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So, I didn’t. At least, not until he told me to. No, not told. Demanded. Heorderedme to do it.
“Look at me.”
Immediately, I did as I was told. I usually did. I was that kind of girl, but this? This reaction was totally different. My stomach knotted. My heart skipped a beat as my eyes moved to his. I swallowed hard and wanted to look away. Afraid he would see, see ... everything I’d been trying to hide.
Dante Calegari was scary. Dark. Foreboding. Intimidating.
And he was all I could think about in my virginal teen fantasies. I gave into them willingly the same way I would have a celebrity crush; it wasn’t real and there was no way anything would ever happen between me and Dante, so I dreamed and kept my distance. He was too much, and I was just plain, simple me.
And if I stared into his eyes, all my secrets would be revealed.
Instinctively, my eyelids dropped, protecting me.
“Open,bambina.”
“Why are you doing this?” Why wouldn’t he just say what he had to say and let me hide?
“Because I want you to understand what I’m going to say. To really hear it.”
“I hear with my ears, not my eyes,” I smarted-off, but it was a weak muttering, not the strong refusal it was in my mind.
“You’re wrong, baby girl. We can hear with all our senses. We can see with our ears. Taste with our eyes. Feel with our hearts.”
Those last four words took me by surprise, not just for the words he chose, but for the voice he used when he said them. I looked right into his eyes, eager to hear what caused such a velvety tone to surface.
One corner of his mouth turned up in a satisfied smirk. I thought he was going to gloat over my sudden acquiescence, but Dante was too confident of a man to need to rub it in.
Instead, his dark eyes.... Were they black or just the darkest brown I’d ever seen? His dark eyes pierced me. He tilted my head back even further and leaned forward.
“I see you,” he said softly, his eyes burning into mine. “I see you hurting but trying to be strong. I admire you for that. But don’t ever be afraid to take what you need. Toaskfor what you want. There is no reason for you to suffer more than you are already. If there is ever anything I can do for you, just ask me.”
I don’t think I was breathing by the time he was done speaking. Dante tapped me lightly on the cheek.
“Remember.I see you.”
Without another word, he broke all contact with me. He stood, turned his back and walked out of the kitchen.
My eyes never left him until the swinging door hid his body from sight.
I learned a lot of things that summer – how to be independent, how to make choices that would have a lasting effect on my future. I learned to be strong. To stand up for myself. I learned to speak my mind, even if I did so in a quiet voice. I learned to deal with the pain that life brought and how to survive through it.
I wasted no time employing my newfound education. I made the decision to stay in a dorm even though the university was only thirty minutes from my house. I changed my major from economics, like my parents wanted, to medieval history so I could immerse myself in the world that had held me captive since I first read about Thomas Becket, Eleanor of Aquitaine and William Marshall.
I had learned that to be happy, I needed to chase my dreams, not someone else’s, and that what I wanted mattered.
I also learned that after just one evening of consolation and a few softly spoken words, I had fallen in love with Dante Calegari.
