18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Dante
My plan wasn’t to take Sienna back. My plan was to remove her from my life and forget all about her.
But that plan failed because the second I let her go, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. I kept an eye on her over the past week. Saw that she was staying with Gabriel. I didn’t try to get close with her. I knew she needed to be away from me.
However, that all fucking failed when I saw her go into that club and kiss that asshole. It was a punch to the gut. I know my feelings for Sienna put me in danger. They make me weak; put my guard down.
Right now, though, I don’t care. I just want to be with her. Not to control her but to have her in my life.
“What do we do now?” Sienna asks after we arrive back at my home. She gazes around the front foyer like it’s all new for her. I guess in a way it is. Our relationship is new. All of this is fucking new.
“I’m not sure,” I admit. It makes me sound vulnerable, which I fucking hate.
“I should let my mom know I’m ok come the morning. She’ll wonder where I am.”
“Right.” I sigh. “Sienna, we still have all the same problems. You and me. You’re no longer my prisoner. I don’t want that for you.”
“So, you’re never going to humiliate me like you tried to do that day of the party?”
Guilt hits me. “Yes. I am sorry for that. I was trying to push down how I felt but I couldn’t deny it. When I saw Jack hitting you, I knew I couldn’t stand for it. It’s why I let you go.”
“I get that,” she says with a nod. “But I’m here now.
I do want to be with you, Dante. I don’t know why.
I don’t fully understand these feelings.
I just know I need you in my life. But you can’t be at active war with Gabriel.
And I want to be able to see my mom still.
It’s the only way we can make this work. Can you make peace with Gabriel?”
I can see the desperation in her eyes. The desire for me to tell her everything she wants to hear. I want to give her all of that but I’m not sure I can.
“I can’t just change who I am,” I admit. “I don’t want to be controlled by Gabriel. But I also want you in my life.”
“You have to make up your mind because you can’t have me and be at war with Gabriel. It’s just not going to work.” The fire in her eyes is back. That fire that I love so much. The fire that surprised me when I first met her. The fire that has made me care for her.
Even love her.
I can’t say it out loud though. I’ve never loved anyone before. It’s a vulnerability I can’t allow myself to have.
“We don’t have to worry about all of that right now,” I say in a low voice as I set my hands on her hips. “We can spend more time together. What do you say?”
She sucks in a sharp, excited inhale of breath. The eagerness in her eyes is palpable. “I want that. But…” She pulls back. “We know we have a good physical connection. But do we have an emotional one?”
“I’ve opened up to you more than I have anyone else.”
“Which is good. I’m glad for that. But maybe we should spend more time talking. Getting to know one another. On a deeper level than just physical. I think that would be good.”
“Where is this coming from?”
She steps out of my arms and I feel the coldness in the air descend on me. “It’s coming from the fact that I know my mother will never approve of us being together. Not unless you can show you’ll treat me right.”
“I am not a good man. That hasn’t stopped you from wanting me.”
“I know,” she sighs. “But the fact doesn’t change. If I’m going to be in your life, I need to have my mom as well. I need both and I need you to try and get along with her. I need you to apologize to her for what you did.”
“Sienna, your mom is going to shoot me the first second she gets. An apology isn’t going to cut it.”
“It’s a start though and that’s what matters. You need to apologize. You need to do that for me.”
“For you, huh? You think you can start making demands of me? I can’t change who I am, Sienna. You need to know that.”
She takes a step closer to the door. “Then I can’t stay here.”
“But you’ll be back. You can’t stay away from me, can you? Admit it. It’s eaten you alive being away from me all week.”
“Yes,” she admits. “It has. But I also have to be rational. I care for you, Dante, even if I shouldn’t but you have to give the other people in my life a reason to care for you. You have to give me an actual reason too.”
I let out a low whistle. “Once again, surprising me. You do have a knack for it.”
With a sigh, she walks back to me and rests her hands on my chest. “Please, Dante.”
“What makes you think I’ll do anything for you?” I say against her lips.
“If you want me back, you will.”
“I already told you: you’re a danger to me, Sienna. I shouldn’t want you back.”
“And I already told you: I don’t care about that. But I do care about my family. And you need to make amends with my mom. You need to marry me. Make peace with Gabriel. Do everything he wanted to begin with.”
“And let myself be controlled by him?” I hiss, backing away from her. “No.”
“Then you don’t get me.”
“I already have you, baby. You’re here, in my house, right now. You willingly came back to it. I didn’t have to try hard. Just a good fuck in the backseat of my car.”
