Page 77

Ivy

Dante paced backand forth by the bed. He wouldn't speak, he wouldn't even look at me. “Dante, talk to me.” Pleading with him to stop the silent treatment and tell me what the hell he was thinking, I anxiously hung onto the air around me.

What is he thinking?

What's he going to do?

You know what to do, I know you do.

Inside I was willing him to see the answer. In my eyes it was easy, just send me home. I knew the direction I had to go, just close your eyes and I'd be gone. But he wasn't sending the message my way that he saw things like I did.

Snapping his neck up, he kept his face flat and emotionless. Dropping his head back to the floor, he continued walking, burning a path into the wood.

I had no idea what the hell was running through his head. But I had to crack the shell he had climbed into. “Talk to me, say something . . .Anything.”Climbing up onto my knees, I tried to figure out what the hell he was planning.

There was definitely something going on inside that fucking skull of his. His pupils were huge, flicking around the floor. The muscles around his lips kept lifting and tugging in different directions.

He can't give me back. I can't go back.

Plucking at my lip, I kept talking. It was the only thing I could do. It had worked in the beginning, turning split decisions into emotion. He felt for me, I knew he did.

And I felt for him.

This wasn't an easy decision for him to make, I could see that. He was being tossed between the right thing to do and what his father was ordering him to do. I'd like to think I'd make the right choice if I was in his shoes, but I couldn't be sure.

Family was a hard thing to turn your back on. Especially if they were the ones holding the leash and dragging you along.

My father had made a choice, he chose to put me in the hands of a monster. Why?

I might never get that answer. But I wouldn't ever give up on him. I knew deep down he had absolutely no option. His hands were tied somehow, and now Dante was in the same position.

“I can't go back to Remo, I know your father feels he needs to own up to his end, I know that he thinks he owes Remo his life—but not like this.” Scooting closer to the end of the mattress, I rested my hands on my thighs and kept the words flowing. “Don't let him do this, don't let him control you and force you to do something I know you don't want to.”

That caught his attention.

“Don't tell me what I want or don't want to do, Ivy. You have no fucking clue what that man is capable of. He's my father, he's my boss, I have orders.” Scraping his forehead with his palm, Dante stared into my eyes with the same look I saw the first night. “I fucked up, now I have to fix it. I shouldn't have gotten close to you, that was a mistake.”

My heart broke, cracking open and spilling inside my chest. “You don't mean that.” I felt the room start to shrink, my breathing picked up and became loud and heavy. “How can you stand there and say that?”

His tone was stale. “Because it's true.” Stepping in, he started to lift his arm to my face. “Ivy—”

“Don't you dare touch me.” Throwing my arm up, I slapped his hand away. “I can't believe you, you're a fucking coward. You feel the same thing I do, I know you do.” Jerking my legs out from beneath me, I jumped to my feet. “How can you stand here and act like there was nothing between us?”

“It doesn't matter.” Shaking his head, Dante drew thick air into his nose. “None of it matters. It comes down to surviving.”

“Don't you dare try and talk to me about surviving!” Yelling, I stood on my tippie toes and looked as closely into his eyes as I could. “You don't have a fucking clue what it means to actually survive. So you're giving me back, is that it?!”

“What choice do I have, Ivy? I don't want to be the reason you get killed. I understand what my father is feeling now.”

“Fuck your father! Fuck you!”

Grabbing my arms, Dante pressed me into his chest. “Don't you get it, Ivy? My father's the way he is now because he couldn't save my mother. That's why he doesn't want to take a chance with you, that's why he didn't want me to get close to you. He's trying to protect me from what he already knows is inevitable. You're not safe with me, not while I do this work, not while I'm a Pisani. I'm a bad man, Ivy, and with that comes terrible shit. I can't have you on this end, I couldn't handle what would happen to you if my enemies found you.” Wrapping his arms around my back, he whispered. “If I lost you, it'd kill me.”

“No.” Curling my lip up, I spoke through gritted teeth. “This is different. You're about to be the reason I die, you're about to be the reason your father will still owe Remo. Can't you see that? You have the chance to do what your father couldn't, you can save me.”

It didn't matter how much I tried to talk him out of it or how much I wanted him to see my view of this whole thing. Dante couldn't look past what his father had gone through.

He couldn't stand the thought of not being able to save me. I could see the pain in his eyes as his brows dipped in and his chiseled jaw twitched with sadness.