Chapter 64: Dante

It's been hours since I confessed my feelings to Dante. His rejection itself causes me restlessness. There has to be a reason behind it. Why wouldn't he want to be with me when he said it himself that he wanted to? If it's not because of my father, what else could it be? For that, I need to find out from Dante himself.

After I've gathered enough courage, I go to my door and open it, hoping Dante will talk to me again after what happened earlier. I really want to know his reasons. There's no way he rejects me without any real explanation.

I look up, and my frown only deepens as my eyes find Carlo instead of Dante. Carlo turns to me, raising his eyebrows, but I only continue to frown at him in silence.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Carlo asks.

"I'm fine. Where's Dante?" I ask.

"He's out with your father. Something urgent came up," Carlo says.

"Oh," I say.

A thought then hits me. Isn't Carlo suspicious of Dante in the slightest? Why is he so calm? Dante just got into this house, and he already has a more important job than Carlo. If I were him, I'd feel like there's something wrong with me. I mean, how could my father trust Dante more than Carlo, who has worked for him more than Dante?

"Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, don't you feel threatened by Dante's sudden importance to my father? I mean, he has only worked as a bodyguard for a few months now, while you already worked here for years," I ask.

"Not in the slightest. We've always known your father favoured Dante. It's with a reason. Dante has had his own way of solving problems ever since he worked at the warehouse. Courtesy of your father. So, it's no surprise for me or all of us here," Carlo says.

That's interesting. Despite all the punishment Dante got from being too close to me, my father still favours him more than anyone else here. What makes Dante special? Is it his connections? Or is it something I don't know yet?

"Be honest. Do you feel jealous that he has suddenly risen in the rankings? I mean, he kinda replaced Giulio after we found out he's a mole for the Romanos. Dante literally went from just a bodyguard to the second most important person in the family," I say.

Carlo stares at me and then laughs, and I only frown as I stare at him in silence. Why is he laughing? Does he know something I don't know? This is what happens when everyone is keeping secrets from me. I barely know what's going on in the family. It makes me feel so fucking dumb even though it's not entirely my fault for not knowing everything about the family.

"Oh, Ale. He used to be more than just your bodyguard. His role in the family is important. It's expected that he'll climb the rankings sooner or later. Let's say it's his destiny. As for me, jealous? Absolutely not. Getting a better title in the family was never my goal. I'm fine with my job as your father's guard. I like the challenges that come with it. Besides, with higher rankings come greater responsibility, and I don't trust myself enough to have that kind of responsibility," Carlo says.

Destiny? Dante is destined to be a high-ranking person in the family? How? This is getting even stranger now. What the fuck is actually going on in my family? Is Dante really that important to my father? If so, why? There has to be something. A reason.

"Then, from what you know, who was Dante before he got here?" I ask.

"Well, he's a capo for starter. He's no ordinary guard like me. All the warehouses in this region? Yes, all of them are under his guard and control. He has his own men to do things for him. I'm not sure how your father convinced Dante, but he ended up accepting the job as your bodyguard," Carlo says.

Dante is a capo? Fucking hell. Why did he hide this from me? No wonder my father gives him the special treatment. It turns out he's actually someone important in the family. Way more important than I thought. Dante said he's only the head of security at one of the warehouses, not a capo who's in charge of all five warehouses in this region.

"What? He said he's just the head of security at one of the warehouses. He said he only watches over the warehouse for any threats and that's it," I say.

"Technically, it's true, but not just one of them. His role is much more than just the head of security for one warehouse. He's a capo, Alessandra. You know how important his job is, right?" Carlo says.

I know how important a capo is in a crime family like mine. A capo is basically a boss who works under my father, the ultimate boss. So, Dante is indeed important if what Carlo's saying is true. No wonder he knows a lot of people outside our family and could get a lot of information we need about others.

"I know, I know. No wonder he knows lots of things. Now I'm curious. How could someone as important as Dante decide to be my bodyguard in the end? There has to be something my father and Dante are hiding. It's strange that he gave up his title just to guard me," I say.

There has to be a secret between them. Most people won't just give up their capo role to be a mere bodyguard. So, what makes it different for Dante? Don't say he wanted to work for my father just to get closer to me. If that's the truth, he's basically a stalker, and that's one of my greatest ick. I've dealt with stalkers before, and just the thought of Dante being one of them makes my skin crawl. I'd rather die than be in love with my damn stalker.

"It is indeed strange. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that. However, you don't have to worry. He's trustworthy, unlike Giulio. He won't do anything that might offend your father. He's a good one for the family," Carlo says.

"Okay. I believe you," I say.

My head spins from the new information. I have to ask Dante about his previous job as a capo. How could he lie about that to me? What is he really hiding? My father definitely has a role in it. All I need to do is get more information out of Dante just so I can put all the pieces together. Once that happens, nothing will truly make sense to me.

Tonight. Once Dante is back in front of my door, I'll ask him again, and this time, I won't let him get away. Whatever this secret is, it definitely has something to do with how Dante won't get in a relationship with me.