Dante gripped Antonio’s arms and jerked free, shoving his brother backward. “And I told you I’m not sitting around waiting for the fucking grass to grow.”
Antonio’s eyes were big, black globes of anger. “And now you went and started a goddamn war. Over what?” Antonio pointed toward me. “A woman who left you in the first place? Wake the fuck up, Dante.”
“Fuck you!” Dante stormed toward his brother just as the guy who Dante fist-planted at the club came running out, jumping in between them. He had a huge shiner on his left eye, but that didn’t stop him from blocking Dante and shoving Antonio back.
“Seriously. How many times am I going to have to stop you two from killing each other? This is getting very tiring very fucking quickly.”
Lucio leaned in closer. “That’s Lorik, the brother-in-law-to-be.”
I shot him a questioning glare. “Are you just going to stand here and watch them kill each other?”
“Yup.” Lucio seemed amused by it all.
I huffed and stomped around the car toward the three men about to start Armageddon. “Stop. Just stop.”
Dante held out his hand. “Stay out of this, Layla.”
For a second, annoyance clouded my judgment and I stepped right in front of him, risking getting mauled by two very angry and aggressive Italian men. But at that moment I didn’t give a fuck, which was why I forced Lorik and Antonio to step back while I met Dante’s glare of death.
“Don’t you dare act like I have no say in any of this. You don’t fucking own me, Dante. I told you to leave me, to not bring me here. But you did it anyway. All of you,” I glanced at Lorik and Antonio, “have no clue what the hell is at stake. Yet here you are acting like goddamn savages over something you know nothing about.” I turned back to Dante. “Just let me leave. Let me go back, and you don’t have to worry about me anymore. You and your brother definitely don’t have to kill each other over me.”
Dante moved, coming within a few inches of me. The way he pinned his stare on mine, his body casting a shadow over me, made me suck in a breath.
“Apparently, I haven’t made myself clear. So I’ll say it again,” he glanced over my shoulder, “so everyone can hear. There is no way in hell I’m letting you go back to him. I don’t care who threatens to kick my ass, or who tries to turn my balls inside out.” Lorik snorted behind me. “But there is no way—no way—I’m sending you back.”
My chest started to ache when I saw the determination in his dark eyes. A part of me loved how much he still cared for me, how his need to protect me was so unwavering. But another part—the biggest part—was scared, afraid of what the consequences might be. The consequences of him still loving me.
He grabbed my elbow. “I think it’s time for us to talk.”
He started dragging me up the stairs and into the house. No one tried to stop him. Not even Antonio. Everyone scrambled around to get out of his way while he continued to pull me with him.
We entered the house, and I knew by the direction he was taking me that we were on our way to his room. My heart hammered against my ribs. I didn’t want to be alone with him. I didn’t know if I would be strong enough to resist him, to resist what I felt for him.
For the first time since all of this started, I tried to concentrate on the craving inside my veins rather than the way Dante’s presence made my body hum with equal parts fear and desire. I would rather let the demons take over than succumb to Dante Valenti. The risk was too high.
As we stopped in front of his bedroom door, he pinned me against the wall, his big frame caging me in. His intense gaze swept over my face, and I felt my desire for him climb. With each passing second, each breath, it climbed higher and higher, threatening to unravel me.
“Dante, you don’t know—
“You said that already. That I don’t know what’s going on.” He reached out with one arm, and I heard the latch of the door and the creak as it opened. “But you’re going to tell me everything,” he leaned down, his lips a few breaths away from mine, “and I mean everything. Right. Now.”
Chapter 12
Dante
I saw the secrets in her eyes. I saw the uncertainty, the fear. And even though I had every right to be angry as fuck about her breaking my heart without so much as a goddamn explanation, all I wanted to do was help her. There was this deep-rooted need that stemmed from the farthest parts of my soul to do everything I could to keep her safe. To protect her. But she needed to let me in, to open up and trust me. If she would just fucking talk, tell me what the hell was going on, I would have a better clue about what needed to be done. She needed to realize that right now I didn’t give a flying fuck about the past. All I wanted to do was sort out this entire mess, to make sure she was safe and as far away from that motherfucker Matteo as possible. We could deal with the past and all the unanswered questions once this was cleared up.
I stepped back but blocked her way, forcing her to walk into my bedroom. Her resistance, her fight to remain strong, was clear in the way she scowled at me while slowly walking through the door.
I noticed her tense the second she heard the door close behind us. She was nervous. I just didn’t know if it was because of the conversation we were about to have, or because we were alone. Look what happened the last time we were alone in the goddamn bathroom of Vertigo. I almost fucked her out of the little red dress she wore, right there against the wall. Just thinking about it made my cock twitch.
I took a deep breath. “I suggest you start at the beginning.”
She let out a fake laugh as she turned to face me. “The beginning? Seriously, Dante? Can’t you see it doesn’t matter where this started? It only matters where it’s going to end, and me being here is ensuring that it all ends the way he wants it to.”
“And how is that?”
She bit her bottom lip as if she was trying to keep the words from slipping out.