Chapter - 43 - Stay hungry

The tall man slowly removed his pants and gazed at the bandage on his thigh. 'She would have definitely seen the bullet. What if someone is waiting for me in the living room to arrest me? UGGGHH! I dug my own grave!! Maybe not! Surely the woman has nursed me the whole night and gave me a new set of clothing, so that wouldn't be the case then!' thought the man while putting on the new set of clothing. He entered the washroom and leaned on the wall for support while he was brushing his teeth.

As he was brushing, he thought about yesterday's events and he suddenly remembered a female voice saying 'I am not going anywhere. I will always be with you.' that too in Valerian. He was stunned and stopped brushing. This was the first time he heard a female voice in his nightmare. 'Could the female voice belong to the woman of this apartment? I don't think so. How can a woman of Halston city know Valerian.' thought the tall man still in confusion.

He freshened up quickly and reached the door knob of the bedroom door after taking a few deep breaths. He slowly opened the door and peeped into the living room. There was no one in the living room but a familiar delicious smell filled his nostrils.

His mouth started to water as soon as the smell hit him. 'Does she know me? No way! No way! But how come she is cooking my favorite dish, Risotto !!!' The tall man was doubtful and became more curious about the woman.

He could only remember her beautiful eyes as he didn't get a chance to see the rest of her face in the dark. He moved in feather light steps towards the kitchen but saw his gun, phone and the bullet retrieved from his body placed on the table near the couch. He let out a sigh of relief and continued to move towards the kitchen with piqued curiosity.

He saw the back of a perfectly figured woman in a black t-shirt and navy blue track pants with her dark hair tied in a high bun, cooking with a lot of determination. He didn't make a sound and kept admiring her from the back.

Gianna continued to stir the rice mixture and heard light footsteps from coming towards the kitchen. She knew that the tall man was awake but waited to see what he would do. She kept stirring and sensed his intense stare which would bore a hole through her body.

"You dare to stare at me after all the mess you have created last night?" asked Gianna in a slightly raised voice without turning towards him. The tall man was stunned because no one would have sensed his presence as he didn't even make a slight noise when he moved. He was known for his sneak attacks because everyone would say that he walked in the air and not on the ground.

He looked at her with disbelief wondering how did she know he was standing there even without turning around and said, "Sorry. I had no other choice other than sneaking into your apartment. Also, thank you so much for taking care of me."

Gianna felt a tingle in her lower spine when she heard his low deep voice. She didn't know why she felt that way and nodded at his reply but didn't reply back. He slowly took a seat and kept admiring her, waiting for a chance to have a complete look at her.

Gianna removed the skillet from the flame and stirred the mixture with remaining butter, lemon juice, and Parmesan. For the last touch, she seasoned the Risotto with salt and pepper. She covered the skillet with a lid and turned around casually, carrying the closed skillet to place it on the table. "I made Risotto, which is a healthy dish. I don't know whether the dish is to your liking, if it is not you are welcome to stay hungry." said Gianna as she placed the skillet on the dining table.

The tall man's heart was beating faster and faster as Gianna neared the table. He had no idea why his heart was beating so fast and couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Her spotless fair - skinned oval face resembled an angel descended from heaven with the few dark strands of hair falling on her face. A pair of arched eyebrows looked down on sweeping eyelashes of her extremely beautiful dark hazel eyes, giving her a touch of divine.

The sexy high cheekbones supporting her roman nose elegantly and her thin rosy lips, which urged any man to have a taste of it, made his heart beat faster and faster. He knew he was staring but couldn't help but keep staring at her.

Gianna caught him staring at her and hit his head lightly with the ladle in her hand. The tall man came back to his senses when he was hit with the ladle and saw Gianna glaring at him. He let out a cough and cleared his throat as if nothing happened.

Gianna placed two plates on the table and served the dish but she took back the plate in front of him and asked, "Do you have any food allergies?" He shook his head and smiled at her.

Gianna felt relieved and placed the plate back in front of him. The tall man didn't wait anymore and quickly had a spoonful of Risotto. His eyes widened and could literally feel fireworks set off in his mind. The Risotto was tasty but more than that it reminded him of his mother.

He placed the spoon back on his plate and looked down to suppress his memories. Gianna noticed his reaction and wondered whether it tasted bad. She took a bite of the dish to confirm but there was nothing wrong with it.