I’m locked away in this room, I’m not safe.
“You’re in love with someone else. You admitted that before, you can’t just pretend you never said it. Besides, you barely even know me anymore.”
“I know you.” He cups my face and peppers kisses down the side of my neck. “I’ve been in the background watching you when you talk to Sammy over video. I hear him talk to you on the phone. I’ve been watching you for years and waiting for the right time. I’ve fallen so hard for you.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” My stomach turns. I don’t want to believe him.
“Of course it does.” He meets my lips once more. “You’re the same sweet girl I was torn away from as a child. Even then I loved you, but it was a different love. Innocent.”
“No.” I try to wriggle away from him. “You’re lying. If you’ve been watching me, why didn’t you ever say anything? Why didn’t you ever visit me?”
“I wanted to keep you safe for as long as possible. Besides, Sammy said you didn’t remember me. But I’ve been here, in the background, waiting for you. Waiting for this moment.”
I push at his chest. I need him to get off me. What we shared was amazing, but telling me he loves me? That’s just screwing with my emotions. Manipulating me. He doesn’t need to play head games like this.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.” His voice is stern. “Kiera, you’re the reason I came back here. You’re the reason for everything I’ve done in my life. Good and bad.”
I narrow my eyes at him. If he wants to play this game, then he has to be all in. “If you’re telling me the truth, then I need to know all of it. Tell me why I’m here. Tell me why Sammy was beaten so bad. Tell me everything!”
Chapter 9
“I don’t know where to start,” Dante says, running a towel over his wet hair. “I guess it’s best if I tell you about my mother.”
I feel a tinge of guilt for not asking about her. She’d always been kind to me and looked out for Sammy and I like we were her own when they were here, and since finding out who Dante really is, I’ve not even thought about her.
He wraps the towel around me and pats dry my still-damp skin from the shower he insisted we take together before talking.
“She was a lot like you,” he says, using the towel to pull me in for a kiss on the lips. “Young, beautiful, and orphaned. She came from a very poor family. Back then you were either in power or you were poor. And everyone in power had a price. Her mother had some sort of cancer. She needed treatment, but it was very expensive.”
“I thought you didn’t have to pay for healthcare there.”
He shakes his head. “You’re thinking like an American.” He must have read the look on my face. I don’t like or appreciate that comment. “There’s no such thing as free, Kiera. True, anyone could go to the hospital, but if you needed to see the doctor, or get medication, or even clean sheets on your bed, you had to pay for it in the form of a bribe. Still do.”
“A bribe? I thought—”
“I told you, everyone has a price, it’s a matter of figuring out what it is and how to pay it that’s the real challenge. Her father didn’t want to watch his wife die,” he explains, handing me a pair of clean underwear and his t-shirt to put on.
I pull the shirt down so that it rests at the top of my thighs.
“You look so sexy in my shirt.” With his hands on my hips, he pulls me close, leans down, and whispers in my ear. “I’m already getting hard.”
“What happened to your grandmother?” I ask, refocusing him.
“One day after work, my grandfather got drunk with a bunch of his friends and decided to get his hands on some money. He needed the equivalent of fifty thousand US dollars. Liquored up with courage, he and a friend decided to mug a very well-to-do man. It wasn’t hard to tell who had money and who didn’t. Those that had it showed it. They lived high on the hog.”
“The
“You’re in love with someone else. You admitted that before, you can’t just pretend you never said it. Besides, you barely even know me anymore.”
“I know you.” He cups my face and peppers kisses down the side of my neck. “I’ve been in the background watching you when you talk to Sammy over video. I hear him talk to you on the phone. I’ve been watching you for years and waiting for the right time. I’ve fallen so hard for you.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” My stomach turns. I don’t want to believe him.
“Of course it does.” He meets my lips once more. “You’re the same sweet girl I was torn away from as a child. Even then I loved you, but it was a different love. Innocent.”
“No.” I try to wriggle away from him. “You’re lying. If you’ve been watching me, why didn’t you ever say anything? Why didn’t you ever visit me?”
“I wanted to keep you safe for as long as possible. Besides, Sammy said you didn’t remember me. But I’ve been here, in the background, waiting for you. Waiting for this moment.”
I push at his chest. I need him to get off me. What we shared was amazing, but telling me he loves me? That’s just screwing with my emotions. Manipulating me. He doesn’t need to play head games like this.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.” His voice is stern. “Kiera, you’re the reason I came back here. You’re the reason for everything I’ve done in my life. Good and bad.”
I narrow my eyes at him. If he wants to play this game, then he has to be all in. “If you’re telling me the truth, then I need to know all of it. Tell me why I’m here. Tell me why Sammy was beaten so bad. Tell me everything!”
Chapter 9
“I don’t know where to start,” Dante says, running a towel over his wet hair. “I guess it’s best if I tell you about my mother.”
I feel a tinge of guilt for not asking about her. She’d always been kind to me and looked out for Sammy and I like we were her own when they were here, and since finding out who Dante really is, I’ve not even thought about her.
He wraps the towel around me and pats dry my still-damp skin from the shower he insisted we take together before talking.
“She was a lot like you,” he says, using the towel to pull me in for a kiss on the lips. “Young, beautiful, and orphaned. She came from a very poor family. Back then you were either in power or you were poor. And everyone in power had a price. Her mother had some sort of cancer. She needed treatment, but it was very expensive.”
“I thought you didn’t have to pay for healthcare there.”
He shakes his head. “You’re thinking like an American.” He must have read the look on my face. I don’t like or appreciate that comment. “There’s no such thing as free, Kiera. True, anyone could go to the hospital, but if you needed to see the doctor, or get medication, or even clean sheets on your bed, you had to pay for it in the form of a bribe. Still do.”
“A bribe? I thought—”
“I told you, everyone has a price, it’s a matter of figuring out what it is and how to pay it that’s the real challenge. Her father didn’t want to watch his wife die,” he explains, handing me a pair of clean underwear and his t-shirt to put on.
I pull the shirt down so that it rests at the top of my thighs.
“You look so sexy in my shirt.” With his hands on my hips, he pulls me close, leans down, and whispers in my ear. “I’m already getting hard.”
“What happened to your grandmother?” I ask, refocusing him.
“One day after work, my grandfather got drunk with a bunch of his friends and decided to get his hands on some money. He needed the equivalent of fifty thousand US dollars. Liquored up with courage, he and a friend decided to mug a very well-to-do man. It wasn’t hard to tell who had money and who didn’t. Those that had it showed it. They lived high on the hog.”
“The
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