Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Over in Ferrowland, Susanna was flabbergasted when she finally looked at the

pasta she'd cooked. She stood in the kitchen, staring blankly at the doorway that separated her from Hull, who was lounging in the living room.

It had been an hour and a half since she first mentioned dinner.

An hour and a half, just to make a simple pasta...

And she'd managed to mess it up twice already!

She had discreetly tossed the first disaster in the trash, but now this...

Staring at the burnt pasta in the pot, she couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.

She'd followed the recipe to a T, hadn't she? And she'd successfully cooked for Stella before, so what on earth was wrong today?

Sitting in the living room, Hull hung up the phone and said to her, "Is it ready yet?" Susanna jumped. "Uh, yeah! Almost!"noveldrama

She glanced back at the pot. It would have to be ready. She was starving and couldn't imagine Hull wasn't too.

She gave the pasta a taste.

Oh no! It wasn't ready.

What had she done? Had she added salt twice? Yep, that seemed to be it. She must have doubled the usual amount of salt.

Hull didn't notice Susanna's flustered demeanor. He tossed his phone onto the coffee table. "Great, let's eat."

Susanna froze. How were they supposed to eat this? It was so salty it was almost inedible.

But feeling the weight of Hull's presence, she didn't dare admit her failure. She had no choice but to nod and say, "Okay, coming right up."

Hull was already at the dining table.

Susanna felt a chill of fear wash over her.

What if Hull tasted her cooking and was so furious he would shoot her dead? Well, she didn't want to think about it.

An hour and a half, and this was all she had to show for it? She was ready to kick herself.

"What's the hold-up?" Hull's voice came from the dining room, his brow furrowing as he noticed Susanna hadn't moved.

Meeting his piercing gaze made her heart pound even harder, and she shook her head. "Nothing, nothing at all."

Hastily, she dished out the pasta into two plates. There was so much! She'd made enough for five people, let alone two.

Susanna placed a plate before Hull with trembling hands, then brought her own to the table, sitting across him.

She didn't dare look at Hull's

expression, focusing instead on the sound of his fork clinking against the plate, which indicated he hadn't taken a bite yet.

Gathering her courage, Susanna

took a nibble herself. The

hit

gara

buds, she

But she swallowed

Forcing a smile, she glanced at Hull and said, "Delicious."

།

it

Hull looked from his plate to Susanna. His eyes were unreadable, but they always seemed intimidating to her. "Delicious, huh?"

Susanna nodded. "Yeah. It just doesn't look that great."

"Look that great" was putting it mildly.

What was supposed to be pasta was more like a gooey mess, almost like a pancake with too much salt.

Susanna might have lost focus and forgotten she'd added salt after the first failed attempt.

"Um, if you don't want to eat something that looks like this, maybe I can try making something else?" Susanna stammered.

That'd be perfect if Hull didn't want to eat it. It'd give her a reason to start over.

Hull chuckled softly. "Your cooking skills..."

He let his sentence trail off, giving Susanna a sidelong glance.

She nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yeah, not so great."

Her nerves got stretched to the limit. After all, Hull hadn't had breakfast, and then, she'd botched lunch too.

Just then, Barnaby walked in after finishing the task Hull had set for him, with Enzo and Silas following behind.

Barnaby stopped short when he saw the dish before Hull.