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“Get out, now!” My voice is a screech and I want to hang my head in my hands, but I won’t let him see me like that. I won’t let him see the conflict he elicits inside of me. He gets up and walks to me, fingering a strand of my hair, the curl falling out of the style that Ricky had it in.
“But we were having such a great time.” He smirks at me and I smack his hand away from me, ignoring the way he narrows his eyes.
“You can act like a spoiled girl all you want, Esmeralda, but hear this. You are mine whether you like it or not and I will take care of you the way that I see fit.”
I’m yanking on my yoga pants and shirt now as he speaks, my frustration growing with every word that leaves his mouth.
“That means if I want a guard to follow you so that your father can’t touch you, I will. That means if I want to tell you to stay put until it’s safe to go out, you’ll listen.”
He approaches me, his hand tipping my chin up. His finger traces my bottom lip and I resist the urge to lick it. He makes me feel so many conflicting emotions in the span of a second.
“That means if I want to fuck you, I will. Because you are mine, Esmeralda. Whether you like it or not.”
He lets go of my chin and I stomp away from him and into the living room, wheeling around to snap back at him as he follows me. My words are lodged in my throat when I hear a key turning the lock of the front door.
Shit, it’s Ricky, What the fuck am I gonna tell him?
I rush to the front door and undo the deadbolt before he’s unlocked it fully. He steps in a second later, shock crossing his features as he takes in me and Dante. His eyes linger on Dante’s form, both questioning and admiring.
“He was just-”
“Leaving,” Dante finishes for me, walking towards the door and speaking to Ricky directly.
“And you are?” Ricky questions him, a tinge of flirtiness in his voice. It makes me a little jealous, which then makes me angry. He’s my best friend and the man that he’s ogling is the devil himself. I should have no reason to be jealous.
“The owner of the club you went to. I found her stumbling out of it at a time and place where no man can be trusted. So I gave her a ride home. Make sure she gets some rest.”
He doesn’t even acknowledge my presence anymore as he says goodbye to my friend and not me. I want to hit him all over again. Dante leaves without another word and Ricky closes the door behind him, turning to me with both eyebrows raised. I give him a look that saysdon’t askand walk back towards my room. Clearly, there was no shower in store for me tonight.
“Fine, but just know that if it doesn’t work out, I’ll definitely take him,” Ricky calls after me, and I flip him off before shutting my bedroom door, hating the smile that’s now covering my face.
I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling, trying to make even the slightest bit of sense of my life now. I feel something buzzing under my pillow and I dig to see what it is.
It’s the burner phone Dante gave me, and it’s lit up with a text from him.
Stay inside for the rest of the night.
I want to type a snide text to him in response, but I don’t. Instead, I lay my head down on my pillow and close my eyes in hopes that I’ll fall asleep, finally doing what he asks.
18
Esmeralda
I awaketo the smell of bacon and smile.
Somehow Ricky is up earlier than I am to make breakfast even though he stayed up much later than me last night. I heard him shuffling around in the living room close to four in the morning. He must have not slept at all, actually. I checked my phone and saw that it was just around ten in the morning.
I didn't get the full ten hours I was hoping for, but it's been the most I've slept in the last week and a half, so I'll take it. I don't bother looking at the burner phone. I don't have it in me to deal with anything Dante-related this morning. I stretch my sore arms and legs like a cat and wince, no part of my body felt relaxed after a night of sleep.
I groan and make my way out of bed, checking my reflection in the mirror. My hair was such a knotted mess that it looked like I was electrocuted in my sleep. I didn't bother washing my face last night, so my makeup was smudged around my eyes. I looked like a character out of a horror film, but I didn't have the energy to shower at this point in time. The bacon from the kitchen smelled more important. I tied my hair back in a messy bun and wiped at my eyes before walking away.
I opened up my bedroom door and walked to the living room, holding back my gasp as Dante rounded the corner instead of Ricky, cup of coffee in hand.
"Jesus!" I shrieked. Dante held a finger up to his lips then pointed in the direction of Ricky's room, letting me know that he was still sleeping. He turned back around towards the kitchen and I followed him, watching him as he set the coffee cup down on the counter next to creamer and sugar. His back was turned to me as he continued to fry bacon and crack eggs into a skillet.
"How did you get into my apartment? Did Ricky let you in?" He doesn't look in my direction when I speak or even when he responds. He just continues to cook breakfast in my kitchen like it's some usual occurrence.
"Good morning to you too, sleeping beauty. I was going to ask if you wanted cream or sugar in your coffee." He slaps a kitchen towel over his shoulder as he transfers bacon from the pan onto a clean plate, spooning scrambled eggs into it directly after. My mouth waters and my stomach grumbles, and he smiles at the sight and sound. It makes me want to smile back, but I resist.
