Page 26 of Roses are Royal

“Well, I will definitely be taking you up on that. I have several more weeks on this project, and the more time I can spend out of that house, the better. I should get going, though. It’s a long drive back to the city.”

“Sweetie, you are not driving back to the city at this hour.”

“Well, it’s too late to get a room at that motel, and I don’t feel safe staying there anyway.”

“You know you have another option.”

“Shirley, no. I can’t face him tonight. Not after he rejected me and then yelled at me. Plus, I’m sure he’s asleep by now anyway.”

“Just call him and see. You won’t know until you do.”

“Ugh, fine! Just this once and only because it’s late and I don’t feel like driving home.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, dear.” Her smirk tells me she isn’t buying my lie. Of course I want to stay with Dante, but facing him after he kissed me and then pushed me away will be brutal. I’ll just have to pretend I am unaffected on the outside while I’m dying a little on the inside. Fake it till you make it or whatever they say.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Shirley. Have a good rest of your night.” And with that, I’m back in my car and driving toward Dante’s place, giving myself some time to build up my walls before facing him again.

30

DANTE

Idon’t know how much time has passed since I started watching the stationary blinking tracker dot on my screen, but my attention is piqued when I see it moving again, which means Rose is moving again. The real question is, where is she going?

After several minutes of driving, I notice that, based on the direction she is heading, there are only two places she could be going: the motel or back to my house. I can’t fathom her coming back here tonight after the way I treated her, but I can’t believe she would consider going back to that motel after what happened the last time she stayed there. Maybe this is my opportunity to call her and ask her to come back so we can talk.

Pulling up the live video feed inside Rose’s vehicle, my decision is made. The tracker has stopped outside the entrance to my estate, and I can see her looking at the phone in her hand, biting her bottom lip and looking nervous. She came back. She came back to me. Why isn’t she driving in? Decision made. I will make this easy on her since I am the one who caused her to leave in the first place. I will call and ask her to come back.

I mute the video feed, pull out my phone, and dial her number. I watch her as she sees my name flash on her phone screen and she almost jumps when the phone vibrates like she forgot she was holding it. Come on, Belladonna, answer it.

“Hello?” Her voice immediately soothes my nerves and eases the panic I didn’t know was steadily rising with the distance between us. “Dante? Are you there?” Shit, how long have I been sitting here in silence staring at her on my screen?

“Rose.” Not the best opening line of an apology, but at least I said something.

“Is everything okay? It’s late. I figured you’d be asleep by now.”

“I couldn’t sleep after the way I spoke to you. What are you doing awake?”

“Oh, um, I went to the diner for some coffee after I left your place. I’m…um…I was going to head back to the city for the night, so I just needed some caffeine for the drive.”

“No.”

“No, what?”

“You’re not going back to the city this late at night. It’s not safe, and you’ve been drinking.”

“Two glasses of wine over an hour ago is hardly going to affect my ability to drive safely.”

“The answer is no, Rose.”

“I don’t recall asking you for permission, Dante.” Her response comes out almost like an insult. I am fucking this up again. “Did you just call to scold me like a child, or did you actually have something to say? It’s late, and I’m tired.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For tonight.”

“Which part?”