Page 74 of Unspoken Obsession

My son grins at us.

Dante drops to his knee, smiling and gentle. He makes a deep rolling sound that makes me tingly inside.

"It's just mud, Mom. Little boys are supposed to be covered in mud, aren't they buddy?" He asks Damion who nods.

"You, my friend?" Damion asks, poking Dante in the arm.

"I think we could be best friends. But it all depends - do you like ice cream? And chocolate?"

Damion nods again, looking as though he is going to topple over.

"I do." He roars.

"Me too. Well, I guess we can be friends then. Does your mommy like ice cream? Because I saw a man selling some on the way in here."

Dante turns towards me with his eyebrows raised. "Will your mom let us get ice cream?"

"And sauce." Damion insists.

"Sauce?" Dante says, standing up and sounding confused.

"Caramel dip." I chuckle. "Yes, we can get ice cream." Then I nudge Dante with my hip and whisper, "Are you bribing my son into liking you?"

He shakes his head, "I don't think I need to bribe him. He already said we're best friends."

Damion holds his hand up towards Dante and Dante has to bend low to take it. Then they walk hand in hand towards the ice cream truck and my heart is happy and heavy at the same time. Damion really needs a father figure. Just seeing this brief interaction reinforces that idea for me.

But not just anyone. It has to be a man who will love and cherish him.

After a few paces, Dante looks uncomfortable bending so low, so he scoops Damion into his arms and carries him.

"You are going to have more mud on you than you've bargained for," I warned him. "It's ok, it's worth it." He smiles.

Damion refuses to climb off Dante's lap while we sit on the bench eating ice cream. Dante and I talk about my father and how we can get proof. We want to get evidence -- hard evidence that we can use against him.

"I am acquainted with people who don't like your father. I think if we work with them, they can help us gather the evidence we need. Then with that, we can try to take him down. I just think we should move carefully. We don't want to go rushing headfirst into danger just because we want answers. We have to have patience."

I sigh, I hate being patient.

"But the longer we wait the more dangerous it becomes for us. Every time we are together it is a risk. My father knows who you are. We just need one of his goons to get confirmation that we are involved, and it will be hellfire that rains down on us. My father is a powerful man, and he has been threatening me for a long time - it is definitely going to get worse."

Dante nods. "I never want you or Damion to be afraid. I don't want to draw this situation out longer than it needs to - but rushing into things will only make it more dangerous."

Dante tells me about the men he is meeting with later that evening. He promises to keep me up to date on whatever he finds out.

He is gentle and attentive towards Damion and me. His constant reassurance makes me feel safer, just knowing he wants to be there for me, but I am still fearful of the endless possibilities of what could go wrong this time.

I let Dante walk my son and me back to the entrance of my apartment building. I grin when we reach the high rise. "This is me," I say, glancing up at it.

"So, you have finally let me see where you live." He laughs, leaning down and taking my face in his hands. "I hope that next time I come around I will be invited inside for dinner. Another night when I don't have to get to a meeting?"

"Definitely. But then I first want to make sure the place looks nice, and I want to..." He shakes his head and interrupts me.

"I don't care about any of that. I only care about spending time with you, little fox."

Dante leans close to kiss me again and Damion tugs at my hand. "Me also." He says, holding his arms up towards Dante.

Dante chuckles and scoops Damion into a hug.

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