Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Bianca
I stay late at school on purpose.
Not because Alex needs help with his reading comprehension, though he does. Not because the supply closet needs organizing, though it definitely does.
Because I can't face going home.
Can't face Dante after last night. After everything Caterina revealed. After standing on that rooftop and hearing him say I might be worth everything while knowing I'm the thing that could destroy him.
God, I still can’t believe what happened yesterday. I don’t know how to handle everything.
So I stay. Grade papers I already graded. Rearrange books that don't need rearranging. Anything to avoid the moment I have to walk through his door and see the regret in his eyes.
"Miss Mancini?" Alex appears at my elbow, his backpack dragging on the floor. "Can you help me with this word?"
I allow myself a genuine smile, crouch down to his level and look at the page he's pointing to. "Sound it out for me."
"B... beau... tiful?"
"Beautiful. That's right." I ruffle his hair, my heart filling up with so much love. "You're getting so good at this, buddy."
"Thanks, Miss Mancini. You're the best teacher ever."
The simple praise shouldn't make my throat tight, but it does. Because after tomorrow—after Caterina releases whatever evidence she has—I won't be a teacher anymore.
I’ll never get to talk to Alex like this anymore.
I'll just be the whore who corrupted children through sheer proximity.
"Your mom's here," I tell him when I see her car pull up through the window. "Have a good night, Alex."
"You too!" He races off, leaving me alone in the classroom.
Alone with my thoughts. My shame. My—
The door slams open.
Dante stands in the doorway, and he looks furious. His jaw is tight, his eyes dark, his entire body radiating barely controlled rage.
"The kids—" I start, jumping up from my chair in alarm.
"Are gone. I checked." He steps inside, closes the door. Locks it. "You've been avoiding me."
I look down. "I've been working."
"Bullshit." He crosses the room in long strides. "You stayed late because you didn't want to face me. Because you're ashamed."
"I—"
"Don't lie to me, Bianca." He stops inches away, towering over me. "Not after last night. Not after everything."
I can't look at him. Can't stand the thought of seeing disappointment or disgust or pity in his eyes.
"I needed time to think," I say quietly.
"Think about what? About leaving? About running away like you tried to last night?"
"About whether staying is fair to you." I force myself to meet his gaze. "Caterina is going to release everything. Your father is going to use it against you. And I'm going to lose my job, my reputation, everything. Why should you lose everything too?"
"Because I don't want to fucking lose you." He cages me against the blackboard. "And you left me waiting. All day. Wondering if you'd come home or if I'd have to hunt you down."
"Dante—"
"Do you have any idea what that does to me?" His lips are a breath from mine. "Knowing you're out here, ashamed. Trying to make decisions about us without me."
"I was trying to protect you—"
He laughs and runs his hands through his hair and I glare at him.
"I don't need your protection, Bianca." His hand slides down to grip my hip. "What I need is for you to stop running. Stop hiding. Stop deciding what I can and can't handle."
"You should be furious with me. For not telling you and putting you in this position."
"I am furious." His other hand comes up to cup my jaw. "Furious that you carried this alone. Furious that you thought I'd judge you. Furious that you're standing here trying to leave me when all I want is to keep you."
The words break something inside me.
"I don't deserve—"
"Shut up." He kisses me. Hard and claiming and full of everything we're not saying. When he pulls back, we're both breathing hard. "You made me wait all day. Made me wonder. Made me worry. And now you're going to pay for that."
Heat floods through me despite everything. "D-Dante, we're in my classroom—"
Oh gods, I’m going to hell.
"I know where we are." He spins me around, pressing my front against the blackboard. "Hands up. Flat against the board."
I should protest. Should tell him this is insane. That we can't do this here.
Instead, I whimper and obey, biting down on my lower lip in sheer anticipation of what’s coming.
His hands slide up my thighs, pushing my skirt up. "Such a good girl when you want to be. When you're not running away and making fucking terrible decisions without me."
