Page 46

“He's hurt you, I know he's hurt you. I won't have it, Ivy, I won't let him hurt you anymore.”

Scanning his face, my lids slit tight. “Why do you care?”

Biting his lip, he shifted his gaze to the ceiling. “Are you okay with what he did to you? Do you want him to keep treating you like a piece of property?”

“No, it's disgusting and degrading, but—”

Cutting me off, Dante pressed his finger against my lips. “That's why, right there.” Slipping his finger over the soft skin, he let his hand fall back down to my waist. “Because you don't deserve that.”

Was he trying to somehow right the wrongs from his past?

Dante was a self-proclaimed bad boy, he'd done things—horrible things.

I couldn't shake the idea that this was his way to clear his heavy heart and make him feel like he was walking in lighter shoes.

Was this his confessional?

Was I the one who would help him to gain a clean slate to keep going on?

That's not what I wanted if it was. I wanted him to do this for the right reasons—because my life was wrong, because Remo was wrong, because I deserved something better.

“But it's not up to you, it's your father's decision, right?”

“I'll figure out what to do, Ivy, I can't let him get away with this. I can't put you back in his hands.”

“Dante, neither of us have a choice in this. You have your orders from your father, I have an obligation to fill. I've come to terms with who am I now, I'm not Ivy . . . I'm no one.”

His strong arms held me tighter, pulling me in hard. “He can't have you.”

“It doesn't matter, he won't get what he wanted . . .” Glancing down, I flicked my eyes back to his. “Not now anyway.”

“So I was really your first? That's the honest truth, no bullshit?” Narrowing his eyes, Dante's stare burned into my heart. I could feel the way he was looking at me, and it was warm and exciting.

Butterflies began to spin around my stomach, my sex melting and growing wet to the intensity of his deep brown eyes. And at the same time, I felt embarrassed.

I had given myself to this man. To the man who stole me, to the man who was holding me hostage. And in the same thought, there was no place I'd rather be.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I must be fucked up in the head. I had to be.

None of this shit was normal, none of it was acceptable. But I was drawn to Dante's commanding presence and ability to make me feel that rush only true emotions can cause.

“That's the truth. That's what Remo paid for and you took it.” Stroking his chin, I ran my hand up his cheek and into his hair. “I never wanted that man, but like you, I never had a choice.”

Dragging his thumb over my bottom lip, his other hand curled into the small of my back. We were pressed so tightly together that I could feel his heart beating against my chest. Thump after thump ricocheted between us, his face frozen on mine.

“We're not living the same life, Ivy. What I do is completely different from what you're supposed to do. I do this for my family, for my life. Your arm is being twisted by an evil bastard who thinks he can just go out and buy perfection.”

I didn't have any words for him. His voice was sincere and full of truth.

“You're so beautiful, Ivy, you don't deserve what he's done to you, and the position he put you in.” Cupping my cheek, his face softened. “I wish things could be different.”

Dante looked genuinely saddened by what was going on. He didn't want this anymore than I did.

But choices had been stripped from us both.

He had an obligation to his family, to his father. I was contracted to be with Remo, and if I ran away from him or didn't give him what he had paid for . . .