Chapter Eleven
Sienna
Asex maniac. I never considered myself to be one but Dante has turned me into this. And he’s telling my mother everything.
“What do you mean by that?” Mom asks, her eyes wide and her skin pale. “Don’t talk about my daughter like that.”
“Why not? I caught her fucking herself with one of my dildos. What else is she but a sex maniac?”
“No,” I whisper as shame fills me. It had felt so good to find a release. To fill a fullness deep inside my body. But now that Dante is revealing it all to my mom, it feels embarrassing. It’s our secret. A secret my mother never needed to find out.
Dante tilts his head to the side. “No? Am I lying? Tell her. Am I lying?”
“Enough,” Mom says. “I will not listen to you disparage my daughter. Leave.”
“What can you do to me? You’re hurt. I can easily shoot you again. I am taking Sienna back with me.”
“Why do this to her? Why hurt her?”
Dante’s face contorts into fury. “Because Gabriel wanted to use her against me and I will never allow anyone to use anyone against me. I have no weaknesses.”
“But my daughter is innocent.”
“Innocent?” he scoffs. “Tell her, Sienna. Tell her that I’m not lying. That you have willingly fucked yourself with a dildo. That you liked it when I used a vibrator on you. Is that innocent?”
My eyes find my mom’s. “I…”
Her own widen even more. “Sienna, I don’t need to know. Anything that has happened to you, I do not judge. You’ve just done what you needed to do to survive.”
I love that even now my mom is protecting me but I know she’s wrong. I didn’t need to sit on that chair with that dildo strapped to it and find my own release. Dante didn’t make me. I chose it.
I stopped fighting for my survival and started searching for my own pleasure and I found it with Dante. What does that say about me?
“Go,” Mom orders, glaring at Dante. “Go.”
“Not without Sienna.”
It’s a shock to see my mom move fast given how she can barely stand upright. She lunges for the gun she keeps on the coffee table.
I watch as Dante raises his gun and points it at her. I know he’s crazy enough to kill her.
Without hesitating, I put myself directly in front of his gun. If he shoots, there’s no way he’d miss me. My mom will be safe.
Dante’s eye twitches. Is he surprised by my selfless act? Or did he expect it?
“You promised,” I say. “You promised to not hurt her. How can you ask me to come to you willingly when you threaten my mom’s life?”
“Sienna, get out of the way,” Mom orders. I glance over my shoulder to see her with the gun in her hands. Her cane is on the floor. She’s breathing heavy. It’s taking all of her strength to stay upright given she was just in surgery less than a week ago.
“I will not let him kill you, Mom.” I turn back to Dante and look him dead in the eye. “If he wants to shoot you, he’ll have to kill me first.”
“You’re willing to die for her?” Dante asks in a soft voice.
I don’t hesitate to answer. “Yes. I am. So there goes your plan, Dante. Kill me or don’t but you leave my mom alone.”
“If I leave your mom alone, you’ll always fight to get back to her.”
“Then let me go.”
He huffs. “Not going to happen.”
“Why do you want me so much, Dante? You have no heart. No soul. Why do you want me?”
“I’m a possessive man. And I don’t like being told what to do.”
“You hate what I stand for: Gabriel’s control. So you’re controlling me instead. But it’s not right.”
“Do I look like the man who cares about right and wrong?”
“No,” I admit.
His little smirk makes me want to slap him and kiss him at the same time. “Exactly. I am getting what I want.”
“But you’ll never fully get what you want if you kill my mom.
Because I will never let you touch me. I can tell it bothers you that you’ve gotten my body used to your sex toys.
I can tell you want to be the one to actually touch me but you’ve held back.
You’ll never get to touch me if you kill my mom. Remember that.”
“You would truly die for her?”
“I already said yes. Just because you would never die for your parents, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. I would die for my mom again and again if it meant she was safe. Not everyone is a monster like you. You told me about your parents. The horrible thing your mother did to you.”
His eyes narrow. “How do you know I wasn’t lying?”
“I could tell. You told me the truth about your mom and your father. Some of us have a good relationship with our parents. We’re not all monsters. You say you don’t want any weaknesses but that’s a weakness, Dante.”
“How so?” His hand doesn’t waver on the gun. It’s still pointed right at my head.
“You’re alone. You don’t have anyone you truly love. You delight in hurting people. But you must be lonely at times.”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me.”
“Am I wrong?” I challenge.
He looks into my eyes for a long moment. My mom hasn’t moved at all behind me. I know she’s waiting to shoot Dante the second she gets.
