Chapter 27
Dash
“ So,” Cillian grumbles as he takes his fork, folds one pancake in half, then in half again before shoving the entire thing into his mouth. He ’ s halfway through chewing when he barks out, “ Who do we think did it?”
I feel Dante ’ s intense stare on me.
“ It wasn ’ t me.” I press. I didn ’ t kill the dance teacher. I wish it was me, knowing he has hurt Mila time and time again without any repercussions kept me up all night. So did her echoing pleas to have sex with her.
She was so responsive, wet and needy and…the devil in me says I should have done it. The man losing the battle of controlling over his mind is happy I didn ’ t. Even though I so badly wanted to.
That same dying man inside my fucked up mind knows one day we both will lose. One day I ’ ll give Mila what she begged for. Another day she won ’ t be able to look at me in return.
“ I ’ m guessing word got back to her father.” I express.
“ Could be.” Cillian agrees.
I look up at Dante. “ I think it ’ s a warning.” He declares a fear that has been festering in my belly.
“ Could be.” Cillian agrees again, folding his second pancake into one massive bite.
“ Keep her close.” Dante hints.
I snort, feeling the blood rush to my cock. “ That ’ s easier said than done.”
They have no idea the lines I wanted to obliterate with Mila. How I wanted to devour her, giving into both our depraved souls. I wanted her to scream my name, the name of the dying broken prince she thinks I am. I wanted her wet walls to squeeze my cock. I wanted her lips to burn from having kissed my sinful flesh.
I wanted her to have a taste of me while I was still untainted.
Here ’ s a shocking truth. I ’ ve never killed with my bare hands before. A gun doesn ’ t count. Hands are attached to my body and soul. I was able to drop the gun in the past.
How can I drop my hands? I can ’ t because then I ’ ll never be able to touch Mila.
The tips of my fingers tingle. One day they will itch with a need to clean the blood off of them. When that day breaches the horizon, when the light of my dark moon pierces Mila ’ s sunny skies, I ’ ll never be able to touch her. I ’ ll be my father, a man similar to her father. A man she detests yet so desperately tries to please. I don ’ t want to fuck someone who is trying to satisfy me. I want my first time to be with someone who wants me. The broken prince.
Yes, I said the first time because like my little broken ballerina, I haven ’ t fucked anyone else either. I ’ m probably the only seventeen-year-old guy here who hasn ’ t. I wanted to. I ’ ve had plenty of opportunities.
One thing keeps holding me back. However, each day, that promise grows into a distant memory. The thing about ropes that bind you is the further you drift away from them, the weaker their knots feel.
The past.
I grab the tips of my mother ’ s fingers in a tight hold before I yank her back. She spins gracefully into my waiting arms, then I guide her across the dance floor.
I hate these charity galas. Mom always drags Dad to them, but he ’ s stuck on a business trip, so I got the honor.
It is my honor to stand by my mother ’ s side. I ’ d do anything for her, as would my father. Tonight, that meant putting on a black suit and dancing with her when she asked. Mom only wanted to dance so she could get a break from all the phony conversations she had to endure.
For the first time in my life, I think being a man in my world is better than enduring the bitchy-as-fuck females who suck up to my mom ’ s six-inch heels.
Mom tips her chin up. Her giggle softens into a melancholy smile.
“ What ’ s the matter?”
“ I remember when we used to dance, and you only reached my knee,” she replies. A sadness touches her eyes like a cloud on a bright sunny day. “ And now you ’ re fifteen, but you're so tall I can barley grab your shoulders. I ’ m scared one day you will grow so tall and strong you ’ ll forget to look down.”
I don’t know what to say. I’m not good at the sappy shit.
“ Dash,” mom says as if sensing the walls my father build around my heart, “ One day you're going to meet a woman. Maybe you have.” She raises a brow.
“ Don ’ t tell me you're giving me the sex talk here.” I glance around the floor, easily spotting mom ’ s massive security team patrolling the area. “ Dad beat you to it years ago.”
“ No, but a mother has to give her son a different kind of talk.”
“ Mom,” I roll my eyes and sigh.
“ Don ’ t ‘ mom ’ me,” she swats my chest, “ Now spin me.”
I do as she says, never letting her veer too far before I pull her back in. “ I ’ m a woman in our world Dash, I know what it takes to love a man with ‘King’ as his last name. I also know how you will have a parade of women clamoring to get into your bed.”
“ Mom please,” I groan in annoyance.
“ Listen to me. Women are different, some of us are ruthless. Please stay away from them, Dash. Others are just pawns. One day, if you ever meet a pawn, don ’ t play with her heart. Protect it.”
“ What do you mean?”
She looks down uncomfortably for the first time. “ I ’ m saying don ’ t fuck around and yes, I know this talk is better suited for a female in our world, but please, Dash, as my only son make me proud. Don ’ t treat women like so many men in our world do. Treat them like your father has treated me. We are objects in this world, but some objects can be viewed as treasures, others as weapons and some merely forgotten spoils of war.”
I stumble over my feet. Mom is the one to steady me.
“ You ’ re not an object. You are my mother.” I state, holding her in a tighter grip. I abhor that she feels this way.
Did I fail her?
The smile that touches her now teary eyes is that of a tragic awareness. “ I know what I am in your father ’ s eyes. That ’ s all that matters to me, Dash. I want you to treat the woman that steals your heart the same way.”
“ Fine,” I grunt, “ whatever.” I glance down but not before I peer at her with a silence look of respect.
“ Oh lord, you ’ ve slept around already, haven ’ t you?” She expresses, trying to lighten the mood as she takes control of our dance, sweeping us across the floor.
“ Mom!”
Her face blushes. “ I ’ m sorry. I know now isn ’ t the right time, but I had to tell you. I should have years ago. I just,” She looks over my shoulder lost in thought.
“ You don ’ t have to worry, mom.” I confide in her.
Her eyes bounce back to mine with surprise. Great, now my mom knows I ’ m a loser who hasn ’ t had sex yet.
“ Just promise me,” she raises her hand and places it over my heart, “ promise me you will guard your heart but also make sure you protect other people ’ s hearts along the way.”
The music slows then merges into a fast song, but mom and I stop dancing. She looks up at me with pleading eyes.
“ I promise.” I reply having no idea how that innocent vow would affect me.
I ’ m not saying I remained completely innocent. I had fooled around, but whenever it came time to sleep with a girl, I heard my mom ’ s warning. Mom was right, so many women in our world were ruthless.
They didn ’ t attract me.
The ones that did make my eyes linger had hearts that were so simple to break. I knew if I slept with them I ’ d shatter their souls, killing their dreams; dirtying my hands.
So I stayed away. Until my father bound Mila to me.
I can ’ t stay away.
I also can ’ t love her like my father loved my mom.
I ’ m using Mila, but she ’ s using me. I just don ’ t know who is using who more.
I saw a part of Mila she had hidden for years. She saw a part of me I ’ ve been trying to kill for years.
I ’ m trying to drag that hidden part of Mila out; she ’ s been trying to keep me alive.
In the end, one of us will win.
It has to be me.