Chapter Thirteen
Dante
What did I just do?
I stumble out of the library, having just fucked Sienna for the first time. It’s what I wanted to do since the first time I laid eyes on her but now, things are different. More complicated.
She’s becoming my weakness. Someone I… care about.
I never care about people. I’ve never hesitated to kill people before but with Sienna, I did.
I chose not to kill her when I had the chance.
I chose to kill Edward for her. I chose to take her to my doctor to save her life.
I chose these things because she’s getting under my skin.
The girl I was supposed to hate because of what Gabriel wanted for me and now I’m starting to like her. Truly like her. And that’s a problem.
I fucked her. It should have been a dream. It had felt amazing but afterward, the stark realization that I had let my guard down around her hit me. It’s not something I should have done. Sienna can’t see my vulnerabilities. Anyone could use her against me.
I need to forget about her. Hell, I could let her go but then I’d always know she was out there. Maybe I should kill her. Then no one could use her against me; not even Sienna herself.
Anna is still waiting for me in my sex room. She’s perched on the bench, fully naked. Normally, the sight of a naked woman in my sex room would turn my cock rock hard. But now…
Now I feel nothing.
“What took you so long?” she asks. “I’ve been waiting.
” She parts her legs wider for me. A pretty pussy, I’ll give her that, but it’s not the one I want.
The one I want is lying in the library, just having had her virginity taken.
By me. The cruel, cold monster who shouldn’t feel any remorse and yet…
I do. Why the fuck do I do? I shouldn’t care one fucking bit.
“Go home,” I say.
She blinks and slowly closes her legs. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Just go,” I snap.
With a frown, she slips her clothes back on and walks past me. “Asshole,” she mutters.
I have killed people for less but I don’t hurt Anna. There’s no need to.
All I need is to forget about Sienna. So, I decide to leave the house. A little bit of chaos will be fun tonight. It’s just what I need.
Gabriel’s nightclub. It’s in the heart of the city.
Popular. Tons of people waiting in line to get in.
He makes a fuck ton of money through this place.
Both real, honest money and all the money laundering he does.
I’m not judging. I do the same with my own businesses.
It’s admirable. Too bad Gabriel is a prick and I hate him.
The last thing I want is to ever make peace with him. I can’t marry Sienna. Then she would become my weakness.
But for a moment, I let myself imagine what life would be like married to her. Waking up beside her every day. Not my prisoner but my wife. Would she have love in her eyes as she looked at me? Or would she still hate me, even then?
It’s a question I don’t want to consider and none of it should matter. Sienna will never love me and I don’t want her to. It’s more fun to torture someone when they hate you.
At least, this is what I tell myself.
Fuck. What is happening to me?
I’ve had my fair share of women before. One innocent woman’s pussy shouldn’t be my undoing. I barely know Sienna.
Except, I do know her. I’ve seen how brave she can be. How she’s not afraid to fight back. How she’s not afraid to use her voice even when I can tell it’s a struggle. How selfless she is when she protected her mom. How much she’s not willing to give up.
And of course, the small amount of darkness in her. The one who didn’t feel any guilt for killing that cop. The one who begs me to touch her.
She’s a surprising woman and I haven’t been surprised that often in my life. It just has to be that. Sienna is a novelty who will wear off. I just know it.
Which is why none of this matters. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her. She shouldn’t matter one bit.
So that’s why I need Sienna off my mind.
For fun, I stroll up to the bouncer outside the club. “Tell Gabriel that Dante is here. He’ll know who I am.”
The bouncer speaks into a walkie-talkie and after a beat, lets me on in.
The smell of sex, alcohol, and sweat permeates the air. Normally, it would have made my heart start pumping but right now, I only feel cold. I walk with determination towards the back office but I’m stopped by two guards out front.
“He’s here,” one of the guards says into the walkie-talkie strapped to his jacket.
“Let him in,” Gabriel’s voice filters through the device.
The guard, after frisking me and taking my gun, opens the door and I waltz on in.
“Dante,” Gabriel says in a hard tone. “What brings you here?”
“I considered making a bomb and throwing it at your club just for shits and giggles.” I walk over to the bookshelf he has on the opposite wall of his desk and swipe my finger along one of the shelves. “Mmm. Dusty. You might want to clean more.”
“Are you making another threat? I could have you killed for that.”
“So then kill me,” I say with a shrug. “Maybe then you’d put me out of my misery.”
Gabriel scoffs. “Misery? You? What misery could you be in? You don’t have a fucking heart.”
