Page 91 of Dirty Behavior

Ivy

Iwas standing in shock.

Dante was on Remo, strangling him to death. My heart was racing, anticipation creeping in as I watched Remo struggle for air. I wanted him to shut down, go limp and exhale his final breath.

That was the first time I saw real emotion on Dante's face. The pulse in his neck beat with such ferocity, I could see it from ten feet away. Sweat was dripping down the bridge of his nose and hanging for a flicker in time before it broke free and fell off.

Remo was struggling, kicking his legs and wiggling his torso under Dante's weight. I though that was it, I expected him to finally take his punishment and be gone forever.

He deserved to fear for his life, he deserved to feel what he cast on others. He was never the wholesome keeper he claimed to be.

He was about to die and pay for all the sins he thought he had the right to enforce.

Except, that's not what happened.

Remo kept fighting, moving and dancing on the floor. I watched it all in slow motion. Remo lifted his hand, still firmly holding the gun.

I tried to scream, I tried to warn Dante. He didn't hear me.

With one wild swoop, Remo nailed him in the side of the head. And Dante went down, falling to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Dante! No, no, Dante!” I heard my voice, I felt my lungs, and as everything washed over my body, I collapsed.

My hands were on the floor, my body shaking as the tears consumed me from the inside out.

We had come to end this,all of this.All the misery was supposed to be gone, all the pain was supposed to disappear. I was going to leave on Dante's arm, grow our family and finally get to enjoy life again.

All those images of a world built on happiness wiped clean, breaking into chunks and falling away. Cradling the life tucked away in my belly, defeat started to press my shoulders, weighing me down.

Remo pulled himself off the ground, wiping the dirt off his chest with a smirk. “Who's coming to save you now?” Coughing hard, he cleared his throat and stared down at Dante. “Looks like you're on your own, Sweetheart.”

Sniffling, I scrubbed the water off my cheeks. The tears weren't for him, they weren't for his pleasure or enjoyment. They were for Dante, they were for me, and they were for our baby.

“Fuck you.”

“You know I've heard you say that so many times now, but I'm still waiting.”

Curling my lip, my fists clenched. “I'll kill you myself if you even try to touch me.”

“Honey, even these two couldn't help you. What the hell would make think you'd be able to stop me yourself?”

All the hatred and anger I'd been bottling up and holding in burst through me. Adrenaline had swarmed my veins like a cloud of locusts. I changed.

I should have been thinking about the baby, I should have been trying to stay alive.

But I reacted.

And I couldn't stop myself.

I remembered charging him, I remembered feeling my fingernails against his skin and the sound of my voice as I screeched a noise that couldn't be described as anything other than pure insanity.

I saw white, a bright white haze filled my eyes, blocking out that very moment. I had lost my fucking mind.

Remo pushed me, he had finally made me crack. And it wasn't the fault he wanted to create deep inside me. He wanted me to buckle to him, he wanted to see me crumble under his hands and turn flaccid.

I was far from that. He had poked the bear one too many times. Even if I wanted to keep control and think about what I was doing, there was no way I could.

He had destroyed my life, my family, my love. Everything was burned from his hands. My world was charred and unrecognizable. I had lost it all, but the worst part was I had myself.

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