Page 67 of Embriagado

“Fine, I won’t send him just yet. But be sure not to make another mistake.”

It wasn’t my fault to begin with.

“Of course, sir.”

“Now, go to sleep, Ariyan. You’ve worked hard today.”

Bitterness clenched my mouth at the way he said those words, like praise, and I bit the inside of my cheek until I could taste blood.

“Thank you, sir.”

Only after he hung up did I dare to sigh. His presence suffocated me even when he was an ocean away, and having to live with this man instructing my life was a punishment worse than death—a punishment I well deserved. Every day, I regretted walking into this mess, and yet, a coward like me would still choose this over dying. Because as someone who knew death all too well, I’d learned to fear it to my very core.

You’ll die an ugly, lonely death, just like the rest of us.

My body turned cold, goose bumps erupting across my skin, and I quickly closed my eyes, desperate to shake those words out of my memory when⁠—

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Snapping my eyes open, I stared at the door, a frown on my face, when another three knocks came, accompanied by the ringing of the doorbell.

Putting the phone down, I walked over to the door. Before reaching it, I grabbed my gun, which I’d left next to my helmet, fingers already moving to the trigger. Cautiously, I turned on the electronic peephole to check who was there, lips twitching in displeasure the second I saw the imbecile.

For God’s sake.

Quickly putting the gun away, in a place this man-child could never reach, I then opened the door to face him.

“What are you doing here?” I snarled, not at all in the mood to face him.

“The fuck you mean, what am I doing here?” His jaw twitched. “I got you your food, you dumb fuck.” Before I could even ask, he held up a takeout bag that smelled of junk food. “Wagyu double cheeseburger with truffle butter and a side of curly fries. I had to go to five different places to find this exact shit, you asshole.”

He shoved it into my hands and turned to walk away when I asked, “How did you get past the building’s security?”

Still clenching his jaw, he half glanced at me. “I waited until someone got out to sneak in.”

Rage inflamed me because it shouldn’t be that easy.

Unable to stay put for a second, he stretched his neck and peeked behind me, his eyes narrowing. “Changed your couch, huh?”

Disgusting dog.

Gritting my teeth, I looked down at the bag, then at him. The last thing I needed was to handle his nonsense now, but then again, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, as messing with him did please me to a degree.

“Unfortunately, a dog pissed on it; therefore, I had no other option,” I said, grabbing the bag in one hand and peeking inside. Would you believe it? He really did find me a Wagyu double cheeseburger with truffle butter and a side of curly fries. Probably took him hours, considering I made it up.

As if I’d ever eat something so full of fat.

“Anyway, I’m out of here, you psycho⁠—”

“Do you want a taste?”

“Huh?” A deep crease formed between his confused brows as he stared back at me.

Taking out the burger, I slowly pulled it out of its wrapper.

“I asked, do you want a taste?”

I dropped the takeout bag, the sound of it hitting the floor echoing around us as he continued to look at me. All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure what was more appetizing—the burger or this big, dumb man staring at me with eyes wide open and cheeks bright red.