Page 34 of Throne of Sin

“Have you ever been shot?” I ask.

He looks up from threading his needle and his eyes hold mine. “Why? You worried about me?”

The pain in my palm thunders to the staccato beat of my pulse. The air crackles with electricity that coils around us. “I’m always worried about you. You never strayed far from my mind.” I swallow the lump in my throat.

Dante clears his throat and loops my first stitch.

“I came back, you know,” I mention quietly. I hate that he thinks I never cared enough to return.

His eyes connect with mine once again and pain radiates through his dark irises. Dante is the one person I never wanted to hurt.

“But you and Savio were already gone.” I remember all the awful things his mother yelled at me when I knocked on her door. She thought I was the reason her sons left her.

My hand shakes in his but he doesn’t comment on it.

“All you had to do was tell me to wait, Demi.” He refocuses on my stitches. The air is almost too thick to breathe in.

“I never planned to make you wait. If I could go back in time, I would have never left your roof that night.” A decade of emotions crash into my heart. This is my biggest regret in life. I open my mouth to try to tell him what happened that night, but I’ve never spoken about it to anyone. I can’t get the words up no matter how hard I try.

“But you did. And I didn’t hear from you for a decade.” His voice is laced with hurt and I hate that I caused it.

Why do I have to be so defective? He would understand instantly, but the trauma is too thick and I can’t bring myself to spit it out. Instead, I cop out and say, “I had no idea where you went. When I walked in here for the first time, I didn’t even know you owned this place.” Tears fight their way into my eyes.

He finishes with my hand and places a soft kiss over his work. It sends a shiver down my spine.

“I’m sorry, Dante. I wish I could say more.”

“We’ve always been on different pages and you’ve never trusted me enough to let me in fully. Right now is no different.”

The truth is painful to hear. “I trust you more than anyone else in my life,” I whisper, my voice thick with clogged sadness.

“I think that’s what hurts me the most.” He stands up and I worry he’s going to leave me alone. Instead, he opens up a small mini fridge and takes out an ice pack, placing it in my hand.

My entire body trembles and I hate how foolish I feel for not being able to stay still. I wish I had some type of comeback for Dante, something that would make him feel better and give him a reason to look at me like he used to.

I need him to hold me like he once did. It always fixed everything in the moment.

“Lift your hands.” He fixes his oversized sweater on me.

“Why do you have these old clothes when all you ever wear are suits now?”

“It helps to remind me of my roots.”

He holds my hand, his eyes lowering to my lips. I want him to kiss me, even though he shouldn’t. I’m afraid he’s going to see my rapid heartbeat pounding through his sweater. My body naturally moves closer a millimeter at a time. Dew beads across my skin as I heat. Dante mimics my position and the air zips around us, ready to ignite at the first spark.

In slow motion, my lips touch his. They press against each other, relieving the stress building in me. His tongue sweeps across my lips and I open for him. His hand slips to my neck, wrapping behind to keep me in place. The sensation of his thumb circling my pounding pulse and the way his lips devour mine has my head floating in the clouds. I moan with pleasure. I forgot how exceptional of a kisser Dante is.

I would do anything he asked if he kept kissing me like this. My unharmed hand steadies me by pressing down on his thigh.

A knock on the door has Dante pulling away from me and his stool falls when he’s forced to stand. Clearing his throat, he goes to open the door. Robin is standing there, shifting from foot to foot, looking nervous. The room’s energy changes and I hear Robin say, “We just wanted to make sure Demi was alright and see if she needed to go to the hospital.”

“She’s fine. I just finished stitching her up. One of you will have to take her home.” My heart sinks at how stiff and uncaring he sounds. “I can’t have her serving drinks and bleeding on the customers.”

I stand, unable to force a smile.

“Nice shirt,” Robin comments.

“Dante got it in the lost and found.”

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