Page 63 of Devious Kingpin
He pulled me up and held my hand all the way to his car.
Dante drove the same way he walked and talked. Sure of himself and everyone around him. It wasn’t as if I were insecure or doubting myself, but it was irritating to see him so confident at times.
Ever since he left me with that cryptic answer about a lie he’d told me, he’d been quiet. A part of him shut down, and I didn’t think I’d be able to get through to him.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. An hour of utter silence was too much for anyone.
“I’m sorry if I upset you, Dante.”
His eyes darted my way, a dark edge lingering in their depths. My hand reached to his arm resting on the wheel and I squeezed softly. Although his gaze returned to the road, there was no doubt where his focus was. On me.
Cool confidence seemed to brew under his skin but also something darker. A secret he didn’t want to share. Perhaps it hurt him as much as mine hurt me. His mood was electric and affected me like a contagion. I had been fighting my attraction to Dante for years, fearing the darkness that crept into my mind every time a man tried to take a physical relationship a step too far.
Yet now, I felt the need to help him. Just as he’d come to my swift rescue, I wanted to come to his swift rescue.
“You do for me, I do for you,” I whispered softly.
“What are you talking about?” he said. There was a sharp note to his voice. “I didn’t do anything for you. You almost jumped to your death to escape being near me.”
I sucked in a breath. It had been a moment of weakness. I regretted it now. I thought he’d force himself on me. He didn’t. Instead, he’d vowed to avenge me. Kill Travis. My most elusive rapist.
“That was stupid,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have jumped. I’m too stubborn and I like agitating you too much. I just needed to get away. The thought of you—” A shuddering breath filled the space. Every time I even thought about someone on top of me, I started to suffocate and images of that night so long ago returned with a vengeance. “I should have just talked to you instead of running off. How did you know I took your car anyway?”
“Priest,” he answered. “He saw you drive away in it and called me.”
“Of course he did,” I retorted dryly.
“And then there was the tracker too,” he added.
My hand was still on his forearm, so I peeled my fingers off him. But before I could put my hand back on my lap, he took it and interlocked our fingers.
His big hand to my small one. He killed people. So did I. He thought I was innocent. I wasn’t.
It turned out maybe the two of us weren’t so different after all.
“My mother was a vindictive and narcissistic bitch.” His words slashed through the silence. “She liked to torture Priest and me.” My gasp filled the inside of the car. What kind of mother would torture her own sons? “She hated me because I reminded her of our father. I couldn’t understand why she hated Priest until we learned he’s actually Wynter’s brother. Or half brother, I guess.”
Something about the tone of his voice told me he had more ghosts in his closet too.
“Jesus, I’m sorry.” I squeezed his hand gently. “Didn’t you tell your father?”
He shook his head. “We tried once. Mother was a very good liar. It did us no good. Especially Priest. After that, we relied only on each other.” I wanted to know exactly what happened to them, but then, on the other hand, I was terrified of the answer. It was hard for me to talk about my experience, and it seemed Dante and his brother enduredyearsof torture. “Our vacation to Greece was one of the rare times she wasn’t around. That’s why it’s a happy memory.”
I nodded, and for the next five minutes we sat in silence, while he drove through snow-filled Chicago. It was incredible how one day could change everything.
My life. My perception of life. My perception of this man.
He parked the car on the side of a dark street and my eyes darted around. “Aren’t we going home?”
Home.
Did I really just call his house home?
His intense gaze met mine, the pressure of it touching my skin. “We’ll go home after this. I want to take you out for dinner.”
My eyes lowered to my casual outfit, then flickered to his. “We’re not exactly dressed for it. We’ll stand out.”
His dark chuckle followed. “You and I are meant to stand out, Wildling.”
