Chapter 25
DANTE
Sixty seconds is a long time.
It gives me time to admire my little cattivella, who has the good sense to flee the bar out the back door. My favorite part of this game is thinking about all the different ways I can impale this Drew asshole, who thought he’d have any chance of touching my woman.
“Look, man, I don’t want any trouble. She agreed to come with us and—” I spear the other half of the broken pool cue into his throat, unable to listen to his nonsense for another second.
Turns out, I was taking this a lot more personally than I first realized.
I watch him as he gurgles and tries to grab for the cue stick protruding from his neck as if it might stop the bleeding.
I loom over him as he slowly crumples to the floor, enjoying every second that ticks by.
“It’s not your fault,” I let him know. “I warned her not to involve others. You’re just a casualty of her poor choices.” Unfortunately, my woman mistook my mercy for the last man as kindness, and that is not who I am.
Especially considering I hunted down and killed the last guy as well.
I turn my back on him and message Izak.
Me: Ctrl Alt Delete.
Izak replies immediately, but I don’t read the text as I count down the last few seconds I told her she’d have, my heart racing.
All is fair in love and war. At least that’s what a book I once read said. I never understood what that meant until I found myself obsessed with a certain little rabbit, running away from me, inflaming my most primitive instincts to chase.
She thinks I’m simply infatuated, but it goes beyond that. She’s mine, until the very end. Whether she’ll willingly come or not.
I begin to whistle, as I always do when I’m about to antagonize a person to the point of explosion.
But Romi is different. I want her to hate me so much that I’m on her mind all the fucking time. I want to drive her mad enough that she knows she can’t escape me.
When I step out of the bar, the scent of rain in the air and the dark clouds obscuring the sky definitely allude to a coming storm.
When I look over at my motorcycle, I smirk with the knowledge that she left it in favor of literally running.
With a loaded gun, no less. I think my woman doesn’t even realize the way she’s built for me.
I crouch low to the ground, using the little illumination from the cloud-covered moon and the flashlight on my phone to see in which direction her footprints will lead me.
My heart begins pounding from the exhilaration of the chase.
Of what I will do to her when I pin her down and force her into submission.
Of the way she’ll fight me, clawing her way to take control, and savaging me instead.
I’ve never felt the heavy beat of the chase like this before. I’ve always enjoyed hunting down my prey, and this is undoubtedly a side I’ve refrained from showing Romi up until now because I wanted to impress her. I wanted to weave into her world so I could use her to extend into my brother's.
But I’m done with that. I want her for myself. I want her to see who I really am. No more pretense or being on my best behavior. This is the man I truly am.
I start walking in the direction she went, my cock twitching with excitement. I’ve denied myself any pleasure from the moment she kicked me out. But it would appear we have to work a little on her faithfulness.
The more she runs, the more I’m willing to chase her, and it fuels me as I pick up my pace to a slow jog.
The desperate excitement to find her nips at my heels.
I want to prolong my own urgency so I can enjoy it; however, I’ve waited long enough.
I’ve given it my everything to appease this little dance she’s led me in.
Rain starts to fall in a steady sheet, and I welcome its cold slap as I note the dips and marks of her shoes on the wet ground.
I notice the way branches have been recently snapped, and give in to my primitive urges, my lust ramping up at the thought of forcing her into the mud and fucking her until she admits she’s mine.
The torrential rain comes next, and my heart pounds.
I’m smirking as I walk into the obvious trap.
She’s removed her jacket and thrown it over a log.
I know it’s a ruse before I even step toward it, but I’d happily fall into every trap she lays out for me because, unless she’s genuinely ready to put a bullet in my head, I’ll only continue coming for her.
I step toward the fallen log, as if inspecting the jacket, and that’s when I hear the click of the gun, and I slowly turn to face her.
Her black hair is matted to her face, her breathing harsh, but her focus and hands are steady.
“You fucking psychopath!” she yells over the thunderous rain.
“You messy, chaotic bitch,” I reply cruelly, and it immediately reignites that fire in her gaze.
She might be pushed to pull the trigger this time, and it only furthers my excitement.
If I die at the hands of this woman, it’s not a bad end.
In fact, as of late, I feel like it might be the only way I’d like to go out at all.
“I told you to stay away from me!”
