Stefano took two large steps into the room and stood before me. Dark hair, dark eyes, and dominance. Stefano didn’t have to say a single word to make me understand that he was not a man to be messed with. Power, mystery, and alpha power pulsated from his body at the same rhythm as my heartbeat. His firm jaw that clenched while he examined me from head to toe pulled my attention away from his hypnotizing glare. He was Thomas’s twin, yet this man before me looked completely different in so many indescribable ways. Besides the scar, it was the way he carried himself. His energy.
“It’s late. Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked.
“I… uh… may I please use the restroom, sir?”
He remained silent, stony, and cold.
Swallowing back the large lump in the back of my throat, I said, “I need to use the bathroom badly.”
He silently nodded and spun on his heels and walked out the door. Once past the threshold, he looked over his shoulder at where I still stood frozen. “Follow me.” His deep voice was firm, direct, and sounded so silky smooth.
I willed my body to follow the man, even though warning bells were going off that this man was not to be trusted no matter what. There could always be something up his sleeve, and I remembered what he did to me the last time I entered the bathroom. But again, my bladder didn’t give me much of a choice.
Leading me to the restroom, he opened the door and stepped inside. I followed him into the room and then turned expecting him to exit and wait outside the door. When he remained in place, I asked, “Can you leave?”
“No,” was his simple reply.
The idea of relieving myself in front of this man infuriated me. “I don’t need you to watch over me.” I glanced at the small room that had the toilet and thought about just going inside and shutting the door, but something also told me to not attempt doing anything without his direction.
“Please. I’ll be quick.”
“Go,” he snapped, which made my blood begin to boil. I was a fucking human being who deserved an ounce of decency and privacy to relieve myself. Grant me fucking bathroom privileges, for Christ’s sake!
“Are you enjoying this? It’s sick,” I declared. “I’m not going to go piss in front of you.”
His expression hadn’t changed since the moment he came for me, but I could see his eyes darken at my refusal.
“Go now.” This time his voice stabbed into my soul. I was not going to win this battle, but I still was not going to go pee in front of him.
“All I ask is that you leave the room. I would like a little privacy. Take away a comfort item if you have to in exchange for allowing me this brief time alone. Please.”
“Either go now, or I’ll take you back to your room. You can sit in your own filth for all I care. I don’t care where you go.”
He was lucky I didn’t have a knife in my hand. I would have killed him right then and there.
“Fine,” I said. “If you don’t care where I go,” I added as I squatted right in front of him. “I’ll piss right here, thank you very much.” I emptied my bladder in the middle of the room, staring directly into his eyes as I allowed every ounce of liquid to release from my body. It wasn’t like I had much of my dignity left to lose anyway.
Stefano remained emotionless. He didn’t say a single word or do a thing. His lack of anger was far worse than any wrath he could inflict. My knees wobbled as I remained in my squat, and I just hoped I wouldn’t fall. He scared me. There was no doubt about that, and yet here I was. The fool pissing on the floor mere inches from my captor’s shoes.
He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. If I didn’t know better, I would say he wasn’t even breathing. My actions had no effect on him, and I instantly regretted it. My childish act gave him the power. I was now the woman squatting in front of a man with piss dripping out of me. Humiliation for me, honor for him. Without doing a single thing, Stefano won this battle. Damn him.
As I stood and tried to control my anger, Stefano raised one eyebrow and asked nonchalantly, “Are you done?”
“I am a fucking human being. Not a fucking slave. Remember that.” Clenching my teeth, I straightened my shoulders and tried to muster as much pride as I could and glided past him, leading myself back to my room. I could hear his footsteps behind me and could almost feel his smugness burning against the back of my head.