AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just a silly word in Turkish, never mind that.” She bites her lip, turning my thoughts to her mouth again.
“Why were you on the floor?”
Her eyes flutter closed as a deep sigh escapes her. Her hesitance infuriates me, and in one swoop I push away her arm, losing her soft touch in an instant. Good. The further away she is from me, the better. Clearly, I feel this sick protectiveness over her. I saved her once, so now it’s on me to keep her alive.
“Why?” I growl.
“I was sleeping,” she finally replies, rolling her eyes.
“Alessa,” I growl, barely stopping myself from taking her over the knee and spanking her ass raw for that display of insolence.
She moves back, putting a small distance between us, her instincts warning her from the predator inside me. Clever girl. Although those few measly inches will not save her if she keeps acting like a brat. “I—” She wraps the jacket she has on tight around her body as if it’s somehow going to protect her. A jacket I left covering her small fragile body the night I saved her life.
“Spit it out.” My heart speeds up in my chest, the images that haunted my subconscious from the moment I found her bound in the antique wardrobe punching me in the gut.
“I had nowhere else to go,” she finally blurts out.
The anger I felt focuses on a new target as the urge to storm to the main floor in search of Mel and find out why the fuck she’d kick Alessa out for the night, after they both insisted they wanted to live together, takes over. I don’t realise my whole body is shaking with indignation until a small, warm hand wraps around my forearm. Maybe that’s why, for the first time in my life, I don’t let anger guide my actions.
And instead of basking in the feeling of cool control brought on by the calm in the centre of the rage that consumes me, I let Alessa’s touch pacify me. I let her green eyes stare into my soul and read me like an open book. I let go of everything. For a few short seconds, none of my problems exist. I’m just an average man. No one relies on me. My life’s path hasn’t been written since the day I was born. And my family and friends are not in danger.
For a few short seconds, as I drown in the depths ofemerald eyes, I can breathe again. Until Alessa opens her mouth and cracks the ice in my chest with one word.
“Someone broke into our apartment. This was the only place I could think of that felt safe.”
Safe.
19
ALESSA
The front door quietly shuts behind us as we make our way through the house, stopping only when we get to the kitchen. I go to sit on the same bar stool I sat on the first time I was here as Dante walks behind the kitchen island and flicks the coffee machine on, the whirring sound permeating the silence between us.
It’s funny, actually. Both times I’ve been to Dante’s house, it was because someone tried to kill me. I’m assuming whoever was up in Mel’s apartment didn’t want to just pop in for a cup of tea. I don’t know if it’s me or this town, but clearly, Dante was right—it seems I’m not welcome in Blackwood. I can’t shake off the feeling it would have been better if I left when he first told me to. I’m not one to easily admit I’m wrong, but two attempts on a girl’s life will change her outlook onthatfairly quickly. It’s hard enough being the new girl in town without someone chasing you once a week, making everything seem hostile.
The thing is, I didn’t lie to Dante when I said the casino was the only place I could think of that felt safe. I just omitted therealreason behind it. Maybe it’s because I’m not quite ready to admititto myself. My boss, after all, is one ofthe scariest men I’ve ever met. He clearly has anger issues and from the moment he laid eyes on me, he wanted me gone, making sure I knew how he felt about the matter. And yet… The only time I feel like I can breathe without looking over my shoulder is when he’s around.
He still terrifies me at times, but there’s also this underlying thrill and, most of all, the certainty that nothing can hurt me when he’s around. I don’t understand how one man can bring out two such opposing emotions in me, but despite the fact I’ve known Dante for less than a month, he feels… Oddly familiar.
I groan, my forehead hitting the cool counter. Why does it always have to be me? Why, for once, can’t I be the person who has a normal life, a normal job, normal friends? I’m exhausted. I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t running. The last time I didn’t have to lie, steal, cheat, gamble. All that, just to get by. One day to the next. One foot after another. At what point does it stop? At what point do I get to just sit down and relax?
I thought Blackwood was the answer, but clearly, this small town is not quaint and welcoming. Maybe I should forget about finding my answers and come to terms with the fact I’ll never know where I came from, or who my parents are. The thought shouldn’t hurt. I’ve lived without the knowledge all my life. And really, there’s nothing wrong with the status quo. In fact, am I really prepared to gamble my life away just to get some answers?
The dampness on my cheeks and the tightness in my chest says it all as a coffee mug scrapes across the island toward me.
“Thanks,” I mutter, lifting my head and feigning a smile. But I’m not fooling anyone. Not myself and definitely not Dante.
“Alessa.” His molten eyes bore into me as I try to pretendI’m absolutely fine, and the events of the past twelve hours have not impacted me at all. I pretend I haven’t just basically given up.
I take the coffee in both my hands, then slide off the chair, turning around until my back is to him. I want to leave, go somewhere where he can’t see the anguish in my eyes. Where he won’t be able to read me like a book. But my knees are weak and my body feels so heavy, too heavy to move. So, instead, I lean my back against the counter and hang my head, trying to steady my shaky breaths.
I’m usually stronger than this—the girl with a tough skin many have tried to break. The one that can take anything life throws at her and gives back twice as hard. But as the sound of footsteps approaching breaks the silence, for the first time in my life, I feel weak.
Everything from the past few weeks, everything I had to face before I arrived in Blackwood is suddenly weighing me down, threatening to pull me into the uncharted depths of emotions I’ve always been able to avoid before.
“I’m not giving up.” My voice shakes as I try to convince myself I’m stronger than the overwhelming feeling of failure.
The smell of Dante’s cologne hits me before I see the tips of his shoes in front of mine. He takes the cup away from me and puts it down somewhere behind me. I still can’t lift my gaze to meet his, even when he gets closer and places his hands on the counter, caging me in between his arms.
