Chapter 141
**Four Years Ago**
I was pissed.
A corrosive feeling burned stronger with every second I spent in that group. I pretended to be fine, paying attention to the flowers and plants our teacher described as we walked through the botanical garden, but inside, I wanted to burn every living thing in sight.
I should’ve been excited—I loved biology. But that love didn’t compare to the hatred I felt watching Dante with other girls. Five of them hovered around him and Cole like they were the new members of a famous boyband.
It had been almost three years since Dante started attending our school. We’d agreed to act as if we didn’t know each other, so the only times I could be with him were at the town library, at my house in the middle of the night, or, occasionally, during secret visits to the lab—but never back to that basement.
It was an unspoken agreement, one we’d formed without discussion, and I went along with it without protest. At school, we were strangers. By night, we were friends. The truth was, this arrangement benefited only me. My reputation remained intact, as did my parents’ and half the town’s outdated, puritanical views, unaware that Dante and I shared a bond.
The school shook the day Dante first showed up. The second day. The third. The fourth. After a year, though, people got used to the idea of having a supposed murderer eating in the same cafeteria and taking the same tests as them.
Then, suddenly, Dante became just another popular guy.
Everyone knew him, wanted to be around him, drawn by the mystery he exuded without saying much, his reserved demeanor oddly captivating. Strange. Dangerous.
Despite his popularity, Dante stuck to the same two friends: Jaxon and Cole. Asher and Vance could’ve added more charm to the group if they weren’t enrolled at a private school across town.
Of course, I was part of Dante’s life—but only in Faulkner’s world, not his friends’. Especially not Cole, who saw me as an easy target to trample on. I never minded this, but now, I was one step away from screaming to the world that I was the only one who knew Dante played the violin, that three years ago, he could neither read nor write but now loved creating his own versions of Shakespeare’s tales.
And I read, memorized, and cherished every damned line.
He wrote them for me.
Only me.
I was the one who knew his favorite ice cream, how much he despised carrots and potatoes, and his refusal to own a phone. Dante hated technology. It was my room he snuck into at night to talk to me in whispers, to play challenging violin pieces that lulled me to sleep until morning.
I was the only one who knew Dante’s fingers were stained with blood, yet I loved every part of him.
That thought shook my heart’s rhythm.
I wanted to vomit all over his shoes.
Jerk.
“Emilia, would you like to comment on something?” the Biology teacher asked.
I snapped back, turning to Kayleen beside me.
She shrugged.
“It’s fine, Professor,” I replied.
He nodded.
“You’re free for lunch. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
A collective sigh rippled through the group. Half the students wandered off toward the park, while the others stayed in the greenhouse. Kayleen dragged me to the park.
“What’s going on with you today? You were talking to yourself. Mumbling stuff.”
“I’m hungry.”
My best friend found an empty bench where we plopped down and opened our lunchboxes.
“I can’t wait to get home. I’m so over this crap.”
Kayleen launched into a monologue about balancing gymnastics training with math homework, but my focus stayed locked on Dante and his obnoxious little entourage. My stomach churned when one of the girls clung to his arm.
“Did you hear the latest?” Daniel appeared, grinning.
“What is it?” Kayleen asked.
Daniel had recently integrated himself into our lives. I didn’t mind him since most of his gossip was entertaining, though it was becoming obvious he had a crush on Kayleen, who remained oblivious.
“The Bio teacher was flirting with Ms. Hermoth.”
“The Math teacher?” I turned to them.
Daniel nodded eagerly.
“Isn’t she married?” I asked.
“Exactly! He’s into married women. Who knew?”
I chuckled.
“Maybe it’s the thrill,” Kayleen suggested.
“The thrill of wanting someone you can’t have?” I frowned in confusion.
“The ambition to chase the unattainable,” Daniel mused.
I sighed, unsure why my stomach tightened as I chewed on my lunch, my gaze wandering around the park until I found him.
Dante.
He’d found me too, watching me, dissecting my every atom.
My molecules vibrated, searching for oxygen anywhere but the heavy atmosphere that formed between us.
His dark eyes greeted my soul, uncaring of the girl running her hands over his chest, while I tuned out Daniel and Kayleen’s chatter.
But as I started to smile, Dante looked away, accepting a cigarette from the girl.
Oh, no.
“I’ll be right back.”
Before my friends could question my sudden departure, I was already heading toward his group.
The scent of tobacco assaulted my lungs, setting off alarms in my asthmatic airways. I was definitely playing with fire.
I entered their line of sight but didn’t step fully into the group. The five girls gave me strange looks, Cole scowled, Jaxon smirked, and Dante remained stoic, exhaling smoke as if I wasn’t there.
“Hi, everyone. Hello, Dante Faulkner. I’m Emilia Gray. I’m in the class next door, remember? I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
No one responded, though their curiosity was evident. They waited for Dante’s reaction.
“I’m busy. Isn’t it obvious?” he said dryly.
A girl’s giggle created a hole to bury my embarrassment in. Was he humiliating me?
I hated how it felt, knowing Dante was rejecting me when I knew approaching him broke our unspoken rules.
“All I see is you breathing, and even that seems like a struggle,” I shot back, gesturing at the cigarette in his hand.
Jaxon burst into loud laughter. He was the only one who tolerated me. He wasn’t despicable, rude, or as twisted as Asher could be with his sharp humor.
Cole, of course, hated me. I sometimes wondered if he had a crush on Dante, though I’d later learn it was just his fierce loyalty.
“If it’s that important, say it. I don’t keep secrets,” Dante taunted, taking another drag.
“Not here.”
“Why not?”
I glanced around, fidgeting with my shirt. His gaze was digging into me, but I refused to break.
“Speak, Emilia Gray, or people will think you’re in love with me.”
What?
Suddenly, every bystander in the greenhouse turned their attention to us. The humiliation seeped into every fiber of my being. I hated it.
“Who do you think you are?” one girl sneered. “Get lost.”
“If you talk to her like that again, I’ll crush you,” Dante warned.
“She’s a woman,” she shot back. “You can’t threaten me.”
“She’s not just any woman. She’s mine. So shut up unless you want to lose your tongue.”
The air froze at Dante’s chilling words. Calmly, he extinguished the cigarette, the cruelty of his statement etched into the silence.
Dante was defending me—in front of everyone. Why?
“I’m leaving,” I decided. “And ditch that thing. It’ll kill you.”
Without hesitation, he crushed the cigarette under his foot and closed the distance between us. The crowd knew the climax of the scene was near.
“You volunteering to occupy my mouth? Your lips seem more addictive,” he murmured.
Oh, God.
What was he saying? Did they know each other? He was furious at her. Emilia was screwed.
They couldn’t hear what Dante said to me, which made it easier for me to escape.
“Get lost. I don’t want your cancer.”
He stepped closer.
“Unless you become a malignant cell inside me, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Are you calling me a disease?”
“I’m pointing out your toxic and clingy side. Those claws you’ve been showing all day are on full display, pulchra. No need to mark your territory. I’ve been yours for three years.”
Boom.
That was the sound of my heart, racing with blood and adrenaline.
His steps stopped when only a breath of air and our summer clothes separated us.
Our heights weren’t that different, but somehow, he felt larger.
“Jerk.”
“Your favorite.”
Then he leaned in, his teeth grazing a very particular nerve ending: my ear.
Dante. Bit. My. Ear.
My face erupted in new shades of red, my pulse erratic and wild. It was terrifyingly exhilarating.