He ripped the door open and poked his head out, looking both ways before slamming the door closed again.
“Dante, talk to me,” I urged.
He flipped the lock before spinning around to face me. “She’s here, and I don’t want you in the crossfire.”
My entire body vibrated with fear. “But—I didn’t see anyone?”
He gripped my upper arms. “I want you to stay here until I come back for you. All right? Can you do that for me?”
I shook my head. “No, I came here to help you. What can I do? How can I help you g—”
He clapped his hand over my mouth. “You can help by staying here until I come back for you, understand?”
I nodded quickly as my fear consumed me. I wanted to help. I wanted to do whatever it took to piece my life back together. Maybe my sister wasn’t the terrible person they thought she was. Maybe she had just gotten caught up in something way over her head. It happened, you know. Like the predicament I had found myself in only days ago.
There were so many questions that I wanted to ask Dante, but he answered them before I could spit them out.
“No, Brielle,” he said as he pulled his hand away from my mouth, “no one will get to you. No one. You hear me?”
I swallowed hard. “But what if—”
“No one,” he growled.
My eyes watered over. My lower lip quivered as the reality of the situation dawned upon me. She was there. My twin sister was there, and she had seen us.
Wait, had she seen us?
“Dante, I’m scared,” I whispered.
He wiped my tears away with his knuckles. “Which is why you need to stay here. Lock the door behind me and don’t you dare let anyone in.”
I grabbed his wrist just as he pulled away from me. “Wait.”
“The longer we wait, the more we risk—”
“Just… Can you give me a second?”
I looked up into his face and committed every single part of it to memory. The little scar he had that cut right through his left eyebrow. The slight crookedness of his nose that reminded me of all those Rocky Balboa movies my mother always watched during her Sunday rerun marathons. I reached up and cupped his cheek, relishing the way the heat of his skin penetrated all the way down my arm.
“Come back to me, okay?” I asked softly.
I expected an answer. Or possibly a sarcastic, “I can’t promise shit” kind of thing. But instead, I got something so much more… delectable.
“We can seal that with a kiss if you’d like,” he whispered as his lips hovered over mine.
“That’s a pretty strong promise. Sure you can ante up to it?”
He cupped my cheeks and pinned me to the bathroom wall. “You have no idea what I can ante up to, gorgeous.”
“Then, why don’t you stop being all talk and actually do something about it?”
Something flashed behind his eyes. Something dark. Something carnal. Something… devious. His eyes danced along my body, as if to clock every single movement that I made. I stood tall, though. I straightened my back and let his brain put together whatever inferences and connections it would. Because I knew he was searching.
He was looking for any sign not to proceed.
“Any luck?” I asked.
His growl answered me just fine, but it was the way he crashed our lips together that tossed all deals out the window. The second our tongues connected in a sensuous tango that stole my breath away, I locked my arms around his neck. His dexterous hands and long, strong fingers roamed my body, cupping my tits and sliding down my bare leg as the slit of my dress gave way. His heat made me quiver. My pussy jumped as I ran my fingers through his soft, unhindered locks. I gripped his tuxedo jacket and pulled him closer, feeling his girth pressed against my clothed warmth.
