15. Chapter Fifteen #2
Guilia looks stunned. “I came here for a fun evening. I wanted to see you fuck her or something. I didn’t want to see the poor girl abused. I’m leaving.” She storms away, her high heels clacking on the hard ground.
“What the fuck?” Jack asks. “You gave me permission to touch her.”
“And now I’m taking that permission away. You will not touch her. Not anymore.”
Jack’s lips curl into disgust but he doesn’t object. Good. This way I don’t have to kill him like I did Edward. Though, it could be fun.
I turn to Sienna, crying in a ball on the ground. Something hits me hard in the stomach.
Guilt. It’s fucking guilt.
I needed to treat Sienna like my prisoner to remind myself that that’s where she stands. But the sight of her crying her eyes out. The sight of her curled into a ball. The sight of her so scared looking when she’s been so brave before…
I fucking hate it.
“Everyone out,” I order. “This party is done.” I pick Sienna up in my arms but she screams and wiggles out of my grasp. She ends up falling back onto the ground, crying harder.
None of my guests move.
“Everyone out!” I shout. That gets them to move. I only speak when it’s just me and Sienna again. “Sienna.” I reach my hand out to her but she scoots away from me on her hands and knees.
“Why did you do that to me?” she asks. “Why did you let him hurt me? Why do any of this to me? I hate you. You’re a monster.”
“You already knew that about me. You already hated me.”
“Not like this. I thought…”
I scoff. “You thought what? That I had any redeeming qualities. I have none, Sienna. I am a fucking monster. You know that.”
She pushes herself to her feet and wipes away her tears. “So then why did you stop Jack from hurting me more? Why?”
I have no answer for her.
“Why did you do that to me, Dante?” she asks in a soft voice, sounding even younger than she is. “Why do any of this to me?”
“I…” I have no answer for her.
She storms away from me but then she quickly bends over, gasping, clutching her back.
“Sienna?” I ask, rushing over to her side.
“Don’t.” She holds up a hand. “Don’t act like you care for me. Just don’t do it, Dante. Please. You’re only going to hurt me more.”
I stand back and watch as she returns to her full height. She keeps her head high as she walks back into her bedroom and shuts the door.
I wanted to humiliate Sienna tonight. Remind us both that we’re only captor and captive.
But in this moment, I know what I need to do. I can’t keep Sienna. I can’t keep pretending there’s anything between us because there can’t be.
She needs to die.
I burst open her bedroom door with my gun drawn. Sienna gasps but then stands still, waiting for me to shoot her.
“You said death would be preferable than anything else,” I say.
“Just do it,” she whispers. “Just put me out of my misery. Please.”
I need to kill her. Then no one can use her against me. I’ll have no more weaknesses. I’ll be the strong, chaotic Dante everyone knows me to be. The lonely one.
Fuck.
I lower my gun to my side and Sienna breathes out. “Go.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“Go, Sienna. Leave. Go back home to your mom.”
She holds herself perfectly still, probably waiting for me to trick her. But this isn’t a trick. It’s what needs to happen.
I have to let Sienna go.
It’s the only way I can be rid of her. It’s the only way I’ll find some peace. I can’t kill her so the next best thing is to let her go.
“I can… leave? Truly?”
I nod. “Go. Before I change my mind.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Just go, Sienna.”
She walks towards the door but stops at my side. “Dante…”
“Just go. I’m not doing this because I’m a good man. I’m doing this because you can’t be my weakness. And I can’t kill you, Sienna. So just go.”
She opens her mouth to speak but then thinks better of it and rushes out of the room. I hear her feet on the hardwood floor before she reaches the foyer. Then the front door opens and then it closes and then… nothing.
No more sound.
Sienna is gone.
Sienna
Questions filter through my mind as I run from Dante’s house. Is he really letting me go or is this all a game to him? Will he follow me once more? Try to hurt my mom again?
I’m not sure but I saw the expression on his face. The firm resoluteness. He is making up his mind. He is letting me go.
I don’t have it in me to question Dante. All I know is that this is my chance for true freedom, even if it causes a deep ache to form inside my body, knowing I’m leaving Dante behind. I might never see him again. That should make me happy but instead, it makes me bend over and cry.
A deep, heart wrenching sob. Why do I feel this way for that man? I should despise him. A part of me still does.
But another part craves him. Needs him.
And he just let me go.
I force myself to stand upright and keep walking. The only thing that matters is getting back home. To my mom.
Thankfully, this time I’m fully clothed. I walk with a purpose. No one looks at me like I’m crazy. I’m just a woman walking in an evening gown. I could be attending a party. I could be a normal person. But Dante has left me wrecked and ravaged.
It’s all his fault I’m this way. So why do I still want to be with him?
I shake my head. Get him out of your head, I tell myself. The focus is getting home. Home. Home. Home.
It takes me a few hours but I eventually make it to my mom’s house. The sight of the warm brick and white shutters makes me feel calm. I’ll be all right. I have to be.
I take a deep breath and walk up to the door.