Page 17

Rachel

Dante was absolutely livid with me, that much was obvious. His hand stayed clamped around my mouth, not giving me the opportunity to answer his question – which was a good thing, because what would I have said?

What he said was technically true. I did spread my legs to that little snitch Malfoy, or whatever his name was.

But I didn’t spread my legs in the sense that I wanted to fuck him.

Which is probably what Dante was envisioning.

And I wouldn’t have put it past Malfoy to make me seem worse than I was because his pride was injured.

I wonder if he told Dante about the comments he made towards me?

Probably not.

Should I tell him?

Also, probably not.

“Are you ready?” Dante asked after taking a deep breath.

His voice seemed calmer, but if there was one thing I had learnt, it was the seemingly calm people that were the most dangerous.

Angry people were predictable. They weren’t completely in control, so you knew they were going to lash out verbally or physically.

You had to prepare for either. And if it was the latter, you had to be prepared for all forms of violence, including weapons.

If you were prepared for any and all eventualities, you could protect yourself.

Calm people were in control. Which meant they were not predictable.

Calm people could still feel anger, but they were able to make conscious decisions and not lash out in the heat of the moment.

So a truly angry, calm person had the ability to snap your neck and clean the mess up afterwards.

They weren’t in a frenzy. Every move they made was calculated. Thought through. Planned.

Calmed people scared the fuck out of me.

Not a great thought when your neck was currently being squeezed by an angry, calm giant.

I nodded as much as his hand would allow me to, and he removed his other hand from my mouth and loosened his grip on my throat. Not by much, not enough to let me get away, but enough to allow me to breathe with ease.

He stayed close to me, his eyes locked onto mine. I could feel his warm breath against my skin, fanning my hair away from my face. I could see the tick in his neck as he fought for control, to remain calm whilst I explained myself.

Even in the darkness, he was close enough that I could see his body tensed up, as though he was one wrong word away from exploding.

Which made my mind up for me. I wasn’t about to open my mouth and say everything wrong and end up in an even worse position. I was tired, hungry, sore, and honestly, this could escalate far more than needed if I played the wrong hand.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Don’t play innocent,” Dante sighed. “I’ll be getting answers out of you one way or another. The easiest thing to do would be to lay it all out on the table, and then I can decide how I want to deal with it.”

“Hmm,” I frowned. “I’m confused.”

“What can I possibly have said that’s confused you right now?”

“I’m confused about what needs handling. There was a situation, and I dealt with it. There isn’t any need for you to decide anything. Stay out of it.”

“Excuse me?” He all but spluttered.

“Take your hands off me and I’ll excuse you.”

He laughed slightly – not because he found anything funny; I think he was bewildered more than anything. “You spread your legs for a fucking prospect, straight after hearing you were my old lady, and this has nothing to do with me?”

“Well, first of all, that’s not how it happened, and second of all, yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Tell me how it happened,” he challenged.

“I’ll do no such thing – you’ve got a real issue with ordering people around; did you know that? If I felt like you needed to know, I’d say something. But here we are.”

“I’ve every right to order around those that belong to me.”

“When you find someone that belongs to you, knock yourself out.”

“You belong to me. You’re—”

“An old lady. I heard it the first million times. Get a new phrase, for fuck's sake.”

“Rachel…” He paused a moment. “You’re beginning to annoy me.”

“Malfoy annoyed me. Be grateful you’ve got the use of your hands to do something about it.”

“Who the fuck is Malfoy?” He blinked at me, his anger disappearing more and more by the second, and sheer bewilderment taking its place.

“Him – Dinner boy. He wasn’t polite enough to bother with necessities such as names, so I came up with my own.”

He let go of my throat completely then and rubbed his hands over his eyes. He stayed close to me, placing his hands on the wall behind me, trapping me between him.

“Let’s start again,” he said pleasantly.

“Great. I love fresh starts. Big believer in those! If you could drop me off where you found me, that would be great.”

“I meant tonight.”

“Yeah, well, I meant the entire day.”

