Page 102 of Monster

15

EMMY

I spentan entire two days staring at the piano.

I hadn’t tested it out, and I didn’t know why. I couldn’t even bring myself to play a simple rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” one of the first songs I had ever learned on the piano.

But I spent a good amount of my timenearthe piano.

If I wasn’t spending time with Lucy, then I was either reading on the bench, letting my hands run down the smooth wood, or I was watching TV on the iPad Dominic had gotten me—with restrictions placed on the internet, of course—or I was drinking coffee close to the piano, admiring the beauty.

Never had I been so close to such a beautiful instrument, and if my being near it and unable to play wasn’t so sad, I might have come across as weird.

It didn’t matter.

Something was pulling me toward it.

Yesterday morning, Dominic had woken up to find me sitting on the bench and going over music sheets for some of the most famous classical pieces, including “Moonlight Sonata.”

He had said nothing, and if he found it strange, he didn’t say anything.

All he did was lift me up into his arms, do his weird feeding fetish, then head off to work.

All of this only further confused my feelings for this rough, mean-looking biker.

I spent most of my time either defending him or cursing him in my head.

Today I was leaning toward the former, but I was sure he would do something to piss me off later in the day that would change my mood completely.

I let out a small sigh and looked out the window.

I was still stuck in this house, no matter how I looked at it, even if I wasn’t spending most of my time in fear any longer.

The sound of the engine rumbling had me perking up a little. The sun was still bright, and the last time I checked, it was a little after noon. He usually wasn’t home at this time, and part of me expected him to walk through that door bearing some injuries fromclub business.

Sure enough, the front door clicked open moments later, and Dominic’s enormous frame filled the doorway.

His eyes found mine automatically, and he didn’t seem surprised to find me sitting there.

We didn’t say anything for a beat.

Then he walked inside, making this enormous house seem that much smaller.

It was his special ability, I decided. Sucking up all the energy in the room and making any space he came into smaller.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked.

I shook my head.

One corner of his lips tilted up in a slight smirk.

“Are you hungry?”

I shrugged.

The smile grew.

“Cat got your tongue, wildcat?”

---