AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Two days. Two days to be us. Give me that. Let me show you how beautiful life will be when we don’t have to hide, when I don’t have to worry about you, when we don’t have to plan and meddle.”
“I don’t—"
And then the man who has had everything he’s ever wanted in this life moves down to his knees.
I’m standing in the foyer of a small, quaint home on Lake George, staring down at a man fifteen years older than me, the man who, at one point, I thought would be just another barrier to tearing down this family that tormented my own. A man who bought this house just because I told him I have fond memories of being here.
And he is now on his knees, his eyes wide with pleading.
“I am begging you, Delilah. Please. Give me this. Give us this. This is my life—my mess. Before you, I was planning to go down.” The world stops moving.
“Before you walked into my life, I knew a change needed to happen. I knew if it didn’t, it would hurt everyone around me. People I cared about. People who didn’t deserve to get dragged into this shit. Delilah, I was going to take it down from the inside and take them with me.”
“Dante—"
“I didn’t know if it would mean death or prison, but I was fine with it either way. My family . . . they’ve created a mess. I thought it was all Tony, his greed decaying away what was once good, but with what you’ve told me . . . It doesn’t matter. What matters is I was ready to take whatever came in order to make things right.”
“Your plan . . .”
“You walked into my life, and that plan changed. I had something to live for. Someone to live for. I had a reason to make this world better and give it to you whole. I had a reason to find a new way.”
“Dante—"
“Please. Give us this. Give me this. Two days of us. Two days of knowing what is waiting for us at the other end.” I count my breaths as he waits for an answer.
One.
Two.
Three.
When I hit ten, he’s still silent, still waiting for me to speak.
On eleven, I answer.
“Okay. Okay, Dante.”
And then stands, kisses me, and reminds me that I made the right choice.
Forty-One
-Lilah-
I wake up with the sun.
Something is different.
It’s not the bed.
It’s not the bedding, though the crisp white sheets aren’t mine.
It’s the body mine is lying on.
The steady heartbeat under my ear, the hand running through my hair. The warm skin my hand is resting on.
It’s Dante.
It’s morning, and Dante is in bed with me.
