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“You think we didn’t know about you sneaking out of here as a kid? You think I didn’t follow you every single freaking time? And your guy, Joey?” he hisses.
“He’s Dante’s guy,” she says with a sigh.
“Everybody is Dante’s guy,” he says, his tone dark and menacing.
“I’m going to throw up,” I whisper.
“Don’t give a fuck. You both better start moving. Now!” Maximo barks as he walks through the door, his huge frame crowding us backward as he does. Then he closes it with a bang, fixing the steel bolt back in place, and now, I can’t breathe.
I gasp for air. Joey grasps my hand and squeezes. “It’s okay,” she whispers. “I’ll tell him it was my fault.”
“It doesn’t m-matter,” I stammer. “He’s g-going to k-kill me.”
“Move!” Maximo barks again, and Joey squeezes my hand again as we start to head back through the passageway, which somehow seems even smaller and tighter than it did a few minutes earlier. It’s strange how a space can change without really changing. A few moments ago, this dark tunnel was full of hope and possibility. Now it’s full of fear and dread and monsters.
When we reach the doorway of the store cupboard, Joey opens it first and the small room is flooded with light. And he’s standing right there in the hallway waiting for us. His hands stuffed into the pockets of his suit pants and the fabric of his shirt stretched taut over his huge muscles as he literally vibrates with anger. The three of us step into the hallway, but Dante’s focus is entirely on me. His eyes are blazing with heat and fury and every single cell in my body is trembling with fear.
“Dante, it —” Joey starts, but he cuts her off.
“Go and wait in my study. I’ll deal with you later,” he snaps, never taking his eyes off me. And I can’t look away from him either. I want to avoid the intensity of his glare, but I can’t. So, I stand, blinking and desperately trying not to throw up.
“And this one?” Maximo asks.
“Take her to the guest room. The one in the east wing,” he hisses through clenched teeth, his rage palpable in every single word.
“I’m s-sorry,” I mumble, but he doesn’t acknowledge me.
“Follow me,” Maximo says and begins to walk down the hallway, and I obey him because at least it means I get to escape Dante’s wrath for a while. Maybe he will calm down. Maybe he will understand when I tell him why I tried to get away. Maybe pigs will fly over Chicago tonight.
I followMaximo up the stairs and to the east wing of the house. He leads me to a bedroom which looks much like the others, until I notice it’s not.
“There are bars on the windows,” I say with a frown when I step inside.
“Yeah,” Maximo agrees.
When I scan the room, there’s nothing in here but a bed and a nightstand with a lamp fixed to the wall. It looks like there’s a small ensuite attached, but the room is sparse and nothing like the luxury of the one I was staying in previously.
“But I won’t… There are bars…” I blink at him.
“Yeah,” he says again. “And a lock on the door too.” And with that, he disappears out of said door, and I hear the click as he imprisons me inside.
My heart sinks in my chest and I fight the urge not to cry as I sit on the bed and wait for Dante.
Why did I listen to Joey? Why didn’t I just accept what was before? It was so much better than this. Except that it wasn’t really. I was still a prisoner, just a comfortable one. The reason I need to escape hasn’t changed.
I look at the pale, bare walls and wonder if this was Nicole’s room. Is this where Dante kept his fiancée before he murdered her?
I wonder if he’ll come tonight. If he’ll come at all or just leave me to drive myself into a full-blown panic attack while I wait for whatever punishment he has in store for me.
Lying back against the bed, I place my hands on my stomach and whisper quiet words of assurance to my tiny little ray of hope.
And I wait.
Chapter20
Dante
The door to my study almost comes off its hinges with the force as I burst inside to confront my devious little sister. She sits on the small sofa in the corner, her hands in her lap as she picks at her fingernails. She’s nervous as hell and she should be because I have never been so goddamn pissed at her in my entire life, and she has pulled plenty of shady shit before today.
