“I was just thinking about… things…” I trail off, looking away from his intense gaze and absentmindedly fiddling with a loose string on my sweater.
Dante doesn’t say anything, and I guarantee he knows where my mind has gone. He just wants me to say it out loud.
“What?” I ask, feigning innocence.
The corner of his mouth tilts up in amusement. “I can see the thoughts running around in that beautiful head of yours,” he says quietly. Gently.
That’s the thing, he’s such a big man, and he can be fucking scary, but he’s so heartbreakingly gentle with me.
I sigh. “It just hit me that—” I look around the mostly empty restaurant and lean in closer so no one else can hear us. “—youkilledsomeone for me.”
He waits for me to say something else, and when I don’t, he nods and says, “Yes.”
I blink, too stunned to speak for a moment. “Yes? That’s all you have to say?”
He shrugs. Lunchbox starts whining and climbing up on Dante’s leg, so he picks him up and cradles the pup to his chest. It’s never occurred to me before how tiny Lunchbox looks in Dante’s arms.
As if he couldn’t be any more attractive…
“What else do you want me to say, Essence? That asshole attacked you. He could havekilledyou—do you understand that?” he asks emphatically.
I swallow. “I get it, but there were other ways to get me out. You didn’t have to go that route.”
Dante stiffens, and his eyes darken with anger.
Fuck, now I'm making him mad.
“What other way could you and I have utilized to get you away from him? Hmm?” he asks through clenched teeth, but he doesn’t wait for me to respond. “How many times did you say you were going to leave on your own and never did?”
“Don’t you dare use that against me, Dante,” I hiss between my teeth as one of the owners of the restaurant brings us our food.
Lunchbox jumps out of Dante’s arms excitedly when he sees his little plate of pancakes and ham. The owner asks, “May I?” and gestures to him. I smile and nod, and she pets his soft fur as he starts licking the dollop of whipped cream on top.
“Thank you,” Dante tells her as she walks away.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she says.
When she’s out of earshot, I slide a plate of chocolate chip pancakes towards me and cut into it. I don’t say anything else, too mad to even acknowledge Dante right now.
But he’s not going to let this go, because he is who he is, and I just have to accept it.
“Don’t ignore me, flower,” he says through clenched teeth.
For some reason, his anger isreallyturning me on. My toes curl inside my shoes, and I try to ignore the warmth spreading through my lower body.
Instead of answering him, I take a bite of the pancakes. They’re delicious, thankfully, because now I actually have a reason to ignore him. I could get lost in these fluffy discs of bread.
“Essence.”
He’s going to make me pay for ignoring him—I just know it.
The other dishes clatter loudly as Dante roughly shoves them all to the side. The owner glances over to where we’re sitting from behind the counter with a look of concern. I give her a small smile to let her know everything is fine and glare at Dante.
“What the hell is your problem?” I snap.
“You,” he snaps.
I flinch like he’s just slapped me, the harshness of his tone ringing in my ears.
