I slept late and Dante was gone when I woke. He’d worked out and eaten breakfast by the time I made it down to the kitchen and I don’t know if I’m relieved or not that he’s not sitting opposite me wearing nothing but a pair of boxing shorts as I eat my scrambled eggs. I am such an idiot for becoming so reliant on him, and even more of one for actually telling him that last night.
I close my eyes as a wave of embarrassment rolls in my stomach as I recall the things I said to him.
I’m enjoying the last bite of the delicious eggs Sophia made me when Joey strolls into the kitchen — all tanned long legs, thick dark hair, pouty lips and dripping with entitlement. I roll my eyes as she takes a seat opposite me and proceeds to stare at me like I’m an exhibit in a museum.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
“No.” She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head.
I pick up my coffee and take a gulp.
“You want some pancakes, Miss Moretti?” Sophia asks.
Joey rolls her eyes. “Please don’t call me that, Sophia. You know I hate it.”
Sophia sighs softly. “Joey, would you like some pancakes?”
“Please,” Joey replies with a sweet smile, which is so obviously fake it makes me want to hurl up my eggs I just ate. When she turns back to me a few seconds later, there is no trace of a smile left.
“Ack! We are out of flour,” Sophia groans. “Let me go check the spare pantry.” She walks out of the room, leaving Joey and me alone.
“So, you sure landed a sweet deal getting to live here with my brother,” she says with an arch of one perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“A sweet deal?” I snap at her. “Are you kidding me?”
“Your brother steals from us and you get to live in this beautiful house and sleep in my brother’s bed as punishment?”
The skin on my neck and chest turns red as heat and shame wash over my skin. I can’t believe he told her that we sleep together. I mean, I don’t know why I’m shocked. It’s not like I mean anything to him.
“You think I’m taking advantage of him?” I snort.
“Aren’t you?”
I glare at her. She’s as bad as her brother. “No, I am not. I didn’t ask to come here. You might think it’s a beautiful house, but to me, it’s just a prison. I would much rather be in my tiny house in Washington Park, but your brother refuses to let me leave.”
Her dark brown eyes narrow as she stares at me for a few seconds. “I could help you leave,” she offers.
I almost fall off my seat. “Yeah, right,” I laugh.
“I could do it.”
“What’s the point? He’d just come to my house and bring me back.”
Joey rolls her eyes again. “You wouldn’t be able to go back to your house. You’d have to start over somewhere. But I could get you some documents. A little cash. You could go anywhere you please and never have to see him ever again.”
What the hell is her deal? “You’ve done nothing but look down on me from the second you came in here, so why on earth do you think I’d believe you wanted to help me?”
“I’m not doing it to help you,” she says with an exaggerated sigh. “I’m doing it because I don’t want you here.”
“Well, at least you’re honest.”
“But mostly I’d be doing to aggravate my brother,” she adds with a wicked grin. “I think he’d miss having his little pet around. At least for a while until he moved on to the next one anyway. You know that’s what will happen, right? He’ll dump you at the side of the road if you’re lucky. But it’s more than likely he’ll just kill you. Less messy.”
I ignore the not-so-veiled death threat because I already know the kind of man her brother is and I’m under no illusion that the simple fact he enjoys fucking me offers me any protection in that regard. I mean, he murdered his own fiancée. “Why would you want to make him so pissed? He’s your brother.”
She leans closer to me. “You think this is your prison, Kat? At least you might get out one day. I’ve been living in a prison since I was born. Dante and Lorenzo watch every move I make. I’m not allowed to go out. Not allowed to date. They even packed me off to some convent school in Italy. I hated every second. I begged them to let me come home to college here, but they refused. So, why does my brother get to do whatever the hell he wants just because he’s a guy?”
Yes, she’s an entitled, spoiled princess with a bad attitude, but it seems like she has her own crosses to bear. I still don’t trust her for a single second though.
“So, what do you think? You want me to speak to my guy or what?” she asks, eyes narrowed as she waits for me to answer.
“I think that you’re crazy if you believe you can rescue me when you can’t even rescue yourself.”
She blinks at me, and I take the opportunity to stand and walk out of the room.
I barely saw Dante all day, apart from a few fleeting glimpses of him in the hallway. It feels like something big is going on for him right now that is about more than just Joey’s return. I didn’t see Joey either after our chat in the kitchen. I stayed in the library for most of the day, while she watched TV in the den and talked — loudly — with her friends on her cell phone. I heard her announcing her triumphant return when I was passing by after lunch.
I stare at the ceiling as I lie in Dante’s bed. I did consider going to my old room but I don’t want a repeat of last night because I’m too exhausted to carry on fighting with him. How can a man make me feel so worthless and yet so important to him at the same time?
As much as it kills me to admit it, I’ve missed talking to him today. I walked by his study and was going to pop in and say hi, but there was an armed guard outside and that means he’s not to be disturbed. Maybe he won’t even come to bed tonight, or it will be so late that I’ll be asleep. I should use this time to plan my escape rather than pining after a man who I clearly mean so little to.
The door creaking open a few seconds later makes me sit up and I see his familiar silhouette walking into the room. I watch as he peels off his clothes, the moonlight casting dark shadows over his skin as he strips naked. A few seconds later, he slips under the covers and his warm hand glides onto my stomach.
“Hey,” I whisper in the darkness.
“I’m glad you’re still awake,” he says, propping himself up on one elbow.
“You are?”
“Yeah.” He tugs my t-shirt up before sliding his fingers into the waistband of my panties. “It’s been a long day and I need you, kitten.”
I swallow the disappointment. Of course that’s all he needs. It’s all he ever needs from me.
“Are you okay?” he asks when I remain still.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just a little tired,” I lie.
He bends his head and his warm breath dances over my skin as he kisses my neck so softly it makes me shiver. His lips are against my ear as his hands slides between my thighs, and he starts to toy with my clit. “You want to go to sleep?”
“You told Joey about us,” I reply, opting for a distraction.
“No, she guessed. I didn’t know it was a secret though,” he growls as his fingers go on teasing me.
“Well, she kind of blindsided me with it. A heads-up would have been nice,” I say, biting on my lip to stop myself from moaning as the familiar waves of pleasure build in my core.
“Joey will make it her mission to make you as uncomfortable as possible, Kat. You just have to ignore most of what comes out of her mouth.”
“Well, if that was her mission, she achieved it,” I snap, clamping my thighs together to stop his fingers from driving me to distraction.
It works because he pulls his hand from my panties and brushes my hair from my face. “What did she say to you?”
“She… she suggested I was taking advantage of you.”
He laughs darkly, and I glare at him. “I’m glad you find that funny, but it was horrible, Dante,” I say, remembering how small and cheap she made me feel. “She made me feel like…” I choke back the emotion.
“Like what?”
“A whore,” I whisper. I hate that word. It’s one that’s used to degrade women, but I don’t know how else to describe how she made me feel.
“I’ll speak to her.”
“No, please don’t.” I sigh. “I can handle her myself.”
“Whatever you want, kitten. You know I don’t see you that way, right?” he asks as he starts to kiss my neck again.
“Don’t you?”
“Just because I fuck you every chance I get, doesn’t mean that’s all I want from you.”
“So, what else do you want, Dante?” I ask.
His hand slides down my body again and back into my panties. “Everything,” he growls, and before I can ask him what the hell that means, he silences me with a deep kiss full of fire and longing, while he slides two fingers inside me.
Dante Moretti is a monster — the most ruthless and violent man I’ve ever known, but that’s not why he’s so dangerous. He’s dangerous because I’m falling for him a little more every single day.