"I wasn't—"
"Yes, you were." He pulls my hands behind my back. I hear the sound of his tie being loosened, feel silk wrap around my wrists. "You were going to leave, sacrifice yourself like some tragic heroine and leave me, without my say so.”
The tie tightens. Not painful, but secure. Inescapable.
"And that," he continues, his voice rough and growling against my ear, "deserves punishment, Bianca."
His hand cracks across my ass, sharp through the thin fabric of my skirt. I jump, a small yell leaving my lips as I press harder against the board.
"That's for avoiding me." Another slap, other side. "That's for thinking I'd let you go, for thinking I wouldn’t fucking hunt you straight to hell if I have to."
"D-Dante—"
"And this—" He pushes my underwear aside, slides two fingers inside me. I'm already wet, already shaking with need. "This is for getting off on it. For liking when I'm rough. When I use you."
I bite my lip to keep from making a sound.
"Say it," he orders. "Tell me what you are."
"Dante, please—"
His fingers still. "Say it, or I stop."
I'm shaking. From arousal, from shame, from the intoxicating mix of both. “I-I'm yours."
"That's right." He works me harder, adding a third finger. "You're mine. Not Adrian's. Not anyone else's. Mine to keep. Mine to protect. Mine to fuck in your classroom because you tried to hide from me."
The orgasm builds fast, coiling tight in my belly. I'm close, so close—
He stops.
"Not yet." He pulls out his fingers, and I hear the sound of his belt. "You don't come until I'm inside you."
He enters me in one hard thrust, and I have to press my hand against the board to keep from crying out. The angle is perfect, hitting exactly where I need it, and I'm already so wound up that I know I won't last long.
"This is what you get," he growls in my ear, setting a brutal pace. "You can’t fucking leave me, not unless I say so and I don’t fucking say so.”
"I'm sorry," I gasp out in between thrusts. "I-I'm sorry, I—"
"Too late for sorry." But his hand slides around to work my clit, and I know he's going to make me come anyway. "You're stuck with me now. No matter what Caterina does. No matter what anyone says. You're mine, and I'm fucking keeping you. Cum for me."
The orgasm hits like a freight train, and I bite down on my arm to muffle the scream. He follows seconds later, his grip on my hips almost painful as he drives deep one last time.
We stay like that for a moment, both breathing hard. Then he pulls out carefully, unties my wrists, turns me around to face him.
His eyes are softer now. Less furious. More concerned.
"Come home," he says quietly. "Stop running. Stop hiding. Just come home."
I nod, not trusting my voice.
He fixes my clothes, straightens my hair. Like he didn't just fuck me against my own blackboard.
"Tomorrow," he says, "you're not staying late. You're coming straight home. Understood?"
"Understood."
The next day, I'm walking home from the clinic after visiting Mom. She's worse. The treatments aren't working as well as they should, and I can see the fear in her eyes even though she tries to hide it.
I’m scared too. I can’t lose my mother.
I'm three blocks from Dante's mansion when I hear footsteps behind me.
"Bianca."
I freeze.
Adrian. Oh goodness, no. Not now.
"Don't." I keep walking, faster now. "Don't come near me."
"Please." He catches up, walking beside me. "Please, just hear me out. Five minutes. That's all I'm asking."
"I don't owe you anything."
"Don't you?" His voice cracks. "I gave up everything for you. Paid for your mother's life. You owe me at least a conversation."
Despite myself, I stop and turn to face him.
He looks terrible. Thinner than I remember. His clothes are rumpled, hair greasy. Dark circles under bloodshot eyes.
"What do you want, Adrian?"
"I want to help you." He steps closer. "I know what Caterina did. What she revealed. And I can make it go away."
"How?"
"By working together. You and me. Like it used to be." His hand reaches for mine. "We can take down Dante. Ruin him. Make him pay for everything he's done to us."
I pull my hand back. "He hasn't done anything to us."
"He took you from me! Used you. Humiliated you in front of everyone. Don't you want revenge?"
"No." The answer comes easily. "I don't."
