I chuckle and stand on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Everything that just happened in the truck is forgotten now.
“Thanks for bringing me home.”
He smiles in that boyish way that I love so much. “Of course. I’ll walk you to the door.”
Dante intertwines his fingers with mine as we walk up the driveway. My heart starts to race the closer we get to the front door. He must be able to sense my unease because he squeezes my hand as we ascend the porch steps.
“You know you can call me if you need me, right?” His voice is soft, but I can still catch that sharp undertone beneath his cool exterior.
I smile weakly and nod. “Yeah. Thanks again.”
Reluctantly, I let go of his hand to unlock the door, but Evan beats me to it. His sharp blue eyes are fierce as they land on Dante.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snaps.
Dante opens up his mouth to speak, but I can tell by the look on his face that what he has to say isn’t going to be pleasant, so I cut him off.
“This is Dante,” I say quickly. “He’s Leo’s father.”
“The dead kid?” he asks in a cold tone.
“Evan!” I scold, in complete disbelief that he would say something so blunt and heartless.
I can practically feel the anger rippling off Dante, so I place a hand on his arm. When he takes a step toward Evan, my throat drops into my stomach.
Fuck. Dante’s going to kill my boyfriend.
At six-two, Dante greatly towers over Evan’s five-eight frame. He’s got such a smart mouth that’s constantly getting him into trouble because he uses it to compensate for his… shortcomings. He’s always been incredibly insecure, and I think that’s why he’s so angry all the time even though I’ve never made him feel bad about it.
“Let me make one thing clear to you, you ugly motherfucker,” Dante says darkly. My blood goes cold at the stillness of his tone. “Say some shit like that about my son again and I’ll cut out your fucking tongue.”
The look on Evan’s face is priceless, and despite the seriousness of the situation, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Dante turns to me and says, “I’ll see you later,” before leaning down to kiss my cheek. He gently hands me my load of stuff and sets my backpack next to the door. As he’s walking away, I take a deep breath and turn back to Evan, who’s pale, pasty face is beet red.
“Evan,” I start, but he cuts me off.
“Get inside, Essence.”
CHAPTER 9
DANTE
I screwed up,and now Essence is going to have to pay for it.
I should have just dropped her off and left, or maybe I shouldn’t have even offered to pick her up at all. The man in the mask did say he would see her today, after all. I should have kept my word on that.
Fuck, I just wanted to see her, to be near her and touch her. She undoes me and she doesn’t even realize it.
Pulling out my phone, I bring up the camera app and click on the living room feed. My nostrils flare at the sight of Evan with his hand gripping my flower’s hair and shoving her against the wall.
“You fucking whore,” he snarls, getting in her face. Her soft whimpers make me want to jump out of my truck, kick that front door down, and make good on my promise to cut out Evan’s tongue, but I stay where I am.
“He’s just a friend, Evan,” she pleads. “I swear!”
He pulls her away from the wall only to slam her into it again. Lunchbox’s whines fill the room as he claws at the confines of his cage.
“You’re a liar!” he yells.
