12. Dante
twelve
Dante
Between dealing with the Ironhood Hounds, with their clashing as they try to swallow up the Outlaw Sinners' territory, and more issues running with the Fallen Saints trying to meddle their way into the mix, my mind is clouded, properly distracted throughout most of today.
It takes all the strength a man can have not to call it early and run home. Hell, many of my men have frequent moments of weakness like this, but I never thought I'd be one of them.
When I get home, will there be fabric everywhere? Will Margot have the biggest smile on her face?
God, it's going to take even more strength not to kiss her again. I don't make a habit of losing myself often, but when Margot's involved, I'm a weak man. It's happened twice now, and I wouldn't be surprised if I crumble a third time.
The only thing I really have to keep my thoughts in order is Hex.
She started the onslaught under an alias at first. Though I'm sure it's only a matter of time once he figures out it's us.
Feeding him the crimes we dug up over the last two years, the secrets he'd hidden away with his money and power, I can only hope it's enough.
After everything Margot's been through, I don't want to have to use her like a weapon. As easy as it would be to sit her in front of a camera and have her explain her story, I don't want her to relive that moment in her life. Not when it looked like it pained her so much just when she'd told me.
Even if it is what could completely destroy him, my number one goal is wavering. If I can get him to step down and Cash's representative to win? That will have to be good enough to satisfy me.
Hoping for some kind of response by the end of today or tomorrow, I'll have to decide how much we'll have to reveal by then.
But now, I've spent enough time away from Margot that I can finally make my way home. I can't even stop myself from booking it the entire way.
To call me eager would be an understatement. Thankfully, I don't have to run into any of my brothers to see me in this state. I'd have to make them swear their silence, just like I'd done to Casper.
Fuck, he better not have given her a hard time about my relationship with her. I know he's been dying for details.
Shaking my head, the elevator climbs the four floors until finally, I'm right there. So close, but still so far away from her.
When I step out, I freeze right in my tracks. The air leaves my lungs in a swift rush.
A small form is curled tight against the base of the wall, right beside the locked door. Her arms are wrapped tightly around her bent knees, her chin tucked low. All it takes is the sight of that familiar blonde hair spilling over her shoulders like silk for a terrifying dread to flood my veins.
It’s Margot.
For a second, my brain completely misfires. I forget how to breathe, let alone move. Then, the sound of my heavy boots alerts her. Her head lifts slowly, her pale face tracking up to mine. She looks entirely small and absolutely miserable. Beneath that is a layer of guilt all too easily to see.
Rage and panic ignite in my chest like a flare. She shouldn’t be out here. The hallway is exposed. The mayor’s men are crawling around the block. If anyone had tried to get up, they would’ve found her.
They would have tried to take her from me.
Breaking out of my paralysis, I cross the remaining distance in five massive strides, my shadow instantly swallowing her hunched form. I drop to one knee before her, my eyes frantically sweeping over her face, searching for a single scratch or sign of a threat.
"Margot," I start, my voice rougher than I mean it to be, thick with the adrenaline spiking through my system and coming out as a growl.
She flinches, and of course she does. No one has ever told me I’m pleasant when I’m angry. But right now, I’m struggling to keep my emotions in check.
As I stare at her, my mind races, trying to solve the impossible puzzle of how she got onto this side of the door. I’m meticulous with the keypad. I never let her see the combination, and she doesn't know the master bypass. There is no way she could have broken out on her own.
Then, the pieces click together. The heavy door auto-locks from the outside whenever it shuts—but if someone leaves it unlatched or fails to lock it from the inside...
My jaw clenches so hard my teeth ache. My brows furrow into a tight, murderous line as the truth hits me.
Fucking Casper.
I'm going to kill him. Not right now, not that it matters. If he were home, he would've noticed her.
"Dante..." She strokes my cheeks, and if I were smart, I'd pull her hands away before they can do any more damage. "Please believe me. I'm sorry."
I don't know how it's possible, but she sounds more upset than I feel. Her chest heaves as she swallows hard, her fingers trembling against my skin, but she doesn't drop her hands. She holds my gaze, her eyes wide, shining, and utterly desperate for me to understand.
