Chapter 22 Revenge In a different way
Dante POV
She moved closer into me, her body was all over mine. I liked it a lot. My hand moved to her thigh as it stretched across my body.
“You’re studying art?” I knew a bit about her from my research. She was going to school in Rome with art as her discipline. She didn’t exhibit any specific traits that identified her as an artist, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she had the talent to paint a masterpiece. She never failed to surprise me.
“Yes.” Her small hand rested right on my sternum. “I want to be a painter.” “What do you paint?”. “Everything.”
“Be more specific.” She tilted her head up so her eyes could meet mine. “Well, my last piece was an image of my parents working in the vineyards together. Husband and wife cultivating the soil. It’s supposed to represent Italian culture, of the foundation and loyalty of family.”
Anytime her family was mentioned, I became angry. But this time, I controlled my rage. It was too early in the morning, and I just had an amazing orgasm with my cock buried inside this woman. “So you want to paint professionally?”
“I guess. There’s not really any such thing. I just want to be good enough so people will buy my work. Maybe I can open a gallery or something. But making art is about connecting with people. I have to create something that moves people. If I fail to do that, then no one will be interested in my pieces.
It can’t just look nice. It has to be something that someone wants for many years." “Has anyone ever bought one of your paintings?”
“Just my parents,” she answered. “And they would buy anything I make, so they don’t really count.”
She clearly had a perfect childhood, judging by the way she spoke so highly of her parents. They had a nice, quiet life in Italy, working their successful wine business. I’d never started an honest business, choosing to remain in the dark and make my money in horrid ways.
“You have a lot of artwork in your house.”
Michael picked it out." “They’re nice,” she said. “I’ve looked at them many times. I noticed you
don’t have a picture of you or your mom anywhere.”
I turned my face back to the ceiling and never commented. After a tense moment of silence, she sat up and pulled her hair from her face.
“I should get up and take a shower. I’m really hungry and can’t wait for breakfast.” For a small woman, she had a big appetite. She always ate everything at our meals and complimented Michael on the dishes he prepared.
“Make sure you get enough to eat. We’re leaving today.” She turned her gaze back to me, the hope obvious. I didn’t like that look. I wanted her to stay at my house with me forever. I wanted to keep her as my prisoner forever. If she didn’t have such a powerful
family, I probably would.
But under the circumstances, I was risking too
much. If I killed her, that would be one thing. But her family would kill me, and if I never finished what I started, I would have accomplished nothing. “Don’t be too excited.”
Once the snow was shoveled away, we got into my truck and left the property. I handed her phone back to her. I had it in my office, constantly charging so it wouldn’t die. I looked through her text messages, seeing some of her friends check in with her. A few guys texted her too. I didn’t care for that.
She took the phone with shaky hands, rubbing her thumbs over the screen like she couldn’t believe it was really in her possession again.
Some things were too good to be true, including this. I pulled onto the icy road and then began the journey back to Rome.
She was in the clothes she arrived in, but now they’d been cleaned. The heater was on so she wouldn’t freeze, but I kept the radio off. I preferred silence. She finally asked the question on her mind. “You’re taking me back and you’ve given me my phone…how do you know I won’t just round up my family to kill you? I know where you live.”
“You know of one place where I live.” I drove with one hand on the steering.wheel, the other resting on the windowsill. My eyes were on the road, but I could see her in my peripheral vision. “I have many places.” “Do you have a place in Rome?”
I grinned. “Why do you want to know?”
“Just curious.” “Yes. I have a place there.”
“Well…you didn’t answer my question.”
I was taking a gamble here, but the reward outweighed the risk. “You won’t.say anything to them.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “You didn’t kill me, but you’ve made it.abundantly clear my family is your blood enemy. While I’m grateful I’m still alive right now, I will do anything I can to protect my family. This is a stupid thing to say, but the second I talk to them, I’m telling them everything.”
That didn’t surprise me. I’d judge her if she did anything less. “You’re.missing a piece of the story.”
“What piece?” she asked. I followed the curves of the road and headed down the mountain. The lake was beautiful right now, calm and flat while the mountain peaks behind it were covered in white caps. I thrived in the winter and despised the humid heat of summer along with the tourists. “Keep this to yourself, and I
promise I won’t touch any member of your family that includes Sapphire, who isn’t family yet.”
“How did you know her name?”
I chuckled. “Baby, I know everything about my enemies.” Plus, she was on TV everywhere. The media thought she was the most stunning woman in the world, but I’d seen a different woman in lingerie and she was way better.
“And that’s it?” she asked incredulously. “You’ll just drop your revenge like that?”
“Not quite. I am getting my revenge, just in a different way.”
“How?”