Chapter 145

POV Dante

Torman already knew that she recognized our faces, our address, and perhaps even knew exactly what we were looking for. If she left here, she would be hunted. I was the leader of the Dominion, not of all the oppositions against the Factory. We didn't play fair, even though it was for a greater cause. We were as dirty as they were.

"Maybe if you calm down, you'll understand what's at stake."

"And what is that?"

"At this moment, your life."

I saw her throat tremble.

"This can't be happening."

"It is."

Her hands slowly scraped her face. She exhaled deeply, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling before speaking:

"I need to think."

My forehead furrowed.

"Think about what?"

"Think, Dante! Think!" she shouted, as if it would help. "I want to go to the bathroom."

I took a deep breath, starting to walk toward the room.

"Alone."

"Huh?"

"I need to go alone," she clarified. "You kidnap me, put my life in danger, and I can't go to the bathroom alone?"

I sighed, trying not to laugh.

"You're exhausting. You think you can command everything even when your life is on the line. It's pathetic," I blew out. "You want to escape."

"Where to? The coffin?" Her sarcasm irritated me, damn it. "Spare me."

"Third door on the left," I explained. "I'll wait in the living room."

I didn't take my focus off her, or her hips swaying toward the right door. Her curls still held their volume. In fact, they were much fuller than four years ago. Everything about her had grown, making it harder for me to breathe, the tightness in my chest and the acidity in my stomach whenever I thought about the things she might have done, the thoughts of other men that might have crossed her mind.

I wanted to crush the entire world the moment those thoughts crept into my mind, bringing images I didn't want to be real.

Emília had promised me things.

She promised me everything of hers.

As much as she disgusted me, condemned me to hell, I couldn’t deal with what I had lost. What I never had.

Rachel's barking drowned out my sudden anger. I crouched, offering a bit of peace to the dog who seemed very happy. I took the opportunity to feed her and give her the attention she was asking for.

My time slipped away in less than a second. I didn’t know why I ignored the fact that Emília was in my house, and she was like a human bomb.

The mental curses I had for that girl were immense. By the time I reached the bathroom and opened the door abruptly, my vocabulary was growing.

Where had that devil gone?

A tiny scream crackled in the air, followed by the sound of boxes falling. My forehead furrowed, and I followed the noise. I opened the office door, seeing Emília staring at the boxes that were now scattered on the shelf.

"Oops. I dropped them."

Her sarcasm was driving me crazy. That mouth had always looked like it would cause me trouble, but I never thought it would be the reason for much of mine.

"What were you looking for?"

"Your door to enter the bedroom of hell."

I ignored her sarcasm.

"Gray, what did I ask you to do?"

"I didn't run away," she stated. "Or do you think I have a twin sister or something?"

"Fuck. Shut that stubborn mouth for one second."

"Or what? You going to kill me? Suffocate me? Torture me?"

"I'm going to give your ass a spanking, Emília. And believe me, you're going to like it much more than you wanted."

I heard her trachea tighten. Her body tensed, every muscle shrinking, making me think of various situations. However, my instinct told me to stay in control, especially since I could sense something was wrong. Something was out of place.

The box of explosives was still on the floor. The question floated in the air. What was she planning?

I didn’t hesitate to shorten the distance between us.

Her brown eyes didn't break our eye contact, but her body was more interested in something else. Her legs were tense, almost squeezing together. The dark pants she wore fit her thighs very well. The hoodie she wore covered her upper body, but I could imagine how her small breasts were probably pushed up.

"Did you lose my eyes, Faulkner?"

"You think you're so funny." She stayed still, cornered, as I reduced the space between us more and more until only a layer of air separated us. "But I suppose your jokes don't hide the tears that only I can make you shed, do they?"

Her expression shifted.

"I don't cry for you. I never cried," she murmured, shocked with rage. "I cry for all the times I wanted to love some part of you."

Our faces were already close. Her lips parted, and her breath became shallow, excluding any damned oxygen she tried to inhale from me, which was a far greater sin than what I did for fun with a pocketknife and two bullets.

"Was that meant to make me sad? Because I'm just bored with that information. Your tears don’t matter to me. But your actions, your lies, and the damn thoughts of yours might be a little more interesting to know. So cut that depressing speech, and tell me what you're plotting."

Her large eyes were a warm universe. They spoke more than I could read. They revealed secrets that only we knew.

I pressed my hand against the edge of the table, where her hips were pressing.

"It's none of your business," she whispered.

"Everything about you has always been my business, including..." My free hand crawled over her stomach, moving where I wanted. "... this."

Her mouth opened a little wider, a slow moan escaping, etched in my memory like an obsessive song.

"Since you want to play hard to get, I'll take action."

"You..."

"Open your legs for me, pulchra."

"Asshole."

My thigh pressed against hers so she couldn't move.

My hand went deeper, entering her pants entirely. I didn’t care if I could feel her wetness, the heat surrounding my fingers with a desire to do far more than take what was mine.

"Your damn thief."

The insult was enough for her to stop trying to close her legs, and then I could take the money she had found in the office.

Her shove came next, making me hold back a laugh. Emília was panting. Her body seemed to have been put through an hours-long marathon.

Her chest was rising and falling frantically, and I could imagine how unbalanced her heartbeat must have been.

"You thought you could steal from me?" Her twisted expression caused a tiny smile to appear on my lips. "Thinking of leaving again? Because I don't think you learned your lesson."

"Leave me alone."

"Wait a minute, girl." She was about to leave until I grabbed her wrist. "What were you looking for? I know it wasn’t just my money, so don’t even think about lying to me."

Her furrowed brows didn’t bring answers.

"You’re very mistaken if you think I'm going to sell myself so easily."

My nostrils flared in a weak laugh.

"I don’t buy what I already have."

Her expression was comical, but it wasn’t funny anymore when she realized I turned to grab some loose ropes from the floor, possibly fallen from that box. She was trying to find something to help her escape, especially with enough money to catch a plane or something similar.

"You’re not going to tie me up again!" she shouted.

But I didn’t care.

Before she could fight back, I grabbed her limbs. Emília struggled, pushing me with her back and shoulders, but her effort was little, even though her desire was extremely tempting.

"Stay still," I ordered.

I knew that the only reason I could keep her alive was if she didn't cause any more problems. I was the leader, but the rules were something I had to follow too. Letting her breathe was already a break of a vow.

Gray wasn't satisfied with just a grip on her wrists, and with a strong push, she managed to kick my leg, pulling away. I grabbed her by the waist, lifting her, and her feet swung in the air like a child.

I turned her toward me, against an old cupboard. However, before she could speak, my face turned with a hard slap from her. My lips curled into a sadistic smile.