If I’m being honest, the thought of Dante dying doesn’t sit right with me. He’s awoken this animal inside of me and I need him to snuff it out. I want to give him my body because I’m desperate for his touch.
But how can I want a monster like him to touch me?
“Am I wrong?” I ask again. “We all have things we care about in life. Surely there’s one thing you care about.”
He doesn’t look away from me.
“If you truly hate me as you claim,” I continue, “then you won’t have any problems shooting me in the head. So just shoot me. And then Gabriel can never use me against you. Problem solved.”
“I could just kill you and then your mother.”
“Not if I kill you first,” she threatens.
Dante chuckles but he doesn’t turn to her. His eyes are only for mine. “You think you hold any power over me, Sienna?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But why haven’t you fired your gun yet? If I meant nothing to you, you would have already killed me. So kill me, Dante.”
“It would be easy.”
“So do it.” My heart is beating so fast, it hurts. I don’t want to die but I also need a release to this ache inside of me and if death is the answer, then so be it. At least I’ll go down saving my mom.
Dante’s eyes flick to my lips and linger there. I frown. What is he thinking?
After a long beat, he lowers his gun to his side. I breathe out.
“I won’t kill you,” he states. “You’re no fun to me dead.”
“Is that all I am? Just fun to you?”
“What else would you be to me, Sienna?”
“You killed Edward for me. You opened up to me. I can tell I get under your skin sometimes. What am I to you?”
“An amusement,” he sneers. “Nothing more.” I flinch. Dante will always be a monster through and through.
And yet, my body still aches for him. I hate him even more for it.
“Let’s go,” he orders.
“I am not letting you take my daughter,” Mom says.
“I have faster reflexes than you,” Dante explains. “You’re hurt. You know I’ll win.”
I turn to my mom and place my hand on her gun. “It’s all right. I’ll go back with him. If it means saving your life, I’ll do it.”
Tears well up in my mom’s eyes. My strong mom who fought for me for so long. “How can I let you go back with that monster?”
“You have to. I’ll return to you one day. I believe it. And we’ll be safe. We’ll escape to America then. I promise.”
A sob escapes her as she throws her arms around me. I cling to her like I might die if I let her go.
I’m the first one to pull back because I know we’re delaying the inevitable. She cups my face, staring into my eyes. It’s like she’s trying to give me as much strength as she can muster.
“At least give her clothes,” she says to Dante. “At least give her that. Please.”
Dante’s eyes widen for a second. It’s a short time but I see it – the vulnerability in them. What is he thinking exactly? “Why would I be kind to my prisoner? Sienna, let’s go.”
I keep the blanket wrapped around me as I follow Dante out of the house, leaving my mother behind. She rushes as fast she can to the front door. Our eyes never leave each other’s, not even when I’m in Dante’s car and he’s driving away.
It’s only once we’re out of my mom’s sight that I look at Dante.
And I see something surprising: an expression on his face. I’m not even sure if he knows I notice it.
But it’s an expression of guilt. Or maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part.
Dante brings me back to the guest room and locks me inside without a word. That’s the last I see of him for the night. I would give anything to get inside his mind.
For once, my body isn’t desperate to be touched. To be filled. Instead, the ache that was between my legs moves up to my heart. The image of my mom fills my mind and I spend the entire night crying.
Sleep eventually takes me and when I wake up, I see a bag on the nightstand table. A shopping bag.
Dante isn’t in the room. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or upset about that.
With a look into the bag reveals… clothes. A bra and underwear. A simple summer dress that ends above the knees with straps for sleeves. That’s it.
But it’s clothes.
I quickly change into the garment. For once, it’s nice not to be naked. The clothes hide my bruises. The bruises Edward gave me who then Dante killed. Why did Dante kill Edward exactly? Was it for himself? He didn’t want another man touching his property?
Or was it for me?
I try the doorknob and am shocked to find it unlocked. Slowly, I peel the door open. Dante isn’t in sight. I can’t make another run for it. My mom needs time to heal. The last thing I should do is put her in a position where she could be hurt again.
I find Dante in the kitchen, sipping on coffee and reading something on his phone like it’s a normal day. I guess for him it is. A normal day of keeping a woman imprisoned in his home.
“Why did you give me this?” I ask, pointing at my dress.
His eyes flick to mine and back to his phone. “A normal thank you is appreciated.”
“I’m not going to thank you for a basic human decency. Why did you give me this?”
“You ask a lot of questions sometimes.”