutes later, I was seated on the black sofa while he leaned on the armrest of the opposite sofa, staring at me.

He had not said a single word yet but I knew that a lot was going through his head at that point.

He was silently toying with the diamond ring on his finger, twirling the jewelry slowly while my eyes remained glued to it. It was beautiful.

Suddenly he cleared his throat making me raise my gaze to his face which remained impassive.

“Alright, let's talk. I think we've stalled enough”

I nodded meekly, my fingers knotting together nervously.

He pushed himself off the sofa and crossed his arms.

“Tell me. Explain everything I have seen about you because it's something I can't understand no matter how much I try so tell me”

I swallowed and my gaze fixed back on the ring shining gallantly on his finger.

He was still waiting for me to talk and I muttered a “I don't know what you mean”

He sighed exasperatedly. “Look, don't fuck with me right now, Elena because I'm not in the right mood so talk now. I met you because you steal from me while running away from the people you stole from and now I meet another man who you stole from… you don't seem like the type though. So what exactly am I missing here?” he asked with a raised brow.

I wanted to talk to him, I really wanted to tell him about my condition but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to say it because I knew that he would kick me out. Everyone did. They didn't want me after hearing about it, they saw me as a walking time bomb and honestly, I saw myself as such too.

My gaze remained fixed on his ring that he had started twirling again slowly and my eyes flashed. Was that a diamond carat?

Suddenly the finger twirling the ring about stopped and I looked up at him in time to see the look of shock register on his face.

“No way…” he muttered.

I suddenly felt queasy from the way he scrutinized me.

He immediately came to me, closing the distance between us in three long strides then he squatted in front of me, his intense gaze making me shift mine.

Reaching out a finger, he raised my chin to meet his gaze that was searching my eyes vigorously for the truth.

“Elena…”, his tone was softer now. “I need you to tell me the truth. I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer it truthfully. Can you do that?” He asked.

I hesitated then nodded.

“Are you…” he paused as though he couldn't believe whatever he was about to say. “Are you a kleptomaniac?” His voice was a whisper even though we were alone in the house and no one was with us since his guards were outside and I saw no maids or anyone else in sight.

That was it. Out in the open. He knew and I couldn't deny it. My heart began to race

He sensed the way I went stiff and his rough hands gripped my soft hands and he sighed. “Elena, I need you to trust me. I'm not going to hurt you and you know it”

I slowly looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah. Since birth” I muttered.

He was still holding my hand and tears welled up in my eyes. Everyone left. No one wanted to be associated with a kleptomaniac. It wasn't my fault. The impulse to steal, I didn't want it. I also wanted a normal life but my condition wouldn't let me, sometimes I wasn't even in control of myself until when I had stolen something and most times I forgot what I had even stolen by the time I had snapped out of it. That was my life and I had decided to just get used to it.

His thumbs rubbed small soft circles at the back of my palm and I wondered why. Why wasn't he pulling away? Why wasn't he just calling off the deal and killing me?

Instead he sighed again and finally pulled away, a soft look in his eyes.

“Don't hate yourself for it” he said simply.

“Why?” I muttered. “Why haven't you killed me now? I'm of no use”, tears had welled up but I didn't let it fall. Not now. Not ever.

He shook his head. “I don't know what you take me for but I'm not that violent. Sure this is an inconvenience for me but You're the best at what you do that I've seen so far so you're very important to me. I'm not killing you. A deal is a deal. Kleptomaniac or not. I made a deal and I always keep to them,” he said matter of factly.

I nodded and looked down at my feet on the tiled floor.

“Right. I'm sorry”

“Don't be” he retorted then he walked off into the recesses of the house and everywhere became silent.

I swallowed heavily and leaned back against the head rest of the couch when a door opened from the direction he went and he poked his head down from the top of the spiraling staircase.

“I'll send a maid to show you to your room”, he called down and I nodded before he went back into the room again.

A voice behind me made me turn to see a beautiful young girl staring at me with Bambi eyes.

“I'll show you to your bath, Mrs Ferraro”, she said bowing slightly.

Minutes later, I was submerged into the warm water, my eyes shut as I thought about the current predicament.

Things were looking bad and even though he had agreed not to throw me out, I wasn't sure I wouldn't slip and do it again. That would be the end of my stay in his life and damn it, I didn't want that to happen.

This was living the life and I would stay here, no matter what happened. I wanted to stay here. I would stay here.