Page 100 of Theirs to Rule

Dante sighed. He was fidgety and on edge. I’d never seen him like this. I couldn’t bring myself to comfort him. The image of my own mother was burned too deeply into my mind for that.

Dante cleared his throat. “She started going to meetings. We’d talk at least once a week. She seemed good. Then one day, Jane’s work called me. She hadn’t shown up for days. I called the school and Rhianna wasn’t there either. So, I went over to check on them. I walked inside and found Jane passed out on the sofa. The place was a mess. There were clothes and trash everywhere…”

His face tightened as the memory flooded his senses again, like he was back there, standing in that place once more. Deepdown, I knew he’d tried to forget it, but I was making him relive it now. He closed his eyes, then went on.

“It’s like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. I tried to wake Jane, but she was out of it. I picked her up, carried her to the bathroom, and put her under the shower. She roused and tried to proposition me. I stopped her and asked her where Rhianna was. She told me she’d stayed home from school because she hadn’t been feeling well.” Dante stopped, his voice cracking.

I couldn’t help myself from tightening my fingers around his. I knew what he was going to say…

He took a deep breath and then kept going. “I went to her room. The door was open. I saw her lying on the bed. She’d overdosed. Jane followed me into the room, soaking wet, screaming that I’d killed Rhianna because I’d cut Jane off. Because she’d gone to someone else and got some bad shit. Rhianna must have found it and…” Dante couldn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. I understood. He blamed himself, thinking that if he’d kept supplying Jane, then Rhianna would probably still be alive.

“I don’t blame you for hating me?—”

“I don’t hate you,” I interrupted him. “I understand why you do what you do. And I’m so sorry, Dante, that that happened. But I can’t support you continuing to sell drugs.”

“What does that mean?” His blue eyes searched mine, looking for answers I couldn’t give him. “You want me to stop?”

“I want you to stop because it’s the right thing to do,” I told him firmly. “You weren’t responsible for Rhianna’s death. And even though you're trying to do good here, in the end, it’s not doing good for anyone.”

“It is, Camille. I can’t stop CU students from using. I can only try to make sure what they get isn’t poison. What happens if a kid dies because I stop? If they end up taking dirty stuff and overdosing?” Dante said.

Just like Rhiannawere his unspoken words.

“And that’s why I can’t hate you,” I told him honestly. My voice broke as tears filled my eyes. Kage and Ty stood in the background, silent, respecting that Dante and I needed space to work through this. I smiled at Dante through my tears and squeezed his hand. “In fact, it’s a big part of why I love you.”

“You love me?”

I nodded. “I do. I didn’t say it before because, well…” I glanced at Kage, afraid I’d see pain in his expression, but all I saw was understanding. “I love you, Dante,” I said, turning back to him. “And I want you to stop. But I won’ttellyou to stop. You have to do what you think is right. Even if the cost of doing that is losing me.”

Chapter 45

Camille

Iwent home the next day, moped around the house while Kage kept an eye on me, then forced myself to start attending school again. In between classes, I walked over to the café to grab a coffee. Nobody knew about the attack, which I was grateful for. The last thing I needed was another reason to be the focal point of everyone’s gossip, especially when I had no idea what had been going on, or who that man was. Or what he had been planning to do with me...

Just as I was about to push through the doors of the coffee shop, I spotted Dante. He looked tired. Worn out. And when he met my gaze, I saw the pain he was carrying. My first instinct was to go to him, but after everything he’d told me and the way we had left things, I couldn’t deal with him right now, so I backed away from the door and walked off. I needed to get out of here. Pulling out my phone, which Kage had retrieved from Dante's house, I called Kage.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just need to clear my head.”

“Tell me where you are."

“No, I’m okay. I just wanted to check in. And ask if I could borrow your car."

Kage hadn't bought a replacement for the Bugatti, but he still had the SUV.

He hesitated, and I knew it was because he didn't like the idea of me going somewhere by myself.

"I'm not going to be caged in. You guys are already tracking my phone. That's all I'm willing to compromise."

Kage sighed. "Alright. But are you carrying the gun?"

"Yeah." After what had happened, Kage insisted I bring the gun with me wherever I went. I didn't bother arguing with him because I felt safer with it now, too.

"Good girl. Don't hesitate to use it if you need to, Rebel. I'll check in with you soon.”

Back at home, I grabbed Kage’s spare keys then climbed behind the wheel of the SUV. As I left, I wasn’t even sure where I was going. I just needed to get away from everything and clear my head. I drove through the residential area near campus, taking in the huge houses and sprawling green lawns. I glanced in the side mirror and noticed a car behind me. Out of nowhere, panic set in. Paralyzed with fear, my mind drifted back to the night when Officer Davis shot Kage and chased us.

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