10. Dante
10
DANTE
Thursday, September 26, 11:47 PM
I’ve upset her even more, which wasn’t my intention.
I can’t get out of my own head, can’t stop imagining what could’ve happened. How close I came to being too late, to finding Victoria violated and suffering. She’d been through enough trauma before my nephew’s abduction.
It shouldn’t bother me this much.
Victoria was never supposed to be more than a short-term wife, a spouse in name only. A tool to use to get us both out of this Lombardi mess alive.
Yet, she became more than that.
My thoughts aren’t just focused on my plans anymore, but instead filled with intense feelings that demand attention and acknowledgement. They’re getting harder to ignore. To lock away and never deal with.
I’m unable to settle down, mentally and physically drained. My wife’s captor—her tormentor—is still breathing. He isn’t my nephew, not anymore, and now he carries an expiration date that I want to make good on. It’s personal. So many things could’ve happened to Victoria. Recovering from an assault or rape is far from easy, far from guaranteed. And even though she told me those things didn’t happen to her—the latter, at least—her assurance isn’t enough to quell my rage.
I’ve paced this hotel room a dozen times over, eyes flicking between the clock on the nightstand and the bathroom door. It didn’t escape me that she declined to tell me what she’d be willing to eat. I’m not sure whether it’s the emotional trauma or her head injury that’s made her too nauseous to consider food. While Victoria takes a shower, I muddle through my fuck up and revisit every mangled sentence that didn’t come out quite like I meant it to.
I don’t want her to think she did anything wrong by being better, more compassionate, than most other people. The woman has done nothing but surprise the hell out of me time and time again. The last thing I want to do is hurt her and add her to the list of casualties I’ve caused.
But articulating my feelings is a different beast. It feels impossible.
It’s a vulnerability that I haven’t allowed myself in years. Ever since Gabriella’s cruel betrayal, I’ve kept my walls up, caging my emotions and refusing to let others see my inner self.
Victoria coaxed my soul out from behind those walls, and now I feel out of control. Feeling wild, feral even, isn’t a good look for me.
When she finally comes out of the bathroom, she’s wrapped in a white towel. Her blue eyes are bloodshot and I feel like more of an asshole with every passing second.
I made her cry.
I made shit worse.
“Come here, princess,” I call, taking a seat along the edge of the bed and beckoning towards a pillow I’ve placed at my feet. “Let me brush your hair.”
Thankfully, in addition to packing a set of Victoria’s clothes, I thought to clear her nightstand into the overnight bag I brought with me. It was easier than sorting through what might or might not be essential when every second I wasn’t on the road was another second she was in danger. The bottle of aspirin and tube of lip balm may not matter in this moment, but her face when I pull out her brush is…everything. I can see her eyes crinkle and the hard line of her lips softens.
I haven’t ruined this. Not yet, at least.
She moves towards me slowly, exhaustion evident in every line of her body, and does what I ask, taking a seat between my legs. Scooping her long hair over her shoulders, Victoria tucks her chin into her chest.
I don’t want her to go on thinking I blame her for anything. It’s me I’m most angry with, since all I seem to be doing is apologizing for fucking up, for not being there to protect her when she needs me.
Gently starting at the ends of her hair, I run the brush through her strands and permit the silence to swallow us up.
I’m not good with words, so I very rarely use them. They’ve already gotten me into this fucking mess, making her cry when I should be making her feel safe and secure.
I’m halfway through her hair when Victoria straightens her spine and lifts her head, giving me access to the top of it to run the brush through. I can’t help but reach around and wrap my fingers around her throat, dragging her back against my body.
“Nothing came out right,” I finally say, running the pad of my thumb along her jawline softly. “I’m not good at this, princess.”
She gives me a faint nod, but nothing more. It’s not enough for me. I’m a broken man who’s done fucked up shit and I need her to realize that none of this is on her. I’m the problem.
“You weren’t supposed to be anything to me but a damsel I saved from the people planning to drain your funds dry. People who would have left you stuck with the bill for a debt you were never part of. I didn’t expect you , princess. You were a vulnerable young lady, a student—rich as fuck, though—and that was it.”
