Page 34 of Blood and Beauty (Owned by The Don)

The last I remember was dozing off in front of the warm fire. I stretch and my body aches in the most amazing of ways. A delicious ache that spreads throughout. I think back to last night and my nipples rise. I rub my face, willing away the blooming desire.

I can't feel attached to this man. It was one night, one final moment to give in to the frustrating need that he incites in me.

I get up and realize that I'm dressed in a black button-down shirt. It's expensive and not mine. More importantly, it's oversized and smells of Dante.

He put me in his shirt and carried me to bed.

That shouldn't make me feel anything, but it does. It makes me feel a lot, and the feeling is as warm as his mouth is when it touches my skin.

I swing my legs over the bed and blink rapidly, clearing the blur before my eyes. I look over and notice something by the door. It's a luggage case. I get up and walk towards it, lifting it to find that it's heavy and definitely packed with stuff. There's an envelope with my name on it resting on the top of the suitcase. The handwriting is both elegant and abrasive.

I open it and there's a letter and a check signed by none other than the bastard himself. I open the letter, dropping everything else to the floor.

There will be a car waiting for you outside at noon. Sergio will drive you back to campus. There is enough money to cover your academic and living expenses for the entire semester. Don't do anything stupid. I have eyes and ears everywhere.

D.

That son of a bitch. He waits this long to give me freedom. He's held me close for so long that he chooses the night I give myself to him to let me go.

I look over at the clock and see that it's just past eleven in the morning. I fight back tears. The rejection in my stomach expands like rice and I tell myself to man up because I should hate him. That's all last night was. A hate fuck.

So why am I hurt that he took my body and sent me packing right after?

I wipe my eyes and dress as quickly as possible, grabbing my luggage and the check before rushing out the door. I run past my mom's room and call out for her. Silence greets me and I realize that her bed is made and she's nowhere to be found.

Rushing downstairs, I open the front door and see that Sergio is waiting for me outside of a black Cadillac with equally black windows. His dark sunglasses cover his eyes, and his mouth is set in a straight line.

"I trust that you have everything you need for your journey back home. I'll put this in the back and we will get going." He grabs my luggage and loads it into the trunk before slamming the door and walking to my door, opening it for me and waiting.

Everything is happening so fast I might faint. Where is Dante? Am I that awful that he can't even look me in the face or drive me himself?

The front door opens behind me and I turn around in hopes of seeing him, but am greeted by my mother rushing down the stairs, no luggage with her.

"I'm going back to campus. Where's your suitcase?" My voice is shaky and I check myself, refusing to let her in on what's happened.

"I'm not going Emmie, I'm staying behind."

I raise both of my eyebrows and she grabs my hands, kissing them and surprising me with the action.

"I think we both know that even here is safer for me than out there. I will be fine. I still have a debt to pay. You don't deserve to be here. I don't want you here."

Tears gather in my eyes, and she holds my hands to her cold cheeks.

"I want you to have what you've worked for. I want you to have a full life away from the darkness of this one."

She drops my hands and pushes back my hair. I feel like a small child again, a part of me that wasn't alive for long because she started to die. I nod my head and hug my mother, our first genuine goodbye hug as women. As mother and daughter. I feel like this is the college send-off I never got.

She lets go of me and I turn and climb into the car, Sergio shutting the door behind me. The windows have a black cover over them on the inside, and I realize that I can't see anything from back here. There's even a black partition up. Once again, I'm left in complete darkness.

Sergio's voice speaks over an intercom on the roof.

"Your campus is only a short ride away. Don't try to lower any blinds or open any doors, the keeping of your safety has been a compromise to us."

He shuts off the intercom. I lower my head into my hands. Feeling used and tossed aside, but most importantly, like a complete hindrance just because I'm existing.

15

Esmeralda

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