Page 42 of Theirs to Rule

Dante sighed. “The secrets I keep…there’s a lot in my life I’ve done I’m not proud of. When I was a different man. A man I don’t want you to know. Because you are everything to me.”

I didn’t know what to tell him because I couldn’t find the right words. Deep down, I was scared that, while I was enough for him right now, eventually I wouldn’t be. Apparently, he'd overcome whatever jealousy he'd felt at me being with Kage, at least enough to come see me. But one day, he was going to leave me for good, and I wasn’t sure how I would handle that. He’d want someone he could have for himself, not someone he had to share.

“Camille? Talk to me,” Dante urged.

“Kage and I…”

“I know,” he said.

“It bothers you.”

“It…botheredme. I couldn’t help being jealous. But I worked through it. I meant what I said about wanting to give you the world.”

"And I meant it when I said it wasn’t fair for me to ask to share me when I’ll never want to share you. It makes me a hypocrite.”

"It makes you mine. And you're enough for me."

“How can I be enough for you when you think of me as a kid?"

“You’re younger than me but that doesn’t mean you’re a kid. It’s about how you carry yourself. The shit you’ve seen. And you’ve seen a lot. The only way this ends between us is when you walk away from me," he continued, his eyes blazing into mine.

“When?”

His jaw clenched. “Kage and Ty? Me? We all have baggage. It would be smart for you to enjoy us for a while before moving on to better prospects.”

“Better meaning what?”

“A lack of criminality would be a good start,” he huffed.

“Sounds boring.”

“Maybe. But I just want you to know. I’m yours for as long as you want me. When you decide to walk, Peaches, I’m not going to stop you.”

“You want me to leave you?” I whispered. Was this how he went into all his relationships? Assuming that the person was going to just walk away the first chance they got?

“I want you to live your life to the fullest. I’m not sure you can do that with me or the others,” Dante said.

“What if I don’t want to end us—you and me?” I demanded.

“You’re still so young. You have so much life to live. The last thing I want to do is hold you back. Before you say you want me forever, you should discover all my bad habits first.”

He was trying to ease the tension in the air. Distract me. As exhausted as I was, I decided to let him. “Oh, you think these bad habits are deal breakers?” I said lightly.

I walked over to the fridge and grabbed two sodas, handing him one. “Let me guess. You leave the toilet seat up? Squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube? Oh wait, I already know about those ones.”

“Harsh,” Dante said with a grimace. “Since we’re on the subject, how about we talk about you, Ms. ‘I think a cup of coffee is a well-balanced breakfast’.”

“I must be a catch if that’s the best you can come up with.”

“Oh, there’s more. I’m just too much of a gentleman to say it to your face,” he replied. “But I mean, really, who doesn’t take the time to pair their socks?”

“Odd socks are cute,” I defended myself, sticking my feet up in the air as proof.

“Sure, if you’re eight years old and wear pigtails,” Dante chuckled.

“Well, like you can talk,” I fired back. “Who the heck color coordinates their underwear?”

He chuckled. But then, his expression shifted slightly. "Can I ask you something?"

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