“Rachel… No. for the last time, you’re staying here,” he sighed.

“Shame.”

“So?”

“So?”

“Fuck me, you’re annoying.” He pushed off the wall and walked away from me, pacing the carpet up and down.

“Maybe you should do your research on people before you go kidnapping them. Could have saved yourself the headache.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that already today.”

“Maybe you should listen to advice, then.”

“Maybe you could just do as you’re asked and tell me what happened.”

“Maybe I could remind you of the fact that it was you who sent that idiot up here. Once again, had you done your research, you wouldn’t have exposed me to a sex pest.” He glared at me, and I shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“What do you mean, ‘sex pest?’ Did he touch you?” He demanded, coming towards me again, and grabbing hold of me.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I hissed, taking him off guard by shoving him backwards and moving out of his reach. “No, he did not. But you are. Constantly. You’re a fucking brute. Can you have one conversation without leaving a bruise on me? Have I actually done anything to warrant this?”

“Well… you did stab me.”

“ After you manhandled me repeatedly. After you kidnapped me. After you tried to scare the ever-loving shit out of me – unsuccessfully, might I add. Other than that, I happen to think I’ve been a model citizen.

” He opened his mouth, but I was quick to say what was on my mind.

“Have I kicked off in any way? Have I shouted, screamed, demanded any sort of explanation? Or did I get on your bike willingly? Did I enter your home uncoerced? Did I follow you up here, silent as a mouse? I’ve done everything asked of me, and all I got in return was your shit attitude, the scornful stares of the dickheads you call your friends, and exposed to whatever the fuck Malfoy was.

So excuse me if I don’t really feel like talking, when not talking has already got me tied up and starved.

My mother always told me my smart mouth would be the death of me.

Believe it or not, I’m playing it safe!” There was a painful silence after I finished my rant, both of us glaring at each other.

I got an immense sense of satisfaction when he was the first one to turn away.

“Why didn’t you?” He finally asked.

“Why didn’t I do what?”

“Why didn’t you fight back more?”

“What would it have achieved? You wouldn’t have let me go, and it would have just made things worse for me.

I’m already covered in bruises, and that’s from me being smart.

I don’t want to think about what I’d look like right now had I said no.

I might look simple, but I can assure you, I’m far from fucking stupid.

I played it the way I thought best. But I can promise you, I’m over that.

Lay your hands on me again, and you’ll live to regret it. ”

“Are you threatening me?” He asked incredulously.

“Promising,” I corrected.

“You’re like five feet tall. What damage could you possibly do?” He laughed.

“You think violence is the only way I can punish you? Oh Dante, you’re a big man, but you clearly don’t have the brains to match.

There’s so much I can do; you don’t have a fucking clue.

” It was my turn to laugh as I stepped closer to him this time.

“What was it you called me? Submissive… Sweet? You keep thinking that.” I got up on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear, feeling his breathing speed up as my chest pressed against his.

“You won’t even see it coming. I’ll destroy this place from the inside out, and you won't realise until it’s too late.

Emotion owns you, and it’ll be your downfall.

Look how angry you were at the thought of me spreading my legs for Malfoy.

How will you feel when I invite your brother into my bed?

How will you react when you realise loyalty will always lose to sex?

How many of your club members do you think I can fuck before—”

He grabbed my hips, pulling me even closer to him. “Think very carefully before drawing this battle line with me.”

“You drew the battle line. I’m rising to the challenge.

Do your worst, Dante, and I’ll do mine. I might come out with a few cuts and bruises, but you’ll come out of this with no friends, no family, no club, nothing.

I had a home; the Gellers were my new family.

You took all of that. I’ll do the same to you, and I’ll do it all with a smile on my face, and there’s fuck all you can do to stop me. ”

“You sure about that?”

I brought my lips close to his, so that every word I spoke caused them to rub against his.

“You already tried. You had me tied to a chair, and I still could have had your friend eating my pussy without giving you a second thought. And that was without me even trying. What do you think I could achieve if I gave it some effort?”