"Bianca—"
"He's been good to me, Adrian. Better than you ever were. He protects me. Cares about me. Fights for me."
"Cares about you?!” Adrian laughs and it’s an ugly thing.
“Are you delusional? A man like Dante can never be with you!
" Adrian's voice rises. "Don't you understand?
He's Matteo's capo. He can't be with a whore if he wants to maintain that position.
You're going to destroy everything he's worked for. "
The word hits like a slap. But it doesn't break me this time.
"Then that's his choice to make. Not yours."
"You're choosing him?" He grabs my arm, his grip tight. "After everything I did for you? After I saved your mother?"
"You didn't save anyone. You used her as leverage because you wanted to control me. And I'm done being controlled by you. For God’s sake, Adrian, you sold me to save your ass!"
"You don't have a choice!" He shakes me. "You're going to help me. You're going to play for my team. Together, we'll—"
"Let her go."
Dante's voice cuts through the night like a blade.
Adrian drops my arm, spinning around. "Dante. I was just—"
"I know exactly what you were doing." Dante moves forward, each step measured. Dangerous. "You were threatening her. Touching her. Trying to manipulate her into betraying me."
"It's not like that—"
"Shut up." Dante's fist connects with Adrian's face before I can blink.
Adrian goes down hard, blood spurting from his nose. He tries to scramble backward, but Dante follows, raining down punches with methodical precision.
"Oh my goodness, Dante, stop—" I start forward, but he holds up one hand. A warning.
"This is between me and him." Another punch, this one to Adrian's ribs. "He put his hands on you.”
"Please—" Adrian chokes out, spitting blood. "Please, I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you did." Dante hauls him up by his collar, slams him against a nearby wall. "You meant every word. And now you're going to tell me who you're working with."
Adrian's eyes widen. "I don't—"
"Don't fucking lie to me if you want to live." Dante's hand closes around his throat. "I already know about Caterina. So, lie to me and give me the perfect excuse to fucking snap your useless neck."
I watch in awe. I get it now. Adrian slipped. He said something that connected him to Caterina—whom he shouldn’t know in the first place—and I realize it now: the timing, the information, the coordination.
They've been working together all along. This is how she knows about my past.
"I’ll tell the truth! Catherine, s-she offered me a deal," Adrian gasps out. "Said if I helped her get rid of Bianca, she'd forgive my debts; pay them for me. Let me back in. I just—I need money. Need a way back in."
"By destroying the woman you claimed to love."
"I do love her! That's why I—"
Dante punches him again. Once. Twice. Until Adrian slumps against the wall, barely conscious.
Then Dante drops him and Adrian crumples to the ground, groaning. Dante turns to me, and I see it—the rage still burning in his eyes. But also something else. Possession. Claim.
He crosses to me in three strides, pins me against the nearest wall. Not violent. Just overwhelming.
"You think you get a choice?" His voice is low. Raw. "You're mine. Every breath, every look, every fucking heartbeat. Mine."
"I know," I whisper.
"Do you?" His hand comes up to cup my face. "Because you keep trying to leave. Keep trying to protect me by walking away. And I need you to understand that's not happening. Ever."
"I’m not leaving… I’m not. Adrian said—"
"I don't care what he said." His thumb brushes my cheekbone. "I don't care if being with you costs me everything. I don't care if Caterina releases every piece of evidence she has. You're not leaving me."
Tears prick my eyes. "He's working with Caterina. They planned this together. To get rid of me so she could—"
"I know." His jaw tightens. "And I'm going to take care of it. All of it. Caterina, my father, anyone who tries to hurt you."
"How?"
"However, I fucking have to." He leans down, presses his forehead to mine. "Trust me. Can you do that?"
I nod.
"Good." He pulls back, looks at Adrian's crumpled form. "Go home. I'll handle this."
"Dante—"
"Home, Bianca. Now."
I hesitate for just a moment. Then I go.
Because I trust him.
Because despite everything—despite my past, despite Caterina's threats, despite the whole world trying to tear us apart—I want him. I… I love him.