Chapter 119
Dante’s POV
I’ve been seated at my desk trying to work for hours but nothing seems to be working.
I’ve just been staring, at the wall, at nothing. My mind was a white, empty noise. If I let myself think I would break.
So I didn’t think.
I just sat.
The door to my office flew open crashing against the wall.
I looked up, my eyes meeting Marcus’s. He stood his eyes in irritation and disasapointment
He just walked right up to my desk and slammed both hands down on it.
“How dare you,” he growled. His voice was low and shaking. “How dare you do that to her p>
I knew who he meant.
Ariana.
My heart, which felt like a cold stone in my chest, gave a painful throb, but I shoved the feeling down.
I leaned back in my chair trying not to make a blank face”I don’t know what you’re talking about Marcus and this is not a good time p>
“Don’t you lie to me!” he shouted. “Don’t you sit there and act cool with me! I saw her, i just spent the whole night with her and she is wrecked! broken into a million pieces p>
A vision of Ariana broken flashed in my mind. I forced it away. “She is just emotional and trust me, she’ll get over it. These things happen p>
Marcus stared at me like I was a stranger. Like I was something ugly he found on his shoe.
“These things happen?” he repeated his voice dangerous. “You hand your wife divorce papers, you tell her you’re taking her children away to live with your ex and you call that ’these things happen’? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Any idea how she’s hurting p>
Every word was a knife.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to tell him I knew.
I knew exactly how she was hurting because I was hurting the same way. I was the one who had to hold the knife and cut out my own heart.
But I couldn’t.
So I shrugged a cold careless shrug. “It’s for the best. Melissa and I… we have history, it’s always been us and besides Ariana will be fine. She’s strong p>
I saw something snap in Marcus’s eyes as he pushed off my desk and took a step back.
He nodded slowly, a nasty fake smile on his face.
“Okay. Okay, I see how you’re so fast to have moved on. You’ve got your ’real family’ back, that’s great. Perfect p>
He jammed his hands in his pockets. “Well then you won’t mind will you? Since she’s free now. Since you don’t want her p>
My blood went cold. “What are you talking about p>
“Ariana,” he said, like it was obvious. “She’s staying with me at my place. She has nowhere else to go thanks to you. And this is the best time she needs someone and you know what! I’ll be there to take care of her p>
He took a step closer, his eyes locked on mine. “And I will, I’ll take her in, be there for her. I’ll hold her when she cries, I’ll listen and you know what, Dante? I’ll love her, I’ll fucking love her the way you were supposed to. I’ll give her all the love you’re too much of a coward to give p>
Something inside of me broke.
The cold wall I had built shattered into a million pieces.
A red hot rage exploded in my head. A roar tore from my throat, not thinking I launched myself out of my chair and across the desk.
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!” I screamed right in his face. “YOU DON’T TOUCH HER! YOU DON’T EVEN LOOK AT HER p>
We crashed to the floor together rolling.
He got a punch in, hard, against my jaw. I barely felt it as I swung back connecting with his ribs.
He shoved me off and scrambled back panting as he wiped blood from his lip.
“Oh!” he yelled, pointing a finger at me. “Oh so you do love her! There he is! There’s the real Dante! The one who cares! The one who would kill a man for even thinking about his wife p>
I was on my knees, my chest heaving.
“Get out,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Just get out Marcus p>
“No,” he said, standing over me. “Not until you tell me the truth and not until you stop this insane act…You love her, I know you do. So why? WHY are you doing this to her? To yourself p>
I looked up at him at my best friend, the man who knew me better than anyone. I couldn’t lie to him anymore.
I was so so tired.
My face crumpled as a sob ripped out of me.
I put my head in my hands, my shoulders shaking.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I cried, the words muffled and broken. “I didn’t have a choice”
I took a shaky breath. “Melissa… she said if I didn’t cooperate, if I didn’t follow their script, she would hurt Ariana and the girl… I don’t have anything against her now, and the company papers, god! Everything is so fucked up p>
I was crying hard now. “I had to make her hate me, Marcus. I had to be so cruel that she would never ever love me again. Because if she still loved me… they would use that against her. They would hurt her to get to me. Don’t you see? I had to push her away to save her! I’m doing everything I can to get the kids but, fuck p>
Marcus was silent for a long time. He just listened.
“You idiot,” he said
He helped me up and guided me to the sofa. “Saving her by breaking her. That’s your plan p>
“It was the only plan!” I said, desperate for him to believe me. “I am trapped! If I go near her, they will follow through. I know they will. Melissa is crazy and Angelo… he wants everything I have. He always has and you know that p>
Marcus nodded, thinking hard. “Okay. Okay. So they have threats. They have a plan. But Dante… they made one big mistake p>
“What?” I asked, feeling a flicker of hope for the first time in weeks.
“They let Ariana see them,” he said, a real smile touching his lips. “Last night and she went to Angelo’s apartment. She heard everything, their whole conversation, the plan… all of it. She knows Dante. She knows it’s all a lie p>
The world stopped. I stared at him. “She… she knows p>
“She knows you’re lying. She knows you’re acting. She knows you’re in trouble and she’s not running away. She’s trying to figure out how to help p>
“But that’s worse! If she knows she’s in even more danger”
“Then we don’t let them know,” Marcus said, his voice firm. “We play along for now but when we have gathered all that we can we we fight back and trap them.
“But for now, you need to go speak with Ariana, she’s in our spot” he informs.
I nodded knowing where he meant.
“What do I tell her?” I whispered.
“First,” Marcus said. “You call her and You tell her the truth, all of it. No more lies between you two before you can start digging our way out of this hell p>
He handed me my phone. “Go to your wife Dante and for God’s sake apologize p>