“And you do? You’re a big, bad, scary mafia man just like me.”
“But then I got married.”
“Right. And you softened. Who would want that?”
“Why are you here, Dante?”
I plop down into the seat across from him. “I don’t really know. I thought I’d come here to fuck with you but now that I am here… I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Where is Sienna?”
“Sienna’s fine,” I say with a dismissive wave of my hand. “In fact, she’s better than fine. I just fucked her brains out. Finally took her virginity.”
Gabriel’s jaw clenches. “You just admitted to me that you raped her?”
“I didn’t rape her. She begged me for it.”
“Right. Because a good girl like Sienna Lanza would beg you to touch her.”
I look down at my nails as I respond. “I detect sarcasm in your voice.”
“Was it obvious? I hoped it was.”
“Trust me, Gabriel. Sienna wanted it. Besides, you wanted me to marry her. What if she didn’t want that? What if I had performed my husbandly duty and claimed her? Would you have considered that rape then?”
Gabriel’s eyes narrow. “Semantics. I wanted you to marry Sienna for peace. I never said rape her.”
“You act all high and mighty but you’re no better than me.
You wanted to use Sienna for your own gains.
To control me. Not because you care for her.
So don’t sit there and act like you’re worried.
You’re only worried about what I’ll do because of how I’ll act.
But if you truly cared for Sienna, you would be fighting harder to get her back. ”
“I am fighting hard. We’ve been trying to find out where you live but you’ve done a frustratingly good job at hiding it. We’re fighting for Sienna. Her mom will not give up until her daughter returns to her.”
“Ah,” I say, leaning back in the seat. “Henrietta. She’s a force to be reckoned with. I see where Sienna gets her fighting spirit. I like Henrietta.”
“So why did you shoot her then?”
I shrug. “She was in my way and I wanted Sienna. It wasn’t personal.”
“And it’s personal now?”
I make a point of grabbing the paperweight off his desk and passing it back and forth between my hands. “You don’t know anything about me, Gabriel.”
“So why are you here? Did you come to mock me? Gloat? What is it?”
“I came here to talk. Can’t a man do that?”
“Not you, Dante. Not when you’re fucking insane.”
I sigh and set the paperweight back onto the desk. “What would you think if I said I was tired of always being chaotic all the time?”
“I’d say you were lying.” He narrows his eyes. “Unless something has changed.”
“Nothing has changed,” I say in a clip voice. “But just for fun, let me ask you a question. If I married Sienna now, what would happen?”
“You want to marry her now?”
“No. Just a theoretical. Answer.”
He sighs, tapping his fingers together. They look so clean but I know Gabriel has a lot of blood on his hands.
Just like I do. “I would still like peace. If you married her and worked with me, we could possibly have it. But the problem is: I don’t trust you at all.
So I’m not sure any of that would be possible. ”
“So, you’re just waiting to kill me the second you find Sienna? Is that it?”
“Pretty much.”
I nod once. “Good to know.”
“Why even ask me that question?”
“Because I’m crazy? I don’t know. I just did.”
Gabriel looks me over like I just walked out of an insane asylum. I guess in a way I did. It feels like Sienna is driving me more crazy than I’ve ever actually been. Before her, my chaotic nature was controlled. I let lose but I still was in charge.
But now… now I feel more unhinged and lost than I’ve ever felt and it’s all because of her.
Fuck. Maybe I really do want to marry her. Keep her all to myself. But to do that, I’d have to make peace with Gabriel and I can’t be anyone’s lap dog.
“What has gotten into you?” Gabriel asks. “The Dante I know doesn’t just come here and converse with people like this.”
“Maybe I’m a different Dante. An evolved one.”
He snorts. “You? Never.”
I flash him a smile as I stand up. “Have a nice evening, Gabriel. And it’s your lucky night. I won’t blow your club up.”
Anger contorts his features but other than that, he stays silent.
I whistle to myself as I leave the club. But just for fun, I take out the small gun the guard had missed from my shoe and walk over to the bouncer. I place the gun against his side and shoot. A loud scream runs through the air from the sound of the gunshot. The bouncer doubles over.
I’m already walking away, slipping my gun back into my jacket. Gabriel won’t call the police on me. He hates whenever police get involved in his business. All mafia men do.
So for now, I’m safe to return to Sienna. I do make a point of losing the car that Gabriel sends after me. He’s desperate, trying to find where Sienna is. I won’t give him the satisfaction.