She winces. “How can you still be cruel to me? How can I want a man like you?”
Her words hit me right in the fucking gut. A reminder of the kind of man I am. It’s something I always cherished about myself but right in this moment, seeing the pain in Sienna’s eyes, makes me feel like utter fucking shit.
Before I can answer her – if I can even think of an answer – the front door bursts open and in storm Gabriel and Matteo with a few of Gabriel’s other men.
“Get away from her,” Gabriel growls, pointing his gun right at me. I don’t move but Sienna does.
She runs right for Gabriel. “How did you find us?”
“I had you followed. I could sense you were going to sneak out of the house eventually. You wouldn’t give up Dante’s location and I thought that was suspicious. Now I know why. He has you brainwashed, Sienna. Dante, you’re coming with us.”
I let out a loud, wicked laugh. It sounds exactly like my old self before Sienna entered my life. “You’re going to torture me, aren’t you?”
“For doing what you did to Sienna, yes. And for going against me, yes.”
I hold up a finger. “I never went against you. How could I? I never agreed to be allies with you in the first place. You can’t go against someone you’re already enemies with.”
“Fucking semantics,” Matteo growls.
“Ah, Matteo. Nice to see you again. How are the ribs? All healed from where I kicked you last time we spoke?”
“You left me and my wife for dead,” he snaps. “You’re going to die.”
Gabriel puts his hand on Matteo’s arm. “Don’t shoot. I want to torture him. See what any kind of information he has. Get on the ground, Dante.”
“Don’t do this,” Sienna begs.
“Stay out of the way, Sienna. You can’t be trusted,” Gabriel says. “Get on the ground, Dante.”
I know in this moment I made a mistake. I let my guard down, exactly what I was worried about. But I can’t go down without a fight.
I grab my gun from my back pocket and point it at Gabriel but he fires a warning shot into the ceiling.
“I don’t want to kill you just yet. So lower your fucking gun,” he hisses.
My eyes flick to Sienna. If I just start randomly firing, she could end up hurt. Or worse. Before her, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get into a shootout. Shootouts are fun. But not when Sienna’s life is on the line.
With a huff, I throw my gun to the ground. Sienna’s eyes widen. Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting me to do that. It’s not only her that can be surprising.
Gabriel rushes to my side and hits me in the head with his gun, knocking me to the ground. Pain radiates through my skull. Fucking asshole.
“Stop!” Sienna screams. “Let’s talk this through. Don’t hurt him.”
“You sided with the enemy,” Gabriel snaps at her. “I can’t trust you. Get Sienna out of here.”
“No!” She screams as she’s dragged out of the house by Gabriel’s men.
“Sienna,” I groan. “Don’t hurt her.”
Gabriel scoffs. “Why the hell would I hurt her? You’ve already hurt her enough. You made a mistake, Dante. You got on my bad side and you shouldn’t have. All you had to do was make a deal with me. And you just couldn’t do that.” He nods at Matteo, who steps forward.
“This is for trying to kill me,” Matteo snarls before kicking me right in the face.
That’s when everything goes black.
Sienna
“Let me go!” I scream at the guard holding me. The moment we’re outside, to his credit, he listens to me. I stumble and then try to run back inside but he stops me.
Gabriel and Matteo come back out while Dante is being carried by Gabriel’s men.
“What are you going to do to him?” I ask.
“We’re going to torture him,” Gabriel says in his eerily calm voice. It’s in this moment I’m reminded of how ruthless a mafia man he is.
“But he didn’t kidnap me. I came here with him. Willingly. I was trying to get him to make peace with you. Make peace with him. Dante and I can marry. This can all be put aside.”
“Dante ruined his chances when he fucked me over. And he’s clearly brainwashed you.” He turns to one of his men. “Take her back to my home and make sure she doesn’t leave.”
I cry out as I’m forced into one of the cars in the driveway. This is all my fault. I led Gabriel and his men straight to Dante.
I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt for him before. Torn between love and hate but one thing I know is clear: I do not want him to be killed. But that’s exactly what Gabriel has planned.
“Let me go!” I scream and cry as one of Gabriel’s men gets into the driver’s seat and pulls away from Gabriel and Matteo.
And Dante, who’s unconscious. Is this the last time I’ll ever see him? I know in my gut that it is.
“Please,” I beg the driver. “Please.” But he doesn’t listen to me. Gabriel gave his orders and everyone has to listen to him.
I try opening the car door but it’s locked. I’m stuck inside until we arrive back at Gabriel’s house.