I pull the sheet around myself and move away from the bed.
My hands are shaking with anger and disappointment. "This is exactly what I'm afraid of. This is why I don't know if I can stay."
"Because I protected you?"
"Because you couldn’t even tell me that there was a risk."
"You'd just have gotten pissed," he booms, and I shrink back, suddenly fearful of him.
I've never been afraid of him, but the anger in his eyes makes me feel two inches tall.
"Then what are we doing here? What's the point of any of this if you're always going to be that person?"
He stands and walks toward me. "I'm trying, Angelica."
"I need honesty," I say in a shaky voice.
"I am being honest. I told you what happened."
"After I found evidence on your body. If I hadn't noticed the scab, you never would've told me."
He runs a hand through his hair in frustration.
"What do you want from me, Angelica? You want me to tell you every time I take a shit?"
He's too angry and I'm in such shock that I can't speak.
I flounder for words but before I can respond, there's a knock on the door.
Dante walks over and opens it a crack.
I can see Rico standing in the hallway and though they're talking in whispers, I know what he's going to do before he even turns toward me.
"I'll be down in five minutes," Dante says.
He closes the door and turns back to me. "I have to go."
"Of course you do." I'm so fucking over this. I can't do it.
I can't be with a man who runs out in the middle of the night chasing demons when his family is here in his fucking bed crying.
He starts pulling on clothes while I watch him and feel the distance growing between us again.
The warmth from earlier is gone.
The intimacy has been replaced by the cold reality of who he is and what he does.
I wrap the sheet tighter around myself and walk toward the door and open it. "Don't expect me to be in your bed when you get back. That privilege is reserved for men who are honest. And I'm not sure you know what that means."
I walk out of his room down the hall toward where Sofia sleeps, and as I do, tears creep up in my eyes.
I'm a fool for ever thinking Dante could realistically change.
This is his life.
I can't be angry with him for any of this.
He has every right to be himself and make choices that are best for him.