I expect questions. I wait for Victoria to give me something, anything to gauge her mood or thoughts, but she leaves me dangling in a noose of my own making.
“I wasn’t expecting to go crazy over you, Victoria,” I sigh.
Her body tenses against me and, fuck, did I push it too far? Am I a fucking creep now? Have I misjudged things? Does she have a better handle on what this marriage was meant to be than I do?
I roll my eyes and shove back my doubts because I’ve had this woman plenty, and she lusts after me as much as I do her. This is mutual, and I can only hope she’s as lost in her feelings as I am.
Her lack of response makes me impatient. “Liam needs to go,” I tell her firmly. That gets a reaction, since Victoria sits up on her knees and twists her body around to face me. “Don’t,” I warn, my voice dripping with menace.
“Don’t don’t me, Dante,” Victoria snips, her brows pinched in a scowl. “That boy is stupid as hell, but like I said, he’s terrified.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“You’re older than he is. You should be reasonable,” she argues. “Yes, he did things?—”
“He kidnapped my wife ,” I fume. How can she still not understand? “He kidnapped you .” How much clearer I can make this?
He touched what’s mine, and it doesn’t matter how long I get to call her that. Whether she’s mine for another month or three years. Another man took my woman, smacked her around, and even tried to sell her.
He probably would have killed her.
I’m not sure where forgiveness factors into this.
Victoria spins her body around to fully face mine. As she turns, her breasts brush my knee. She’s beautiful beyond words.
Stunning and perfect, despite the bruises.
I can’t ignore them, even though she’s now safe with me. But that might not have been the case if she didn’t find a phone to reach out to Ellie.
“I need you,” she whispers, reaching for my free hand in my lap, “to stop focusing on the stuff that’s already happened and focus on now. Focus on what’s ahead.”
“Have you forgotten what he did?” I challenge.
Victoria presses her lips together and replies, “No. But I’m not going to allow it or him to consume me to the point where I lose my chance at having what I’ve wished for.”
She’s a better person than me then.
Because all I can think about is murder, blood, and the calming peace that follows.
“I’m not built like that,” I confess. “I need him gone.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not going to kill you so that he can’t get your money. So tell me, where does that leave me, Victoria?”
A slow curve of her lips hints at some secret amusement, but I don’t see what’s so funny. Liam is still a fucking problem, and he’s going to continue to be one until he’s six feet in the ground.
“That’s sweet,” Victoria claims with a squeeze of my hand. “But let’s just concentrate on us, okay?”
“I am. And as long as he’s still walking around, you’re not safe.”
“I think he’s learned his lesson.”
I raise a brow. What would she know about it? We’re men—prideful as shit and stupid as hell. Plus, revenge is fun. “No, princess, he hasn’t. He’s just lost again, been humiliated again, and now he’s just going to double down on his bullshit.”
“I think you took out his means of getting me a passport.”
My shoulders lift in an unapologetic shrug. “Oh, well.”
“Dante…” Victoria says my name like a soothing caress, but I can’t anchor my thoughts to her. My mind is drifting, assessing all the scenarios and plays I could make. She’s a liability, a weakness for me, that’s obvious. And now Liam knows I will go through heaven and hell to keep her with me.
That’s a problem.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she continues when I don’t say anything. “I knew you would.”
Does she?
I hoped she’d have some faith in me, something to give her the strength to get through what was happening. I’m proud as fuck of her and everything she did to protect herself and get away. She’s a rare treasure, and I’m one lucky bastard to have found her.
“You never have to worry that I won’t,” I tell her, lacing our fingers together. “I’m your villain, princess. I’ll always come running for you.”
Victoria slowly crawls up and into my lap, straddling my waist and centering her weight over my thighs. I support her back with one hand curved at the base of her spine. “I’d run for you, too.”
“Would you?” She bobs her head without hesitation, threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck. “Sounds like we’re quite a team, then.”
“We’re badass.”
“You’re badass, princess. I just wish you didn’t have these battle wounds.” The bruises on her face kill me, but I can’t look away. I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to look at her for the world.
“They’re not so bad.”
“You don’t have to coddle me. It’s not going to save your ex.”
“Then what would?”