"I didn't run," she whispers, her voice cracking under the weight of it. "I just... I’ve been trapped for so long that I fell for the temptation of leaving. By the time I regretted my decision, I couldn't get back in."
My hands curl at my sides as I try to register her words and keep an even mindset.
"Dante, you’ve done nothing wrong. Rather, you’ve been amazing. Sure, you were a little rough around the edges at first, but you’ve made me feel ways no one else has.”
Her thumbs continue to stroke, and I find myself caving.
I want this woman so badly, it hurts. Every second she doesn’t want me back hurts, but her words are soothing the ache.
"No one has ever cared about what I needed like you did last night," she confesses, her gaze dropping to my lips for a split second before snapping back to my eyes.
"You've been so accommodating. You have no idea what it feels like to just...
be noticed. You make me feel like I actually exist. Like I'm a real person, not just a pawn for someone else. "
The raw honesty of her words tears through my anger, leaving me entirely exposed. I can feel my chest rising and falling in heavy, ragged expansions, my grip loosening on her arms as my mind tries to process the sheer gravity of what she's giving me, but she isn't done.
Margot leans into me a fraction of an inch, her breath warm against my chin. "And the kiss this morning..." She lets out a shaky, breathless laugh, her thumb tracing the edge of my scar again. "Dante. I didn't want it to stop. I…I like the way you make me feel."
My next breath traps in my lungs, and I’d be a liar if I said I could keep my hunger in check. Before I know what I'm doing, I'm moving back to my feet, pulling her up with me.
Before she can even finish her exhale, I trap her against the wall. My hands move from her arms to her waist, fisting blindly into the fabric of her shirt as I haul her flush against my body, leaving absolutely no space between us.
She squeaks, but she doesn’t push me away. Rather, her skin pinkens.
“You’re making me feel all the things a man in my shoes shouldn’t be,” I explain to her, my words thick. “You could have run, but you didn’t.”
As the pain in my chest lightens enough for clear thinking, I see the realization differently.
She waited right here for who knows how long. Probably beating herself up the entire way.
"Dante..."
Every time I hear her say my name, I think I go a little crazier.
"Can we go back inside?" Her hands slide from my face and grip my cut. "I've been out here for a long time."
Reaching next to her, I punch in the code, only messing it up once.
"Should I give you space?" The question leaves me, and I barely register the door unlocking. I'm too focused on Margot shaking her head. She's got that bottom lip tucked between her teeth again.
Without another word, I'm opening the door and backing her into the room.
Call me a hypocrite, but I don't pull away to tap away the pin into the pad. As soon as the door is shut, my hands are on her. Twisting her around, I soon have her pinned against the very same door she'd slipped out of.
"I've reached my limit, Margot." Putting most of my weight on the door, I crowd her against the wooden surface. "If I kiss you right now, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop at one."
Her eyes widen up at me, and she parts those plump lips, teasing me without even being aware. "You should know that I've never done any of this before. What we've already done... that's it." A shaky breath leaves her. "I don't want you to think I suck."
That gets a laugh out of me, even if it's hoarse as can be. "I've never done any of this with a woman I've wanted this badly, if that makes you feel any better."
I could fuck this up from the very start for all I know. Margot could hate my attempt to express my love, and I could make her never want to touch me again.
Thinking back to the pool, remembering the moans that left her, I think I stand a chance at making her feel good.
She lets out a snort at that. She surprises me by lifting her hand, her soft fingers tracing the hard line of my jaw. "You always look so angry," she whispers, searching my eyes. "I had no clue."
"I’ve been angry for a very long time," I murmur, my voice grating low in my throat. I can't fix my face, and I can't undo the chaos waiting for us outside that door, but right now, none of it exists. There is only her.
I scoop my hands under her thighs and lift her effortlessly. She lets out a startled squeak, her ankles instantly locking behind my back to secure herself against my body.
"Let me explain it to you thoroughly, then," I growl against her lips. Before she can even breathe in a question, I claim her mouth, drowning out the rest of the world entirely.