Chapter 56 Rescue
Isabella POV
He left me alone like I asked. When I was in my apartment, I got some work done and then went out with some friends. We went to dinner and then to a bar. I drank a lot more than I usually did. A few guys hit on me, but I didn’t show any interest. Every man didn’t compare to Dante and I hated that he was right. I wasn’t attracted to a single man in any place we went. Even the hot ones weren’t hot enough. They weren’t built the way Dante was. They weren’t dark the way he was. They didn’t possess the right kind of confidence, the right kind of intensity. He was all man, all power and he really did make all the others look like boys.
Little boys, this man had ruined my life. I wasn’t the same person anymore. My tastes had changed, and now I was attached to a man who didn’t give a damn about me. He was my worst nightmare but also my wet dream. Ugh, I hated him even more. I walked home because I was so warm from drinking and being inside those stuffy clubs. I was just in my black dress and heels, the cold air feeling
so good against my skin. I’d probably catch a cold by the time I returned to my apartment, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything anymore.
Dante isolated me from the world, preventing me from telling anyone what was really going on. He kept me in a cage with no bars trapping me in my own mind. He made me obedient by giving me the best sex of my life. It was a really fucked-up situation. A dark car pulled over to the curb, and the passenger window was down. Some guy had his arm hanging out, and he grinned at me in the creepiest way.
“Hey, you want a ride?”
“If I wanted a ride, I would get a taxi.” I focused my eyes forward and kept walking. “Now, fuck off.”
The car kept driving next to the curb, moving slowly and matching my pace. “Ooh…she’s got a mouth on her.”
“If you like my mouth, you should meet my foot.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’d love to meet anything on that gorgeous body.”
I rolled my eyes. “Leave me alone. You’re creepy and gross.”
“Gross? Come on, baby. Get to know me first.”
Baby. I hated hearing him call me that. Only one man called me that, and only one man was allowed to. I’d tried to stop him from using the term a few times, but I eventually gave up because it started to feel right. Now it felt so
right that hearing another man say it felt innately wrong. “I don’t want to get to know you. Now drive away before I rip your balls off and bury them in the snow.”
“Why don’t you lick my balls instead?”
That was it, I slipped off my heel, marched over to the window, and slammed my shoe right into his face, hitting him hard. “I told you to fuck off.”
“Ah, shit!” He leaned away and covered his nose because it was bleeding. The heel of my shoe hit him good. I slipped my shoe back on and kept walking. “That’s what I thought.”
“Bitch.” The car came to a stop, and three men got out and came toward me. I was drunk and stupid, so of course, I wasn’t afraid. “You wanna go, assholes? Bring it.” I dropped my clutch and brought my hands to my chest,
tightening them both into fists. “I’ll castrate every single one of you.”
All three halted before they came near me, unanimously scared of me.They glanced at each other then slowly stepped back, not turning their backs on me. “That’s right. Get the hell out of here.”
They ran back to the car, jumped in, and peeled out. They sped down the street like they were being chased by the police. I could hear the engine working hard even when they were out of sight. “Pussies…” I picked up my clutch before I turned to keep walking and slammed right into a brick wall.
I bounced back, almost losing my balance.
He grabbed me by the elbow and righted me, jerking me back until I slammed into his chest again. Dante, he looked down into my face, more pissed than I’d ever seen him. He grabbed me by the neck and squeezed, cutting off my air supply slightly just to make his point. His fingers shook because he wanted to squeeze me harder, but he found the strength to resist. Now, it all made sense. The men weren’t running from me. They were running from him.
“You’re better than this.” He squeezed me a little harder, the vein in his forehead throbbing. The cords in his neck were thicker than they’d ever been before. He was in a black hoodie with jeans, most of his ink covered, with the
exception of a few lines popping out of his neckline and sleeves. “You’re too fucking smart for this bullshit. What the fuck are you thinking?”
“I’m not thinking…” I’m too drunk and depressed. I’m stuck with a man I hate, waiting around for him to finally butcher me. I’m too pathetic to retaliate because I’ve become so damn attached to him. “I can’t even go out to
a bar and pick up a guy because I don’t want anyone but you. I can’t even kill you if I had the opportunity because I don’t want to. So I’m fucking stuck in this torture. Maybe I don’t care about walking home in the dark because there nothing to care about Whether I survive tonight or not, I’m dead anyway.” I pushed his hand off my neck then shoved him hard in the chest,
but instead of moving him, I shoved myself backward and toward the concrete.
He caught me and lifted me into his arms. He carried me down the sidewalk in the direction of my apartment, which was just a few blocks away. My heels were left behind, and my clutch was stuffed in his waistband. I hated him for rescuing me, but the second his powerful arms were around me I wanted him again I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his skin, clinging to his warmth. I was suddenly cold now that the anger had passed, now that the adrenaline wasn’t pumping in my
veins.
He must have known I was cold before he set me on my feet. He pulled his sweater over his head and then yanked it down over my body.
The warm cotton immediately surrounded me, keeping me warm and enveloped in his smell. It reached my knees, and the sleeves were far too long for my short arms. It was like a blanket instead of a piece of clothing.