My eyes narrow. The answer is absolutely nothing. Why is she so hell-bent on saving the little shit? I can’t get past the fact that her first instinct isn’t to eliminate him, even though everything in me demands his death. “Give me some insight into your mind. I’m really not liking hearing you stick up for another man like this.”
Victoria looks heavenward, clearly exasperated. “It has nothing to do with whatever caveman theory I’m sure is bouncing around your brain right now.”
“You don’t know what’s bouncing around my brain right now.”
“I’m not hiding any tender feelings for your nephew, Dante. Liam and I have been truly over for a long time.”
“Yet, here you are, in my lap with your thick thighs spread over me, and you won’t stop talking about another man.”
“I’m asking you to give it some more thought. That’s all.”
“I am and I did. The whole drive from Connecticut. Nothing will change my mind, princess. That kid is a dead man walking.” She turns her head, clearly not wanting to hear that answer, but I grip her chin between my thumb and index finger and pull her to face me. “No one who threatens you gets to live. Do you understand me?”
Her lips part, a retort about to roll off her tongue.
But she’s in my world now. There are no sparkly rainbows, no second chances.
Liam took what was mine, touched her, and was possibly going to murder her.
He disrespected me.
And in my world that demands a response.
“Say something, princess,” I plead.
“What do you want me to say?” she asks, her tone chilly. “You’ll never hear me tell you to kill someone.”
If that’s the case, she’s really not going to like my plan for Angelo. I know she comes from a life of privilege, where the dark shit happens behind closed doors, but I’m the monster who lives behind those doors and feeds on the shadows.
“I don’t expect you to,” I assure her, sinking into those lake blue eyes. “I just don’t want there to be any secrets between us. I don’t want to do something and have to lie about it later. Not to you.”
She bristles a bit at that, but I know it’s just her pride that’s pricked.
However, nothing is going to change my mind. I’m well aware that talking to me can be like talking to a brick wall.
“Give me a kiss and let’s go to bed.”
“No,” she sasses. “I don’t kiss murderers.”
Fair enough.
“But you fuck them,” I remind her. Once at that dumpster fire of a house wasn’t enough. I’ve wanted to have her several times over since, just to make sure I’m not still living in the nightmare.
The only reason I’ve been able to restrain myself is out of concern for her injuries. Injuries she suffered in Liam’s care .
“You saved me.”
“And I’ll continue doing just that,” I answer. “But I might not get so lucky next time. Not if we let the people who threaten us go free.” Every action comes with a consequence, and these consequences come armed with bullets and blades. “Unless you’re trying to get me killed.”
“No,” she immediately protests. “Why would you say?—”
“We’re involved with dangerous people, Victoria. I need you to acknowledge that. It’s imperative that you know it. We’re not around people with your best interests in mind. You have money. And men like Angelo and boys like Liam will dispose of you any way they can to get it. I need you to understand that, all right?” Her nostrils flare, but she finally nods. “Are you listening or just appeasing me to get me to shut up?”
“I’m listening,” she replies. “I…heard you.”
“And we’re a team, right?”
“Yes.”
I take that answer at face value and pull her towards me as I fall back on the mattress and roll us over, pulling the comforter over our bodies. I settle in with Victoria held close to my chest.
“Go to sleep. You’re safe now.”
A deafening silence fills the room then, and now there’s nothing to distract my mind. It’s all over the place, running through everything I need to do and how to do it while keeping Victoria safe. Then Victoria reaches a hand up, stroking it down my arm in a sweet caress.
“Dante…” she whispers softly.
“Hmm?”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done. I’d be lost without you.”
I’d do anything for this woman in my arms, but I don’t voice the thought. I’m not ready to consider what that means yet, so I just squeeze her tighter and listen to her breathing soften into the slow rhythm of slumber.
I wish I could follow her.
I wish that she could go back to living her life and following her dreams, but things will never be that simple again.
This girl’s whole world has been shattered and torn apart, and I don’t think she fully realizes that.
Thronewood University will never be her home again. And she won’t be going back to Graham to finish her culinary program, either. I can’t have her out in the world without me—there are still too many chess pieces on the board.
But I’m the rook that’s going to slice through them all.