Chapter 1

• Elena
• "Dev'essere pazzo…” He spatial at me calling the attention of the closest chef beside me.
• No…I want mad.
• I kept my head down as the restaurant manager yelled at the top of his voice. The last time I had looked at him, as he spoke, his spittle that went flying out from his mouth ended up washing my face.
• "Once beaten, twice shy" was something I was quite accustomed to. I knew that my manager would take silence as a sign of submission. Men like him preferred ego play rather than being right.
• I said nothing, and he continued to fire rapid Italian at me.
• Of course, I had done nothing wrong, but the man just liked to make a mountain out of a molehill. Couple with my exhaustion from my classes earlier in the day, I was in no mood to argue.
• “Perché stai intralciando tutti? Sei così disoccupato? Perché devi starsene lì in giro sembrando un pomodoro! Sì, un grande idiota!”
• I was apparently an idiot and a tomato according to him.
• The large kitchen bustled behind me, but some of the kitchen staff had chosen to stay in instead of work.
• It's them you should yell at, not me, I thought. I was constantly picked upon by this man.
• Giuseppe had been nothing more than a thorn in my flesh since I started working at the restaurant. While I thought it was because I was simply new, the treatment had lasted over six months now, and there were yet more new staff.
• He pointed in front of me and finally dismissed me. I deepened the bow and scurried over to the table I was serving.
• “You good?” I heard a voice behind me. It was the chef that jumped when Guiseppe was yelling.
• “Yeah.”
• “There's a customer outside. Why don't you leave the dishes…I'll handle them.” He said with a smile.
• I pushed ioen the door connecting the kitchen from the main dining area to find that the customers had gone but had been replaced by a single man.
• His long muscular legs were crossed and clad in beach trousers. He wore a white shirt that was rolled up to his sleeves to expose his tattoos.
• On his neck was a necklace of something that looked
• like an anchor, but I wasn't sure as I wasn't close enough. His face was blocked by the magazine he was reading, but his long, veiny fingers were quite eye-catching for me.
• "Is there something I can get you, sir?" I asked in English. The mysterious man put down his magazine and turned bright hazel eyes to look at me.
• Holy virgin.
• His gaze was burning, and the hazel of his eyes were almost a deep amber color. He had a straight nose, full lips, and a jaw sharp enough to cut through butter. He was quite a handsome man.
• I shook my head to clear my thoughts and asked again. "Is there something I can get you, sir?" The man smiled just a bit, with the smile not quite reaching his eyes.
• "Coffee," he answered in a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine. Feeling the need to leave his presence, I quickly skirted away with eyes wide open, and picked up the job of hot coffee and went back to his table.
• Completely avoiding his gaze, I kept my eyes focused on the coffee in front of me. The last thing I wanted was to spill coffee over his expensive-looking brown leather shoes and get scolded again by my manager. It was quite rare for me to get scolded twice a day, but a regular daily scolding was normal.
• Just as I was about to pour his cup, I heard him mumble something. "I'm sorry, what?" I asked. He shook his head. "Damon. That's my name. What's yours?" he asked, with a slight smile tugging at his lips.
• Those lips…
• "I'm sorry, what?" I asked again, all of a sudden feeling very repetitive. I shook my head at my own actions. This is very unlike me. Men were secondary in my life at the moment, so I couldn't explain why I felt this way. Sensing my discomfort, the stranger smiled. "Elena." I answered.
• He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, bringing himself dangerously close to me. I swallowed loudly and watched as his eyes moved over my neck.
• Those eyes…
• Distracted and trying to regain my composure, I turned back to the coffee jug I held and hugged it to my chest as though it would shield me from his gaze. "Pretty name," he said in a deep voice. "Did your mother give it to you?"
• I froze at the sound of the word "mother." I barely knew the woman, but it felt strange talking about myself with someone I had just met. I only knew my mother in the last moments of my life and even struggled to remember my face.
• Feeling clueless, I nodded and plastered a fake smile on my face. The man, called Damon, released a low hum that sounded like a purr of a large cat.
• But he was a beast. He seemed like a beast ready to pounce on me at any given moment. I looked up from the coffee I was holding and focused my eyes on his nose, afraid to meet his gaze.
• "W-Will that be all?" I stammered. His lips curved into a slow and sensual smile that promised strange things and sweaty nights. I bluId pink.
• He shook his head. "When I need you, I'll call you. I would love to likely be getting another cup of coffee, so please stick around," he said.
• I all but ran back to the kitchen once he nodded at me to leave. On shaky legs, I leaned against the cold kitchen counter where the chefs kneaded bread.
• I didn't know why I felt that way but the man made me extremely nervous and self-conscious . Not wanting Giuseppe to find me idle, I quickly glanced around to see if Giuseppe was close to me. He wasn't, making it incredibly lucky for me.
• I took in a couple more breaths before straightening myself away from the counter. my legs were still shaking, and most of all, my underwear was ruined.
• The mere fact that he looked deep into my eyes and smiled the way he did was more than enough to release the torrents between my legs.
• I was wet and bothered.
• I huffed and picked up the jug of coffee beside me. As soon as I set it down at its rightful position, I looked back to find Damon on the phone.
• His eyebrows were drawn together, and he drummed his fingers rapidly on the table. Whatever that was, it looked urgent because he stood up, dropped a couple of Iets of money, and walked off quickly.
• I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. In a way, I was glad that he was gone. He confused me and made me feel in a way that I had never felt before.
• I hoped that I wouldn't encounter him again. Encounters such as the one I just had were like Christmas or even worse, a lunar eclipse. Stuff like that only happened once in a lifetime.