Dante
I jerk awake, my eyes adjusting to the dark room.
I’m filled with mild panic when I don't recognize it at first, but soft breathing catches my attention.
I look down and find Luna sleeping peacefully in my arms. Her arm is draped over my chest, and her body is wrapped in her burgundy sheets, looking like a Venetian sculpture.
I check my watch; it’s early morning. I rub my eyes and slowly slip out of Luna’s grasp and head to the bathroom.
I shut the door behind me and turn on the sink.
I splash cold water on my face, and when I’m still in Luna’s bathroom, I finally realize that last night was real.
It wasn’t my overactive imagination this time.
I’m really in her apartment, and we really—Holy shit. I think I blacked out at some point from pure joy, but I remember most of it. I stare at myself in the mirror as I come to a scary realization.
Luna will run when she finds out the truth. She’s disappeared in the past, wiping her old life from existence just to get away from her ex, only to find me.
Luna is everything I don’t deserve.
I’m darkness and toxic, while she’s the fucking sun personified, and yet I can’t wait to bathe in her light.
Her smile warms my dead soul, and she makes me feel.
I want to be worthy of this life with her, but I know she’ll run scared if she finds out on her own, and I can’t let her leave me. Not now, not when she’s in danger.
Alex told me to give him two weeks, which provides me with the perfect window to tell Luna everything without putting her in danger.
I’m hopeful Alex can find who put out the hit, and I can remove them discreetly before I reveal myself to her, but Luna deserves to know that I’m entirely devoted to her and would kill anyone who dares to dim her light.
I open the bathroom door and quietly scour the bedroom floor for my pants. I find them at the end of the bed on the floor and search the pockets for my phone, find it, and quickly leave the room. I turn on my phone once I’m in the living room and open VidTok.
I left a comment about us meeting up in my new video, and both of our communities exploded overnight.
My inbox is filled with women begging me to be their Liam Moore, asking to be fucked in the cosplay, but the only message I’m concerned with is Luna’s.
She hasn’t replied after I mentioned meeting up.
I, of course, listened in on her conversation with Olivia and know she’s willing to meet Wolfy because she’s devoted to her fans, but I need her to say yes.
I will reveal everything on that night, two weeks from now, even if Alex comes up with nothing; she deserves to know everything. I care too much about her to keep this secret any longer.
A slight whine from her bedroom pulls me from my thoughts, and I peek into her room to find Luna still sleeping, but her face is twisted like she’s going to cry.
I quietly slip back into her bed and shush her, kissing her brow softly.
“Shh, my angel. You’re dreaming, everything is okay, you’re okay.
” I whisper against her brow as I watch her expression soften.
Luna shifts onto her side and falls back into a deep sleep.
Her naked back is to me, and I can’t stop myself from reaching out and lightly tracing my fingers across it, making note of every single freckle.
A bitter feeling comes over me, and it’s foreign to me. My stomach sours, and it’s hard to swallow as my heart rate rises.
It’s guilt, because you’re doing the very thing to Luna that is being done to her by someone else. You are darkness, and darkness stalks the light, does it not?.
I’ve never felt guilt before. Every kill I’ve made was necessary, or paid for; there was nothing to feel guilty for, but this—I hate this, because the darkness is right—it would always come for her.
I’ll be there to shield her from it—but I can take away Luna’s fear—she will give it all to me, and I will protect her.
You will never be able to protect her from everything.
The words still my curious hands.
She will always have a target on her back with you. Luna will never be entirely safe with you. The darkness will always find a way to snuff out the light—are you willing to let her be a sacrifice?
No, you can’t have her.
No, not I, but others with the same darkness you have won’t give a fuck about your angel.
They’ll rape her, and torture her, anything to destroy you.
You kill people because you like to, and you make a lot of enemies doing it.
There will come a time when her life will be on the line, and it will be your fault.
No. No, I can keep Luna safe. She’s mine. I’ll sell my condo and buy a house with top-notch security, and she will be safe. I can keep her safe.
Panic starts to keep up my spine, and I know I have to remove myself from her bedroom before I wake her. I leave her room and sit on her couch in her living room, cradling my head in my hands.
You would keep her prisoner, locked up, so you can fuck her any time you’d like? How deliciously dark you’ve become.
No! Luna will never be my prisoner. She will be free to leave whenever she wants. There will be rules, of course, but she will be free, and I can protect her better this way. Luna will agree, she’ll understand.
The darkness recedes from my mind, and I lie back on the small leather couch, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
It’ll be fine. I need to talk to my black market guy and see if he has any recent hits on houses in the area. I’ll do whatever it takes; I’ll spend any amount of money to keep her safe. Luna deserves to live in peace.
Two weeks. I just need to wait two weeks, and everything will work out. Luna will trust me once I tell her everything. Once I prove to her how much she means to me, she’ll listen, and she’ll understand because my angel is forgiving. She’ll appreciate all that I’ve done to protect her.