“And I told you, wherever you go, I’ll chase you. It’s you who’s setting the tone of this game, Cattivella.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” she screams, and I can’t tell anymore if it’s just rain or if tears have begun to streak her cheeks. Maybe my little vixen has finally snapped.
Black mascara runs down her face, and I love that her inner chaos is coming to the surface.
A perfect little princess breaking apart—and only for me to see. Because there’s no way in fucking hell I’d let anyone else watch her be so vulnerable.
“Tell me you didn’t kill that guy in there!”
I risk glancing away, irritated that she’s taking the thrill away by talking about another man.
“I’d suggest you don’t talk about another guy while I’m rock hard for you.
I told you there were consequences. No other man, or woman for that matter, is to touch you.
Your body is only for me to explore. It’s time I show you the truth of my words and the real me.
” I take a step forward, and the gun goes off, and pain explodes in my leg.
The burning sensation begins, and I grin as I look down at my thigh, blood welling and leaking from the wound. It’s delicious.
“Love bites turn me on, sweetheart,” I growl, my cock fully rising to attention.
“Why are you doing this to me? Why won’t you leave me alone?” she screams over the pelting rain.
I take another step, and she fires again, this time missing, and the bark on the tree beside me explodes. I don’t know if she’s a good shot or a bad one, but one thing I’m certain of is that my woman is full of surprises.
I take another two steps, and her breathing comes in and out like a rabid dog being caged. She then lines the gun up with my head.
“I’m serious, Dante. Stay the fuck away from me, or I’ll do it.” She licks her lips and rocks back on her heels.
“Of that much I’m sure. I don’t doubt the fact that you’re capable of pulling the trigger and putting a bullet through my head, my love,” I say, taking another two steps so the tip of the gun kisses my forehead.
It exhilarates me, staring into her devastatingly beautiful light-brown eyes.
The rapid movement, the uncertainty—how terrified she is to let me in.
This is the thrill of the hunt, forcing her into submission. And if not, I’m honored to be the first kill she ever makes.
“Why are you so persistent?” Her bottom lip trembles.
“Because both of us can’t be a coward, Cattivella.
You might be good at running away from things, but I’m certainly good at obtaining my prey.
This is as much a game as it is a claiming.
I’ve told you already, you’re mine. It’s rather simple, really.
You either let me mark every inch of you now, and forsake every other person who might even look at you twice in this lifetime, or you put a bullet into my brain. I’m fine with either.”
“You’re crazy,” she says again.
I chuckle. “Very. But I’ll also make sure nothing hurts you. I’ll give you anything you want, if only you’re willing to lower the weapon and let me into that beautiful, chaotic mind of yours.”
I bring my hand up, wrapping my fingers around the gun, and slowly point it away from my face. She still seems unsure as we stare at one another.
“I’m a mess,” she chokes out.
“You’re perfect,” I say, stepping forward and pulling her to me by the waist. “To me. For me. And only me,” I growl. The moment I decided this, there was no coming out of it for her. She never had a choice.
I grab her by the throat, thinking of all the times I let her use me. All the times she used my cock and body to help her forget. But tonight I will make sure she'll never forget. I want to be her undoing as much as she is mine.
For the first time, I feel like nothing comes between us. Not my expectation to use her against my brother. And neither of us pretending to be something that we’re not, only the beautiful disasters we were innately born to be.
Her gaze is uncertain. She looks scared, but I know it’s not of me. No, not with the way her pulse quickens and her hungry little cunt rubs against me. She’s scared of anyone getting close enough to see the ugliness and truth of who she is. Now it’s her turn to lower the mask.
I grab her gently by the throat and force my lips against hers.
We’re not playing on her terms anymore. No kissing, my ass.
She opens for me, and I shove my tongue inside, taking everything from her as I lift the denim skirt over her hips and shove her against the closest tree.
I devour her, my hand sliding down to her clit, where I circle the nub through the material of her panties, the thought of her trying to seduce another man tonight fueling my madness.
“Get on your knees,” I growl at the same time she bites my bottom lip and drags her teeth over it. She looks up at me through thick eyelashes, as if transfixed and shaken by the unnatural thread that links us.
“Excuse me?” she whispers, then looks down at the muddy ground. I tighten my grip around her throat and continue to circle her sensitive clit.
“You heard me. I’ll take you now, Cattivella.”