I sighed, knowing he’d do whatever he wanted even if I told him not to. Especially if I told him not to get involved. “Fine. You want to help? Keep doing what you’re doing. Listen and keep your mouth shut. What we lack right now is information. That’s what we need.”
Killian nodded. “Then that’s what I’ll get.” He looked so earnest, so young again. I could almost picture the kid he used to be.
Pulling him into a hug, I tried not to imagine his lifeless body on the street. Like mother’s. “Just stay safe,” I told him.
Killian tensed, unused to this familiarity between us. “You too,” he said finally. “Stay safe. And keep Sienna alive.”
Pulling away, I left him at the top of the stairs, his words running through my mind. I hadn’t replied, not knowing if I’d be able to keep those promises.
TWENTY-THREE
SIENNA
Ican tell his mind is distracted. When he came home, he grabbed a beer from the fridge, taking a seat on the sofa. I watched him from the bedroom door, and he didn’t even seem to notice. Ghosts haunted him. His thoughts plagued him. It was a look my father often got in the beginning. I still remembered, even when I’d been so young.
I stepped out of the bedroom, tentatively making my way over to Dante. He didn’t even glance up. Taking the bottle from his hand, I placed it on the coffee table. Swinging one leg over his lap, my arms wrapped around his neck. Still, he didn’t look at me.
“Dante.” I tipped his chin up, forcing him to see me. He resisted, at first, his eyes skimming past me and over my shoulder. “Dante.”
His eyes flicked to mine reluctantly. “I’m just tired.”
“Bullshit,” I told him. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Not now, Sienna.”
I jerked his chin back to me. “Tell me.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “You really want to know?” His hands grip my chin, keeping me there. “Everything. It’s fucking everything. My father still wants me to take over from you. But now that the Snake has become more powerful, he’s finally helping. Not you—me. My mother’s dead. Gone. And I have a wife who only cares for me when she feels like it. When it's convenient for her to care.” He nearly spat the last words, making me flinch back. But his fingers still gripped my chin. Hard.
“Dante.” There’s a warning in my voice. I could see a dangerous gleam in his eye that I didn’t much care for. Right now, he was tumultuous, as if one word could make him fall back into the monster from before.
“Don’t ‘Dante’ me,” he growled, leaning forward. His free hand caught my lower back, pinning me to his chest. “You wanted to know, Sienna. Well, now you know. Does this make you feel better?”
He was starting to scare me. “Let me go.”
His lips tugged into a sly grin. “But you like this, remember? You like being held down. Overpowered. Or have you forgotten just how you like it since I’ve been gone?”
“Asshole.”
“Husband,” he corrected before kissing me. There’s nothing gentle about his touch, nothing that reminded me of the old Dante. This was the monster resurfacing. I could only imagine what his father must have said to him that would make him relapse.
He kissed me hard, his tongue swiping across my lower lip until I was forced to let him in. His fingers dug into my back, pushing me against him until my breasts hurt. But I could also feel the heat flaring low in my stomach, the need tingling down my spine. I hadn’t been fucked since he left. Hadn’t been touched in all that time. And I couldn’t deny I wanted him.
Dante pulled away abruptly. “Beg for it, Sienna.” There was a look in his eyes now, one that promised pain. Release. Freedom. “Fucking beg me for it if it’s what you really want.”
“Dante…”
“No.” His snarl ripped through me. “No more excuses. You tell me you fucking want me, or I’ll walk out that door right now.”
“I want you.”
The words were no sooner out of my mouth when his were crushing mine once more. He kissed me hungrily, like a starved man who had gone too long without food or water. He kissed me as if this were nothing but a one-night fuck, something to get out of his system. Still, his kisses sent shocks through my brain, chasing away every bad thought, every reluctant word on the tip of my tongue. I could feel how much he needed this right now.
“Get up.”
I blinked at the commanding tone in his voice. “What?”
“Get up.”